When he first went down, he didn’t realize the magnitude of what had happened. There was really no way he could. He had never experienced anything like it. 

Linebacker Darryl Monroe went into his freshman year at Washington State University without ever suffering a season-ending injury. In fact, he said he had never broken a bone. 

In the first game of the season, Monroe tore his Achilles tendon and was forced to understand the reality of missing an entire season to build his strength. However, he never let the injury discourage him. 

“The weird thing is, now that I think back on it, I always had positive thoughts and I always looked forward to getting back,” Monroe said. “I was never down.”

The hardest thing for Monroe was being on the sidelines instead of playing in the games. 

“It was tough that I couldn’t play, and that’s what hurt the most. That I felt like I wasn’t a part of the team because I couldn’t contribute,” he said. “But besides those negative feelings that I had, there was no doubt in my mind that I wasn’t going to come back and be able to play or be as good or anything.”

Monroe applies that same attitude to more than just rehabilitation. He played football at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla., a program that had a great deal of success while Monroe was there. In 2010, his senior year, the Panthers went 14-1. 

That year, the team reached the state championship game, losing 42-27 to Miami Central. Following that season, Monroe said he considered several schools, including the University of South Florida, University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky, University of Central Florida, and Middle Tennessee State University. 

Monroe eventually chose Washington State because of the gratitude and appreciation he felt from the program on his visit, and because of the overall atmosphere of the school. 

 “When I came on my visit, what separated WSU from all the other schools was that it felt like home,” Monroe said. “It wasn’t a big city like where I come from. I didn’t want to play in a big city because there are a lot of distractions, how like UCF and USF is, and the players and the coaches made me feel at home.”

He made his decision even though the Cougars’ program has not had the same success Dr. Phillips’ enjoyed. 

“I embrace it because it’s a challenge and something new in life,” Monroe said. “I kind of like it and I felt like the success is going to be better than it did in high school or previous years because to see where you actually came from.” 

He said he has always had the mentality to get better. When he first started playing football, he did it for fun, but as time went on, he started to train to improve his game. He became hooked on training when he realized a connection between that and winning. 

“I’m such a competitor and I hate to lose, I liked football, but I hated losing,” Monroe said. “So I figured if I get better, I could win and I could be good and that’s the best of both worlds.” 

When Monroe was younger, he earned a black belt in karate. He also played basketball boxed. He started to realize at a young age that football wasn’t just a seasonal sport, so he did these other activities to stay in shape. 

Once he started playing high school football at Dr. Phillips, he began running track, even though he hated running. Before he was in college, he said he was already used to working out throughout the year.

Now a redshirt sophomore, Monroe has experience on both the college football stage and in the college classroom. When he was choosing schools, he found something at Washington State that especially stood out to him. The coaches at WSU told Monroe that they would maintain his scholarship if he ever had a career-ending injury.

 “That was the biggest to me because my family really cares about me getting my degree, so that’s what I want to do first is get my degree before I do anything and that’s what mattered a lot to me,” Monroe said. 

His plan right now is to major in sociology and to minor in television, media, and broadcasting in the communication department. He also plans to minor in business management. 

While he dreams of playing in the NFL, Monroe also said he could see himself doing something in the field of broadcasting. 

 “I’ve done everything from camera man to announcer to video board, sound board, video editing, graphic design, all of this,” Monroe said. “I admire it and it’s just what I love doing. I love being on camera, I love being behind the camera, I love speaking, so in that field, anywhere I’ll be happy.”

Whether the wind takes Monroe to the NFL, the media world or somewhere else, his résumé and his work ethic will speak for themselves.