Varner Exhibits Passion and Intensity in Leadership Role
10/9/2007 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 9, 2007
By Ben Dooling, Maryland Athletic Media Relations Assistant
COLLEGE PARK, MD. - Senior Christian Varner is about as intense as they come. Off the field, the safety is quick with a smile or a joke, but on the field he's all business.
"If you ever asked someone one word to describe me, they would say `intensity,' " he said. "If I ever don't take something seriously and don't give 100 percent, then I'm not doing my job. If I fail because I'm not giving 100 percent, then I can't sleep at night."
It's not that Varner expects perfection, he simply demands maximum effort - of himself and of his teammates. "I know that guys feed off my intensity. Guys look at me and see how serious I am and how I'm passionate about what I do," he said.
Indeed, that passion and intensity are part of what makes Varner such an important leader on the Maryland team. He's vocal on the field, and if he feels like the team isn't practicing well, he'll huddle them up and call them out.
That's exactly the kind of scenario that played out in practice on the Tuesday prior to the Rutgers game, when the Terps, coming off a 31-24 overtime loss to Wake Forest, weren't practicing with the enthusiasm that Varner had come to expect.
"The energy didn't feel right," he said of practice that day. "I needed to talk to the team and put that back in their head. We need to have the same mentality we had last year (when the Terps finished 9-4). It's all for us. It's not for yourself or for individual glory. It's for your brother, the guy standing next to you. You play a little bit harder for the other guy because you know he's giving 100 percent."
The Terps responded with two good practices and then earned their biggest non-conference win in years last Saturday, upsetting 10th-ranked Rutgers on the road. It was Maryland's first win over a top-10 team on the road since 1990, and the seeds for that victory were planted during Varner's impassioned plea to his teammates after practice.
Varner has the credentials to back up his words too. He's played in more games - 40 and counting - than any other Terp, and owns 28 career starts to his name. The man they call `Bam Bam' for his hard-hitting nature has made 130 career tackles, second on the team only to linebacker Erin Henderson. He has 19 stops so far this season, and is tied for the team lead with three pass breakups.
Even in the sterile environment of a one-on-one interview in an empty meeting room long after practice has concluded, Varner is brimming with an intensity that oozes out of him. As he speaks, he's transported right back there to that place on the field.
"I'd rather go to war with somebody that's going to give me 100 percent and lose nine battles out of 10," he said, his voice rising. "But on that 10th battle they were going 100 percent and won because they kept fighting. [That's better than] somebody who's going to give you 100 percent for three quarters and then stop in the fourth when you've got to have it."
Defensive backs coach Kevin Lempa calls Varner, "A leader by example, a vocal leader, and a spiritual leader. When he speaks, people listen," Lempa said.
Appropriately, Varner graduated with a degree in communications last May. Over the summer, he interned at the Comcast SportsNet studio where he got his first taste of life on the other side of the camera.
Michele Gordon, who worked with Varner at Comcast, said he approached his internship with the same focus and commitment he shows on the field. "He was really excited just to be involved in the process," she said. "He took full advantage of the opportunity and was very eager to learn whatever he could."
Varner cut up film, assisted in writing scripts, and helped the crew do pregame interviews at a Washington Nationals game. At the Maryland football media day at the start of fall camp this season, Varner interviewed his own teammates for Comcast.
Varner hopes he'll find himself playing in the NFL next season. But if not, he could see himself working in sports television for a career. "I've got the gift of gab," he said.
Gordon agreed she could imagine Varner in the role of a studio analyst or a reporter. "Whatever he wanted to do, he could do it. He has the right attitude, and you have to be passionate, which he is," she said.
Varner is driven to succeed whether or not he's playing football. Hopefully that intensity will continue to be contagious, as it was in the days leading up to the upset over Rutgers, and the Terps can deliver an ACC championship in Varner's final season in College Park.
