Formerly undersized, Gardner stands tall

Now a stout 295-pound offensive lineman, red shirt sophomore Andrew Gardner is the third biggest starting offensive lineman on this year's squad. His size was something that Sandy Creek High School Head Coach Rodney Walker saw, but many college recruiters missed. Gardner, a teammate of Calvin Johnson in high school, only had Division I-A offers from Tech, Navy, Duke and Wake Forest, while his teammate had offers from most of the nation's top universities.

Gardner, a native of Tyrone, Ga., was not always in the middle of the pack as far as linemen go. In fact, he was one of the lightest linemen on his high school football team. Entering his junior year, Gardner weighed only 200 pounds while casting a long shadow at 6 feet 6 inches tall.

"I've been skinny for so long; I was never the strongest nor the biggest guy [on the team]. I was always really tall and athletic for my size," Gardner said.

Despite being named a starter at tackle during his junior year of high school, Gardner did not hold the post for long. As the practice season began, Gardner suffered from mononucleosis, a major setback in his playing career.

"That summer I had mono, dropped down to 180 pounds and missed football camp because my spleen was enlarged. I lost my position to an older guy who was bigger than I was."

After dropping 20 pounds over the summer, Gardner became one of the lighter players on the team. Hard work and a bit of luck would be invloved on his road to recovery. Once he started getting back into shape, he regained the weight he lost over the summer, but did not regain his starting tackle spot. He was reduced to being a part time tight end and a backup tackle. However, an unfortunate incident to the tackle that took his spot on the offensive line initially opened the door for Gardner to step in.

Gardner continued to add weight throughout the course of his high school career; obtaining a scholarship to play in college was becoming more of a reality.

"Going into my senior year, my high school coach [Rodney Walker] told me that I probably had the chance to play I-AA football somewhere. He told me to gain weight and keep working hard."

During the summer before his senior season, Gardner continued to grow and become stronger. By the beginning of his senior year, he had worked his way up to 230 pounds.

"Going into my senior season, my high school coach told me 'Forget I-AA. If you can gain enough weight, you can play I-A. Just gain weight, and you can get a scholarship.'"

Gardner was tabbed as an honorable mention All-State and a first-team All-Area by the Atlanta Journal Constitution coming out of high school. He was also ranked in the Top 100 in Georgia by TheInsiders.com.

"Throughout my senior year, I kept gaining some weight, and I guess people liked what they saw in film. By the end of my senior year, I was getting attention from a lot of programs and I had offers from some solid I-A programs....Coach D'Alessandris [Tech's offensive line coach] said they really liked my athleticism and liked what they saw, but I was going to have to gain weight, or they couldn't recruit me."

When he graduated from high school, he had worked his way up to 240 pounds. By signing day in February of 2004, he was 250 pounds and was gaining attention from a few Division I-A schools, including Tech.

"My top three schools were [Tech], Wake Forest and Duke....I grew up being a Tech fan. My brother and my sister went here, so when Tech offered [a scholarship], it was pretty much a done deal that this was where I was going to go."

When he first stepped onto the Flats, Gardner only weighted 250 pounds. The coaching staff wanted him to get stronger while maintaining his quickness. When he had a chance to step in, he made the most of it, just as he did when he was at Sandy Creek High.

"My first year here, I came in and I was pretty skinny, so I red-shirted and [gained] some weight. Some of the older guys in front of me graduated, so I had a chance to start as a red-shirt freshman and I thought I played pretty well. I thought I did a good job and ended up receiving Freshman All-American honors, which felt pretty good. I didn't really expect it, so it was a good surprise."

Gardner has started every game at left tackle for the Jackets for the past two years and has turned himself into a prototypical offensive lineman.At the beginning of this year, he was named to the preseason second team All-ACC by Lindy's, Athlon and The Sporting News.

"This year I feel like I've gotten a lot bigger and stronger, and this year I feel like I'm doing a whole lot better than last year. Getting used to playing against [bigger and stronger] guys in high school and [in college] during my red-shirt year has made me that much better now that I am finally bigger and stronger."