Stephens: Ram Boy aims to play football at Colorado State

GREELEY – I met Justin Stank seven years ago.

From the name alone, you probably have no idea who he is.

He was 10 years old and corralling loose basketballs as part of Cam's Crew at Moby Arena before a CSU women's game. Older, or at least bigger, than the other kids, he had an air about him that said he was in charge, getting after his "coworkers" if they were taking too long or if he caught them goofing off.

To him, it was a job tending to the one place he cared most about — Colorado State University. Long before Stank's 15 minutes of fame had the country identifying him, quite literally, as a Ram, he was shaking hands on the sideline with star athletes and coaches who had no idea they were grooming a ball boy from Greeley for the persona that made him an Internet meme.

Ram Boy.

When CSU made its trip to the NCAA tournament in 2013, Stank was the unofficial mascot, receiving more air time in two games at Rupp Arena than any one fan for the remainder of March Madness. He did a live interview on CBS with Allie LaForce and was featured in the New York Times.

Stank was a short-lived national celebrity who lived on in Internet fame as a popular gif after CBS cameras caught him mouthing a choice word when CSU trailed eventual national champion Louisville 45-31 at halftime, prompting his football coach at Greeley West High School to have a minor panic attack, telling the then-sophomore, "You better be thankful you weren't wearing any Spartan gear."

And that was it. Stank went back to class and became a kid like anyone else, raising pigs as part of Future Farmers of America and trying to survive the soap opera that is high school. He wasn't picked on for wearing a costume his mother, Zoe Stank, made; if anything, his teammates were jealous he got to meet LaForce.

At school, he wasn't Ram boy, he was Justin, or as the Greeley West football team knows him, "Diesel," a 5-foot-7 center who's the best down blocker in Class 4A's Longs Peak League. While the Internet — and most CSU fans — knew him as one thing, Stank quietly became a standout lineman by utilizing tips he picked up from now Florida coach Jim McElwain about how to leverage his lack of size.

"Justin started as a center for us and he was awesome at center," Greeley West coach Jason Renouf said. "He's a smaller lineman, but for our scheme, he was perfect. We had him down blocking, and he's good at that. Justin, he's not afraid of contact, he'll take on anybody."

Like he did in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Dec. 30.

Playing in the NUC All-American game at defensive line, Stank lined up against a 6-foot-5 offensive tackle who he claims asked why they put a "midget" on the field. One snap later, that tackle was lying on his back.

Stank, now a senior, was recruited by NAIA and junior colleges to continue his football career, but there's only one school he's ever had an interest playing for, CSU. Since his grades won't allow him to enroll in the fall, he plans on attending Front Range Community College in Fort Collins to get his associate's degree before transferring in, similar to what former star running back Kapri Bibbs — now a Denver Bronco — did, Stank said, but as a walk-on.

"College football is 10 times different than high school, anybody knows that. Everybody is bigger, they're stronger, faster and, sometimes they're smarter," Stank said. "Being up at CSU and watching them all play (last season), it excited me, but it also scared me because I'm like, 'am I going to be able to keep up with these guys?'

"One of the reasons I was able to do this All-American game over in Myrtle Beach was because all of these kids were college bound ... and I was able to put myself against them and see whether or not I'd have a chance. And I would fairly say that I held my own very well. If I take the next two years and seriously work toward it, I think I'll be just fine and be able to give them a run for their money."

That's always been his goal: to stop being known as Ram Boy, and just be seen as a Ram, with horns painted on a helmet instead of sewn on a hat.

For insight and analysis on athletics around Northern Colorado and the Mountain West, follow sports columnist Matt L. Stephens at twitter.com/mattstephens and facebook.com/stephensreporting