Metro Player of Year: Wayzata's A.J. Tarpley

A.J. Tarpley comes from a football family, one that is not afraid to travel far and wide. The Wayzata senior linebacker/tight end -- who today is honored as the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year -- was born in Los Angeles and lived in Missouri and Ohio before the family settled in the Twin Cities ... by which time he was only in second grade.

Good thing for Wayzata that the Tarpleys put down roots. Audie and Karen Tarpley have two children, both boys. Their oldest son, Matt, caught a touchdown pass in last year's Prep Bowl when Wayzata defeated Blaine. Matt is now playing football at the University of Mississippi. Audie played quarterback at Georgia Tech in the late 1970s.

It was no accident then, that A.J. (the initials stand for Aubrey Joseph) would grow up on a football field; he has been a linebacker since fourth grade. Now 6-2 and 225 pounds, he always has been big for his age. For the first few years of his youth football career he was known as a "black striper" because his helmet carried a mark designating him as one of the "big kids."

For the past two seasons at Wayzata, Tarpley was a big player and a big hitter. He has been a valuable component at tight end, but defense is where he most likes to be.

"You can just play with reckless abandon more on defense," he said. "Everyone can get in on a tackle on every play. You just go out and hit somebody."

This season Tarpley caught 12 passes (six for touchdowns) for an average gain of 18 yards. On the other side of the ball he returned two interceptions for touchdowns while bolstering a defense that held eight of 11 opponents to one touchdown or less and gave up fewer points than any team in Class 5A prior to the state tournament.

It's rare for athletes to play both ways for a team at Wayzata's level; the Trojans won the Class 5A state title last year and lost to Eden Prairie 7-3 in the state quarterfinals this year to close a 9-2 season.

"We like to take our quote-unquote 'best' athletes, kids who can run and be physical, and play them on defense," Trojans coach Brad Anderson said. "And we try to steal the better ones to play some offense. A.J. was our best receiver, and watching him catch the ball, it was pretty obvious he has great skills. With the ball in his hands, he's like a running back because he has good speed and he made people miss."

Matt Tarpley -- who is pictured on the cover of this year's state tournament program -- was a major influence on his younger brother. Matt switched from quarterback to receiver during his junior year, and the work he put in learning a new position was a good lesson for A.J., according to Anderson.

"I think that kind of rubbed off on A.J.," he said. "He saw how much Matt had to work. A.J. is naturally more laid back, and Matt is a typical first-born, really driven. A.J. picked up on some of the hard work that he saw in Matt."

During the college recruiting process, the Tarpleys looked far and wide. Last spring they visited Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Central Florida, Florida State, UCLA and Stanford. A.J. visited Stanford twice more over the summer and once the Cardinal offered a scholarship, the decision was easy.

"It would have been kind of hard to tell my parents I'm not going to choose Stanford," Tarpley said. "[Coach Jim] Harbaugh, the coaching staff, I liked them a lot. The school is awesome, the weather is awesome and the football team is having a great year. It's a program on the rise."