The nickname has followed Nick Foles from Texas to Michigan to Arizona, hanging over him when he was running the Arizona Wildcats scout team, backing up Matt Scott and, finally, starting at quarterback.
"Sunshine," Foles said with a smile. "I can see why — the hair. It doesn't really bother me."
Finding the genesis of Foles' nickname is as easy as searching IMDB.com. Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass, you might remember, was the quarterback in the 2000 film "Remember the Titans"; with his shoulder-length blond hair, the movie QB looked … well, an awful lot like Foles.
There's no question that Foles, the UA sophomore quarterback, is bringing back the shaggy look.
His hair hangs down in his eyes and falls on his neck, a referees' measurement away from his shoulders. A sand-colored beard is invading the few parts of his face visible underneath the hair. If former UA swimmer Lindsey Kelly has her way, though, the facial hair might be gone soon.
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"My girlfriend wants me to cut it, so I might cut it and then grow it out next week," he said.
The locks, however, are staying. Foles said he hasn't gotten a haircut in "a long time."
The interest in Foles' life, nickname and grooming habits seems weird to the shy Texan. But he seems to be handling it well.
"You walk around campus, and people notice you, but there's nothing I've really noticed," he said. "I got a lot of text messages from and phone calls from my friends and family … so that was cool. … Being a quarterback, everybody knows you, but I don't get into that. I just go about my business."
Foles' personality — and his hair — won't change.
"But if it gets too long," wide receiver David Douglas, Foles' roommate, said, "I'll make him cut it."
Here's how Foles — and the hair — fit in:
Famous floppy-haired guys
• The Beatles (Greatest. Band. Ever.)
• Jeff Spicoli (fictional, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High")
• Tom Petty (Heartbreaker)
• Zac Efron ("High School Musical" phenomenon)
Shaggy QBs
• Joe Namath (New York Jets, "Broadway Joe")
• Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass (in "Remember the Titans")
• Jake Plummer, (ASU, Cardinals, "Snake")
• Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears standout)
Long (haired), TALL Texans
• Chace Crawford, (actor, "Gossip Girl" guy)
• Willie Nelson, (musician, "Red-Headed Stranger")
• Ted Nugent ("Cat Scratch Fever" singer, Crawford resident)
• David Wooderson (fictional, "Dazed and Confused")
Long-haired Cats
• Tedy Bruschi (Arizona legend, mulleted sackmaster)
• Clay Hardt (Mackovic-era Marana man)
• Chris Henry (Three-years-and-out tailback from Stoops era)
• Keola Antolin (Hawaiian-born backup tailback)
UP NEXT
• Who: Arizona at Washington
• When: 7:20 p.m. Oct. 10
• TV: FSAZ
• Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
