Rocker ready to rock after helping save a life

Since early August, Montana running back Stevie Rocker Jr. has been grinding through the dog days of summer with his Grizzly teammates, competing at full tilt though UM's notoriously physical fall camp. Practice after 90-degree practice, he didn't miss a beat.

You'd never know by watching him that just a few months ago he was lying in a Kansas City hospital bed with doctors drilling into his spine to extract bone marrow.

Shortly after the spring season had wrapped up, there Rocker was, under the knife with his last season of football eligibility hinging on a successful surgery. A situation no student-athlete would want to be in.

But for Rocker, the choice to be there was a no-brainer. The opportunity to give a six-year-old in Argentina with a rare bone disease a chance at a normal life was worth all the pain and all the risk.

In February, Rocker received a call from the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) informing him he had the power to help save a life as a match for a patient in need.

The opportunity came about as part of Grizzly football's annual drive to enroll members of the University of Montana community in the NMDP's "Get in the Game" registry. Like every other member of the team, Rocker had swabbed his cheek and became one of the over 1,000 people the Griz have enrolled in the program over the years.

A few blood tests later in May, he became one of six known Grizzly student-athletes and coaches selected to become a donor and was on a plane heading south to the KU Medical Center to help someone a half a world away he'd never even met.

"When I arrived, I didn't know why everybody said thank you to me so much, because I feel like it's such a simple thing. But then I talked to the coordinator and the people working there and they explained to me that you're not just giving to them something to feel better. You're really giving them life. You're giving them life so they can live," said Rocker.

"So, after I heard that I was like, yeah, this little bit of pain is nothing. I knew I'd be sore for a couple of weeks, but I'd do it anyway."

The process of donating bone marrow isn't an easy one. Many that match with NMDP patients never have to undergo such an invasive surgery to help save a life. In 2024 Grizzly football player Sloan McPherson gave stem cells via a blood transfusion. Fellow former Grizzly D-lineman Hank Nuce did the same in 2023, and running back coach Justin Green donated blood platelets in 2013.

Donating marrow is different, but not uncommon for Grizzly student-athletes either. Last year track star Brooke Stayner gave marrow to save the life of a 47-year-old woman with leukemia, and former UM receiver Ryan Burke donated in 2014 as well.

To do it, patients are put totally under by an anesthesiologist, an incision is made in the back, and doctors commence drilling into the bone to extract the life-giving marrow.

It's no walk in the medical park, even for a running back used to taking punishing hits.

"They drilled in there and told me it usually takes 30 minutes, but it took two hours because my bones were dense. They told my girlfriend, who was there with me, that I gave them a workout because my bones were so dense and they had to drill forever. I'm glad I was knocked out," laughed Rocker.

"There was definitely some pain. I described it to everybody as if I played a down of football and I had a run, and somebody hit me in my back without pads on. It felt like I had a big bruise."

Luckily for Rocker, the doctors, Griz fans, and most importantly the six-year-old boy in Argentina, the surgery was a success. While his teammates were enjoying early summer in Montana during two of the rare weeks football players have off, Rocker was recovering before starting the team's summer strength program.

He says he battled some soreness early on but is now back to full health as the team's starting kickoff returner and a key member of the tailback rotation.

The NMDP's donation rules stipulate Rocker won't get to know the identity of the recipient of his donation for over a year. But that's not important to him.

What is important is that someone, somewhere out there, needed a Hail Mary. And now thanks to Rocker, that kid will at least have a chance at experiencing all the beauty this world has to offer.

"A six-year-old hasn't even had a chance to live yet and experience life. So, I thought, there's no reason to cut it short because of a disease. If I can help make sure that kid is able to live a normal life, how he wants to live it, without doctors' appointments and procedures and living in a hospital, then I had to do it," Rocker said.

"It seems like it's nothing, but to him it's everything. So, knowing I did my part to give that kid a chance at life, whether it goes 100 percent or not, just giving him a chance at life is something he deserves and it's something there was no doubt I would do."

Started by former Villanova Head Football Coach Andy Talley and endorsed by the American Football Coaches Association, the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation's "Get in the Game" program works with hundreds of football and sports teams at colleges and universities across the nation each year to recruit new registry members.

The Grizzlies have a long history of supporting the NMDP registry. Head Coach Bobby Hauck was honored for Montana's involvement in the program in early 2024 at the prestigious Maxwell Football Club National Awards Gala with the "Get in the Game Impact Award."

The Get in the Game program raises awareness of the global need for marrow donors and invites students, faculty, staff, and the community to join the national donor registry. To sign up as a committed registry member, people need to meet age and health guidelines and be willing to donate to any patient in need.

Registration is quick and easy and involves completing a health history survey and giving a swab of cheek cells. Those of diverse racial or ethnic heritage are especially needed. Donors and patients who share the same ancestry are most likely to match.

About the NMDP

For people with life-threatening blood cancers - like leukemia and lymphoma - or other diseases, a cure exists. NMDP connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. People can contribute to the cure as a member of the NMDP Registry, financial contributor or volunteer. NMDP provides patients and their families one-on-one support, education, and guidance before, during and after transplant.

NMDP is a nonprofit organization that matches patients with donors, educates health care professionals and conducts research so more lives can be saved. To learn more about the cure, visit nmdp.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2. For more information on the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation visit talleybonemarrow.org.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Sloan McPherson

Stevie Rocker Jr.

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