Sickels Ranked Among Top 50 High School Football Players in Nation

After 23 offers from prestigious and powerhouse football colleges like Alabama, Boston College, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Stanford, and Notre Dame, to name a few, Red Bank resident and Junior, has decided to play for Penn State after his high school graduation in 2013. Garrett is ranked as the top 50th overall high school football player in the nation, and second in the nation for his position of weak-side defensive end. That is based on a junior year with stats including 76 tackles and 10 sacks. By the springtime in his sophomore year, the phones were ringing off the hook and he began to receive scholarship offers to play college football. 

Garrett first visited Penn State during the summer of his sophomore year. He had a very good feeling about the university then, which was only solidified with his most recent personal meetings this winter with the players and coaches. 

“I already felt like part of the family there,” he states, adding, “I liked that they (the coaching staff) really care about you as a person, both academically as well as athletically.” 

Probably one of the deciding factors to attend Penn State was the strong academic opportunities in a major that could lead to a business or law career in the athletic industry. Garrett is a strong, straight honor roll student, and is enrolled in RBR’s Academy  of Humanities and Social Sciences. He is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the high school’s Student to Student Peer Leaders. He also volunteers his time and talents tutoring elementary and middle school children in his community. 

His principal, Risa Clay states of her star student, “Garrett is an amazing young man. It is not often that you find a student that is not only a gifted athlete but also has a wonderful personality and a solid character. He is a positive leader at RBR in every sense of the word. Garrett is also a strong student and a role model for his peers.” 

Athletics, became a dominate force in Garrett’s life at an early age. He played Pop Warner football from the age of five, with the exception of his eighth grade year, when he exceeded the organization’s size limit. RBR was only to happy to scoop up this 6’ 4”, 240 pound powerful defensive end who served as captain of RBR’s 2009 undefeated freshman team.  (He also played Lacrosse for his first two years of high school until football training became a year-round activity.) He garnered the titles of high school player of the week, several times, was twice selected for All  Shore and All Group II as well as the Shore Sports Fab 44. He was particularly excited to be selected as All American and will play in the Army All American Game next January.

RBR Coach Nick Giglio remarks that it has been a pleasure to coach Garrett adding, “He works hard every day during the season and during the off-season. 
He is very determined to be the best football player he can be, but in the same breath he wants to be part of the best RBR football team possible.  He is a team orientated player, who makes his teammates better.  The coaching staff
believes that he has still a few more notches to go as a player.  It is our job to make sure that he does that.  I am confident we will see that next step this season on the field.”

Football has always been Garrett’s passion and he feels so fortunate to have grown up playing something he loves so much. He also appreciates the opportunities football has afforded him from the scholarship benefit to his family, to the possible career choices in his future. 

He states, “My dream is to play football professionally. And Coach Johnson at Penn State is a fabulous position coach for me. He has told me that if I really keep to what I am doing, the sky is the limit.  For now I am going to concentrate on staying on the right path and becoming a better football player.” “Most importantly, he adds,  “I want to thank my Mom and Dad for making me the person I am today.” 

Number 50 in the nation, RBR’ #90, has yet another season to improve upon that amazing rank.