Tyler Willis '24 Recruiting Profile

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”  I didn’t realize the importance of this quote spoken by Tony Robbins, until I had gone through two major operations before my 18th birthday.  I was driven to achieve my hopes and dreams as a football player, and the way to do that was to not only set goals, but believe in them.  

My first surgery was to fix a shoulder injury my freshman year, and my second surgery was to repair damage to my knee my junior year.  From the moment I became a Katy High School football player I was driven to beat the standing weight lifting records.  After these injuries occurred I questioned if this achievement would ever be possible.  However, I had a goal and I was determined to achieve it - making the invisible become visible.    

I still remember after the first surgery, waking up and realizing that I had no idea where I was.  After reality hit, my first thoughts were that my goals were now farther away than ever before and I was doubting if they were even still possible.  In the days to come I had to work hard to walk by myself again, and physical therapy became part of my regular routine.  When I was finally able to return to school and football it seemed all hope was lost.  That was, until I walked into the training room for the first time.  I realized I could allow my injury to be an excuse that I could lean on for the rest of my life, or I could fight through it, persevere and make a comeback.

 After three months of physical therapy I was back.  I felt stronger than ever before and I was ready to take on the world.  My first day back was what we call “testing day” within the program.  After the long and harsh months of physical therapy, I was able to lift 205 pounds on power clean, 250 pounds on bench and 455 pounds on squat.  Even though I gave it my best effort, I was still hundreds of pounds away from the school records that I had so desperately wanted to break.

It didn’t stop me from holding tight to the invisible as I continued to strive for my goal in breaking the records.  I only had two off-seasons left to accomplish this feat so I put my head down and got to work. During the off-season my sophomore year I had improved dramatically with a 310 pound power clean lift, 300 pound bench press and a 500 pound squat.  This improvement brought me a lot closer to the school records for power clean and squat.  It was at this moment that I came to the realization that I probably would not be able to set a new school record for the bench press. While this thought lingered in my mind I knew deep down that if I continued to push myself I could break all three records. 

As I entered the off-season I cleared my mind of all roadblocks, continued to believe in myself and worked even harder to achieve my goals. After hours and hours of sweat and determination, I broke the first school record for power clean with a lift of 335 pounds. One down so I turned my focus to the next one –breaking the school record for squat. The old record was 565 pounds and I was so pumped when I set the new record with a 575 pound lift. The last hurdle to jump was to break the record for the bench press. I had never felt so good about something I had accomplished.   It took years of work and overcoming some of the biggest obstacles an athlete could face.  It also took believing in myself and the goals I had set before me.  I had the mindset that nothing was impossible.

          I had achieved my goal and was ready to set new ones.  It was not long after setting the new records that spring football began. This was when I faced my next huge setback - my second major injury.  I remember getting hit in the knee and knowing something did not feel right. Off to the doctor I went, and it was then that my mom and I were informed that I had suffered a torn meniscus.  As doctors evaluated the x-rays and MRI they let us know that this was actually an old injury and that I had torn it a long time ago. This meant that unknowingly, I had actually broken not one but two school weightlifting records while having a major injury. 

     After my surgery to repair the meniscus I had a lot of time to think about how I would decide to handle this hurdle going into my senior year.  I decided that if I had accomplished the unthinkable the first time, I could do it one more time.  I knew in my heart that I would come back stronger and better than ever. As strange as it may sound I am nothing but grateful for the opportunities I was granted because of these injuries, and the journey they had taken me on. While most would have viewed these hardships as an end to their dreams, I chose to develop the mindset of a champion and use these obstacles to push myself to greater heights. I chose to set my goals high and believe that the invisible could become the visible.

My college goals and aspirations are to continue to grow and challenge myself both mentally and physically.  I value family and friendship and hope to find a good culture at a university that will align with these aspirations and values resulting in a win win situation.