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University of Miami defensive end Rusty Medearis shows off his skills with a lasso in this 1992 Miami Herald photo. A native of Ozark, Missouri, Medearis had dreams of becoming a cowboy–not a Dallas Cowboy, but a real life cowboy. He grew up on a ranch rounding up cattle and had ambitions of someday becoming a professional rodeo bull rider. But when Medearis got to high school, he found his true calling for rounding up and sacking quarterbacks.
So how does country boy from rural Missouri, end up playing for the Miami Hurricanes? During his time at Ozark High School, Medearis developed into one of the most dominating defensive players in the state. He started receiving recruiting letters from colleges all over the country. Notre Dame and Washington recruited him the hardest. But there was one school that intrigued him the most–the University of Miami. But the Hurricanes didn’t show much interest. However, the football world is a small world. It turned out, his high school coach Paul Skean attended Southwest Miami High School. Skean had wanted Medearis to attend Washington because then Huskies head coach Don James had been an assistant at Southwest High. But Skean happened to know another Southwest alum named Don Soldinger, who was an assistant coach at Miami. While Notre Dame and Washington had great programs, Medearis felt Miami was the best school for him. Medearis would later say, “If I can play at Miami, I can play anywhere.”
Medearis would choose the Hurricanes and was part of Jimmy Johnson’s final recruiting class in 1989. As a true freshman, he was a fish out of water. Miami was a culture shock for a kid from small town Missouri. Medearis redshirted his first year and spent the season on the practice squad. In 1990, Medearis finally saw action as a redshirt freshman. In his first college start, he recorded 5 1/2 quarterback sacks against Texas Tech in 1990. It was only the beginning. He became known for playing his best in big games. The following year, he had 2 sacks against Houston All American quarterback David Klingler, 2 1/2 sacks against Penn State, 2 sacks against FSU in Wide Right I and 4 sacks against Nebraska in the 1992 Orange Bowl Classic to give the Canes a share of the national title.
Entering the 1992 season, Medearis was expected to be the best defensive end in the nation. But in the third game of the season against Arizona, Medearis suffered a devastating knee injury when he was cut down on a questionable block by Wildcat offensive lineman Hicham El-Mashtoub. The injury required 13 hours of surgery and countless hours of treatment and therapy. After missing the rest of 1992 and all of 1993, Medearis attempted a comeback in 1994. But he was never quite the same. Doctors told Medearis he could face amputation if the knee was reinjured. He eventually called it quits. Medearis finished his career with 22 career sacks, 7th best in UM history.
