Humility isn't a word used to describe every top athlete in this me-oriented, what's-in-it-for-me world.
Meet heavily recruited Serra defensive lineman Matt Dickerson, the giant of a teenager with prime time ability and team-first ways.
Dickerson has been offered a scholarship by Notre Dame and nine Pac-12 schools including most recently USC, but one wouldn't know it to talk to the self-effacing, two-sport athlete.
"He's a kid who's very appreciative of the situation he's in," Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. "Other recruits have ridiculous expectations about their recruitment and their sense of entitlement is out of control. But Matt is humble and appreciative of the gifts God has given him and the situation he's put himself in."
Said Dickerson as he sat in the bleachers at Brady Family Stadium on a sunny San Mateo day: "It's been a humbling experience. The offer from USC is a blessing. An offer from any school is a blessing. All of the offers are impressive."
Regarding Notre Dame, he said: "It's emotional. Notre Dame is a great school and when you think of college football, you think of Notre Dame. It has about the richest tradition of all the schools I can think of and it's Catholic and I'm Catholic and the academics are unbelievable."
So will Dickerson follow the USC route like former Serrans Lynn Swann and Vince Tammaro, or look east to Notre Dame as ex-Padre Tom Brady did with Michigan? Dickerson isn't tipping his hand and has said that if no decision is made until the end of his senior season, it's OK with him. Right now he has more immediate things on his mind like the 2013 Serra season.
"I think I'm a team guy," Dickerson said. "Last year I was a physical leader, but not very vocal. This year will be a test for me to see if I can step up and be a vocal leader and also show the maturity to handle all of this scholarship stuff."
At 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, Dickerson certainly passes the eye test. He performs, too, as a D-lineman and a tight end, averaging four tackles per game and providing sledgehammer blocking for the Padres who went 9-3 last season.
He's well-rounded, too, with a 3.2 grade point average and the agility to play varsity basketball.
"There are not many 6-5, 275-pound kids who can move the way he does and also do what he does in the weight room and has his inter-personal skills," Walsh said. "Somebody is going to be able to build their defensive line around Matt Dickerson who has all of the intangibles, plus benches and squats over 300 pounds and will clean over 300 by the end of the year and just loves playing football. He just loves the game and rarely takes plays off and that just can't be taught."
Like Swann, Dickerson's family roots are in the South. His father Clarence Dickerson is from Arkansas and he has three uncles who live in small towns in the Razorback state.
He thinks he gets his size from his great-grandfather Canary Dickerson of Arkansas who was 6-foot-8 and his love of fishing from his uncles and his dad who played football at Henderson State.
"I love fishing," Dickerson said. "No ocean, but lake and river. Fishing for catfish, trout and bass. When I'm in Arkansas I go with my dad and my whole family. In California I go wherever they're biting, mostly in the East Bay.
"It's just a feeling of getting away from everything -- all of the recruiting and everything. I just turn my phone off and there's usually no (phone) reception where I go anyway. I don't think about anything and it's very relaxing."
As for Dickerson's football exploits, they've spread all the way back to Arkansas. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper of Little Rock wrote a story about the California prep that prompted many of cell phone calls to his uncles. There's sure to be more buzz as the teen's senior season unfolds.
Dickerson, ever the team guy, plans to savor every moment of it.
"I just love to hit people and I love the camaraderie with my teammates and the brotherhood we have here at Serra," he said. "You can't really explain it. It's something you have to experience for yourself."
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Reach John Murphy at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com. Follow him on Twitter @PrepCat.
