The NFL is filled with unique stories on how each player reached the plateau of competing on the biggest stage in the sport. For many, those stories usually follow the traditional transition of Pop Warner, high school, D-1 college before they are drafted but for Air Force Staff Sgt. Geremy Satcher, his story is one of those that would be unlike any other.
Today, as an U.S. Air Force veteran, Satcher is a meteorologist and data analyst at the Air Force Technical Applications Center. But growing up in Blanchard, LA, his passion was sports, all types, but football especially.
Satcher’s family relocated to Arizona while he was in high school. But his athletic career was forced to be put on hold during his senior year after his mom was diagnosed with cancer. On his first day at Arizona State University, his mother passed away. Following her death, Satcher would leave school after a few semesters and return to Louisiana.
While back home, and with no sports activities to occupy his days, he began sensing that he was quickly headed down a path he didn’t want to be a part of. He enlisted in the Air Force — and also began training again, this time in both powerlifting and bodybuilding. in which, competing as a natural, he set various records.
Now 11 years in the Air Force, and with all the success and accolades he’s garnered, there’s still unfinished business continuing to pull at him —football, a sport which he hadn’t played since his junior year of high school.
Through the service’s WEAR (We Are All Recruiters) Program, which Satcher describes as a blessing, he was allowed to go train and get up to speed with his technique and conditioning. In working as his own agent, he has already gotten on the radar of a few NFL teams this year. In his own words, he explains what led him to pursue this unconventional journey and how it’s only a matter of when and not if he achieves his goal.
I feel like there’s always some type of calling at different points in your life. For me, I think I needed to gain maturity. Prior to the military, I wasn’t very mature, and I needed to build myself up physically and mentally to hold myself to a higher standard. I felt like football was the perfect transition for me because all those years of bodybuilding — even with training for longevity — my body was just tired of competing in shows and putting myself through those rigorous diets. I needed something just as extraneous and mind-challenging as bodybuilding. I wanted to maximize my genetics by doing something other than bodybuilding. I’m a man of faith, so I prayed about what to do since I was taking a break from competing.
My calling came in 2018. I went to the Pro Bowl in Orlando. I had been doing very well in bodybuilding and had no intentions of stopping. I was about 230 pounds and I’m looking at these NFL guys and I thought they’d be way bigger than me. No disrespect to them because they do some incredible training, but I never saw myself the way other people saw me until being up close to those players. I told my friends that I wanted to play football.
I realized when something is meant for you, it doesn’t come as being difficult. It’s challenging, but you’re just naturally good at whatever it is. Football became that for me. I get on the field and I forgot I hadn’t played in a number of years.
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Courtesy of Geremy Satcher
The process
Later in 2018, USAA had a deal in which they invite military personnel to come out and watch a training camp. This one was for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What they did is they wanted to make it a contest, and they invited about five people from each base. We had a combine-style competition. The only rule was we couldn’t wear cleats because of the turf. I went up there in running shoes and I’m doing the 40-yard dash. I hadn’t done one since high school. I had a false start and I still ended up making a 4.65 in running shoes. I went to do the vertical leap test and they had the bar as high as they felt people would be able to get. I was the only one that cleared it to where I had to slap the bars on my way back down. The entire room freaked out. After that, I felt that I was onto something.
I basically tried out the entire year for all the different Canadian Football League teams. I would go try out with the objective being to ask the coaches what they thought and what I needed to work on. It started with them saying a few things until it just got to one thing, and it was getting my feet faster.
One of my closest friends in football gave me a website to check out and it was for the Spring League. I signed up, sent my reel out, and I was denied the first time. I kept working at my craft, and I sent another video out, and they accepted me last October. It was one of those opportunities where it’s a, maybe, we’ll let you… I told the military what was happening, and through the WEAR Program, I was granted my leave. I drove from Florida to San Antonio. The Spring League Fall Showcase is just three days, and I knew I had to make a name for myself.
I did just that. I had everyone excited.
I ended up getting picked up by the Conquerors, but COVID started getting heavy again. The legendary Jerry Glanville was my coach, and one day he pulled me to the side. He told me I reminded him of Earl Campbell. That became a huge driving force for me. I had my pro debut in November on Fox Sports One. My first play out there, I ran down the field and cracked a dude something nasty. After the game, they told me they were going to put me on offense for a power running attack. Later that night, some kid decided he wanted to go out, and he caught COVID and brought it back to the host hotel, and a lot of people got it. They had to cancel the rest of the season.
I stayed in touch with the coaches, and they invited me back in April. They ended up telling us that they had to cut any player that had not been in the NFL already because they were supposed to have more notable players. They told me to hang tight and I ended up coming out of pocket for a month and a half to stay there. I ended up meeting a guy named David Walker, who was the former running back coach for the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions. Through his coaching, he changed the way I saw football. I did that in less than two months, and it was the best training I’ve ever had in my life.
I came back in June, got me another trainer to get my hips moving a bit better. I know I can play at the NFL level because all the guys in the Spring League had already been in the NFL at some point and I was shaking, baking, and running people over.
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Courtesy of Geremy Satcher
Dedication
I ended up turning my entire house into a training facility. One of the bedrooms is a full-service gym. I bought a JUGS machine and built a cage in my backyard so I can use the JUGS to work on my receiving. I turned my garage into an aerobic studio. My entire hallway is an area for the JUGS machine in case it’s raining. One of my other rooms is a recovery room so that if I do get injured, I can aid in my recovery. The way I see it is I don’t have all those miles on me. Most players, when they come in, they’re about 22 years old and they’ve been playing tackle football since they were eight. I’m like a 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS with 10 miles on it.
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Courtesy of Geremy Satcher
Keep your circle small
I first started realizing I needed to cut ties with people when I started focusing on my own verbiage. The tongue is the most powerful tool in life. I changed my verbiage to stop saying if, maybe, possibly to will and am. I went about shortening my circle the nice way. I couldn’t go out because I had studying to do and the question would always be, studying what? I would say football, and it was, what are you studying that for? I started dialing back the amount of time I was going out with people. When I would post things on Facebook, I would have people approach me and ask, “How’s football going?” with a little snicker to their tone. I cut almost everyone off, friends and family. It gave me time to be by myself and gave me time to evaluate everyone around me. I cut my circle down to about five people that I chat with on a regular basis. I’m quick to correct someone if I hear, “If you make it.” There is a saying that goes if you have a problem with your life, there might be someone in your life that’s causing the problem.
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Courtesy of Geremy Satcher
Don’t ever stop
It’s something that everyone must battle with in anything they want to do in their life. When you stop, it leads to regrets later in life. When you’re working on something that you feel is the best thing for you, you can’t rely on other people. I can’t tell you how many no’s I’ve heard. As far as I’m concerned, I can play. I know what I want to do and what I’m going to do. You must be your biggest critic and supporter. Yeah, you’ll get some praises on social but how far is that going to take you? When I’m on the field, there’s no one helping me at that point. The question to ask anyone when they’re trying to accomplish something is what’s pushing you? What’s your drive?
Another thing I like to tell people is that behind every setback is an even greater comeback. We all think that everything is on a time crunch. There will be people who say they have to have their Masters in a certain number of years. Sometimes, life doesn’t go the same direction you expect it to, but it goes in a direction that can benefit you long term.
