MANITOU SPRINGS — It is 9:35 on a Wednesday morning. Inside a conference room in this town’s high school of 350 students, away from the snow, freezing temperatures and accompanying fog that makes nearby Pikes Peak impossible to view, sits Justin Armour.
Six-foot-6, 215 pounds of prime student/athlete/citizen. He is The Denver Post’s 1990 Gold Helmet winner, Colorado’s premier senior football player who also excels in the classroom and community.
“The school work right now is kind of hectic,” he said, “with projects and other things you have to complete before the (holiday) break. But other than that, great.”
That’s a five-letter word frequently associated with Armour, whose achievements someday may approach legendary proportions in these parts, where everyone knows all about “Justin” or “that Armour kid.”
“In 23 years with high schools I’ve never seen anyone like him,” Manitou Springs principal Larry Brown said. “He’s not just a talented athlete; he’s also a gifted student and person. He’s a gentleman.”
“He has an awful lot to offer,” Mustangs football coach George Rykovich said. “He realizes he;s been blessed. The thing that makes him so special is he keeps it all under control.”
Armour, just 17 years old, has somehow been able to maintain the virtually complete high-school package for a young man — grouping superior athletic and academic accomplishments with strong beliefs in religion and citizenship. Well, almost complete. Female companionship, he said, has been dry lately because of a lock of “time and money.”
Stereotypical comments need not apply: He is neither “jock” nor “brain” nor “nerd.” “He really is the all-American kid,” Brown said.
The Colorado Springs native is a son of divorced parents. He’s a brother to one who had problems with drugs and alcohol. So much for the broken-home theory. “My family is extremely important to me. I’ve learned so many things from them. We all get along.”
He is due at Stanford in ’91, having signed an early letter-of-intent, and will play two sports — the red-shirt quarterback will practice with the football team until basketball begins, when he hopes to play varsity. Armour will then choose one of the two sports prior to his second school year.
“Justin’s statistics,” Rykovich said, “are the worst thing about him.”
Not bad, considering Armour in ’90 was without doubt, awesome in a unique sort of way. How much so? To wit:
He operated the Mustangs from the now supposedly ancient single wing (taking snaps lining up as a tailback with the option to run or pass). He rang up 27 touchdowns rushing, 25 more passing. He ran for 1,320 yards; he threw for 2,103 more. At safety he intercepted eight passes.
He scored 199 points.
In his three-year career, Armour had rushed and thrown for 8,119 yards and 124 touchdowns.
Manitou Springs, 13-0, won the 3A state title.
And don’t think he couldn’t play in 6A or 5A.
“When I was going to be a freshman my dad lived in Mitchell’s district. We considered it very strongly,” Armour said. “In the summer I heard a coach in a basketball tournament give a big speech, saying that he hears players say they are under-recruited because of the size of the school. He said you really don’t have anything to prove during you school season because when you’re in yours, coaches are in theirs. You have to prove it during the summer against the best. As I was able to continue doing that I didn’t see the need for it. But I certainly know I could play 6A or whatever. I have no doubt.”
“Not one person is jealous of him,” Brown said.
“Other than comments that are jokes, there’s nothing more,” Armour said. “I’ve been fortunate to have a good group of guys.”
A perfect student, too
Armour is a 4.0 student. In 3½ years of high school he has only received one B, “in advanced English my freshman year but it was a quarter grade. I ended up getting an A for the semester,” he said.
He ranks No. 1 in his class and will be valedictorian. His subjects through the first half of his senior year were: Journalism (only those hand-picked students made it); English Literature, Calculus (enough said); Personnel Finance; French IV, and Boys’ Weights (instead of your basic physical education).
He is president of his class, student body and student council. He’s editor of the school newspaper. He also works with the drama club, is a member of the National Honor Society, and Math and Science clubs.
“High-school academics, I think, are just a matter of three things: showing up to class; paying attention at least half the time, and doing your assignments,” Armour said. “It’s consistency that gets good grades . . . just do what’s asked and a little more.”
One of Brown’s favorite stories concerns the school’s homecoming. “The theme was Disneyland. Can you believe it? Disneyland!” Brown said. “With him, you don’t have to wonder what’s going to be going on before or after the dance. You could see his influence on it. I feared it would be a theme of something like ‘Metallica.’ I’m talking about dead — lights, camera, suicide! He’s super positive.”
Armour supports other school sport teams just by showing up. “If he’s there watching a game or something . . . I don’t know how to cook up cheers like they do today,” said Brown, noting the accepted, frank use today of profanity or taunting opposing teams at events. “Those kids aren’t angels but with him in the group, they know he doesn’t like it.”
And for selecting Stanford? “I just sat down with my folks and said, ‘Hey, I know some guys that went to school and blew out a knee. If something like that happens, I mean, what’s there?'” Armour asked. “If all else fails, I want an education that’s going to get me a job that I don’t have to worry about, I hope.”
Teaches first-graders
Away from school Armour is just as productive. How about a teenager handling his parents’ divorce?
“I’d just like to thank my family, my mom (Anne) and my dad (Tom),” he said. “They taught me things when I was younger, basic skills that I’ve been able to grow from. They’ve remained friends and went on.”
He has given presentations to the Rotary Club (a slide show following a trip to China). He is active with Youth Life groups, and has taught French to first-graders. He regularly speaks at the local junior high. He does things with his church, West Side Christian.
Armour also works with D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). “(The police) are starting to tell them about substance abuse early — fifth-graders,” Armour said. “They wanted role models who were completely away from it to speak to the kids.”
Armour’s brother, Jason, did not finish high school with his class. “The first time they won state here, I sort of gew up with those guys. My brother was friends with them but, of course, he left,” Armour said. “That was a very big-time party class. The influence on our freshmen was huge, it was great. That’s where a lot of my friends chose to go otherwise, but probably where I made my biggest stand.
“My brother is doing much better. See, the problem is, he’s a genius. He took his IQ test and placed in the 99th percentile in the entire nation. He took his GED and got nearly a perfect score. He’ll be at CSU this January. He’s been a real positive influence on my life. I’m sorry it had to happen the way it did.”
As for peer pressure, Armour said “sometimes my friends will joke and say ‘Oh, we’re going to get you drunk one time in high school.’ And I just kind of look at them and say, OK, sure . . . whatever. There’s peer pressure in some things but with substance, if you say no to someone they turn away.
“Substance subtracts from a lot of things. I see friends in athletics doing it. You don’t know when you can rely on them; they’re inconsistent. And so I know I would probably be the same way. And with the testimony right in my face when I was real young I guess I was adamant against it.”
