“For Gav:” A Story of Hope, Perseverance, and Inspiration
Sign up for the weekly On Si Tulane Newsletter here.
We’ve talked about Mercer transfer, Gavin Marks, before at On SI Tulane, but all we looked at was his ability on the field.
Don’t get us wrong, what Mister Marks puts on tape is impressive, and we wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in the starting rotation at some point this year. But there’s more to Gavin than meets the eye.
When Most Would Lose All Hope
Halfway through Gavin Marks’ senior high school season, it seemed all was going right for the young man. He’d been heavily recruited, receiving offers from schools like Maryland, Troy, Cornell and his eventual destination, Mercer. Recruiting was going great, and Gavin was balling.
He was leading his offense alongside his best friend and quarterback, Braden Atkinson, to a great season that was topped with a playoff birth and State Champion aspirations. However, that’s when Marks was given the short end of the stick.
Despite being the healthiest and most active out of any of his siblings, Marks began to develop a bad cough that him and his family thought was just a cold, but it was harboring something worse.
The cause of his cough, which had put him out of his school classroom because it was so disruptive, was actually a mass lodged between his heart and his lung. What resided there was the last piece of news any parent would want to hear about their child. It was a cancerous mass, Hodgkin's lymphoma.
"He had a mass the size of a grapefruit between his heart and his lungs," remarked his father, Gregg Marks.
His mother, Pam Marks added, "I was just crying hysterically and I couldn't talk. I (had) collapsed." Mrs. Marks described the day she found out about his diagnosis as "the worst day of our lives."
This awful news was a serious blow to the entire family. Gavin's health was at serious risk, and the thing Gav wanted to do most in his life, football, could be taken away from him. This ultimately meant that Marks would miss the rest of his senior year, and miss out on competing for a state championship.
As his team trudged through the playoffs, however, Gavin wasn't just going to sit idely by. Even if it meant outworking his cancer.
He Did What?
Although Gavin was the one that was sick, the one with cancer, the one on the hospital bed, it almost seemed like he was the strongest person in the room.
"Even then (during his diagnosis), he was the tough one in the room. Not me, not (his mother)..." his father said. Gavin exuded confidence, even with his life and career on the line, and even when he was on chemotherapy.
"He went to the gym the same day." Wait, what? I thought when I initially heard this. But yes, you heard that right. Gavin had gone to his first day of chemo treatment, turned around, and went to the gym the same day. Not just that, but he would consistently go for the following six months of chemotherapy.
His dad told me the story: "There were times where he would vomit leaving (home), he'd have to pull over to vomit on the way to the gym, he would work out and get sick at the gym, (but) he would 100% not stop fighting."
He continued, "We were probably about halfway through his chemo treatments, and one of his doctors came up to me and Pam and said, 'I just want you all to know that it's not supposed to be like this.'"
Gavin's hard work was paying off. Instead of losing roughly 30-40% of his body mass, he was actually gaining weight and muscle.
The Short End of the Stick
Although Gav was working his butt off, what he had worked so hard to attain before had been stripped away from him. Marks had received offers from teams like Mercer, Troy, Cornell, and Maryland, but when they heard about the diagnosis, they pulled their offer.
”ECU was circling at the time, Maryland had already offered, and then when he got his diagnosis, everybody that was circling pulled back,” his father explained.
It was a tough break for Gavin, but one school still believed, Mercer.
The coaches at Mercer had reached out to Gavin’s parents and reassured them that not only was Gav going to get through his battle, but that he was still going to play football at Mercer too.
Although he was dealt a short hand, Marks made sure to make the most of it.
Gavin Marks would proceed to go the gym, consistently, for six months while on chemotherapy. During this time, Gavin got stronger and heavier, two things that are vital in taking your game to the next level from high school.
The odds were literally stacked against him. He was meant to lose nearly 40% of his body mass, not get stronger. All of his offers and interests had been pulled, except for one. Despite anything and everything going against Gav, he would not be dettered.
In the end, Gavin would ring the bell for beating cancer after six of the most brutal months of chemo and bodybuilding. I hope you understand that chemotherapy and bodybuilding are two words that shouldn’t be in the same sentence, unless you’re Gavin Marks of course.
His Impact
"He finished chemo, then showed up to camp a week later," former Mercer o-line coach, Brian Folkerts would say about his first time meeting Gavin.
Coach Folkerts had a lot of praise for Marks as a player. Heading to Mercer as a true freshman meant he had to learn the entire system in the time between his senior year of high school and freshman year of college before he could take the starting job from a transfer and fifth year senior.
Folkerts said Gavin "committed himself" to a lot of extra one-on-one meetings to effectively learn the system. If it hadn't been for the pesky flu, Marks would've started week two, but the illness kept him sidelined for one more week, before he'd ultimately win the starting center position for Mercer moving forward.
