Ryan Glassman
When Ryan Glassman, ’07, was preparing to graduate from Oswego (Ill.) High School, “I was planning on going to a bigger school, and not playing football.”
But Carthage football coach Tim Rucks thought Ryan could contribute to the Red Men, and persuaded him to visit the campus.
“I thought I might as well take a look,” Ryan recalls. “I really liked the atmosphere, I liked Coach Rucks, there were good guys on the team. It seemed like a good fit.”
Ryan and his coach are both glad he came to Carthage, where he started on three consecutive winning teams. As a sophomore, he was part of Carthage’s first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship team since 1973, a squad that reached the NCAA Division III quarterfinals. In 2006, the business administration and marketing major was an All-CCIW left tackle.
“Over a four-year period, he has gotten where he is because of a tremendous work ethic,” Rucks says. “He took it very seriously, and is a shining example of how good things happen to those who work hard.”
At Oswego, Ryan was an all-conference player on a team that reached the state playoff quarterfinals. His father had also played high school football, while his grandfather played at Northwestern University in the 1950s. But Rucks says Division I and Division II considered Ryan to be too small.
“He was a very good athlete, was very aggressive,” Rucks says. “I saw the potential for growth, and if that happened he’d be a tremendous player.”
Ryan says he cherishes friendships he has made at Carthage, and appreciates the College’s liberal arts curriculum.
“Here I have more of a broad education,” he says. “There were certain classes, history and religion, I never would have taken on my own that were actually pretty interesting. It’s a more complete education.”
Ryan intends to land a marketing or sales management job. He doesn’t see himself playing more football.
“I’ve talked to some semi-pro teams, but I’m getting kind of worn out,” he says. “I’m ready to move on to the next step.”
Ryan admits two disappointments in his Carthage career.
“I wish we would have won conference one more time,” he says. He also is disappointed the Red Men never beat archrival Augustana during his four years.
But disappointments are one thing, regrets are another.
“I wouldn’t change any decision I made,” Ryan says, adding a message for his teammates. “Thanks for something I’m never going to forget the rest of my life.”