By: Justin Boone
During training camp, Ryan Glasper had a problem.
It wasn’t learning a new defensive scheme that coordinator Denny Creehan brought in. It wasn’t adjusting to the safety position, which he hadn’t played since college. Glasper needed a haircut.
Now this may not seem like an issue for most people, especially someone like Glapser, who keeps his hair fairly short. Most citizens in TigerTown would simply make their way to the barber shop on campus, sit back and relax to the calming hum of the clippers. That’s where the problem arises. Glasper, a native of “Hard hittin” New Britton, a small town in Connecticut, has been getting his hair cut by the same barber since as long as he can remember.
“I call him Ben, his name is Benji, and he’s the only one who cuts my hair. I won’t let anyone else do it,” said Glasper with his smile. “Up here I have to cut it. In fact, training camp was the first time in three years that I let anyone cut my hair outside of Benji and me cutting it myself at my house.”
Confined to the dorms at McMaster, Glasper found a teammate with a hidden talent. Linebacker Markeith Knowlton, who currently leads the team in tackles, stepped up to help a fellow defender out.
“Markeith is actually very good at it,” Glasper remarked. “He’s been taking care of me a little bit up here this year.”
In the last few games, there is a trend developing as more and more Ticats have lost their helmets during plays. With the buckets falling off at an alarming rate, it makes it all that much more important for the players to put their best face, or in this case hairstyle, forward. Glasper doesn’t worry much about his helmet coming off, as he’s always had a bit of a flare for the reckless.
Never wanting to be stationary, Glasper did plenty to keep himself active including some more foolish things that he doesn’t recommend others try like climbing buildings and jumping roof to roof, or having back flip competitions with other kids in the neighborhood. Finally, his mother Brenda realized he needed to harness that energy and athletic ability.
“She signed me up for Pop Warner and I walked off the field because I didn’t want to play,” he admitted. “I just didn’t like it. It was hot, it was in the middle of August and with all the pads, I was just sweating too much. I said, ‘This isn’t for me, I’d rather just run around and cause ruckus.’”
Football turned out to be a blessing and a vehicle for Glasper to make good on what his mother always wanted. At the age of 14 he left his life in New Britton, and moved in with his head coach in Southington, Connecticut to allow him to further his chances at scholarships. The move was only about a five minute drive, but it thrust him into a completely new atmosphere, from the inner city to the suburbs.
“The first day of school I remember walking through the doors and there was only maybe three or four minority students in the entire school. The majority of the kids were white, and I was dressed like what some might consider a thug, and I came from the city, but I adapted and overcame the challenges.”
Glasper still looks back at his time in New Britton as some of the best years of his life, when his family was together. While he’s still close with them today, those years were the only time they shared the same roof.
Today, he still carries with him a constant reminder of his mother.
“I actually have red hair in my beard when I let it grow out,” he explained, referring to Brenda’s distinctive red hair. “Seeing us standing side by side, you would never know it was my mom.”
One thing is certain, when Brenda visits her boy in Hamilton, it won’t matter how much he talks up his new barber, she’ll be waiting till she gets home to get her locks cut.
