PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Last Saturday, Kamar Missouri made his first start for Rutgers football. Missouri replaced an injured Tyler Needham at right tackle and did a solid job against one of the pass rushes in the nation.
In fact, Missouri said that Needham helped him throughout the week in helping to prepare for his start last against Virginia Tech. The redshirt sophomore offensive lineman filled in after Needham was injured in the second quarter of the Rutgers Week 2 win over Temple.
The relationship between Needham and Missouri is a strong one based on iron sharpening iron. They work together to improve each other, a testament to the spirit of teamwork between both offensive tackles.
And Needham’s injury hasn’t slowed down that communication between the two teammates.
“We sit right next to each other in the meeting room,” Missouri said of Needham on Wednesday following practice.
“We’re constantly giving each other feedback. And after that -like I said, we tight. We real close, so we try and we keep him in high spirits. Every time I see him, he’s smiling – like today. I ain’t seen him with his head down yet.
“He knows his situation, and hopefully, we can get him back as soon as possible to get them back on. And like I said, he gives me feedback. I give him feedback. If when he was out there, I was giving him a lot of feedback. And, you know, once when I come off the field, or after the game, he told me what I could have done better. Like there’s still communication going on.”
The start last week could have been nerve-wracking for many, but Missouri seems to have taken it in stride. He said he didn’t focus on the role and the fact that he plays as part of a rotation seems to have helped any possible nerves heading into the game against Virginia Tech.
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“I didn’t really let that bother me because that’s a distraction. You know football is a violent game. Anything can happen at any time. So I kind of was trying to push all of that away because like I said, anything can happen,” Missouri said.
“So one day you can be hit and the next day you can be the starting center. So I got the calls I got the applause but I kind of just stay focused on what I needed to do because that could be a big distraction like’ Oh, I’m the starter now…this, that and the third… ‘ But no. we playing football. (What) I need to focus on is between the starter and the person that is not starting, one person gets the first play of the game. So that’s where my mind was at with it. I really wasn’t really keyed in on it. I know. I owe it to my teammates to come out here and be the best version of me. So I didn’t really let that bother me too much.”
Rutgers was the only Power Five offer for Missouri, who was a part of head coach Greg Schiano’s first recruiting class upon his arrival at Rutgers. He said that the location of Rutgers played a part in his commitment.
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But the biggest factor for Missouri was that Rutgers stood out to him because of the relationship he formed with the staff.
“It’s pretty close to home, you know, from Baltimore, so it wasn’t too far,” Missouri said.
“And out of all the schools, that reached (out)- I don’t really like speaking on other people- but this was the only program that spoke on what they could do to get me better.
“You know, not just as a football player, but once I leave here, I’m a mature, young grown man. So that played a key role. And it was just, they were real, you know? It was it was not fake. They weren’t telling me what I wanted to hear. It wasn’t just trying to get this player that could play football. It was really that I felt as though they cared about me. And my family – they got to know me and my family. It wasn’t just football, football. It was what we could do, what he needs… this and the third so that played a key role.”