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Heisman Trophy finalist Tre Mason, a running back at Auburn, talks to reporters during an informal media availability, Friday, Dec. 13, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

NEW YORK --

The musical genes didn't make it from

Vincent Mason

to

Tre Mason

.

The work ethic, Tre said Friday, most certainly did.

"Music was never my thing," Tre said. "I just always wanted to run around, be athletic.

"He doesn't really give us anything. He makes us work for everything and I've seen him work. My work ethic is pretty strong."

Mason faced an unfamiliar group of reporters on the eve of Saturday's Heisman trophy ceremony during a roundtable session at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Instead of the every-day beat guys in Auburn, it was a mix of New York-based and national reporters, many of whom were learning of his backstory for the first time.

After a series of questions about Mason's father, who is one part of the popular hip-hop group De La Soul, a reporter asked aloud who exactly Mason's dad was.

Mason was born and raised in Massapequa, a nearby Long Island suburb, before he moved to Palm Beach, Fla., as a 10-year-old. He was already a football player by the time he said goodbye to chilly winter days, much like the one he experienced Friday.

Many of Mason's local family members will be in attendance at Saturday's ceremony at the Best Buy Theater.

It was in venues such as that where some of Mason's favorite childhood memories were formulated. He dropped the names of Jay-Z, Pharrell and Lil Wayne as performers he got to know at an early age thanks to his father.

"It was a great opportunity meeting a lot of people, a lot of guys that are already famous and legends," he said.

And now?

"Sometimes, I try to bring (my teammates) along," he said. "I bring

Ricardo Louis

sometimes."