CLEVELAND — Poetry and football don't seem to have much correlation, but the two brought Browns defensive end Myles Garrett and Ginn Academy junior Rameer Askew together for a very special surprise.
Askew, like Garrett, enjoys playing football—but he also has another passion. Askew performs spoken word poetry around the country. He's gone through many phases of writing, from love poems to social topics, but the art of spoken word in all of it's forms is something Askew has grown a fondness for.
The high school junior's story of traveling to perform poetry made the rounds and into the ear of Garrett.
The NFL star loves poetry himself and once he heard about Askew, knew he had to meet him. So on Friday, Garrett made a surprise visit to Ginn Academy.
Askew was brought into the school's office where he walked into a room with Garrett waiting inside to greet him.
"Nice to meet you," Garrett said as the two bro-hugged, as Askew stood starstruck.
"Nice to meet you too...you're huge bro," Askew responded.
The two stood and talked for some time, sharing their favorite types of poetry, their family backstories and other things they had in common. Garrett asked Askew if he had any poems on hand, to which the high school junior performed his spoken word piece "The Hurtful Truth."
"Spoken word is a difficult thing to do, to project yourself, your voice and your message and in a positive way, so to do it with such confidence as he did, it's very inspiring," Garrett said.
Askew was grateful to have his work heard by someone he looks up to.
"It felt great, getting it off my chest to him. Knowing that he's willing to listen to my poetry, that meant the world to me," Askew said.
While Garrett spent one-on-one time with Askew, his visit was a bigger surprise. Wrapping the day, Garrett made his way to the gymnasium where he stood on a stage behind a curtain while the students filed in for a "special assembly."
An announcement of a special guest and a quick bio had students in the bleachers stirring, guessing who would be appearing. When they heard "Give a warm welcome to Myles Garrett!" the gym erupted with cheers.
Garrett spoke to the school, commending them for the hard work they put into their academics and thanking them for having him for a visit before Askew performed his poem in front of his peers.
Before leaving, Garrett made his way through the bleachers to meet with the students, capping the day with plenty of photos and, of course, lasting memories for Garrett, Askew and the entire Ginn Academy.
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