Garrett Sickels developed a blue-collar work ethic growing up in Red Bank, N.J.
And then he honed it under the blue-and-white tutelage of Deoin Barnes.
The result is a super-cut 258-pounder with hands like Jackie Chan, the passion of J.J. Watt and the aw-shucks, eminently likable off-the-field personality of Opie Taylor.
Five people close to Sickels have helped him develop into the player – and person – he is today.
On the field, Sickels is slated to start at defensive end for the Nittany Lions, following a spring when he won the Jim O’Hora Award as the defensive player who showed the most improvement. After a redshirt season in 2013, Sickels appeared in all 13 games in 2014, playing on special teams and along the D-line, earning three tackles for a loss and two sacks.
Off the field, he’s the director of operations for Penn State’s Uplifting Athletes, an earnest student and a finance major with his sights on Wall Street.
Ask Sickels who he is, what sets him apart, and he doesn’t hesitate in his reply: “My work ethic. I’m a hard worker. When I put my mind to something I can do it.”
This is what that work ethic looks like:
“Going in and clocking out isn’t going to get it done,” he says. “You have to go in by yourself, put in the extra hours, go in and watch film, do some extra lifting, watch film on your iPad. We have cut-ups. You can watch tape from our games last year, from practice film – all of which you can learn from. It’s all the little things.”
And this where he gets it:
ONE: HIS FATHER
Much of the son’s success is because of the father’s example.
Red Bank is the lifelong home of Garrett’s pop, Stan Sickels. “Red Bank is a small town,” says Garrett. “It’s 1.8 miles square with 12,000 people in it. Nothing was ever given to you. I had great friends growing up. We’ve known each other since first grade; some of us could have gone to private school, but we stayed together.”
Stan has a big mustache and a bigger spot in his heart for Red Bank, located just a few miles from the Jersey Shore. With his wife Donna, Stan raised his family of one son and two daughters in the very same house in which he grew up with his own three brothers and a sister. He’s given himself to the community, and his son has noticed. Those ties don’t bind. They teach.
“My dad is the borough administrator for Red Bank,” says the younger Sickels. “He’s been a fireman for over 40 years. He’s been the chief, the captain, all that. He’s the hardest-working man I know.”
TWO: HIS MOTHER
Stan may be hard working, but his wife, Donna – well, she can a handful.
“My mom is the toughest woman you’d ever meet,” says Garrett. “She’s like the Lion King’s mom – don’t mess with her kids. In high school ball, I’d run onto the field and out of nowhere I’d hear this piercing voice from the crowd over the band playing, ‘Go get ’em, Garrett!’ My sisters and I would just laugh. She’s an amazing woman, I love her to death. She’s a teacher’s assistant at the old elementary school I went to.”
And if that’s not enough, Garrett’s sisters are in the act as well: “My sister Samantha acts like my mom and my other sister (Jessica) is my best friend.”
THREE: DEOIN BARNES
Sickels not only learned the tools of the defensive end trade from Barnes – who left Penn State after last season for the NFL – but how to never stop hammering as well.
“I’m a quick guy. I like to go after the quarterback a lot. I really study the game,” Sickels says. “Deoin really had a lot to do with that. He taught me a lot from the day I got here – the mental side of things, studying the game, watching film, doing the little things, doing the extra thing after practice. He taught me how to work.
“A lot of it is learning the right habits. Deoin was a guy who wouldn’t let anyone outwork him. He taught me what it takes to succeed at this level.”
FOUR: ANTHONY ZETTEL
Sickels’ stock-in-trade is quick hands, fast and sure movements, consistency. “It’s a matter of perfect stance, perfect hands, perfect hand placement, perfect technique,” he says.
Anthony Zettel, a fellow starter along Penn State’s defensive line, is a perfect mentor in one regard.
“A lot of it is learning new hand moves,” he says. “Zettel has really helped me with that. New MMA stuff. All that hand technique helps when you’re pass rushing and getting off blocks and disengaging. If you get really good at that it becomes second nature.”
FIVE: ANDREW NELSON
After Penn State’s practices were over last fall and it got so dark you could no longer see Mount Nittany in the distance, it was commonplace to spy Sickels across the field, engaging in some extra one-on-one work with offensive tackle Andrew Nelson. After practice sessions in the spring, Sickels spent a lot of time working with juco transfer Paris Palmer – “he looks like The Predator,” Sickels says.
“It definitely helps having an offensive lineman to work with,” says Sickels, and more often than not, Nelson — the Nittany Lions’ right offensive tackle and perhaps their best O-lineman – is Sickels’ favorite across-the-line foil.
For Nelson, the feeling is mutual.
“Sickels and I had a lot of one-on-ones this summer,” Nelson says. “That’s when you work on different stuff. You don’t have to worry about not doing your job correctly because you can work on different things and just get comfortable. That helps you grow as a player.
“Garrett is a very athletic guy. In high school, he was a linebacker-defensive endish kind of guy. He’s put on a lot of good, lean muscle since then. He’s a very strong guy. Garrett is a very consistent player.
“When Garrett hits you with a move,” says Nelson, who should know, “he’s going to hit it right every time. That’s kind of his thing.”
