ATLANTA • If Terry Beckner Jr.’s grades ever slipped in high school, his mother’s rule was clear and severe.
“If I didn’t have my education I couldn’t play ball,” Missouri’s senior defensive tackle said. “They go hand in hand. You can’t just play football and not have grades.”
Beckner knew better than to test his mother. Cs were sometimes acceptable for Jermaya-White Beckner. But nothing worse.
With that rule in mind Beckner decided against leaving Mizzou a year early to enter the NFL draft, a pivotal decision for a defense that needs established playmakers, especially a 290-pound elite athlete in the best shape of his college career.