by Mark Clements
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| Grant Bardin |
August 27, 2010 - Sterlington High School linebacker Grant Bardin stands at 6-foot-1 and weighs 205 pounds. Bardin is already well on his way to building a college football body, and has the talents to go with it.
Bardin benches 385 pounds, squats 435 and power cleans an impressive 395. The senior linebacker couples that with his 4.56 speed to be a true imposer on the field.
While most people wouldn’t imagine a linebacker to have that kind of speed in his high school days, Bardin uses those talents to its full advantage.The young athlete brings his splendid speed and strength to the track, where he was quite successful last season. At District, Bardin finished first in all of his races and qualified for Regionals. He came up one place short at Regionals to qualify for State runs.
Bardin said he “absolutely” prefers football over track, and said just being able to play is enough for him.
“I just like being on the team, being a leader and winning,” Bardin said.
The linebacker said he has talked to a few different schools including Southern Arkansas and Southeastern Arkansas, but says the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe top his list. Bardin said the main reason was because of ULM’s close proximity to his home.
He also attended a senior day camp at ULM where he and other seniors from around the area ran drills with the coaches.
But for now, Bardin is still in high school and has his senior year to look forward to. While every game on the schedule is exciting, Bardin said Farmerville’s talented team is his favorite to go up against.
“They’re good athletes,” he said. “It’s fun to play against someone good.”
Bardin, like most Louisiana football players, is also a New Orleans Saints fan. The Sterlington standout said the Super bowl victory gave him inspiration.
“It shows anything is possible,” Bardin said. “It gives a lot of motivation to everybody.”
