Gazing at the heavens
Gonzales linebacker signs with Blinn College, hopes to become astrophysicist
GONZALES — In more ways than one, Gonzales senior linebacker Jared “JT” Esparza will be gazing at the heavens after officially signing with Blinn College to play football.
Esparza signed his offer sheet last Thursday at Two Rivers Bible Church to not only continue his football career but also forge a path towards majoring in astrophysics.
College signings usually take place at a gym or at the weight room. But Esparza wanted to express his faith in God during one of the most important days of his young life.
“This is big for me,” Esparza said. “To be honest with you, I didn’t have God in my life. I didn’t put Him first freshman, sophomore, junior year. I just started coming to church this year and I started to sit down and talk to God this past year. I feel like it’s helped me a lot, reach goals I thought I never could have made. This offer, it’s been such a blessing.”
Former Gonzales athletic director Kodi Crane spoke highly of Esparza, touting his work ethic and dedication to the program as reasons for his success.
“He was a good junior high football player because he was bigger and better, more physical at that age than everybody else and no matter what he did, he would have been a good high school football player” Crane said, “but with his work ethic, with his dedication, with his leadership, and what he did was he did everything that was asked of him every single time. He did not look for a shortcut, he did not look for a way out, he did everything.”
This season, Esparza was named defensive MVP of District 15-4ADI, an impressive feat especially with his move to linebacker.
“This year we moved him to linebacker and for the first five games it wasn’t great,” Crane admitted. “It was average at best.”
Crane recalled that it was Esparza’s commitment to excellence, with a little bit of playoff “ridicule” by Gonzales defensive coordinator Patrick Walker that turned an “average at best” season into an MVP one.
“[Esparza] turned out to be outstanding, one of the best linebackers I ever coached,” Crane said.
The future Blinn College pirate considered Walker a big factor in his success this year.
“Coach Walker was one of the biggest factors that pushed me,” Esparza explained. “Every day workouts, he would be the one to come out and unlock the gym for me to come help me work out whenever it was closed. He gave me the keys one day, he was just a motivator the whole way through. He helped really inspire me.”
As for academics, Esparza was always fascinated with stars.
“I want to become an astrophysicist,” he announced. “Looking up at the stars really amazes me. You can find something you’ve never found before.”
It seems Esparza was born to gaze at the heavens above. And Crane believes the senior Apache could do just that.
“A while ago I was asked, ‘what do you think his future will be like playing football?’” Crane said. “Well with his dedication, with his commitment, I don’t care what it is, whether it’s playing football at Blinn or being a nuclear physicist, with that passion and that dedication and that effort, [Esparza’s] going to be successful in whatever path [he] chooses.”
When asked on what kind of advice Esparza would give to younger athletes hoping to get to where he is, Esparza said “never lose sign of your dreams.”
“There’s going to be adversity in your life,” he said, “out of football, in football, you can get injured, a family member could get hurt, anything, but you always have to have that one goal in mind and keep striving or it, and never lose sight of it.”
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