When he was in second grade, junior Garret Tierney was inspired by his brothers to play football. Now involved in the football program at BVNW, Tierney is a member of all three teams: offensive, defensive and special teams, which Tierney and head football coach Mike Zegunis said is uncommon for players.

Tierney said he became heavily involved in football because he enjoys the competition and teamwork aspects.

“If one person doesn’t do their part on the team, the whole team is going to mess up and look bad,” Tierney said.

Tierney occupies the positions of middle linebacker, running back, slot receiver and kicker.

“Well, it’s something that as a coaching staff philosophy, we try to get our best guys out there, so sometimes you’re lucky that you get an athlete that can help out with all three teams,” Zegunis said.

Zegunis said to be on all teams, a player needs to be fast, physical, aggressive and talented at blocking and tackling. Zegunis said he attributes Tierney’s mental and physical ability to hold three positions in football to Tierney’s experience playing multiple sports per season.

“We’ve had a chance to see Garret perform on the football field ever since his freshman year,” Zegunis said. “Going into this season, we felt like he was one of our top football players. That has allowed us to use him as much as we can.”

Tierney said he wasn’t surprised to be placed on all three teams, because he likes them and has played on them for a long time.

“I put effort into my kicking and everything I do on the field, and if I didn’t work at it, I don’t think I’d be able to [be on all three teams],” Tierney said.

Tierney said there are a lot of players that have positions on both offense and defense, but it’s uncommon for players to also be on special teams. Tierney said this is because the time special teams is on the field for punts, kickoffs and punt returns is seen as a “breather” for those on offense and defense.

Tierney said he considers extra conditioning and “film,” (when the BVNW team studies the teams it will be playing in the next game), to be the only negative aspects of playing on all the teams. Come game time, however, he said he enjoys the extra time on the field because he likes playing the sport and it has improved his skills.

“I love [playing on all the teams],” Tierney said. “I think it’s a special opportunity not a lot of people have and I just love doing it.”