• Julian Cavazos •
• Originally published January 27, 2009 at 9:07 a.m., updated January 27, 2009 at 9:07 a.m.

If there's one lesson that Richard Garcia has carried with him since seventh grade, it's to never give up.

Garcia learned that lesson after he became friends with Jerheme Urban on the track team at Crain Middle School in Victoria. Both ran on the 1,600-meter relay.

Garcia said Monday he would get nervous before each race and that Urban, now a wide receiver for the Super Bowl-bound Cardinals, noticed.

"I used to be scared to run the mile relay," Garcia, now 27, said. "But Jerheme was always right there behind me telling me, 'Hey, just hang in there. Give it your all.'"

To this day, Urban has left him with the, "Hey, I can do anything" attitude, he said.

"You could tell he really wanted to succeed," said Garcia, who is now a surgical technician at a hospital in San Antonio. "He's the same Jerheme I met in seventh grade."

His high school friends, who say they will be watching him on Sunday, remember him as being a down-to-earth, yet talented athlete and student.

Stroman classmate Gabriel Trevino knew the six-year NFL veteran in high school. They played football at different middle schools, so Trevino did not hear of Urban until high school. Since Trevino chose to focus on basketball instead, he asked his friends who the quarterback was going to be. They told him it was "some kid named Jerheme Urban."

"It turned out that this skinny, geeky-looking white kid that I had in my third period chemistry class turned out to be Jerheme Urban. I was like, 'no way he's quarterback,'" Trevino joked. "But as the years went on, this guy kept growing and growing and growing and you got to see something special in him that wasn't in anyone else there around campus."

They became friends after being in several classes together.

Trevino said Urban wasn't a "wild and crazy" type of person in high school like some some athletes.

"He was pretty mature sports-wise. He was kind of like a coach," Trevino said.

Along with being a high school football player, Urban also played soccer. Soccer teammate Billy Lagal remembers him vividly.

"He was a clown-always cracking jokes, always singing country music," Lagal said.

But at the same time, Urban led by example, Lagal said.

"He always took the initiative to make sure everyone was on the same page, always looking for input from his teammates. He was always available to lend a helping hand, to give advice," he said.

Garcia said many of Urban's fans remain confident that he will continue to succeed.

"With the vibe and energy he has behind him," Garcia said," he still has people believing in him, and what he can do."

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