Jeremy Staat was born in Bakersfield California to his parents Harold and Janet Staat, on October 10, 1976. He is the middle child of three. As a 1994 graduate of Bakersfield High School in Bakersfield, Calif., Jeremy was a two-sport star, lettering four times in football and three times in track. As a student athlete in football and track and field; Jeremy was honored with many different awards for his efforts. In football, he was a part of a football program starting his freshman year that had a combined winning record of 41-2-1. Jeremy was one of the team captains in 1993 and was a 2-time all-Area/all-South Yosemite League first-team in football. He was named the best lineman in the South Yosemite League, earned Lineman of the Year by the Bakersfield Californian, earned a California All-State Honorable Mention, and was named as the starting left tackle for the Shrine California North/South All-Star football game.
As a track and field standout at Bakersfield High School Jeremy earned the most improved player award, and most valuable player in the south Yosemite league and was the South Yosemite League champion in the shot put and discus in 1992-93. Jeremy was the captain of the track team in 1993-94 and was selected as the Athlete of the Year by The Bakersfield
Californian in 1993-1994 and earned the California State C.I.F. champion in the discus throw. For his efforts he was named All-Area/All-South Yosemite league, named Jockey Club Athlete of the Month (April 1994), was Bakersfield High School’s Most Valuable Player in track and field in 1994, and was the recipient of the Howard Whalen Track and Field Memorial Scholarship.
After graduating high school at the age of 17, Jeremy decided that he wanted to stay local and attend Bakersfield Community College. Once again Jeremy continued his athletic endeavors by competing as a two-sport athlete while attending Bakersfield College. He was a member of 1994 and 1995 Western States Conference football championship team and was also a member of 1994 and 1995 Potato Bowl Champions, with a combined record of 20-2 and was coached by Carl Bowser and Dwayne Damron. As a freshman Jeremy played offensive tackle and tight end and earned honorable mention All-Western States Conference and was recipient of the Matt Poole Award. During the 1995-96 football seasons he was named first-team offense Western States Conference, Honorable Mention All-American by J.C. Grid wire, and earned the Bakersfield College coach’s award.
As a track and field competitor for the Bakersfield College Renegades during the 1994- 95, his freshman track season, Jeremy earned the California State Jr. College champion honor in the discus throw, he was named Western States Conference Most Valuable Player, Bakersfield College freshman athlete of the year, and Bakersfield Jockey Club athlete of the month. During Jeremy’s sophomore year at Bakersfield College he was named the Most Outstanding Male Athlete at Bakersfield College in 1995-96 served as a team captain. He also set school records in discus, 182' 4" (which still stands today) and the shot put 58' 1/4," he won the State Championship in both the discus and the shot put, becoming the first male to win two throwing events in one year. His 2nd place finish in the Hammer Throw at this State Meet made him the highest scoring athlete, EVER, at the CCCAA State Track and Field Championships. He also earned all WSC first-team honors in the discus and shot put. Won the hammer, discus, and shot put in the Southern Cal Meet of Champions; becoming the first person to win these three events in the meet's history (which still remains today). He went on to take first-place in the shot put at the National Jr. College All-American Track and Field meet earned Junior All-American status at the U.S.A. Junior National Track and Field championships. He received Cerritos College Event's top field athlete in the 1995-96 track season. He went on to compete unattached at the 1996 Sun Angel Track Classic at Arizona State University, in the shot put and discus throw (took fifth place in the shot put with a toss of 56' 3 ", which would have placed him as a provisional in the NCAA outdoor championships and took fourth in the discus throw with a mark of 180' 1 " that would have placed him as eighth all-time in ASU history. In 1996, Jeremy graduated from Bakersfield Community College in Bakersfield, Calif., with an associate degree in Criminal Justice, and in 2001 was inducted into the Bakersfield College Hall of Fame. With everything that Jeremy had completed up to this point as a student athlete he still wanted to continue with his college education and wanted to compete at the Division I level, and he decided to accept an athletic scholarship to Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ.
Jeremy was extremely excited for the opportunity to play for the Arizona State SunDevils. Although he wasn’t able to be a multi-sport athlete, like he was in high school and junior college, he still gave everything he had to the football team, but still wanted to compete in the shot put and discus, but he knew that there was going to be a crossroads at some point in his athletic career and he was going to have to choose between football and track and field, and since he was on a football scholarship he knew that track and field would have to take a back seat.
During his time with the SunDevils the football team went 11-0 in 1996 for a 1997 Rose Bowl National Championship appearance where the SunDevils played the Ohio State Buckeyes and came up short in the final minutes of the game. The SunDevils went on to be ranked #4 in the Nation. During Jeremy’s senior year the SunDevils went 9-3 his senior year and won a Bowl bid to play in the Norwest SunBowl in El Paso, Texas in 1997. With the 1997 Sun Bowl Appearance, Jeremy was named the Jimmy Roger Jr's, Most Valuable player Defensive lineman of the game. He went on to earn 2nd team all-Pac 10 honors and was the 1997 Morris Trophy recipient, which was the 1st time in history that a defensive lineman from ASU won that award.
