Helen Cox Linebacker Damien Beard Is Now The Beat Of The Cougars Defense
by Jace LeJeune
At a young age, Helen Cox High School senior linebacker Damien Beard has always loved music. In fact, he loved music so much that he was actually in his middle school band.
“I used to be in the middle school band and I played the drums,” Beard said. “That’s where I fell in love with beats.”
His love for music continues today where he now has a distinct hobby from other high school seniors his own age. This unique hobby is making music beats during his off time. Although it is a pretty cool talent, Beard has another talent, which is getting to the football as a linebacker.
Last season, Beard had himself an incredible year by posting 105 tackles, four sacks, nine tackles for loss, and two fumble recoveries. Beard was all over the field on the defensive side of the football and really came into his own thanks to the advice given by his fellow star linebacker teammate Kelin Burrle, who had recently signed with the Arkansas Razorbacks.
“Kelin gave me tips on what to do pre snap,” Beard said. “He also gave me tips on how to set myself up in order to succeed.”
Even though Burrle helped unwrap Beard’s potential, Beard knew that he was going to be involved in football at a young age just like when he was involved with music at an early age.
“At the age of 6 years old, I fell in love with the game,” Beard said. “My freshman year of high school, I realized that I had a future in football.”
Although Beard has put up impressive numbers at now 6-1, 252 pounds, it is almost unbelievable that he has yet to receive a single scholarship or even be contacted by schools.
“No school has offered me, but I’m looking forward to what’s to come,” Beard said.
Despite a potential small sample size in 2020 playing only eight regular season games due to the coronavirus, the Helen Cox tackling machine is still optimistic that those opportunities will come to him at the conclusion of this season.
“Recruiting has been about the same for me even before the virus,” Beard said. “I have no offers on the table as of yet, but l look forward to these eight games so that I can receive those offers.”
In order to play those games, there must be a season. For players like Beard that desperately need a senior season to receive offers, this is a must play scenario.
“I truly hope that we will have a football season and I understand the severity of things, but I hope things workout for the good of us all,” Beard said.
In case things do not go as planned, Beard is prepared for a backup plan in order to continue his football dreams.
“I pray that I do receive an offer, but if not, I’m still going to college and I’ll walk on somewhere,” Beard said. “Once that occurs, I look forward to excelling in the classroom as well as on the field.”
Beard is working hard in order to excel in both areas for his senior season. On the gridiron, he is continuing to work on the areas that need most improvement.
“I study several players at the linebacker position, but I don’t have one player per say that I pattern my game after,” Beard said. “The biggest area that I need to improve on is my speed.”
As a bigger linebacker, Beard may not be as fast as other linebackers, but he makes up for it with his football I.Q. and footwork.
In many ways, the four year starter’s love of music has helped him become a great football player on the field for the Cougars. Having good footwork can attest to having rhythm when making music beats. A lot of successful players bang a beat to their own drum, and there is no question that Damien Beard can do that.
Click the link below to check out Damien Beard’s junior highlights:
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/10972611/5dca32fd15f6450d90219f5c
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Jace is from Addis, LA but resides in Port Allen, LA. Jace attends Southeastern Louisiana University and is majoring in Communications. This is Jace’s fourth year as Associate Editor at Louisiana Football Magazine. He is also a graduate from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge where he was the editor of the school newspaper the “Bearly Published.” While at CHS, Jace also announced their football, basketball, and baseball games for the Bruin Broadcast Network which is the Catholic High’s streaming website for their events. On weekends, Jace is the PA announcer for his middle school football games. At home, Jace enjoys time with his family and friends. Besides being a huge football fan, Jace is also an avid NHRA drag racing fan.
