Rakeem Cato didn’t have a full family growing up. With a father who was in jail and a mother who died when he was only 12 years old, Cato never got the experience of being in a traditional family.

But his best friend Tommy Shuler made up for the fact that he lacked a father and mother.

“Tommy has always been there for me,” Cato said. “Through the good times and the bad times throughout my life. His parents, his grandma, his dad, and his step-dad, his whole family, they’ve just been there. They took me in as their own child.”

Best friends since the age of 5, Shuler and Cato rarely went a day without seeing each other. Now juniors at Marshall, they still take the field together, wearing the same uniform every Saturday.

Cato is the quarterback, and Shuler is his primary target. Cato has been the starter since the first snap of his freshman season. Shuler didn’t play much as a freshman, but has become one of the most prolific receivers in the nation in 2013.

The chemistry that they have has been a catalyst for a Thundering Herd offense that is averaging more than 40 points per game.

“When things aren’t going right, we’re going to call something to at least make Tommy the primary guy,” Marshall offensive coordinator Bill Legg said. “I am going to put (Shuler) in a situation where he’s the first look because I know how strong their chemistry is not just off the field, but on the field.”

Cato first met Shuler at summer camp. The two went to elementary school together, where Cato became close with Shuler’s mother, who worked at the school.
They would go home after school and throw rocks in Shuler’s backyard to practice their throwing motion.

“He used to come to my house, we used to go to his house,” Shuler said. “Basically we just became best friends, and came up together.”

After Cato lost his mother to pneumonia, he would often spend months at a time living with the Shuler family during the summer. They would work out during the day and refine their football skills.

They both went to Miami Springs High School and then transferred together to Miami Central in their senior season.

Even though the two were only at Miami Central for a short time, they catapulted the team to a 14-1 record. The head coach at the time, Telly Lockette, accepted a position as an assistant coach at the University of South Florida in March.

Lockette said that even in a high-pressure environment, Cato and Shuler still liked to have a good time.

“They wanted to be basketball players,” Lockette joked. “They thought they were point guards. They were pretty good, but I told them that playing football would take them farther than basketball would.”

It was at Miami Central that Cato committed to Florida International, and Shuler to Marshall. But once Cato got a better understanding of the up-tempo Marshall offense, it was too hard to pass up four more years with Shuler. He eventually decommitted from FIU.

“I just told him, ‘Come on up to Marshall, get out of Miami,’” Shuler said. “You know, get to see what’s around him. So he came up here.”

At Marshall, the two lived together as freshmen and remained inseparable off the field. Legg said that even though they are as close as two friends can be, they don’t have any problem getting on each other’s case.

“If one of them thinks the other didn’t see the same thing that he was seeing, then they’re not afraid to get after each other,” Legg said. “At the same time, it’s a brother-to-brother-type thing.”

Through all of the fights and the ups and downs Cato and Shuler have gone through, they both remain the constant in each other’s lives.

“There were a lot of great moments, on the field, and off the field,” Cato said. “We did everything together. Any moment that we were with each other it was a great moment. Every time we’re together, we always have fun.”

Published on October 4, 2013 at 2:43 am

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