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Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Ask Roper Garrett what he'd tell people who knew nothing about him -- except maybe that he is an exceptional inside linebacker at Southeast Missouri State -- and his answer tells you a lot.
He doesn't take but a few seconds to answer, and while the response is poised, it doesn't sound rehearsed.
"I'd probably just say I'm a blue-collar kid from Farmington, Missouri," he said. "Taught hard work from a young age by my father, who's worked for everything he's got, and he's been really successful now. So he's really showed me that path of how to be successful. ... Also, [about] my brother being on the team. Rider Garrett, he's just the same way. It's like having another best friend on the team. It's a pretty cool deal growing up being able to play football through little league, middle school, high school and now college with each other. That's been pretty fun."
Roper, a senior, has a close bond with his family -- a quality that extends to his football family.
Southeast Missouri State linebacker Roper Garrett led the Redhawks in tackles each of the past two seasons. If he does it again, he'll be the first in Southeast's Division I era to do so for three straight years.
Glenn Landberg
His effort is second to none, and it pushes everyone around him to do more and do better.
He's proud of where he came from and what (and who) it took to propel him to this point, and he desires to be a player who turns his hometown's regional university into a winner.
Ask just about everyone else that's close to him and they'll tell you the same thing, plus that he's an extremely smart football player and equal parts jokester and competitor.
All of these qualities add up to make Roper Garrett the right man to lead the Redhawks one last time.
John Ames started coaching Roper when he was in eighth grade and continued to be his linebacker coach at Farmington High School.
His first impression was that he was going to be a special player one day. (Roper made an even more lasting impression on his former coach, but we'll get to that later.)
Ames, now offensive coordinator at Perryville High School, saw a knowledge of the game in Garrett that he never had in others he'd coached.
According to Rider Garrett, "there wasn't a whole lot going on," so the pair began playing football young, joining the Mineral Area Football League.
Roper estimates he began playing 16 years ago -- the entire time at linebacker -- so he's picked up a lot through the years. That's where, in addition to watching his dad's hard work pay off, he picked up a strong work ethic.
"Our coaches believed we were going to be the most conditioned team," Roper said, "so we always knew we might not have the most speed and stuff on our team, but we're going to outwork every team."
That didn't necessarily mean that he was putting in a lot more time than others, but he made the most of whatever time he had to get better.
"Whenever he was doing a set of 10 [reps], his set of 10 was more aggressive," said Ames, who called Roper one of the hardest-working athletes he'd ever coached. "He was trying to work harder at it and be the best he could. He was the same way on the field. If he didn't understand, he would turn around and he would ask questions and then go straight into the play, and he was trying to be the best all the time."
Southeast Missouri State University football player, Roper Garrett.
Glenn Landberg
Nearly two years ago, in coach Tom Matukewicz's first season at Southeast, he considered him "a great evaluator" and asked him questions about the defense. Defensive coordinator Bryce Saia said his "football IQ has gone through the roof" since then, allowing the game to slow down so he can accomplish more.
Junior outside linebacker Chad Meredith feeds off Garrett's energy. The pair lift in the same weight rack and run next to each other on the field.
"He's very strong-willed," Meredith said. "If he sets his mind to something, it's more than likely going to get done, which is great having him as a leader just showing by example how to do things with hard work and how to work hard at what you're doing."
Even in high school, everyone tried to get on the same level as him.
"Everybody wanted to hit harder," according to Ames -- and that was a team that had plenty of talented and hardworking players. The Knights reached the Class 4 semifinals in Garrett's senior year.
"Roper's not a very outspoken player," Ames said. "His words came from his pads. Whenever he hit someone, you knew Roper was in practice because he made a pop.
"He's the reason that I can't use my right ring finger anymore."
Ames laughs as he recounts the incident. Garrett aggressively tackled one of his teammates during a drill, and Ames went to grab him as he was headed directly for his knee. Instead, he popped his profundus tendon in his right ring finger, which required surgery about a week later. He definitely won't ever forget Garrett, who combined for 271 tackles during his junior and senior seasons and was the team's Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2011.
He nearly took that talent elsewhere, but fortunately for Southeast, a full-ride scholarship offer to Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Illinois fell through.
