Football
Favorite athlete: LeSean McCoy
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning the 309 Bowl between Quakertown and Souderton last year in double overtime.
Music on IPod: Rap
Future plans: Attend college for biomedical engineering
Words to live by: “With a great attitude and work ethic, anything can be accomplished.”
One goal before turning 30: To graduate college with at least a master’s degree and get a job.
One thing people don’t know about me: I have already obtained 21 credits towards college through AP tests.
By GORDON GLANTZ
According to the Wikipedia definition, Biomedical engineering (BME) is “the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g. diagnostic or therapeutic). This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine. It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to advance healthcare treatment.”
Since eighth grade science, Quakertown two-way lineman/senior captain Brett Graver – the Univest Featured Male Athlete of the Week – has known that he wanted to be a biomedical engineer.
“I was always inclined to the sciences,” said Graver, who has already been accepted to Pitt but has not ruled out Lehigh, Drexel and Johns Hopkins and maintains a 4.2 grade-point average with a course-load of six AP classes (he decided against a seventh).
“It always came natural to me,” said Graver. “I was always a good student, with a good work ethic.”
While training for football and hitting books left little time for much else, such as other sports or school activities, he has become a master of time-management.
“By now, I have it all worked out,” he added.
And it could be said Graver has put those problem-solving skills to use on the gridiron for the Panthers, who are in the midst of a memorable season, taking a 5-0 record on the road this week against 3-2 Harry S. Truman.
From overcoming multiple position changes to finding a way to stop the blood gushing from a cut in his forehead, to putting a verbal lashing from an assistant coach in perspective and to emerging from his shell to be a more vocal leader this season, Graver has elevated the art of dot-connecting to an art form.
Guys like him are not ones filling up the stat sheet or being interviewws after games –even though the mantra of skill-position players is to “give credit to the line” – but they really are the backbone, the heart and soul, of successful teams from Pop Warner to the NFL.
“People say the line never gets enough credit, and it’s so true,” said Quakertown coach George Banas. “It’s the guys like Brett Graver that make it all happen.
“He’s just a real quiet kid. He’s a typical lineman – a kid who just does whatever you ask him to do. He’s worked really hard, whether it has been in camps or lifting. He has put his time in and is seeing the rewards of it.”
For Graver, who says “probably not” when asked if he will try to play at the college level, the rewards are in the here and now.
The Panthers, 1-10 in his sophomore season and 7-5 last year, have their sights set on reaching the postseason.
“Yes, sir,” affirmed the 6-0, 240-pounder. “It feels good. We all put in a lot of time in the offseason to this point.”
Graver Talks
Prior to Quakertown’s third game of the year against William Tennent, which was the home opener for the Panthers, Banas gave a speech that inspired Graver to follow suit.
“Tennent thought they were going to just come in and take the win,” said Graver, who added that he was “very excited” to be “elected by my peers” as a captain.
“Banas harped on it all week, and before the game. I just said, ‘We are not going to allow them to come in here and take it from us.’”
And hearing from one of the more lead-by-example seniors seemed to have the desired result, one that that was not lost on the coach.
“We were in a dog fight, and on that drive (after Graver spoke up in the huddle), we went down the field and scored,” said Banas. “While he is quiet and soft-spoken, he is a captain as well. He usually doesn’t talk a whole lot. He just works.
“For him to come out of his shell, two weeks ago against Tennent, was good to see. It was like, ‘Oh my God, Graver talks!”
The ‘Skull Cap Thing’
What Banas describes as Graver “coming out of his shell” can be traced to the “skull cap thing” that Graver wears on his head.
It all began during Graver’s junior season, when the self-purchased helmet kept reopening slow-to-heal cut on his head.
He ended most practice sessions looking like Rocky Balboa.
“All last season, he would have blood coming down off his nose,” said Banas. “It seemed to happen every single practice.”
Graver passes it off by saying that he “bleeds easy,” but Banas sees the symbolism.
Graver began wearing the skull cap to help the irksome cut from contacting his old helmet, but continues to don it – even with a new helmet this year, and even though it seems entirely out of character.
It has become part of his alter ego, so much so that he even wore to picture day before Banas made him take it off.
“It defines him now,” said the coach. “It’s just nice to see him come out his shell.”
Assistance
A season ago, Graver was initially taken aback when an offensive coach who he doesn’t deal directly got on him.
He came to realize that it was “in the heat of the moment,” and realizes that he is a better player and person for having overcome the adversity.
“It didn’t seem right coming from him, but I learned not to take what people say literally -- to take it with a grain of salt, either way, whether it’s something positive or negative,” Graver said. “It has helped me to keep a level head.”
And he also has another assistant coach, his position coach – former Rutgers football player Caleb Ruch – to keep him level-headed.
Aside from his parents, Debbie and Rick, who have “always been there” for him, Graver points to Ruch’s influence.
“He’s my offensive and defensive line coach,” said Graver. “He is real easy to talk to and real outgoing.
“I would like to thank all my coaches for teaching me and the team valuable lessons not only to become better football players but also as better people in our community.”
Extending Credit
While Banas credits a player like Graver for leading the Panthers from the bottom to the top of the standings, Graver throws it back on his coach.
“I give a lot of credit to coach Banas for his leadership,” said Graver. “He has brought a lot of unity to the team.
“I mean, every year since I have been here, we have had a lot of unity. This year, I feel it even more.”
But Banas sees Graver, and players like him, as the ones who will leave a legacy after their career are over.
“He’s just one of those tremendous, all-round kids,” said Banas. “He takes all honors classes, and works his tail off in school.
“He will do anything you ask him to do, no matter what you ask. He was a center, then a guard, and he has really settled in at tackle and done a great job for us. We moved him around quite a bit, and he never complained.
“When he was named captain, he was a player vote. Even though he is not a real rah-rah guy, all the kids understand what he brings to the team.”
