Serious side of skull session
Garner survives subdural hematoma to thrive on special teams, defense
COLLEGE STATION — Linebacker Riley Garner starred at A&M Consolidated High (two miles from
Texas A&M) and between the two programs he’s finally playing a senior season.
The fact he has made it this far — and has participated in 46 consecutive games for the Aggies as a reserve and special-teams whiz — is a miracle in its own right.
Garner, who is down to six games of an unintentionally covert college career, happily admits he’ll be going pro in something other than sports. And he readily confesses to a “stupid act” that nearly derailed his college football career before it started.
A four-year backup for the Aggies, Garner is the embodiment of “just happy to be here.” A&M coach Jimbo Fisher is glad Garner is.
“He’s a mainstay on every special team, and he makes plays,” Fisher said. “He’s dependable on blocking schemes … and does a great job when he gets in on defense. Riley has had an outstanding year for us, and he’s in a very, very important role in what we do.”
As for that self-described “stupid act” that could have sidelined Garner not only from football but life, he hopes sharing the details might give youngsters their own cause for pause while standing on the edge of senselessness.
“I fell out of the bed of a truck; I was acting stupid with my friends,” Garner said. “People assume there was alcohol involved, but there wasn’t. It was just high school kids being stupid.”
Dark side of tailgating
Three days prior to the start of A&M Consolidated’s training camp leading to what was supposed to be a promising senior season, Garner stood up in the back of a friend’s truck after it had backed out of a driveway.
“I was near the tailgate and when the truck got going, it swept my legs out from under me and I fell and hit my head on the concrete,” Garner said. “I fractured my skull and had a subdural hematoma.”
A subdural hematoma is a “collection of blood outside the brain … which can be life-threatening,” according to WebMD.com. A couple of months earlier, Garner had pledged to play for A&M and then-coach Kevin Sumlin.
Garner didn’t play his senior year at A&M Consolidated.
“After I had my first couple of visits with the neurologist, he was very pessimistic as far as me getting to play ever again,” Garner said. “That was definitely a downer. Personally, I felt normal after a couple of months, so I didn’t see any reason why I wouldn’t one day play again. I was determined to get back out there.”
Sumlin honored his scholarship offer to a stillsuspect recruit, and Garner made such a quick impression with the Aggies he didn’t even redshirt in the fall of 2015.
“I felt relief,” Garner said of being back on the football field again, so close to A&M Consolidated and yet worlds apart in terms of competition level. “Relief that I had gotten bailed out.”
His parents naturally were concerned about Garner resuming a sport known for hard hits to the head after he suffered one of the worst kind, but he assured them he would be OK.
“They were able to interact with me every day, and they knew I wasn’t acting any different,” Garner said of the months following the accident. “They were very encouraging and told me, ‘Hey Riley, if this is what you love, go out there and pursue it, and we’ll back you all the way.’ ”
Since then, Garner played in all 13 games each year as a freshman, sophomore and junior as well as the first seven games this season. The No. 17 Aggies (5-2, 3-1 SEC) are off Saturday before resuming action at No. 22 Mississippi State (4-2, 1-2) on Oct. 27.
Living the dream
Garner has 27 career tackles since resuming his football career, but that’s 27 more than plenty of well-wishers in and around College Station expected after he slammed his head against the concrete in that summer of 2014.
Now he’s happily living out a once-jeopardized dream, on a football field tucked between the concrete paths of a campus he once navigated on a bicycle as a child — hoping to one day suit up on the other side of those walls.
“This is something I could not have gotten, playing anywhere else,” Garner said with a smile. “People who ask for tickets know not to come to me. Because my family is always in town.”