Jarret Chapman jokes that the “C” on his helmet stands for his last name, not his team’s name.

While many college football teams say they’re a “big family,” Jarret, a senior defensive back, says Central Michigan is actually one — both figuratively and literally.

In addition to Chapman, the Chippewas have his brother Mark, a redshirt freshman wide receiver, and their cousin Winslow, a redshirt sophomore defensive back. After Jarret and Mark moved from San Diego so all three could play high school together, the three fed each other’s appetite to compete at the Division I level.

Now all at CMU, they’ve created a family atmosphere that’s rarely found in any other locker room.

“Days where I didn’t feel like working, it’d be like, ‘Dang, man, I don’t know about today. I’m kind of tired,’” Jarret said. “I’d just look at Winslow and Mark. We’d be like, ‘Nah man, we’ve got to work today. We’re trying to play D-I college football.’

“The flying C is Chapman University and people be like ‘Man, you have any other family members coming up here?’”

Even though Jarret and Mark were able to play pickup with Winslow when they visited him in Port Huron, Michigan, they couldn’t move and play competitive games together due to their father, James Chapman’s job out West.

James, realizing the future his two kids had in football and their desire to play on the same high school team with their cousin, made a sacrifice.

“They wanted to go home and play with their cousin as they started their high school years,” James said. “I decided to go ahead and retire so they could go home and play football with their cousin. That’s a big reason why they wanted to come home.”

In their time at Port Huron (Michigan) High School, all three garnered team Most Valuable Player honors. When colleges came looking for Jarret, it wasn’t anything football-related that first opened his eyes to CMU, though.

His elder cousin, Josh, was a freshman at Central Michigan at the time. Jarret and Mark’s oldest brother, Kalvin, was set to attend Michigan State. But once Josh convinced Kalvin to take a visit to Central Michigan, Kalvin was sold and the dominoes for the rest of the family started falling.

Neither Kalvin, a fifth-year senior, or Josh, who graduated last year, played football at CMU, but after taking a visit to Mount Pleasant at Kalvin’s suggestion, Jarret bought in as well. When he finally got an offer after his senior season of football, Jarret didn’t even take 24 hours to make his decision. Then Winslow came. Then Mark.

“A lot of people say maybe I had my hand in it. I did not,” James said. “It had more or less to do with (Kalvin). I figure whoever gets (Jarret) first, then the two may follow and that’s the way it went.”

Almost four years later, CMU head coach Dan Enos has completed recruiting the trifecta of Chapmans that were on his radar. Enos said Jarret gave the other two a birds-eye view of how the program was run and that it’s a testament to CMU football to have three relatives commit in succession.

While Jarret possesses physicality and toughness as a safety, he said Mark is a do-it-all speed threat and Winslow is an all-around athlete. Enos also added that all three bring valuable intangibles on the field, but it may be their value off it that speaks to the highest volume.

“They’re great young men. They’re all outstanding students,” Enos said. “They’re really the epitome of what we’re trying to recruit in this program.”

Having a brother and a cousin who share a locker room helps keep the mood loose, Jarret said, despite the day-to-day rigors of Division I football. And when Enos calls on Jarret in team meetings, Winslow will answer and confuse the head coach before he realizes one is trying to imitate the other.

While it may simply be another laugh in a different locker room, it’s just a microcosm of the daily benefits that come from wearing the same jersey as two other family members.

“It always brings a good environment, knowing I got family on the team,” Jarret said. “It really helps days during the grind of football practice and everything, knowing my brother is here, my cousin is here.”

Published on September 11, 2014 at 12:11 am

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