Ryan Phillips on his story, his dream and his ambition

O'Dea junior Ryan Phillips has only been playing football for three years, but it has been a part of his life since he was born. As a player he uses his natural talent to his advantage and his knowledge of the game sets him apart.

Phillips began playing football his freshman year where he played cornerback and wide receiver for the O'Dea Fighting Irish freshman team.

His natural talents don’t just come from him, he comes from a football family. Phillips' father, also Ryan Phillips, was known for his durability, having only missed four games in his 12-year professional career in the Canadian Football League which includes a consecutive games-played streak of 181 games.

Phillips Sr. played defensive back (db) which his son, Phillips takes after playing both wide receiver and defensive back as well. Ryan says that he has always been inspired by his father to play football his whole life, but Phillips Sr. didn’t want him playing until high school.

Phillips says he never knew why he didn’t want him playing until high school; he assumes that he did that so he could just prepare for high school and have a longer career.

While Phillips Sr. does not currently play, he is still living his dream job as he is coaching for the same team he played on, the BC Lions, where he is the defensive back coordinator and the defensive coach.

While the younger Phillips looks up to his father, he has others that inspire him as well.

“An athlete that I look up to is Lebron [James] because not only does he perform well on the court he's a huge role model outside of the court. He gives back to the community by opening schools, giving back to charity, and setting up the Lebron James Family Foundation which helps kids throughout the country with education and sports.”

As Phillips continues to play, he wants to achieve one thing while playing for the Irish,

“Our number one goal as a team is to win a state championship and to go 1-0 every week. I feel like we have a good chance of making it to state and winning a championship. We have a good squad this year offensively and defensively."

But more than anything else, Phillips knows that the things he learns from football and close-knit community of the team and school will help him in every aspect of life.

"One thing Coach Kohler said that stood out was that O’Dea football is all about the brotherhood, the bond that connects all of us."