Football Gameday Feature - Remembering G - Troy University Athletics

This story appeared in the Troy vs. Duke edition of Gameday; Troy's football game program

Heartbreaking. Tears. Shocked. Tragedy. Devastating. Those very simple words carry the weight of the Troy football program in regards to the loss of one of their own.

The loss of any life is a tragic event. The loss of a life that is cut down too short is a painful scar that people will carry with them forever. The Trojan Nation is carrying those scars after Jadarius Garner was killed in the early hours of Jan. 2, 2014, at the age of 20.

Known to those around the Troy football program as simply G, defensive end Jadarius Garner was much more than a football player. Jadarius was much more than a teammate. Jadarius was much more than a number on a roster. Jadarius was truly a special young man who had a life-changing influence on everyone he met.

"I think about G every day. Every morning I wake up. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about G," redshirt-freshman defensive end Jamal Stadom said. "His personality made him so special. When you were sad he was going to make you laugh. When you didn't want to laugh, he was still going to make you laugh. He was a good person to be around."

"He was a great person," senior linebacker Mark Wilson said. "He was one of those guys who was always excited whenever he came to the fieldhouse. He was always singing, up tempo and just a happy person."

Garner came to Troy in 2011 after one season at Jones County Community College. He didn't see the field during his first season with the Trojans and he wasn't about to let that happen in 2012.

"He was turning into a really good football player and was a joy to be around," defensive line coach Randy Butler said. "I've been doing this a long time and there are only a couple of guys who really enjoyed practice and he was one of them."

At the surprise of nobody who knew him, Garner was firmly in the mix for playing time as a redshirt-sophomore in 2012. His desire and determination to be on the field in a Troy uniform was rewarded on Sept. 9, 2013, when he was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week. Garner racked up six tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss and a pair of forced fumbles in Troy's blowout victory over Savannah State to earn the league's weekly honor.

"He just wanted to play," Stadom said. "It didn't matter where it was. He wanted to be on the field to make his parents happy and to make his grandmother happy."

Garner's grandmother, Granny Graves, had a big influence on his life and was always a topic of conversation between Stadom and Garner. Granny Graves and the rest of his family penned a letter to his team in his voice. Among the powerful words that were shared, this line stood out among the rest.

"Although I will not be on the field with you this year, I will be in your hearts and watching from my bleachers in the sky. So go hard my brothers, just as if I were there."

He will be there – in memory and in tribute. The Trojans will wear a special decal on the back of their helmets, his No. 55 jersey will be on the sideline for each and every game and he will be in the minds of all the Trojans.

"I'm always going to play with G in my heart," Stadom said. "My first sack, if I'm fortunate to get one this year, will be for G. I'm going to point to the sky to let him know that one was for him."

"I've dedicated my whole season to him," Wilson said. "The way I practice and the way I play both go out to him and his family. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him. His passing has made me stronger, it has made me a better leader and a better player because it has given a lot more meaning to this team and my senior year."

Now in her 16th year as the football secretary, Judy Morgan has seen thousands of players walk past her desk. There haven't been too many like Jadarius.

"As I got to know him, I realized that he was a very kind person that wanted to love people and have people love him."

The legacy of Jadarius Garner will not be that of a football player. His legacy will be that of Jadarius Garner the person.

Troy University Athletics

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