In my own words: Brock Sturges

Football is akin to a religion in Texas, and whether you think this reality or hyperbole, there is no denying the passion for the pigskin in the Lone Star state. On one of the biggest stages of high school football nationwide, Brock Sturges was nothing short of sensational in 2017.

Not only did the running back post a school record 2,161 rushing yards (to along with 30 total touchdowns) in his senior campaign, but he also led Allen High School to an undefeated season. The icing on the cake for Sturges was scoring three touchdowns and rushing for 176 yards in state’s 6A-1 Championship game, a 35-33 win over Lake Travis. To no one’s surprise, he was named the most valuable offensive player of that contest.

The incoming ASU freshman talked to us about his early days in the football-crazed state, how he dealt with the enormous expectations placed on him in his high school career and now as one of the most anticipated newcomers on this Sun Devil team.

“I always played baseball and basketball my whole life and then my dad finally let me play flag football in first grade. I was playing quarterback and in flag football, you just grab the ball and ran so I was basically playing running back. That was my first time being experienced with football and I’ve been in love with it ever since.

“My first-grade year I actually scored 47 touchdowns in eight games and then I took off about three years from football until fourth grade. My dad didn’t want me playing tackle football at that young of an age. In Texas, they play tackle football at almost two years old (laughs). They start real young and my dad wasn’t really going for it. That year (fourth grade), I scored 49 touchdowns in 10 games. That’s probably one of the most memorable things, just knowing that God gave me this talent and I’ve been able to use it from the get-go and just being blessed with the talent that I have and using it to the best of my abilities.

“Basketball was my first love. I always loved basketball but then breaking it down, seeing my dad, he’s not the tallest guy. I just kinda started breaking it down, looking at different things and football kind of came naturally to me. At that age, my dad pushed me but he wasn’t pushing me that hard and it all came just natural and (I thought) if this comes natural, this is what I need to do and I went with it basically.

“Football is almost like a religion in Texas. I have a couple friends who play soccer, they talked about how in England and other countries it’s literally religion, and I think here in Texas football is the same deal. If you grow up in Texas, you’re probably gonna play football. That’s just how it is. It establishes you from the jump. There’s that mindset that I’m going to go out and get it, use that as that toughness and teamwork and camaraderie. You learn that real quick and that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from Texas football.

“I felt the football hype even in the fourth grade. Everywhere I went it was like, ‘Hey you play for this team in Beaumont.’ I’d say, ‘Yeah.’ They’d say, ‘You wore number 28,’ because Adrian Peterson was my favorite player so I wore 28 in the fourth grade for him. Just going around town, everybody kinda knows your name. That hype starts real young. Even my eighth-grade highlight had, which isn’t a crazy number, 6,000 views just going off YouTube. That hype starts young and they start covering you real quick here.

“I played my first two years of high school at Katy Seven Lakes. My dad’s job got moved out from Houston here to the Dallas area so I played my last two years at Allen. The football hype in Dallas was the same as Houston but different at the same time. I feel like in you have a lot of athletes. There are athletes everywhere you go. There are athletes in Houston too, don’t get me wrong. But out here it’s just a different level. I remember the first time I came to a playoff game out here I went to Cedar Hill vs. South Lake and you see the mentality of those kids: Cedar Hill was losing by two touchdowns with five minutes left in the fourth quarter and you just never saw the quit in them. They just had that mentality that, ‘We’re going to come back from this.’ You could just see it in their face. See how they were reacting. There was no panic. It was different. I don’t know how to even explain it. It’s good football in both areas for sure.

“Allen High School honestly is at another level. It’s like a university. People out here, we call it ‘Allen U’ because we won state in football, basketball, and wrestling. We might be joking around but that’s almost literal. We have 6,000 students at our school. Our stadium seats 18,000 I want to say but it holds 24,000. You get a good crowd every game you come to. The home crowd for sure is sold out, just depending on who you’re playing against. When we played Cedar Hill it was sold out. It’s just a religion. Whenever you score, whenever you kick off, just the atmosphere. Like the first kickoff of the game is the ‘Allen Eagles. Fight. Fight. Fight,’ in the whole stadium. It’s just loud. It’s a crazy atmosphere.

“Moving here from Katy Seven Lakes, we were an upcoming program and we had a good couple years. Then moving to Allen, I saw the atmosphere when I played against teams like the Katy Tigers – they were in our district – seeing that atmosphere and seeing that big red and seeing that big fan base. Even moving to Allen, you saw a difference. It’s just a family feel. On Friday nights, the whole city is almost shut down. Everyone is at the stadium. Being in Allen, this little community having one high school, the whole city is for you. Being in a town like Katy, you have nine different high schools so it’s separated but Allen is one city, one community. We all do it for each other and it was just a good experience to have. I really enjoyed it.

