Gerberry excels at Ball State

Sometimes, taking a different road can lead to a treasure.

Just ask Dan Gerberry, who was a two-way tackle for the Austintown Fitch football team in 2002 and 2003 under coach Neal Kopp — and never played center.

But when Gerberry accepted a football scholarship to Ball State University of the Mid-American Conference in 2004, he never knew that he was being recruited to play center.

In fact, he didn’t know that he was going to play center until 2005 after spending his first year as a redshirt. There was an opening at center, and Gerberry was asked to fill it.

“There was a fifth-year captain at center [in 2004] and when I came up [in 2005] they wanted me to play there. They gave me my chance and I ran with it,” said Gerberry, who didn’t know how to play the position.

“On the first day, they threw me in there and told me to snap the ball, and I told them, ‘I don’t even know how to do that.’ I was small and when they offered me the job I was 227 pounds. My size fit in. I was more shorter and not quite as a big.”

He now realizes with humor but also with gratitude that, “They recruited me for that position. They knew that I could move pretty well and was smaller.”

But it wasn’t an easy position to learn. In fact it was hard.

“The biggest challenge was snapping the ball, having to snap the ball in step and to someone [the quarterback] so close to you,” explained Gerberry. “At tackle, you have space to work with but at center a player is only inches away. It was over a year before I was really comfortable.”

Gerberry proves to be
durable football player

In his third straight year as Ball State’s starting center, Gerberry (6-3, 287) has proved that he was the right man for the job, even if he didn’t see it coming.

Because ever since being thrown into the center job three years ago, Gerberry has started every game for the Cardinals, and will be making his 25th straight start Saturday when his team plays at Eastern Michigan in a MAC game.

Ball State will be seeking to bounce back from a season-opening 14-13 loss to Miami (Ohio) last Saturday as the Cardinals aim for their first winning season since 1996.

“I didn’t event know,” admitted Gerberry regarding his upcoming 25th straight start at center. But he is glad that it will be happening and admitted it has been a tough challenge switching from tackle to center.

“It was real hard because when you move the ball six inches from a [defensive player] coming right at you, it is hard to adjust to snapping the ball and getting a hand up [to block] and almost doing it at the same time,” said Gerberry, who started all 11 games as a redshirt freshman and all 12 games as a sophomore, plus one game so far this year.

He said he also had to shake off injuries to keep his streak intact.

“I had few injuries last year. I tore a tendon in my finger and broke my hand, and last week I had my finger nail torn off and I missed a few plays, but they sewed the nail back on. They just taped it up and splintered it and let me go,” said Gerberry, who also has achieved another distinction at Ball State.

Gerberry also displays
strong leadership skills

He recently was named one of three captains of the team along with fifth-year senior defensive end Cortlan Booker and fifth-year senior strong safety Chris Allen. The captains were selected by their teammates and announced by coach Brady Hoke, who is in his fifth season.

Gerberry loves the honor and appreciates the confidence that his teammates has shown in him.

“Being team captain is a huge honor and huge responsibility that you can’t take lightly,” Gerberry said. “You can be elected captain, but leadership doesn’t come from the title. It is one of the best things that happened to me. But the leadership has to be there. I feel more of a responsibility, but I always felt a responsibility.”

In addition, the son of Ron and Kathy Gerberry also excels in the classroom as a physical education major with a 3.26 cumulative grade-point average, including a 3.44 last spring.

And as a freshman in 2004, Gerberry was named Ball State’s Bill Meitzler Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year.

Gerberry has been joined at Ball State by Sean Baker from Canfield High.

“The Baker kid from Canfield is here. He stayed with me over the summer. He was red-shirted,” explained Gerberry about Baker (6-1, 200], a freshman defensive back.

“He was going to play but he tore his shoulder in fall camp. He was a borderline as to whether he was going to play or not.”

XJohn Kovach covers college athletics for The Vindicator. Write him at kovach@vindy.com.