Football's Ryan Royer Earns University's Mr. Bearcat Award

CINCINNATI -- University of Cincinnati fifth-year linebacker Ryan Royer has earned the prestigious Mr. Bearcat award, presented annually by honorary fraternity Sigma Sigma based on a student's academic success, leadership abilities and contributions to the UC community.

He is the first student-athlete honoree since 2012 (JK Schaffer, football) and the 16th overall, dating back to its inception in 1949.

Royer, a native of Hilliard, Ohio, who graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, was nominated by head football coach Luke Fickell.

Recruited as an "undersized walk-on linebacker who knew he would be fighting against the odds for an opportunity to play," Fickell said Royer was offered the opportunity because of his intensity, hard-work ethic and determination to undertake any challenge that came his way.

"Despite having a demanding engineering academic course load, he demonstrated his commitment from Day One to following a strict, regimented lifting plan which required many self-sacrifices," he said. "Through his tenacious work ethic, Ryan became an inspirational leader on our team and was rewarded with key roles on our special teams' units."

Not only that, Royer was awarded the football program's Iron Bearcat Award in 2018, presented to those who best represent the program by displaying exceptional character, performance and perseverance in all walks of life. 

"Knowing that I was never going to be the star player getting a lot of reps on gameday, I found my role and embraced it whole-heartedly," Royer said. "By embracing and perfecting my role, I earned not just a scholarship, but the complete respect of my teammates and coaches. This respect gave me the opportunity to lead in one of the most diverse settings in the world: a Division I football program.

"Even though I was not granted the title of captain, I was an important vocal and visual leader. As I like to believe, not all leaders are born through titles; the real leaders are born in the fire."

Fickell recalled Royer's early days, especially with him being one of only a handful of fifth and sixth-year Bearcats around in 2021.

"Ryan walked on in our first season at UC (2017), in which we were not a very good team, not because of a lack of talent, but rather because we were a group of individuals playing as individuals," he said. "Spending hours upon hours during offseason workouts, training camps and the seasons together, Ryan was able to establish and build a strong rapport with everyone in the room. He has developed the ability to communicate and interact with teammates from various cultural backgrounds on both a professional and personal level."

Royer was awarded a scholarship during his final season, one that saw the Bearcats crash the glass ceiling with a College Football Playoff bid. He played in eight games over the 2018 and 2019 seasons before 21 over the last two campaigns, in which Cincinnati went 22-2 with trips to the Peach and Cotton Bowls. 

Fittingly, Royer's last regular-season game was a memorable one, blocking a punt on East Carolina's opening drive, the first of his career. Cincinnati ultimately won 35-13 in Greenville, the program's second-straight undefeated regular season.

Royer's engineering program makes for an intensive co-op component, which is hard enough on any student, much less a student-athlete. Coming into this past season, he had completed work with Valco Melton, an adhesives company, and the University of Cincinnati's Micro and Nanotechnology Lab. Combined with 6 p.m. Calculus III classes after early workouts and practices, among many other unconventional challenges, it was simply another piece to his puzzle.

"It has been an absolute honor to represent the best community and university in the country," Royer said. "This university has given me everything: the best friends, games and nights of my life, and I want nothing more than to give back everything I can in the future...I know I have given my all to this university, and I leave it completely satisfied with the things that I have done, along with the memories I have created."

Sigma Sigma was founded at the University of Cincinnati in 1898 by a group of young men whose purpose was to foster and encourage college spirit and to enhance the glory of the university in the college world.