New Home's Brazos Beck, Shallowater's Luke Fisher net top honors at NFF banquet
New Home football's Brazos Beck didn't realize it at the time, but hearing a loud pop would turn into a blessing for his future.
In the moment, though, it was a torn ACL that required surgery followed by a lengthy rehabilitation process before he was able to return to the football field, basketball court and athletic competition in general.
The injury, which he suffered in a playoff game against Roosevelt back in 2021, provided its fair share of pain. But, it also gave Beck a newfound perspective and respect for the people who helped heal him and provide him a chance to play the sports he loved since childhood.
"I was like, wow, this really works," Beck said, alluding to his rehabilitation that included quantum neuro reset therapy designed to assist the nervous system to heal chronic pain by resetting the brain's response to emotional triggers. "Through that whole (rehabilitation) process, I figured that's what I want to do with my life — I want to be able to help others the same way they did for me when I was injured."
Beck was serious with his new passion, returning to the quantum neuro reset clinic in Lubbock and shadowed a practitioner last summer. It took a devastating injury for him to pivot and realize there's a new team he can be apart of once he turned in his high school uniforms.
"I knew I always wanted to do something connected to sports," Beck said. "I didn't know if it was a physical therapist or chiropractor. ... The more and more I came back, the more I was sold on it."
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With his high school athletic career coming to a close, Beck will transition from being a Leopard to using a thumbs-up gesture when he attends Texas A&M University. It's a familiar setting as both his parents — father, Andy and mother, Lyneil — went to the school located in College Station.
Brazos Beck will breathe a little easier after receiving a Gene Messer Auto Group/Coach Jess Stiles Scholarship worth $6,000 on Wednesday at the Texas Tech chapter of the National Football Foundation's annual scholar-athlete program.
Beck was part of a group of 22 area high school athletes honored — and provided scholarships ranging in value from $1,000 up to $6,000 and totaling $44,000 combined — before a packed banquet room inside the Overton Hotel.
"To be recognized like this, at a cool banquet like this — I think it's really cool and encouraging to me to have to keep my grades up going into college," Beck said prior to the banquet about being recognized for off-the-field success. "It would be a real big deal (garnering a scholarship) because my brother is in college right now and I've got a younger brother coming up.
"So, my parents have like eight to nine years of college straight pay for. Any money that I can bring in is going to be beneficial for me. Anything I can get to help lift that burden off my parents."
Shallowater's Luke Fisher was awarded the Kirby Hocutt Scholarship, worth $5,000. It will be a welcomed addition for Fisher, who is planning to major in business at Texas Tech.
"I'd really like to be in the finance world — maybe something in wealth management," said Fisher, whose father earned an accounting degree. "Math has always been my strongest subject, and I always enjoyed working with numbers."
Texas Tech defensive tackle Tony Bradford — one of two collegiate scholar athletes honored, including Angelo State's K'hari Watson — felt Wednesday night's banquet was a great opportunity for athletes to take a step back and relish in their accomplishments. It's also a chance to show off that they're more than meets the eye.
"You know, sometimes, as an athlete you think after football — that's it," Bradford said. "Most typical athletes think like that. But, there's so much more to us than the sport that we play. I try to highlight that as much as possible. ... It's a big blessing, and it warms my heart because it not only lets me know that the work I've done on and off the field hasn't gone unnoticed.
"But I also hope it encourages the younger guys that's coming right after me to continue to do the great things that I tried to do as part of the (Texas Tech football) program. Hopefully they can follow in my footsteps and understand that you can get the recognition for being a great person."
NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION
Texas Tech Chapter
Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet
at the Overton Hotel & Conference Center
Texas Tech Scholar Athlete: Tony Bradford
Angel State Scholar Athlete: K'Hari Watson
Outstanding official: Nathan Blackwood
Don Black Assistant Coach of the Year: Caleb Holt
Coaches of the Year: William Blaylock, Estacado; Jon Ward, New Home
Outstanding Contributions Amateur Football: Kent Jackson
Distinguished West Texas Award: Robert Taylor
Scholar Athlete Awards
The Chapter will award 22 scholar athletes with $44,000 in scholarships and two post-graduate scholarships
National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete: Jackson Cude, Lubbock High, $1,000
Adrenaline Fundraising Scholar Athlete: Zachary Keith, Ralls, $1,000
National Football Foundation, Texas Tech Chapter: Ryan Jordan, Monterey, $1,000
John C. A Cynthia Munn Owens Scholarship: Will Edwards, Coronado, $1,000
Thetford & Ashby Scholar Athlete: Brayden Wade, Smyer, $1,000
United Supermarkets Scholar Athlete: Sam Hill, Littlefield, $1,000
Shirley Parker Memorial Scholarship: Daniel Ceniceros, Denver City, $1,000
BSN Sports Scholar Athlete: Jhett Truby, Hale Center, $1,000
River Smith's Scholar Athlete: Kei'Sean Harris, Estacado, $1,000
John Cardinal Award for Excellence: Slade Martin, New Deal, $1,000
Coach Carlos Mainord Memorial Scholarship: Carson Simmons, Roosevelt, $2,000
People Bank West Texas Legends Scholarship Honoring Bobby Davis, Don Black and Carroll McDonald: Jake Sowder, Frenship, $2,000
Hellas Construction Scholar Athlete: Marvin Jett Fisher, Andrews, $2,000
George & Linda McMahan Scholarship: Mark Buxkemper, Levelland, $2,000
McMahon Family Scholarship: Grayson Archer, Monterey, $2,000
McGavock Nissan Scholar Athlete: Jacob Gonzales, Idalou, $2,000
City Bank Scholar Athlete: Austin Ellis, Levelland, $2,500
Texas Tech Alumni Scholarship: Sam Odom, Frenship, $2,500
The Tommy & Allison Wood Investing in Leadership: Easton Stewart, Snyder, $3,000
FCA — Jon Randles Award & Indiana Avenue Baptist: Chris Carrillo, Lubbock-Cooper, $3,000
Kirby Hocutt Scholarship: Luke Fisher, Shallowater, $5,000
Gene Messer Auto Group, Coach Jess Stiles Scholarship: Brazos Beck, New Home, $6,000
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: New Home's Brazos Beck, Shallowater's Luke Fisher net top honors at National Football Foundation scholar-athlete banquet