“Playing at Allen I don’t really even think about why I wasn’t recruited more early in high school. I’m blessed to be in the position I’m in. The schools that didn’t take chances on me, that’s their decision. I’m not mad at them. They have to do what’s best for them, and what they feel is best for their team. Luckily I was able to get to Arizona State and I fell in love with it when I went to visit.

“My relationship with (ASU running backs) coach (John) Simon. That’s probably the biggest thing for me. Even when Coach Graham was fired, I always told Coach Simon he’s my guy. I know he will lead me to the right place. I know he will lead me as a man, and as a Christian. He’s from Louisiana like both my parents, so there’s a lot of similarities that they have in their raising style and his own kids. I see it the same way as my dad raised me. I just knew that if I went to Arizona State he would pick up where my dad left off. That was probably the biggest thing for me, just having somebody that I knew I could go talk to not only on a personal level but knowing that he can help me get to my goals of being in the NFL. He was a running back in the league. He knows what it takes to get there. He knows the work, he knows the preparation it takes and that was a big part for me because that is my goal. I just know that he will push me to be the best I can be.

He’s going to do what’s best for you and that’s somebody that you know you can always trust.

“A lot of schools recruited me after my senior year (and after he was committed to Arizona State). It was one of those things were, it was all about coach Simon for me. I always told myself that he’s a man of my word. If I say I’m committed to you, I’m committed to you. I’m not going to back out of it, no matter the circumstance. I don’t care if Alabama came knocking on the door. I committed to Arizona State. The coaches I committed to, well my main coach and one of the main reasons I committed, he’s still there. (Those other schools) came knocking after. A couple schools that offered me after, they might have a bigger name than Arizona State. But they just did that for a reason, because they didn’t get somebody they wanted. ASU wanted me from the jump. They showed me they wanted me, they set out the plan for me. They told me how they wanted to use me. You know talent when you see it and (ASU) saw it from the jump. That really impressed me and I loved that about ASU.

“Even after the day I signed with Arizona State, I had four coaches text me saying, ‘Hey, did you sign already because we want to get you on campus and we want to offer you.’ And I said, ‘Yeah I signed.’ It was best for me to sign in December and a relief to be like, ‘I’m done with it. There’s nothing else that can be said. I’m signed. I’m going to Arizona State for sure.’ I was able to finish out that season, finish out that playoff run and I think that really helped me stay focused. I wasn’t having to worry about other coaches calling me or texting me or trying to persuade me to come to this school. It was just smooth sailing. I was able to focus on school, focus on football, focus on practice, focus in the weight room and get ready for state, get ready for Arizona State and the future.

“Jonathan Williams previously held the (school) rushing record and he came out to the school in the preseason and I told him, ‘My goal is to win a state championship,’ because that’s something he didn’t do. He didn’t win a state championship when he broke the record. So I told him, ‘My first goal is to win a state championship,’ but I told him I was going to get his record. He was like, ‘Nah, you’re not going to do that.’ It was one of those things that pushed me and it made me want to do more for my team and it also pushed me individually that I had a goal I wanted to reach, individually and as a team. It helped me in the weight room and helped me be a better leader because I knew the main goal was a state championship but I was also working toward my personal goal. I have high expectations for myself. I’m my biggest critic. I’ll beat myself up – I know I shouldn’t do that – but I don’t like to fail. That’s one of my biggest fears. I don’t like to fail at all. That’s one of the things that pushed me was that fear of failure. I just keep pushing.

“It’s very exciting coming to Arizona State (with) Trelon Smith and Eno Benjamin. I know Trelon, I know Eno well. They’re good people and I know we are going to push each other in the backfield but it was big for me to be able to come in and play right away. My goal being going to the NFL, I want to get it as quick as I can and I want to win and I want to do the best I can to help the team. If that’s not playing this year and getting ready for the next year, that’s fine. I’m not going to pout, complain, try to talk to coaches to get playing time. I’m going to go handle my business. With Eno and Trelon being there, I know it’s going to be tough getting on the field because they have very special assets and very special skill sets. But I’m looking forward to the experience and being able to play along (with) those guys as well.

“I’m approaching Arizona State the same way as when I moved to Allen. When I moved to Allen, we had a four-star running back here, Kirby Bennett. He was great for Allen his sophomore year. I was coming off my sophomore year at Katy Seven Lakes but I just came in and obviously, they had rumors going around, everybody knew that I was coming. People were always texting me, DM’ing me. People were like, ‘We already have this running back here. Why are you coming?’ I said, ‘I’m just going to come in, work hard, do what I’ve got to do to help the team win.’ I’m going to come (to ASU) with the same mindset. I’m going to work and let God take care of the rest.”

Note: Jack Harris contributed to this article