Mark Smith admittedly knows little about rugby, but whenever the Colorado inside linebackers coach watches Quinn Perry play, he can tell there’s something different about him, that the Buffs’ senior linebacker is more than just a football player.

“His aggressiveness, his enjoying the physical contact, when you see guys like that, you say, man, either something's not right with this person or they've got a background like Quinn does where they've been doing this for a long time,” Smith said Wednesday.

Indeed, Perry isn’t the prototypical college football player.

One of the better players on Colorado’s defense this season, Perry has been shaped by an unconventional-yet-completely-sensible athletic journey, one in which he balanced football and rugby for more than a decade. Prior to arriving in Boulder, the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Perry was a standout rugby player, competing for the United States U16, U17, U18 and U20 national rugby teams before devoting himself to football.

That balance began at a young age, as he began competing in both sports when he was seven. His Pop Warner coach at the time also coached a local rugby club in Santa Monica, Calif., and, based on what he had seen from Perry in football, he suggested he give it a try. Initially, though, he was met with resistance.

“At first, my mom was like ‘Heck no, he’s not playing rugby,’” Perry said. “My mom is Irish, so she knows about the sport pretty well. She was like, yeah, no way.”

Those reluctant feelings only intensified after Perry’s mother, Doris, looked up YouTube videos of rugby players and some of the gruesome injuries they can suffer. Eventually, she acquiesced and as Perry’s career progressed, she became what her son described as “my biggest supporter.” She grew so passionate that she was even suspended from attending a game because of an altercation she got into with a heckling parent from the opposing team.

After playing for several club teams across his native southern California, he competed for the United States’ U20 national rugby team, a roster on which he was the youngest player. As a flyhalf and fullback – positions most similar to quarterback and safety, respectively – Perry was praised for his powerful running and deft decision-making, as well as his kicking.

As his rugby career blossomed, he excelled on the football field, as well, earning first-team all-L.A. City Section honors as a senior at Palisades High School. He enrolled at El Camino College and continued playing both sports, but it became too onerous of a commitment. He had to choose one, ultimately deciding on football and Colorado.

After redshirting his first year in Boulder in 2019, he saw limited action in 2020 before an injury to Buffs star linebacker Nate Landman thrust Perry into a more prominent role. His 78 tackles were the second-most on the team last season. Despite his team’s larger struggles, this season has represented another step forward. He was named a team captain during fall training camp and has responded with 54 tackles, the third-most on the team. In a loss last Friday at USC, he notched his first career sack.

“This is what Quinn has – you have to be skilled enough to be out to play outside the box and cover people and rugby tackle and run, but also big enough and bad enough to play behind the ball and put your cowboy collar back on and go fit runs downhill,” Smith said. “That's the modern-day linebacker. Quinn is a great example of what we're looking for at that position.”

Though playing college football momentarily shelved his rugby dreams, Perry’s past experiences have aided him on the gridiron. While far from identical, there is another of a helpful crossover between the two sports.

An increasing number of teams, most notably the Seattle Seahawks, teach rugby-style tackling and even though that’s primarily used on the outside portions of the field where offensive players have to be brought down in space, Perry still has to utilize it at times. His time as a fullback in rugby helps him diagnose opposing offenses and gain a greater sense of what’s unfolding on the field in front of him. Unlike football, rugby is a game of continuous action, giving him a level of cardiovascular fitness he might not otherwise have while playing a position that forces him to cover large portions of the field. Smith singled out Perry’s communication skills as one of his biggest strengths as a player. It’s no mystery where he picked up that trait.

“Rugby is a really big sport for communication,” Perry said. “You need to know where everybody is. I feel like that helps me verbalize as a middle linebacker and be a captain on the team to make sure everyone knows their role and what's going on in a certain play.”

In other ways, his rugby background not only applied to football, but made him better at it, differentiating him from the vast majority of players with whom he takes the field.

“Those guys are playing football out there without pads,” Smith said. “They're getting after it. They're banging people and doing things. When you have a guy with that type of background, the physical aspect of the game is not anything that they're not used to. In fact, they're probably even more aggressive than they would be on the rugby field because there is more protection in the padding.”

While his focus remains on football and Colorado’s final two games of his senior season, Perry hasn’t been able to completely detach himself from rugby. He still has close friends who remain deeply involved in the sport and Perry said he plays “all the time.”

Football and this Buffs team is his priority, but once this season is over? The door that he thought he closed years ago still remains ajar.

“I was pretty high in the ranks over there, so all the coaches are like ‘Oh my god, it's so good to see you. Can you come back and play?’” Perry said. “I’m like, bro, I would love to, but I’m focusing on football right now. It's hard seeing all my friends on the USA team now doing so well. I'm so proud of them, but it's hard seeing them play. I love rugby. It's a great sport, too. I love football the same amount. Maybe in the future when football is over. Maybe.”