Oct. 27, 2001

By Bob Houchin
MU Media Relations Office

Basketball has its sixth man.

Baseball has its utility infielder.

Missouri football has Chris Ryan.

For the past five years, the 6-foot-3, 280-pound Ryan has played five different positions on both sides of the ball.

"I first reported as a defensive lineman," said Ryan. "Then they switched me to offense for a while. Then I went back to defense for a while, and then back to offense. Now finally, I'm back to defense. I was always being moved to shore up our depth on one line or another. "It's hard to remember when I made my last change I've done it so many times," continued Ryan, pausing to reflect on his MU career. "Man, I guess that last time was two-a-days two years ago. I think I've been on the defensive line for two years."

Although a defensive tackle now, Ryan saw his first action in 1999 playing both offensive guard and center.

"I even played 13 snaps as a fullback during that season," said Ryan. "It was against Texas A&M. I never got to touch the ball though. Needless to say, it was weird."

No matter where Ryan plays, he brings a workman-like attitude and never complains about the constant uncertainty that accompanies his role on the MU football team. He simply does what the coaches ask of him and takes the positives out of each of his different position changes.

"At first, I thought all the constant moving was a disadvantage," said Ryan, a native of Milan, Mo. "Now that I have played so many positions, I feel like I can play both sides of the ball without having any problems switching. It took a lot of focusing, and I had to study a lot. It's made me appreciate the game of football and it's added to my knowledge of the game."

Listening to Ryan speak, one can tell a major reason why he never argues with persistent assignment changes is due to his intense love for the game of football.

"It's something I've been doing since fifth grade," Ryan said. "Playing football was what all my buddies did. Everybody wanted to play football. Milan is just such a small town, and there wasn't much to do, so, everybody went out for football."

During his senior year at Milan High School, the Missouri coaching staff saw enough talent from this small town kid playing in 1A high school football to offer him a scholarship and fulfill a life-long dream.

"I wanted to come to MU for academics first of all. I really didn't look at any other schools for football," said Ryan. "I wanted to come mainly because of the agriculture department down here. It really wasn't a hard decision for me. I always watched the Tigers, and I always dreamed of playing for them.

"I really enjoyed Milan, but it wasn't hard for me to leave. It was such a small town and the competition wasn't really high," he continued. "I was looking forward to coming down to Mizzou and play against better competition."

Ryan's hopes to play against bigger, stronger and faster competition definitely came true.

"I was finally able to compete with a lot of guys who were my size and fight with them everyday, but the game certainly got a lot faster in college," said Ryan. "The players are much quicker, faster and stronger than what I was used to at Milan. Everything, in general, was more complicated."

Five years later, Ryan no longer finds himself struggling to catch up and learn a multitude of new systems. He is a key contributor to the MU defense this year. Ryan has recorded 30 tackles including a career-high eight against Bowling Green in the home opener.

Ryan had one and one-half sacks in last week's win over Kansas and now has four tackles for loss this season.

"I really haven't been doing anything different this year," said Ryan. "I just finally have gotten strong enough and quick enough to be on the field and contribute."

As the football season and school year slowly begin to wind down, Ryan begins to reflect on his time at Missouri and as a football player.

"Graduation will be a new chapter in my life. Hopefully, I will start a family, get a job, and start over," he said. "I've been in football so long it's going to be hard to leave the game." Not only will Ryan be leaving the game he loves so much, the game of football will be losing a person who truly represents everything good there is in team sports: unselfishness, hard work, and determination.