Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin calls star linebacker Myles Garrett ‘just a different guy’

One of the hardest hitters in the Southeastern Conference has been writing poetry since he was 9 years old. Myles Garrett wore a Marvel comic book hat on the flight to SEC Media Days.

“He’s just a different guy,” Aggies football coach Kevin Sumlin said. “I wish I had 80 guys like that.”

Garrett enters his junior season as one of the nation’s top players. His 12  1/2 sacks and 19  1/2 tackles for loss led the SEC in 2015 when he became an All-American.

Garrett said his inspiration in poetry was Muhammad Ali. He was watching a movie about Ali with his grandmother when he wrote his first poem. He didn’t share any of his work on Tuesday but said “love” was a frequent subject matter.

Where Garrett does not find inspiration is on social media, quitting Twitter about a year ago.

“So much drama, so many problems arise from something so small as social media,” Garrett said. “Getting off of it didn’t take much effort. It doesn’t take away from your day. It actually opens up more productive things you can do in life instead of watching other people.”

This story was originally published July 12, 2016 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin calls star linebacker Myles Garrett ‘just a different guy’."