Mt. Pleasant, IA- The “Seven Blocks of Granite” was a nickname bestowed upon the Fordham University offensive line during their run through the 1930s made most famous in 1936 due to a group that featured six future NFL players and Vince Lombardi. It might be time to give the 2025 Mt. Pleasant line a nickname after Jaymisen Rich signed his letter of intent to join the Storm at Simpson College.
Rich is now the second lineman to commit to playing football at the next level and it’s hard to argue with the center’s toughness. He and his brother Jeryn were apart of a small group of six that attended 100% of summer workouts, trotted back out to long snap despite aggravating a hamstring injury in their playoff game, and now does CrossFit to train for the upcoming grind that is collegiate athletics.
Rich fully encompassed what head coach John Bowlin expected his team’s identity would be,
“So, just focus on our assignments and just, you know, being a physical team, I think that’s the biggest thing that our guys need to hang their hats on is we need to be the most physical team out there. I feel good about our all-around athleticism, but we may not be the fastest team, but I think I think our eleven guys will work really well together and, you know, just got to go win the line of scrimmage. So, I think that’s our biggest MO is control the line of scrimmage, control the football and play physical. So that’s what we’re going to focus on here going into Week 1 is being that team when you leave the field that somebody says, man, these guys play hard, they play tough and they’re physical.”
For Rich, he feels he found a second home two-hours west of Mt. Pleasant in Indianola,
“I chose Simpson because I felt like it was my best option. Ever since I stepped foot on campus, it just felt like home. And the town feels just like Mount Pleasant. And I just see the environment, the coaches. I felt like I really fit in there. I’ve been down there five or six times now visiting. So, I’ve got to know the team very well and I just felt like it was home.”
The entire Panther football program engaged in a change of culture after Rich’s freshman season. The team started to focus on running the ball again and while the wins did not come until his junior and senior seasons, the foundational blocks were being placed,
“You know, I don’t think I would trade it for anything. Going 0-9 two years in a row, it not only fuels you, but it builds character, obviously. And so, I think the last two seasons, we went 4-5 junior season, and last season we went 7-3. I think it just made everything a lot sweeter. You know, it made it feel like work really paid off.”
There was an added layer of determination after his sophomore season, as he saw his chance of accomplishing a lifelong dream of playing collegiate football laid out before him. It truly echoed a sentiment that Rich and Mt. Pleasant football had seared into their identity,
“Yeah, I kind of knew it was going to come true going into my junior year. I put in some work at camps. But now that it’s over, I mean, it feels amazing, obviously. But it’s just good to really know that all my hard work paid off and everything I wanted to happen happened.”
That hard work resulted in Mt. Pleasant’s first win over Washington since 2008—a moment Rich deemed his favorite from the season, two double-digit comebacks in the second half, their first winning season since 2019, and their first trip to the postseason since 2010.
At the center of it all, Rich dished out 21 pancakes as the Panthers ran for 1,603 yards on 4.1 yards per carry and 24 touchdowns on his way to being named Second Team All-District. There’s a certain disposition needed to be a lineman, one spelled out perfectly by Rich,
“You get to hit people. I mean, I like being one because you can, especially being a center, you can kind of run the offense. And I just like it because you’re with the guy crossing you all game. And so, it’s you versus him every play. And then offensive linemen, we’re like our own little team up there of five. And you really come close to those guys with double teams. And, you know, you’re always together. So, working together and seeing, like, long runs and everything, it just really makes it all worth it.”
Rich plans on studying Health and Exercise Science with the hope to own his own chiropractic office one day. Simpson College will look to build upon their 6-4 campaign from last season when they travel to Augustana to start the season on Saturday, September 5th, at 6 pm.