They don’t hate each other, talk behind each other’s back or have a disparaging word to say. In fact, the perceived quarterback controversy between New Canaan High School’s Willie Ouellette and Turner Baty, as I learned after spending an hour with them this afternoon, is no controversy at all.
When Baty, the highly touted quarterback who transferred to New Canaan a week before the season started, showed up on campus, at the same position as Ouellette, who had been working at quarterback the entire preseason and has been playing with many of his current teammates since the fourth grade, everyone assumed fireworks would be set off and coach Lou Marinelli would be dealing with a combustible situation that could threaten his locker room.
All you need to know is that on Baty’s first full day at the school, Ouellette approached him in the cafeteria and the two went out to breakfast.
The relationship between Baty, who has an offer from Stanford and is being recruited by several high profile colleges, and Ouellette has been a close one ever since, in large part because both players have a great deal of class, perspective and a team-first attitude.
I’ll have a column on the two players in tomorrow’s edition of The Advocate. For now, here is a video of Ouellette and Baty discussing their relationship.
