Treble on the Field: Junior Brock Rider balances being a lineman with also being a musician and applies the dedication and work ethic he’s learned through each skill to better himself

Then-freshman Brock Rider walked into Kansas City Country Club for his first-ever homecoming dinner with a fresh buzz cut, black and white suit and his date in his arm — a football.

Noticing the piano in the corner, Brock offered to play for his friends who were expecting a simple and quick rendition of a beginner-level song from the over-205-pound linebacker.

Instead, Brock set down his football and began playing anything from Mozart to “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey — hitting every key on the piano perfectly. His friends stood around the piano, eyes wide and jaws dropped, singing along whispering a “How does he actually know this?” during pauses in the lyrics.

Now junior and 275-pound lineman Brock goes from bench pressing 300 pounds and tackling his teammates at practice to sitting at a piano for an hour practicing the newest piece he’s teaching himself by ear.

“Most people are just blown away and don’t even know what to say, because they see me and they think sports [is] all he does,’” Brock said. “They think all that I do is play football, and I’m just this big meathead, which I’m not.”

Brock has grown up surrounded by football and found a love for the sport ever since he could throw footballs around with his dad, while also gaining an innate talent for music. Brock balances the two drastically different passions and uses his skills from one to benefit the other.

Brock uses the dedication and work ethic he’s gained from football and weightlifting to persevere when a song seems difficult or he can’t quite reach a certain chord. He uses his patience and discipline he’s gained from music to help him nail new plays and continuously show up in practice even when he may not want to.

At age 6, Brock began to learn piano when his grandma started teaching him the basics. By sixth grade, Brock was playing Beethoven symphonies at his school talent show, with parents dropping their jaws at the fact a 12-year-old could effortlessly play advanced classical music that many adult players still struggle with.

At that same age, Brock was beginning to take football seriously as well. His dad and East’s co-defensive coordinator, Derrick Rider, spent countless evenings taking him to the field to run plays and truly dial-in on the sport. Derrick wasn’t the only inspiration for Brock’s football career, however, with two of his uncles also coaching high school football.

“Football’s kind of what our family’s about,” Brock said. 

Despite coming from such a headstrong football family, Brock never overlooks his love of music. Going from running plays on the field with his dad to his piano lessons at the Prairie Village Music Cafe, he always let both sides of himself shine equally.

After 12 years of playing, he’s able to pick out a new song, sit down for 15-30 minutes at his piano and teach himself anything from classical Mozart pieces to trending music like “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes.  

After mastering the piano, Brock decided to pick up a guitar last year and was able to teach himself the instrument completely, using only the music knowledge he had from playing the piano.

“I had this really old acoustic guitar, one from Savers, that I just started strumming,” Brock said. “Then I asked my dad, ‘Hey, can I play your guitar?’ Because he has a really nice one from college. I’m playing that like every day now.”

He knew from the start if he continued to practice and put the work in he could get really good at guitar — a value he’s gained from football and piano.

Brock hated the guitar at one point when he couldn’t play a complicated F-chord. His fingers couldn’t reach the correct strings to execute the perfect chord.  He didn’t know if he would ever get the hang of that chord, but knew if he kept going and practicing he would make progress — just like football. Now, Brock knows how to play an F-chord just as well as he knows how to put on his shoulder pads.

He has no distractions when he sets his mind to something, according to junior Fletcher Douglass who has known Brock since middle school and seen his improvements. He’s able to put his head down and lock-in until he reaches his goals — then he sets a new one.

Balancing all of these hobbies may seem hard to anyone else, but for Brock it’s just his day-to-day life. Lift in the morning, football after school, then go home and play guitar or piano for an hour — though he feels like he’s played 10 minutes — and spend time with his family, even teaching his younger brother ukulele so he can join Brock while he practices.

“He’s the hardest worker,” junior and Brock’s teammate Hank Hunter said. “He outworks everyone. I mean, he’s in the weight room all the time. He’s really smart in the classroom. He’s just a powerhouse.

Brock also has perfect pitch, which he believes is a mix of his music experience over the years and a natural born gift he has.

“The other day I heard a song, and I just started strumming it, and then I’m like, ‘Wow, I just learned that!’” Brock said.

His musical talent never fails to shock people when they see the kid they usually only see on a football field playing D-line and going head first at people sit down at the piano and play Mozart like he’s in Carnegie hall or strum out “Wonderwall” just as if he were on stage with Oasis.

After the initial shock though, his teammates and friends always support his music career. Without fail, the team tries to get him to play for them wherever they see a piano at events like banquets or dances. The football team has even joked about going to Johnny’s Tavern with Brock’s guitar and flash mobbing in the middle of the restaurant or having Brock lead them in sing-alongs on bus rides to games.

“[My music] comes up all the time with my teammates,” Brock said. “We’ve talked about bringing my guitar on the bus and stuff for when we’ll have sing-alongs.”

While Brock hasn’t climbed on the bus with his guitar in hand quite yet, he plans to serenade the players sometime before the season ends.

Brock enjoys being well-rounded in his skills. He doesn’t want to walk around as just an athlete, he wants to explore different hobbies and hold many interests. He’s a big brother, a musician and a hard-worker — not just a jacked football player.

“We play football but then he has this whole musical side,” junior Eric Schlote said. “He puts so much effort into everything”

Brock also worked his music side into school this year, by joining the choir. Brock’s friends in choir would always ask him to join, knowing his music talent — even talking to choir teacher Ken Foley about it when they would be in the lunchroom with Brock while Foley was a lunch monitor. Finally, after two years of his friends begging, Brock joined the Choraliers choir and brought his gung-ho attitude with him, according to Foley.

Foley loves having a big football player in class, showing that you can have multiple interests and do everything you want to do, especially one as talented as Brock.

He also thinks the discipline and mental space you need for music transfers to athletics and can aid in sports. He finds similarities between the two, like how ordering music in your brain and memorizing things such as lyrics or notes can help you order plays in your head and memorize what you need to do in that play. Even how the need of repetition and practice connects between sports and music as well.

“The preparation that you need [for music], mentally and physically, transfers so much to sports,” Foley said. “I’m sure that discipline of learning to play guitar or piano easily transfers over to his football.”