Six years, four months and 13 days.

For most college students that might be the amount of time it took to earn their degree.  For Eastern Illinois junior wide receiver Jeremy Rykard, that is the amount of time he spent in the United States Marine Corps including nearly three years in the combat theater in Iraq.

To understand Rykard's long journey you have to rewind nearly ten years when he was a freshman at Southern Illinois and the events surround 9/11 had an effect on the recent graduate of O'Fallon High School.

“I was a freshman at Southern Illinois at Carbondale and I had a Tuesday morning class that had been cancelled.  I turned on the TV to see what was going on and saw the images of those planes hitting the tower,” Rykard said.  “Over the next couple of days I saw the recruiters coming to campus.  I had a lot of respect for those guys and so I signed up.  I made that decision knowing that I might eventually end up in Iraq.”

So with his life on a different path than his fellow classmates, Rykard near gave up on his love of playing football.  He played throughout his military career and near the end of his final tour of duty, he had the opportunity to impress a junior college coach in California.

“I always loved playing football.  When I was in the military I played on the East Coast where it was not a big deal,” said Rykard.  “When I transferred to the West Coast military football was a bigger deal.  In one of my final games my coach told me there was a junior college coach in the stands and they were going to try and get me the ball.”

Rykard played two seasons at San Jacinto Junior College as a very capable receiver making 21 catches as a sophomore with a pair of touchdowns.  But despite a solid two year stint, the college recruiters were not exactly knocking down the doors to make him an offer.

“I talked to a couple of smaller school's but they didn't have a lot of scholarship money to offer,” Rykard said.  “I was set to come back home for the spring and attend a junior college and maybe try to walk on at SIU.  A teammate of mine, Eric Varela, had been signed by Eastern Illinois and he said I just send them my tape and see what happens.”

Seeing that tape opened up the opportunity for Rykard to not only attend school closer to home but also to playing Division I football at a state school.

“We had just recruited Eric Varela from that junior college when Jeremy sent us his tape,” Lynch said.  “We looked at that tape and noticed he had some skills.  We figured what did we have to lose since he wanted to walk on.”

So with the military paying for his school, Rykard paid his room and board for the spring semester.  A young man with a world of experiences, Rykard brought something to the team that wide receivers coach Mike Lynch thought the team was truly missing.

“Jeremy brings a maturity level to our team that we had been missing.  He has seen and been through things that none of our players have seen. In fact he has seen and been through things that most of our coaching staff has not seen,” said Lynch.  “Being a little bit older he brings a whole different approach to practice and meetings.”

That maturity level paid off for Rykard during the spring and summer as he earned a scholarship from EIU to cover his room and board.  His work ethic also brought him the opportunity to start in the Panthers opening game against Illinois State.

“It has always been a dream of mine to play football at the Division I level,” said Rykard.  “To be able to play in that opening game against Illinois State is an emotion that I can not describe.” 

That path and how fortunate he has been with his life was even more so evident as the Panthers played at Northwestern on the eve of 9/11.

“Playing in that game at Northwestern was an honor.  That date and the events surrounding it mean more to me than the actual football game did,” said Rykard.  “It was a time for me to remember and honor some of my military friends, some who are with us and some who are not.  The entire day was very patriotic and made me proud of the choice I made.”

Now with his military life behind him, Rykard can focus on being not just the older guy on the team but a contributing member to what many believe may be a special season as he blends in with a group of wild spirits at the wide receiver position.

“Now that I'm one of the older guys on the team I try to get away from that stereo type,” said Rykard.  “The wide receiver group is a great bunch of guys.  I try to get them to focus and understand when we need to be serious and take care of business.  They try to get me to loosen up and enjoy football and life.”