Sticking With The Program Rogers’ Hooper Hurdles Tragedy, Disappointment

Adam Hooper didn’t offer the information. He’s not the type of person who wants people feeling sorry for him.

But just before the interview ended, his mother, Julie Geiger, came home. She’s the one who revealed that her son had found his 38-year-old stepfather dead in the garage from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning in January 1997. Rick Geiger had been working on his car.

“It was pretty tough,” said Hooper, a soft-spoken senior on the Rogers High football team.

Rick Geiger had been his “dad” for 10 years. His real father lives in the Phoenix area.

“Rick was the one who would toss footballs to Adam and talk with him about sports,” Julie said, crying.

Hooper and his older sister, Michelle, found their stepdad sometime after midnight on Jan. 9, 1997. They awoke to the beeping of the carbon monoxide detector that Michelle had insisted they install.

“I just don’t take life for granted,” Hooper said of how he’s dealt with such a tragedy. “I live life to the fullest.”

That means playing football when your friends have quit because the team isn’t winning.

That means being happy at wide receiver, even though you’d been groomed all summer to be the starting quarterback.

That means not worrying too much about scoring touchdowns, and being more thrilled with an interception because those help the team, too.

And that means serving as a role model for younger athletes in a way that says “stick with things.”

It would’ve been easy for Hooper to ditch the struggling Pirates program, which has managed just three wins in his two years on varsity. He considered it. The Pirates are 0-3 so far in 1998 and have been outscored 134-20 heading into Friday’s 3 p.m. Greater Spokane League meeting with Shadle Park at Albi Stadium.

“It’s easy to quit, but it’s not easy to fulfill what you want,” said Hooper, 17. “You’ve got to earn what you want.”

Yet what Hooper and his buddies wanted in football, they’re not going to accomplish.

They lost only one game each season as freshmen and sophomores. And they were counting on being champions of the GSL as seniors.

They had big plans for the Pirates. But players have quit for various reasons, and now the crop of seniors is down to 10 - eight of whom have been in the program for four years.

“It’s kind of like a dream now,” Hooper said of winning league. “Because you want it to happen, but you know it’s probably not going to happen.”

Hooper, who earned all-GSL second-team recognition last year at cornerback, picked off a league-high five passes last fall. This year, the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder goes two ways, starting at corner and wide receiver.

“The great thing about him is this year a couple of other seniors decided not to play and they were friends of Adam,” Rogers coach Dave Pomante said. “It would have been easy for Adam to go the way of the buffalo. He stuck in there, provided leadership and has been an inspiration to me because of his perseverance.

“He was knowing he was going to be surrounded by young guys getting their first experience on the turf (at Albi).”

Pomante said he appreciates how Hooper handled the situation when he learned sophomore Nick Scott would be the starting QB. The Pirates coaching staff wasn’t sure how quickly Scott would come along. Yet Hooper does fill in at the position.

“We had to prepare Adam to be the quarterback,” Pomante said. “He had prepared all summer. We knew Nick was talented enough, but weren’t sure if he could handle it mentally. Then we could tell he was ready. We went to Adam and said we were going to put him at receiver. He said, ‘Whatever’s best for the team.’ And he’s sincere about that. I’ve had guys say that and when things go well they’re fine, but when things go awry, they start talking.

“He stuck with his teammates and coaches in an adverse situation.”

And he and his mom have stuck together, too.

Julie is a nurse who’s taken a leave of absence from work since the death of her husband.

“Unless you get encouragement and support at home, you don’t make it,” Julie Geiger said. “He’s a good, strong kid. He’s had a lot of coaches and caring people along the way who have seen not only his athletic ability, but that he’s a true team member.”