For a Lehigh lineman, pigskin and pigs are passed down passions

Jeremiah Rugama is one that appreciates family tradition. It’s what got him to play football in the first place.

“My older brothers they’ve been playing since they were five,” Rugama explained. “So I just follow after them.”

Rugama is a senior for the Lehigh Senior High School football team. He plays on the offensive and defensive line.

Lehigh head coach Antwan Dixon said that Rugama, “plays pretty much every single play. Like literally after every game it looks like he went to war. His hands numb our last game just because he’s going so hard.”

But football isn’t the only passion Rugama had passed down to him from his family.

Rugama said, “I show animals. I show hogs and steers.”

He added, “I have generations of farmers my grandparents, my great grandparents, farmers.”

Part of the job of working with the animals is wrangling them and it’s not easy. The same can be said for steers.

“They’re bucking stepping on you trying to run you over but they’re it’s a little fun,” Rugama explained. “Cause it’s like you try to show them who’s boss it’s like here out on the football field.”

Rugama brought WINK News to the farm where he and his family keep their animals. We got to see how Rugama worked with his steer, David Allan Coe. From taking him out for a walk, to then getting his dinner ready. Rugama mixes feed and hay to ensure his steer’s safety.

“You can’t put too much of this cause if you do they get bloated,” Rugama explained. “And they’re not like humans we can burb and stuff. Their stomachs will swell up and they’ll die.”

Before its time to eat, Rugama washes his steer down. He said, “if you’re working all day and you’re cutting grass and stuff and you come home and take a shower and eat, you’re going to feel good. So that’s how we want the steers to feel.”

All the feeding and work is to get the steers ready to be showcased at the Gulf Coast Youth Livestock Show at the Southwest Florida AG Expo.

Last year, Rugama’s hog, El Heffe, finished in second place. When it comes to picking a hog to showcase, Rugama said, “they’re more like a flat back. They always have a big butt. Their belly is like big and they have big shoulders and they look good. Look like a body builder.”

When Rugama is done on the practice field, he look forwards to going out to the farm and being with his animals.

Rugama said, “it’s a calm place. Like you can calm down out there. It makes me happy to go out there.”