Hunter Lyle – Reporter
During his fourth and final year as an athlete at Southern, senior Earl Myers looks to win out and lead by example.
The football season is about halfway through, and Southern’s team holds a 3-2 record, winning their last two games. As they find themselves in a bye week, Myers reflects on his time as an Owl, and says he is thankful for the opportunities he has had.
“I am just grateful to be able to play four years,” said Myers, a sociology major. “It’s not easy to do it, being a student athlete and playing football or any other sport, but I’m just really grateful for playing four seasons of football.”
Myers’ passion and love for football started at a young age, when his father introduced him to the sport.
“When I was younger, to be honest, I didn’t really like football until my dad introduced it to me at the age of eight,” said Myers, “From that point on it just kind of stuck with me.”
Myers played football for four years at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville, New York, where he became an All-League select and won offensive MVP. Although Myers ran track and played basketball, he said there was nothing like football.
Myers said other sports don’t even compare to football. “Just playing gives me a different feeling,” said Myers. “When I’m playing football, I forget about everything else that is going on and it’s just all fun.”
Towards the end of training camp, the players and coaches voted Myers team captain for his final year.
In the spring, all of the coaches were pushing Earl towards that team captain position, said Belkin, and when he finally wanted to take over, he took the bulls by the horns. So, when he was actually voted in in the spring, he was very prepared and knew what to do.
“Earl is the consummate leader, he has a pulse of the team, no question about it. He knows what’s going on with everybody,” said Belkin “He picks everybody up, he pushes the right buttons. He’s just a consummate professional, not only with his leadership, but with how he approaches the game.”
With over four seasons of football at Southern, Myers has tallied up 59 catches, totaling for 691 yards, including 12 catches and 158 yards in just the five games played this year.
“My freshman year, just like every other year, I just came in here hungry,” said Myers. “I knew there was an opportunity for me to play and I really just wanted to help the team as much as I could.”
With five games left in the regular season, the team is looking to keep winning and get a chance at playing for a championship. “My personal goal for this year is just to win out, to be honest, and win as many games as possible,” said Myers.
The teams next game is scheduled for Oct. 13th, against Assumption College in Worchester, Mass. Their next home game is on Oct 20th, versus American International College.
“I feel like every year more so, the team becomes a closer-knit family,” said Myers. “There’s no individual cliques. There’s just one brotherhood.”
Photo Credit: SCSU Athletic Communications
