TCU senior Ty Summers leaving legacy on and off field as a ‘really good dude’

TCU coach Gary Patterson described him as one of the “really good dudes” in this year’s senior class.

Anybody who knows Ty Summers would agree.

This is a guy who, despite being the team’s active leader in career tackles, didn’t hesitate when asked to play more defensive end than linebacker this season. This is a guy who had a sack on his first snap against Baylor last week after missing the previous two games with injuries (and re-injuring himself a few plays later).

Oh, and he does everything a coach could want from a player off the field. TCU’s student publication, TCU 360, recently ran a story about Summers befriending a local eighth grader, breaking down film for him and going to a game in person.

“Anytime you get a chance to have a smart guy that’s a team guy, you’re way ahead of the game than you are with anybody else,” Patterson said. “He’s one of those guys. He’s going to be one of the guys we miss out of the senior class. The senior class has some really good dudes in it.”

With that being said, Patterson wasn’t too surprised when he learned Summers had been named a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award last week.

It’s a notable honor to be named one of the 20 semifinalists for an award that is based on the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award, recognizing players’ accomplishments on and off the field.

Summers understands the platform he has to make a positive impact by playing for one of the top Power Five programs in the country.

“There’s a lot of guys that have this platform and I feel like they use it just all about themselves and just waste the opportunity they have to change someone else’s life,” said Summers, who played quarterback in high school before becoming a standout linebacker and tying Jason Phillips for the second-most tackles (315 and counting) in the Patterson era at TCU.

“To have that platform to do that, I’m going to take full advantage of that.”

Summers called it a “major compliment” to be named a semifinalist, especially for an award with the namesake being one of his favorite players growing up. Summers, a San Antonio native, is an avid Cowboys fan.

“I always watched No. 82,” Summers said. “The fact that my name is listed next to his for his award is tremendous.”

Being named a semifinalist for the Witten Award has been a bright spot for Summers in what’s been a frustrating year to date.

Summers has battled injuries, exiting the Kansas game last month and being sidelined for the K-State and West Virginia games. As stated, he returned for the Baylor game and had a sack on his first play back, but re-injured himself.

Summers doesn’t know if he’ll play in the regular-season finale against Oklahoma State on Saturday.

“I’m going to play it day by day and try to be smart,” said Summers, who has 44 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in nine games this season.

“The last thing I would want to do, if I wasn’t ready to be out there and hurt the team because I can’t do my job. But if I’m capable then I’m going to be out there.”

It could be the last opportunity for Summers to play college football, although he hopes to extend his playing days beyond TCU.

Summers knows his injury and numbers will likely prevent him from landing invites to all-star events such as the Senior Bowl, but is taking it all in stride.

Just like he is when it comes to whether he’ll make it to a bowl game as a senior.

“As a senior, [getting to a bowl] is huge,” Summers said. “The best senior year is seven wins now. If not, so be it.

“If five wins is the best that we can get for the seniors, it is what it is. We’ve gone through a lot this year. The fact that we’ve got five is still impressive.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2018 at 1:00 PM.