Rock Bridge's Sam Kaiser is ready for his next chapter at Harvard football
Thousands of student-athletes signed their National Letter of Intent this week for the Early National Signing Day window to ascend from the high school ranks to play at the collegiate level.
One of those student-athletes is Rock Bridge quarterback Sam Kaiser, who has been with the program all four years of his high school playing days.
On Thursday, in front of family, friends, and teammates, he officially signed to play at Harvard University, one of college football’s most historic programs, and one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
He had been committed to Harvard since the summer, but Thursday marked the moment he made that commitment concrete.
“I’m very proud of how far I’ve come in the journey and all these people here that I know and I love, it’s just a pretty surreal moment for all of them to be right here and sharing this with me so it's super cool,” Kaiser said.
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound signal caller held offers from Akron, Dartmouth, Miami-Ohio, Pittsburgh, and Vanderbilt. However, Harvard was perfect for Kaiser, leading to his commitment earlier this year on Aug. 4 before his senior season.
“I love the coaching staff; they’re all super genuine, and they win football games,” Kaiser said. “I just thought that if you can ball, the NFL will find you wherever you’re at. So, pairing that with a great academic school and getting a degree from Harvard, I couldn’t pass that up."
Harvard was the top team in the Ivy League Conference for the 2023 season. Under head coach Tim Murphy, who has coached Harvard for 29 years, compiling a 200-89 record, the Crimson finished 8-2 and split the Ivy League title with Yale.
Boston is 1,309 miles from Columbia, Missouri, but the distance from the Midwest isn’t something that bothers Kaiser; it’s something that he is happily ready to embrace.
“I went up there and fell in love with Boston. My sister went to college in Providence, Rhode Island. So I had been up there a few previous times,” Kaiser said. “I just wanted to get somewhere as far away from home so I can kind of spread my wings.”
Kaiser is especially ready for the new opportunity after what he called an up-and-down season in 2023. In 2022, he threw for 1,600-plus yards with a 21-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio and completed nearly 60% of his passes, establishing himself as one of the best quarterbacks in Missouri.
In 2023, Rock Bridge won nine games and advanced out of districts for the first time since 2013, while the margin of its four losses was just 22 points. Kaiser, though he battled injury for a part of the season, and Brady Davidson took over the quarterback position. However, Kaiser mentioned that his support system around him helped him overcome his personal hard times.
“These people right here. I mean, all these people helped me through,” said Kaiser at his signing event. “It got pretty bad this season, not what I expected at all. All these people just supported me through it all, and they’re great, and I just knew there’s more to come, so that was a good thought. But yeah, it was definitely tough, but you know, we made it through, and I’m just excited to start again.”
The itch to play again is already on Kaiser’s mind as he expects to arrive on Harvard’s campus in August. Along with that, he’s most looking forward to meeting new people as he embarks on his college days.
“I am just ready to play football again. I already miss it so much, so that’ll be fun. And then just the experience of meeting new people and people of that nature,” Kaiser said. “Everyone’s super smart, and everyone is hard-working, and you had to get there for a reason. So I’m super excited to meet everybody and meet new friends and new teammates at Harvard.”
Harvard’s 2024 season begins on Sep. 21, 2024, where the Crimson will face off against Stetson at the historic Harvard Stadium.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Harvard football: Rock Bridge QB Sam Kaiser is ready for next chapter
