The Wideouts: Tyler Lucas
9/18/2015 2:20:00 PM | Football
The life of a transfer student can be hard. They pack up their bags to leave home on what everyone has told them is the greatest adventure of their life. Then, for whatever reason, things don't work out and they have to rethink things.
The process of moving itself is hard for most students, who are packing up all their belongings for the first time in their lives. Tyler Lucas isn't most students.
The redshirt senior transferred to Montana and joined the deep ranks of the wide receiving corps on the Grizzly football team. He last attended Penn State. His road to Missoula has gone through more twists and turns than Homestake Pass in Montana.
Lucas was born in Panama City, Panama, the son of Rodney and Vanessa Lucas. His father served in the military, which resulted in Tyler's Central American birth.
The rest of his life was spent traveling from military base to military base. It started in Panama. He spent a majority of his life, 12 years, in England, but he also bounced between homes in Japan, Scotland and the United States.
And those are just the countries where he's lived. He also spent time in Greece, Spain, Belgium and Germany. The military life exposed him to all sorts of experiences most kids couldn't imagine.
"I had a one-of-a-kind experience compared to a lot of the guys I've known," Lucas said. "I've lived all over the world due to my father being in the military, so we got to travel a lot. I was very privileged to be able to experience new countries and cultures."
Lucas lived a very unique life overseas, which raises an interesting question. How did he become so talented at football? After all, the United State is the only country that puts much emphasis on the sport.
"I didn't really start legit playing football until junior year of high school," Lucas explains. "We had nine-man football in England, but it wasn't anything really competitive. We used to travel to different countries and play different teams on military bases, but it wasn't really competitive."
The Lucas family moved back to the United States at the end of Tyler's sophomore year of high school. Bellefonte, Pennsylvania became his new home, and he started playing varsity football as a junior. He transitioned to quarterback his senior year, and college programs started to notice him.
He decided to make the short trip to Penn State to continue his football career.
"I figured I would just commit to Penn State because it was right in my back yard," Lucas said. "It was 15 minutes away from home, so my family would be able to come see the games without having to travel too far."
He redshirted his freshman year, then joined the roster in 2012 as a redshirt freshman. He didn't receive much playing time as he battled an injury. He decided to transfer to De Anza Community College for his redshirt sophomore season.
The season saw Lucas play a lot of wide receiver, scoring 11 touchdowns and racking up 695 yards. He also played some quarterback for the Dons, and decided to transfer back to Penn State, where he was a backup quarterback.
Now, he is on the last turn of his incredible journey. The redshirt senior is at Montana for his final year of eligibility. He said the new coaching staff was a major reason he wanted to come to the Rocky Mountains.
"The coaching staff, everyone just seemed really genuine and really caring," Lucas said. "They were just very honest, and I wasn't used to that, so it was one of the big factors that played in me deciding to come here."
He brings with him more experience than many people get in a lifetime. He says prior teams don't compare to the chemistry and kindness of Montana's roster.
"I've been to a couple schools in my college career and a lot of people are stuck-up because they were very highly recruited out of high school, but here everyone is just level headed and really humble," Lucas said. "It's something that I really wanted to be a part of."
Lucas has yet to receive a pass for Montana, but he knows that his time will come. He has experience at the wide receiver and the new Grizzly offensive system incorporates a lot of different players.
"It hasn't been too much of an adjustment, I did play some receiver beforehand," Lucas said. "The system is awesome; it's a wide receiver and quarterbacks dream. You have chances to get the ball a lot and go really fast, so a lot of people are going to play. It's just the perfect fit, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity."
The process of moving itself is hard for most students, who are packing up all their belongings for the first time in their lives. Tyler Lucas isn't most students.
The redshirt senior transferred to Montana and joined the deep ranks of the wide receiving corps on the Grizzly football team. He last attended Penn State. His road to Missoula has gone through more twists and turns than Homestake Pass in Montana.
Lucas was born in Panama City, Panama, the son of Rodney and Vanessa Lucas. His father served in the military, which resulted in Tyler's Central American birth.
The rest of his life was spent traveling from military base to military base. It started in Panama. He spent a majority of his life, 12 years, in England, but he also bounced between homes in Japan, Scotland and the United States.
And those are just the countries where he's lived. He also spent time in Greece, Spain, Belgium and Germany. The military life exposed him to all sorts of experiences most kids couldn't imagine.
"I had a one-of-a-kind experience compared to a lot of the guys I've known," Lucas said. "I've lived all over the world due to my father being in the military, so we got to travel a lot. I was very privileged to be able to experience new countries and cultures."
Lucas lived a very unique life overseas, which raises an interesting question. How did he become so talented at football? After all, the United State is the only country that puts much emphasis on the sport.
"I didn't really start legit playing football until junior year of high school," Lucas explains. "We had nine-man football in England, but it wasn't anything really competitive. We used to travel to different countries and play different teams on military bases, but it wasn't really competitive."
The Lucas family moved back to the United States at the end of Tyler's sophomore year of high school. Bellefonte, Pennsylvania became his new home, and he started playing varsity football as a junior. He transitioned to quarterback his senior year, and college programs started to notice him.
He decided to make the short trip to Penn State to continue his football career.
"I figured I would just commit to Penn State because it was right in my back yard," Lucas said. "It was 15 minutes away from home, so my family would be able to come see the games without having to travel too far."
He redshirted his freshman year, then joined the roster in 2012 as a redshirt freshman. He didn't receive much playing time as he battled an injury. He decided to transfer to De Anza Community College for his redshirt sophomore season.
The season saw Lucas play a lot of wide receiver, scoring 11 touchdowns and racking up 695 yards. He also played some quarterback for the Dons, and decided to transfer back to Penn State, where he was a backup quarterback.
Now, he is on the last turn of his incredible journey. The redshirt senior is at Montana for his final year of eligibility. He said the new coaching staff was a major reason he wanted to come to the Rocky Mountains.
"The coaching staff, everyone just seemed really genuine and really caring," Lucas said. "They were just very honest, and I wasn't used to that, so it was one of the big factors that played in me deciding to come here."
He brings with him more experience than many people get in a lifetime. He says prior teams don't compare to the chemistry and kindness of Montana's roster.
"I've been to a couple schools in my college career and a lot of people are stuck-up because they were very highly recruited out of high school, but here everyone is just level headed and really humble," Lucas said. "It's something that I really wanted to be a part of."
Lucas has yet to receive a pass for Montana, but he knows that his time will come. He has experience at the wide receiver and the new Grizzly offensive system incorporates a lot of different players.
"It hasn't been too much of an adjustment, I did play some receiver beforehand," Lucas said. "The system is awesome; it's a wide receiver and quarterbacks dream. You have chances to get the ball a lot and go really fast, so a lot of people are going to play. It's just the perfect fit, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity."
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