Testimony from Blackmon’s best friend: ‘Everybody in Ardmore loves him’
Published: 4/23/2011 6:12 PM
Last Modified: 4/23/2011 6:12 PM
Among the hundreds who convened for Saturday’s Justin Blackmon Day event in Ardmore was Garrett Moore, Blackmon’s best friend since the eighth grade and former football teammate at Ardmore’s Plainview High School.
As a nose guard and center, Moore had small-college scholarship offers, “but I chose to go to OSU and watch (Blackmon). I hung up the cleats. . . . When Justin signed with OSU, that settled it for me.”
Moore, who probably knows Blackmon better than anyone outside of the Blackmon family, says the Oklahoma State All-American wide receiver’s DUI arrest in October was a one-time mistake. An anomaly.
“Justin has a lot of people around him, constantly reminding him to go in the right direction,” Moore said. “That’s the way he was brought up. His dad was a Marine. Definitely, Justin is a mature, grounded, humble person.”
During the period when Blackmon was deciding whether to stay at OSU or enter the NFL draft, “somebody asked Justin, ‘When you go to the NFL, what car will you buy first,’ ” Moore recalls. “Justin said, ‘I already have my Jeep.’ He acted like it was a dumb question. He likes his Jeep. That’s just his personality. No need for unnecessary things.”
Blackmon’s popularity within the Ardmore community becomes apparent when Blackmon Day organizers announce that a street leading to Plainview High School will be renamed Justin Blackmon Lane.
“It shows that everybody in Ardmore loves him,” Moore said.
Because of Blackmon’s 2010 achievements – school records for receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches, along with being voted the Big 12 offensive player of the year and the Biletnikoff Award winner – he may be a 2011 Heisman Trophy candidate.
“When I first got to OSU, I told people, ‘My best friend is a wide receiver on the football team,’ ” Moore said. “They’d say, ‘Oh, OK. Cool. Another wide receiver.’ I’d tell them that I really thought Justin would do big things. So, honestly, no, I’m not surprised by what we’re seeing from him.
“In high school, we went snowboarding in Colorado one time. He had never been on a snowboard in his life. After a few minutes of getting a lesson, we went to the top of the mountain. It was smooth sailing. The kid is good at everything.”
-- Bill Haisten
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
