Football
Favorite athlete: Brian Dawkins
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: My 105 pounds Northampton Indians winning the Eastern Region Championship and headed to Florida to play in the Pop Warner Super Bowl
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My sophomore year when a teammate of mine thought he picked up a fumble and ran it all the way down the field and scored with about a minute left, and really, the ball was accidentally thrown on the field by someone on the sidelines and he had no idea. Then, on the next play, there was a real fumble, and he picked it up and ran all the way down the field but got caught.
Music on your iPod: All kinds – rap, hip hop, rock
Future plans: Go to college and graduate with a degree
Words to live by: ‘It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but it’s the size of the fight in the dog.’
One goal before turning 30: Get a good job
One thing people don’t know about me: I am one of eight kids.
Ryan Hickey is part of a proud football legacy.
The Council Rock South senior is the fourth in a line of brothers to play football, ensuring that a Hickey has been part of Rock South’s program every year since its inception 10 years ago.
“We knew we were getting a great player in Ryan Hickey,” coach Vince Bedesem said. “They all have similarities – every one of the Hickey boys has this innate ability to play football. They have that sense about them that you can’t coach.
“They tell you that you can’t coach speed, you can’t coach height, you can’t coach size, but that reactiveness that you get in a situation and that ability to play the game – they all have it.”
Hickey, a captain, is the quarterback of the defense in Rock South’s secondary. It is that innate feel for the game that makes him such an effective leader of a Hawk defense that is one of the area’s stingiest.
“We have the ability to do things because he’s back there,” Bedesem said. “We’ll call a certain coverage, and if another kid is in the secondary when we call the coverage, the kid has to be disciplined and do exactly what we say whereas Ryan has the freedom to be up in the box if he has to be to play the run but has the ability to get back deep and play the pass.
“Ryan’s always at the ball, and he sets us up back there at the free safety position.”
Hickey is comfortable in his role of calling out the defenses.
“It’s all about trust out there,” he said. “We all know we’ve got each other’s backs, and it just makes my job easier out there. Yes, I’ll be yelling at them making sure they know what they’re doing, but they also at times can be yelling at me and keeping me in check. It’s so mutual out there, and we all have great camaraderie. We’re more than just a team. We’re great friends.”
Away from his football family, Hickey is the sixth of eight siblings with four older brothers and one older sister.
“I love it” he said of being part of a large family. “There’s always someone to be with if you want to go outside and have a catch or play sports.
“I don’t really know what kind of person I would be if I was an only child. If I could have it any way, I would probably have even more brothers and sisters.”
Hickey acknowledged there are the usual sibling rivalries.
“It’s just like a chain – the oldest brother picks on the younger brother, and then he takes it out on the next one,” he said. “Of course when I’m getting picked on, I would pick on my little brother, but it’s really only because they care and want to make us stronger.”
Hickey’s oldest brother, Bob, did not play football, but his brother Matt is now part of Rock South’s coaching staff. Siblings Kevin and Keith both played with younger brother Kyle waiting in the wings. He will be in ninth grade next year.
“We kind of have a little legacy going,” Hickey said. “It’s just a good feeling.
“We used to have the whole neighborhood over and have games. Some of my brothers would be playing, and there were kids from all over. A lot of kids from my team would remember playing football in my backyard.”
The foundation for this year’s Rock South team might well have been laid during those neighborhood games, and anchored by a standout senior class, this year’s Golden Hawk squad has reached new heights, advancing to the District One AAAA title game for the first time in program history.
“It’s been awesome,” Hickey said. “It’s the furthest a Council Rock South team has ever made it, and it’s a great feeling to be a part of it, especially being a senior and a leader of the team.”
While Hickey came by his love of football honestly, he got a taste of other sports as well. He played intramural basketball and wrestled in middle school but gave that up when he reached high school to devote his time to football.
“Starting out, I wanted to be with my big brother, so I played football because I just wanted to be like my brothers,” he said. “I was too young to really know if I liked it or if I didn’t.
“It was something I kept doing because my brothers were doing it, but obviously, I still like it.”
Hickey was penciled in to see varsity action in the secondary as a sophomore.
“On the second day of two-a-days, our starting cornerback went down, and Anthony Alimenti and I were going to split time there, so I would have actually been playing with my brother,” he recalled. “About the fourth day of two-a-days, during our second practice, we were just doing regular team stuff. I was playing scout defense, and I was running one way, I planted my leg and cut back to the left, and I felt a pop in my knee.
“It wasn’t too painful, but it was a weird, weird feeling. Right away, I went to the ground. I knew something wasn’t right. I assumed I did something pretty bad.”
The diagnosis confirmed that Hickey had torn the ACL in his right knee. That September he had surgery.
“It’s always tough because, as a kid, I really never got hurt,” Hickey said. “I was really disappointed because I would have been playing with my brother. My mom was happy to have that happen, and out of nowhere, this problem happened.
“You have to be dedicated when something like that happens to you. I went through 23 straight weeks of rehab, and I came out of that pretty good. In the spring when we had our lifting and did our seven-on-sevens, I was good for that.”
When preseason camp rolled around that August, Hickey was wearing a knee brace but ready to go. He went on to see action at running back and earned all-league recognition for his play in the defensive secondary for a Golden Hawk squad that captured a share of the SOL National Conference crown and advanced to the district semifinals.
The injury has given him a new perspective.
“Now I know every play you’re in the game you have to realize how lucky you are,” Hickey said. “There are some people out there who can’t do that, and at any minute, it can be taken away from you.
“It happened to me. I was just doing something I did every day, and my knee popped. You never know when it’s going to happen, but everything happens for a reason. It’s the kind of thing that only makes you stronger as a person.”
Bedesem describes Hickey as a ‘character kid.’
“He comes from a great family,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “They’re a very tight-knit group, and they’re a very good community type of family. Ryan goes along with that.
“He does a lot of volunteering with the Northampton Shooting Stars and Athletes Helping Athletes. There’s not ever a time you don’t see Ryan out doing something supporting the community.”
Hickey’s involvement with the Shooting Stars, a basketball program for special needs children, has changed his perspective.
“At first, I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but after the first couple of times – these kids are awesome,” Hickey said. “They’re actually some of the funniest kids I’ve ever met. They’re all great kids, and it really opened my eyes and showed me how lucky I am that I can be playing football.
“Not only playing football but doing everyday things that they struggle with. Going back to my knee injury, it makes me feel even more lucky. It’s a great thing.”
An excellent student, Hickey would like to attend a large school like Penn State, Pitt, Temple or Delaware. He is undecided on a major and says he will settle for playing intramural football.
“I want to focus more on my studies, but I’ll come back home and watch the games,” Hickey said.
Bedesem acknowledged that Hickey is the consummate student-athlete.
“Being so intense football-wise and also being involved in the community, he also maintains high academic standards,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “The other intangible is – when you gain success, there are teachers who talk about how great kids are doing in the classroom, and Ryan is always at the top of the list of teachers commenting about how well he does in class, how he’s a joy to have in class.
“He epitomizes what we always talk about – not just on the field but off the field.”