That hard work paid off even more, as the center would allow zero sacks across 600+ snaps and was named a member of the All-FCS Freshmen Team at Mercer.
Folkerts continued his praise for his character, "He's a student of the game and he's just a tough son of a explicit that won't give up. If you talk to an o-line coach about 'what do you want (in a player),' well that's one and two right there."
Gavin's resolve is unshakable, and a story like his is bound to have an effect on anyone who comes across it.
"I see him as a true friend," Folkerts said. "I wish I could've coached him longer... He's definitely a guy that I'm going to stay in touch with... he's just a great human."
I had also met with his old high school coach, Rainer Rackley, and he had a particular quote that really stood out to me. “If explicit it was a person, it’s (Gavin).”
The interview was especially exciting because Coach Rackley is an assistant coach at Duke, who Tulane travels to play week one. He described the feeling to play against his former center as “surreal,” and he’s excited for the opportunity.
His Family
Gavin Marks has the incredible luxury of a loving and caring family. Throughout writing this story, his father, mother, older sister, and older brother (Gregg, Pam, Ally, and Tyler respectively), who all share the same last name, were so gracious to me in sharing his story and its impact.
Nothing brought a bigger smile to their faces than when they talked about Gavin. You could tell that they were excited and eager to tell his story.
”The sky was the limit for him,” his brother Tyler stated happily.
There was no one who believed in Gavin more than his own family, and despite being as tight as glue, they managed to come closer to get themselves through a tough spot.
“It brought us all closer.” Tyler and Emilee said together, and although times were scary, they never doubted Gavin one bit, including his other "brother." This brother doesn’t share the same blood, but their bond is tighter than most.
Blood Runs Thick
They may not be related by blood, but Gavin Marks and his childhood best friend (and quarterback), Braden Atkinson (Oregon State), are as close as you can get to blood brothers.
Braden and Gav have known each other since elementary, and they started playing football together in middle school. It goes without saying that they have a special connection and chemistry that not many quarterback-center duos have.
An o-line that’s in sync with its quarterback is just as dangerous as any QB-WR duo you can think of. A clean pocket can let any quarterback show his true abilities.
Braden told me a story about when Gavin had first been diagnosed and how, for the entirety of their playoff run to the state championship, "For Gav" had been repeated over and over through everyone's minds and prayers.
That slogan represented what Gavin meant not just as a player, but as a person. His energy and exuberance rubs off on everyone. Anybody that knows him will likely tell you that he's a joy to be around.
Gavin instilled a sense of ‘everything is going to be alright’ in everyone. This line of thinking was apparent to everyone I spoke to.
Of course, that kind of reassurance is always helpful, but it’s not unrealistic to say that it doesn’t work for everyone. Because when you receive that kind of news about a loved one, you often jump to the worst-case scenario, but Gavin would simply not allow his family to do that.
“It was only a matter of time.” That’s what was said to me regarding Gav’s illness. Everybody said it. Not just one person, everyone.
His Effect
”(Gavin) didn’t let us think like that,” his sister-in-law, Emilee, told me with confidence. Her quote made me feel that it would be silly of me to think something like cancer would slow Gavin down.
"We were so sure of him and his strength," his ’second mom’ Ally said. The reassurance echoed throughout the family, and that wasn't just blind hope. That's genuine drive and motivation from Gavin that happened to rub off on everybody around him, including me.
His big sister described her brother as the "literal toughest guy in the room," so if the toughest guy in the room says, "Hey, it'll be alright," then I think I'd feel comforted as well.
An Incredible Story About an Incredible Human
Gavin’s personality and drive isn’t just felt on the football field. It’s felt all around him. From the people he cares about most, to some random reporter who just so happened to read his story (thanks to his father), Gavin’s mentality, attitude, and drive to never give up inspires us all. He puts effort and thought into every action he takes on and off the field, and his effect has left ripples across the people around him, myself included.
Throughout this process, learning his story, talking to his friends and family alike, and bringing it all together has taught me the true meaning of grit and determination. Learning of his accomplishments during chemo made me want put on my shoes and hit the weight room myself. Gavin’s story, ultimately, taught me that nothing is given, and everything is earned.
His tale has inspired me to do more with what I have, because at the end of the day, there’s always more work to be done, so thank you, Gavin, for your incredible determination that inspires us all.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Colin has been following football for over a decade. Growing up supporting LSU naturally led him to be a massive Saints fan. He is a regular guest on the Ball Don’t Lie podcast on WBOK-AM in New Orleans as well as Apple Podcasts, where they discuss the NFL, College Football, and the NBA.