The Morris Trophy is the college football award given to the Pac 10's most valuable Offensive and Defensive lineman. Jeremy was also named a 1997, 1st team All American, by the Sporting News as well as 1st Team All-American selection by the Football Writers Association of America. He also earned four “Player of the Game” awards from ASU as a Defensive Lineman.
During the 1997 regular season he had 12.5 sacks and 23.0 total tackles-for-loss and earned another 3 sacks and X tackle for losses in the Norwest SunBowl, which gave him the single season sack record for a defensive lineman in ASU history. During his playing time at ASU Jeremy had become good friends with Pat Tillman. Pat Tillman was a standout scholar athlete who was drafted into the National Football League (NFL), played four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, and thus turned down a $4.6 million-dollar contract to join the Army Rangers and was killed in action in April of 2004.
In 1998 Jeremy was drafted in the National Football League in the 2nd round of the draft and was the 41st pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jeremy played three seasons with the Steelers and found that it wasn’t a good fit and decided to look at other teams within the NFL. In 2001 he signed on with the Seattle Seahawks and was released after the fifth week of training camp and returned home to Scottsdale, AZ., and begun to rethink his professional career. While waiting on another team to pick him up a national tragedy occurred that turned his attention from the NFL to national service, the event that took place was the terrorist attacks that happened on September 11, 2001. After seeing the carnage of the 9/11 attacks upon the World Trade Centers, Jeremy decided that he wanted to join the United States Army. This is when an old friend contacted Jeremy and made him promise to go back into the NFL and earn his fourth season, so that
Jeremy would be a vested player with the NFL and earn his retirement from the NFL, that friend was Pat Tillman. In the spring of 2002, Jeremy once again stepped back in to the realm of the NFL and signed on with the Oakland Raiders as an offensive guard and was released in August of 2002, Jeremy would sit out the entire 2002 season and once again would sign with a different NFL team. In 2003, Jeremy signed on with the St. Louis Rams and finally earned his fourth season in the NFL and had qualified for his NFL pension.
In 2004, Jeremy decided that after he had earned one retirement from professional athletics he should go and earn a second retirement from the Arena Football League (AFL), so in the spring of 2004 Jeremy signed on with the Los Angeles Avengers and played several games with the Avengers before hearing about the passing of his former teammate and friend Pat Tillman.
Jeremy then retired completely from professional athletics and decided to answer the call of serving his country and decided to join the United States Marine Corps. At this point he was willing to risk it all.
In 2005, Jeremy decided that it was time for him to fulfill his commitment to his country and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and entered boot camp in December of 2005.
Jeremy entered the Marine Corps 10 years older than the average recruit. Jeremy completed his 13-week Marine Corps Boot Camp at Marine Corps Recruiting Depot San Diego (MCRD). He graduated on the same Parade Ground as did his grandfather, Herman Francis Staat, in 1941. He was then stationed with 1/3 Bravo Company of Kaneohe Bay, HI, as an Infantry Machine gunner (0331). In 2007, the 1/3 Battalion was deployed, and Jeremy found himself assigned to Haditha, Iraq for a nine-month deployment. After returning from deployment in Haditha, Iraq; Jeremy had some medical issues that needed to be addressed and was never returned to his infantry unit. In his final years with the Marine Corps Jeremy had been giving advice to Marines that were being discharged and encouraged them to get their education but realizing that he himself hadn’t finished his bachelor’s degree. Jeremy decided to return to school during his final year in the Marine Corps and earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University in liberal studies.
(I can’t Praise the Arizona State University staff and its’ President high enough for their efforts to make this happen) Jeremy was discharged from Marine Corps in August of 2009. After being discharged from the Marine Corps Jeremy moved back home to Bakersfield, CA and married his fiancéé Janelle Hamilton; he began to work with local charities within the community and wanted to continue to serve and to help others. In 2010, Jeremy joined up with many local and national Veterans Organizations like: The Veteran Tickets foundation, Kern County Honor Flight, Vision 2 Victory, and Kern Vets, “Wall of Valor,” and begun to do multiple speaking engagements to help bring awareness to the different non-profits that he was helping out. In 2011 Jeremy decided to start his own foundation that focused on bringing a Veteran speaking board into the educational environment, to inspire and motivate students to do their best. After speaking to more than 150 plus schools in Kern County, California and Arizona; Jeremy then decided that it was time to take his message nationwide. In the winter of 2012, Jeremy and his team conducted a 3,468-mile cross country bicycle ride that, visited 78 cities in 16 states, focused on bring awareness to the epidemic of veteran suicide and childhood obesity.
The Wall to Wall Cross Country Bicycle Ride stated at the Wall of Valor in Bakersfield, California and traveled east across the country and ended at the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. After returning home from his cross-country endeavor Jeremy was welcomed home by the birth of his first child, a boy, that he and his wife named Tristen. After the birth of Tristen, Jeremy continued to work with his foundation and continued to deliver hundreds more motivational and inspirational speeches to schools and businesses. For his efforts, he was named the 2011 Military Order of the Purple Heart Veteran of the Year, the 2013 All Sports United Humanitarian Recipient, 2013 Beautiful Bakersfield Humanitarian of the Year Recipient, and was a 2014 Bakersfield High School Football Hall of Fame Inductee.