That offer to join the Panthers came from EIU Hall of Fame coach Bob Spoo. But when Spoo retired after 25 years and was replaced by Dino Babers in 2011, the offer was rescinded. He considered Southern Illinois, but that didn't work out either, so when Southeast offered him a spot as a preferred walk-on, he accepted, redshirting in 2012.
"They were the closest team, and I know I'm going to play Division I football. I know I'm capable of playing it, so I came down and gave it a try," Garrett said, "and I'm glad I did because it turned out for the best."
Rider came in and redshirted the year after his brother. Right away he received advice that most can give but maybe had a stronger impact because of who it came from: "Just never quit."
Southeast Missouri State University football player, Roper Garrett.
Glenn Landberg
Roper came into a program that was struggling. His redshirt freshman year wasn't much better, as the team still won only three games. But he played in 12 contests that year and made two starts, ranking third on the team with 65 tackles.
"Just like when he first came in, he was just up and down the depth chart and getting [overlooked] sometimes," Rider said. "When I came in -- and I'm a young kid -- he's like feeling the grind of not playing, then playing, so he's like, 'No matter what, just keep going.' And he got up there and now he does what he does."
Roper led the team in tackles each of the past two seasons. If he does it again this year, he'll be the first in Southeast's Division I era to do so for three consecutive seasons.
As a sophomore, he finished with 96 stops, including 8.5 for loss, three sacks and five forced fumbles despite missing the final three games of the season after sustaining a broken leg in the first half of a game at Eastern Kentucky.
Last year, after rehabilitating the leg from surgery, he was even better, finishing with 106 tackles, 10 for loss and 4.5 sacks en route to second-team All-OVC honors.
He only now considers himself fully healthy, better even than before his injury, and ready to torment opposing offenses once more.
"Roper is crazy," Redhawks quarterback Dante Vandeven said. "He's laid some big hits on me in some practices, so it's definitely a sad sight and really a scary sight when he's coming through the O-line."
Meredith believes that Roper, who ranks 13th all-time at Southeast with 267 tackles, became much more disciplined when Matukewicz and company took over prior to the 2014 season.
"Instead of getting up and getting washed in the line, he stays back and makes his read and then makes the correct move," Meredith said.
He and Garrett are two of just several returning to a talented Southeast defense. Meredith finished last season with 68 tackles, 10.5 for loss, and 3.5 sacks. Defensive end John Popovich recorded five sacks. Then there's starting cornerback Mike Ford, a second-team All-OVC performer, and senior strong safety Eriq Moore, back to lead the secondary, among others.
Garrett is called on to lead his position group -- as part of Southeast's new 10 Strong way of thinking with each position having a particular leader -- but he's also more than capable of taking charge of the entire defense, and even the entire team.
"He's a born leader," Vandeven said. "And he's not the one that's going to be talking the whole practice. He's going to be the one you look to, he's a visual leader. He does what he's supposed to do, and he leads the defense and does a really good job."
Meredith, Moore and Ford are the ones who can be heard directing the defense the most. But when needed most, Garrett will rise to the occasion, providing the team with the right words in the locker room or on the field. Ever since Matukewicz arrived and installed a player-voted leadership council, Garrett has been selected as a member.
Meredith recalled several instances where the defense -- labeled by the coaching staff as inconsistent last year -- came to the sideline after a particularly disappointing series and Garrett the vocal leader came out.
"He gets very intense, but that intensity is really what helps drive people," Meredith said. "It kind of brings everybody else's intensity up."
That intensity comes from Garrett's desire to win -- something that has rarely happened since he arrived at Southeast -- and his feeling of responsibility to his team.
He's admittedly tough on himself, a perfectionist.
"Like, I feel like I could have 200 tackles, and it almost wouldn't be enough for me," Garrett said. "Like, I'd be mad if I get double-digit tackles in a game -- I'd still think about the one or two plays I didn't make, like, that I let the team down those two plays."
Saia, who's coached plenty of talented players throughout his career, said Garrett "wants to be successful about as much as I've ever been around."
He doesn't anticipate that attitude will change and expects the same as he's gotten the past two years: one of the OVC's top tacklers, a good practice player and leader and a playmaker.
"Greatness," Saia said. "I expect greatness."
