The final week of spring practice has arrived for Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. He is in his final year of eligibility and this week will be the first of a lot of lasts coming up this year.
“It’s been awesome. I really haven’t had time to reflect on it,” Kaliakmanis said after Saturday’s practice. “I am in the moment constantly, chopping the moment, living in the present. But when I go into watch film from day one til now, it is really good.”
Next Saturday will be Kaliakmanis’ final spring game as the Scarlet White Game will take place on Saturday inside SHI Stadium.
“Sometimes, I have to keep myself composed because I am excited to see the fans again at the spring game,” Kaliakmanis said. “We are all looking forward to that. It brings some juice. We are all looking forward to that., I cannot wait to be back in that stadium and see the fans again. Hopefully, everybody pops out.”
That game and this season will be Kaliakmanis’ final one playing alongside his older brother, Dino, who has been steadily improving at the wide receiver position.
“He works extremely hard and he is extremely intentional about everything he does,” Kaliakmanis said of his brother. “He is going to do whatever it takes; that is who he is. He’s been like that since I was born. I am very proud of him because he’s had a very, very, very, extremely difficult journey. And, as a younger brother, I am proud of the man he has become.”
Kaliakmanis returns as team captain and that has required him to lead a new group of players. Rutgers has introduced 11 transfers to the team this winter along with close to two dozen true freshmen who have enrolled early. While early enrollment is suddenly the norm, it was not the way for Kaliakmanis.
“It was COVID for me, so I played my senior season of high school in February,” said Kaliakmanis, who came out of Antioch, Ill. “That was my senior season so I did not enroll early. But I highly recommend it for anyone who is getting recruited. You can see they get a huge advantage—the people that come in early versus the people that come in the summer. You get winter workouts, you get spring football. And in the summer, you start in summer conditioning but they have already been in winter conditioning, so they are ahead and already have that practice.”