In 2013, Jeremy decided that he wanted to have a more stable lifestyle and decided to progress into the educational field and desired to start a trade school focusing on welding. Jeremy enrolled in classes at Bakersfield College to earn his welding degree and welding certifications; along the way, decided to apply for a job at Bakersfield College and in 2013 he began teaching full time as a welding instructor at Bakersfield College. In 2015, Jeremy and his wife welcomed their second son, Gavin. Jeremy then decided it was a must that he continued his education and began to pursue his graduate degrees. In 2016, he earned his master’s degree in educational leadership from Liberty University, and then decided that he needed to earn his Educational Specialist Degree (Ed.S.) from Liberty University as well. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) degree. He plans on completing his Ed.D in the summer of 2020. In the spring of 2020, Jeremy will be inducted into the Museum of the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame wing that is to be open in the spring of 2020.
Education:
-Bakersfield High School- Diploma -Bakersfield College- AA- Criminal Justice -Arizona State University-BA- Liberal Studies -Liberty University- MA- Educational Leadership -Liberty University-Ed.S.- Educational Leadership -Liberty University-Ed.D.- Educational Leadership (2020)
Athletic Awards:
High School:
Football:
-1994 graduate of Bakersfield High School, Bakersfield, Calif., - 2 sport participant, lettering four times in football and three times in track. -Captained the football team in 1993. -2 time all-Area/all-South Yosemite League first-team in football. -Named best lineman South Yosemite League. -Named lineman of the year by The Bakersfield Californian. -California all-State honorable mention -Named as left tackle to the Shrine California North/South All-Star football game
Track and Field (Shot put and Discus):
-Captained the track team in 1993-94 -most improved player award -Most Valuable Player in the South Yosemite -South Yosemite League champion in the shot put and discus in 1992-93 -Athlete of the Year by The Bakersfield Californian in 1993-1994 -1994 California State C.I.F. Champion in the discus throw -All-Area/all-South Yosemite league -Jockey Club Athlete of the Month (April 1994) -Bakersfield High School Most Valuable Player in track -Recipient of the Howard Whalen Track and Field Memorial Scholarship
Junior College:
Football:
-A 1996 graduate of Bakersfield Community College, Bakersfield, Calif., with an associate degree in Criminal Justice. -Member of 1994 and 1995 Western States Conference football championship team -1994 and 1995 Potato Bowl champion with a combined record of 20-2 at Bakersfield. -Freshman year named honorable mention all-Western States Conference and recipient of the Matt Poole Award -1995-96 football seasons named first-team offense Western States Conference. -Honorable mention all-American by J.C. Grid wire. -1995 Bakersfield College coaches award
Track and Field:
-Named the Most Outstanding Male Athlete at Bakersfield College in 1995-96 served as a team captain. -Set school records in discus (182' 4" and shot put 58' 1/4" won the state championship in both the discus and the shot put, becoming the first male to win two throwing events in one year. His 2nd Place finish in the Hammer Throw made him the highest scoring athlete, EVER, in the California State Track and Field Championships. -All WSC first-team honors in the discus and shot put. -Won the hammer, discus and shot put in the Southern Cal Meet of Champions, becoming the first person to win these three events in the meet's history. -1994-95 track season earned California: State Jr. College champion honor in the discus throw. -Western States Conference Most Valuable Player. -Bakersfield College Freshman Athlete of the Year. -Bakersfield Jockey Club athlete of the month. -Took first-place in the shot put at the National Jr. College all-American Track and Field. -Earned Junior all-America status at the U.S.A. Junior National Track and Field
championships. -Received Cerritos College Event's top field athlete in the 1995-96 track season. -Named to the Bakersfield College Hall of Fame in 2001.
Arizona State University:
-1997 Rose Bowl National Championship Appearance -1997 Sun Bowl Appearance named the Jimmy Roger Jr's, Most Valuable player Defensive Lineman of the game. -1997 Earned 2nd team All-Pac 10 -1997 Morris Trophy recipient. 1st time in History for a Defensive lineman from ASU to win. The Morris Trophy is the college football award given to the Pac 10's most valuable Offensive and Defensive lineman. -1997 earned 1st team All-American selection, by the Sporting News 1st Team All-American selection by the Football Writers Association of America. -1997 earned four “Player of the Game” awards as a Defensive Lineman.
National Football League:
-1998 was drafted in the 2nd round, 41st pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Played three seasons with the Steelers. -Signed with the Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, and the St Louis Rams. -Earned retirement from the NFL in 2004
Other Awards:
-2020 will be inducted into the Museum of the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame at Quantico, Virginia -2019 California Community College Athletic Association Hall of Fame inductee -2014 Bakersfield High School Football Hall of Fame Inductee -2013 Beautiful Bakersfield Humanitarian of the Year Recipient -2013 All Sports United Humanitarian Recipient -2011 Military Order of the Purple Heart Veteran of the Year Recipient -2001 Bakersfield College Sports Hall of Fame
Website: https://jeremystaat.com
Twitter: @JeremyStaat
