Football's only the beginning for rookie VT trainer

“I grew up around football,” says Drew Marrs, rookie athletic trainer for the Virginia Tech Hokie’s football team. His dad, Rick, played defense in high school and college and was an assistant for many years under legendary coach Glynn Carlock at Graham High School in Bluefield. His uncle Doug is the G-Men’s assistant head football coach.

When time came for Drew to strap on a helmet, he declined. That’s because he discovered another athletic role: G-Men trainer and equipment manager. That decision changed his life.

“When I was in high school, people asked, ‘Why don’t you play football?’ I answered them with, ‘Why?’ ”

They always mentioned exercise and life lessons that discipline and teamwork would teach him. “I got all of those by being a trainer and taking care of the equipment,” he says.

Now that he’s rubbing elbows with celebrities in the athletic world, no one asks him that question anymore. “If I had played football, I wouldn’t be at Tech now,” he says. “These players are on another level of athleticism.” But few have the training experience that he gained at GHS.

Mike Goforth, Virginia Tech's director of athletic training and Bluefield native, says, “When I got his resume I was blown away at all he has accomplished in such a short time.” According to Goforth, separating Drew from others competing for the athletic trainer’s job was “his experience working in and around athletics,” his above average professionalism, “and frankly, the fact that he comes from such a good family and high school. I felt we could very easily teach him about this job and the field of sports medicine to go along with his natural ability to be a leader.”

Drew hasn’t always been a Hokie, though, and VT wasn’t his first choice. That spot belonged to the University of Virginia. Drew and UVa courted each other for three years, as he filled out forms, wrote letters and essays, and worked at a UVa football practice. Fate had other plans for him.

“On April 3rd, 2004, I became a diehard Hokie,” he says, with the fervor of someone who has just accepted Jesus as his savior.

That’s the day he learned that he wouldn’t be going to UVa. As it happened, he was in Charlottesville competing in a high school forensics contest when the letter arrived, says his mother Karen. Knowing how important that letter was to their son, she and her husband drove to Charlottesville to deliver it to him.

Shaking off the disappointment, Drew let that door close behind him and took the one that opened to VT where a trainer’s position and a major in political science were waiting.

“I’m where I’m meant to be. I learned from the recruiting experience that it’s not always the obvious choice that is the right one,” says the young man whose smile becomes as wide as Worsham Field when he talks about the Hokies. “They treat me great,” is his refrain.

“Look at my outfit,” he says, pointing to his Chicago maroon and burnt orange warm-up suit. “They gave me everything I’m wearing.” It’s not special treatment, he says, just equal.

“That relates to our theme,” he says, “ ‘Team United.’ ” Opening his jacket, he shows me his T-shirt, emblazoned with a circle, inscribed with the words “Communicate, Trust, Responsibility, Caring, and Respect.”

He believes in the power of those words.

“Communication,” he says. “ That helped me to get this job.” He attributes his ability to talk to anybody to the YMCA Youth and Government program, which he participated in at Graham. Excelling in that program, he was elected Youth Governor of Virginia, a leadership role that gave him lots of reps in communicating as he traveled around the state, speaking before large groups of people, meeting politicians and observing the political process unfold in Richmond and Washington.

“I can find something to talk about with everyone,” he says. “When I met Sean Glennon [freshman back-up quarterback], he told me he was from Westfield High School. I know where that is, I said.” That conversation led to a friendship.

Goforth says that Drew “is part of a great environment that allows everyone to be themselves and there is truly a family atmosphere in this program. Drew fits right in and is a contributing member.”

Drew verifies this when he tells of competition at football practice. Except this competition is not to see who starts on Saturday, but to see who knows the baboon’s name in “The Lion King.”

“We came up with everything,” he says. Someone said it was Mowgli from “The Jungle Book.” Someone guessed “Pumbaa.” Finally, Jesse Allen, No. 37, said “Rafiki.” He won that contest, Drew said with a laugh.

His trainer’s job keeps him busy, though. He is “like a sponge,” Goforth says. “He soaks everything up and usually only has to be told once how to do something. He also has an uncanny ability to communicate the right things at the right times. This is testimony to his maturity.”

Drew says that his job during practice is to take care of casualties. His first one was Eddie Royal, freshman receiver, who slid on the artificial turf, burning his arm. “I wear a medical pack during practice. It’s my responsibility to treat the wounds and get the player ready to get back on the field.”

On game day, you can find Drew on the sidelines, towel slung over one shoulder, Gatorade in hand, waiting for a timeout so that he can hydrate the players. It’s different from high school, says Drew, who performed multiple tasks during Graham games. The responsibilities are more focused at VT, he says, where it’s a team effort by a network of people who orchestrate every detail.

To get more reps as a trainer, Drew is on the sidelines at Graham games that don’t conflict with VT's. That’s where he was last Saturday evening after the Hokies defeated Duke in their first Atlantic Coast Conference game. He doesn’t see this as extra work, though. He’s loving life, says his mother.

And his mentors and coaches. He recognizes the role that Coach Carlock played in his life, helping him in his athletic endeavors and making his high school experience enjoyable. To him, Goforth is the best boss in the world, while Billy Hite, VT associate head coach, is a role model in his actions and his dress. “He’s been at Tech a long time,” says Drew. “When Coach Hite wears a sweatshirt to practice, I wear one.”

Then there’s head coach, Frank Beamer. “I’m taking two jars of apple butter to him,” says Drew. “My grandma’s apple butter is going to become famous!”