Early on Meeks wanted to ‘go hit somebody’

Aledo defensive lineman Tymon Meeks has been around football all his life.

Meeks was introduced to the sport through playing flag football at a young age, but the real deciding factor for him was wanting to hit people.

“I’ve been playing football since I was three years old, and I started off playing flag football,” Meeks said. “I was like, ‘I can’t do this no more. I want to go hit somebody.’ I went and told my dad that I couldn’t stand reaching for flags and not being able to hit anybody.”

Before emerging as a star defensive lineman for the Aledo Bearcats, Meeks played at All Saints Episcopal School, a private school in Fort Worth. At All Saints, Meeks was a multi-sport athlete, competing in wrestling and track-and-field in addition to football. 

The lessons and experiences Meeks had when he was a wrestler at All Saints still stick with him today at Aledo.

“Wrestling, it’s a one-man sport, and everybody’s looking at you,” Meeks said. “I never lost in wrestling, but it taught me lessons in watching other people cheer you on and look at you be great. When I look at how I perceive wrestling, I see that it has helped me with a lot of the ways I play right now, with all of the grit and leverage that I’ve got to play with.”

The difference between the other sports Meeks competed in and football stuck out to him.

“The biggest difference, I would say, was the team effort,” Meeks said. “You’ve got points in track that you have to get as a collective, and in wrestling, it’s mano-a-mano. In football, everyone has to be on the same page all the time. It doesn’t matter if it’s offense, defense, or special teams, in order to win, everybody has to be on the same page. It can’t be a select few people or any prima donnas on the team, everybody’s gotta be in sync at all times.”

Aledo head coach Robby Jones praised Meeks for his character, work ethic, and ability to lead by example.

“There’s not much of a better person than Tymon Meeks,” Jones said. “He does everything that a coach asks him to do. He’s the hardest worker we have in the weight room. He’s an extremely talented young man, and he builds upon that by his work ethic. He’s a great example of what to do in practice. He’s not one of those guys that goes easy in practice, he goes just as hard in practice as he does in the games, and that’s what makes him such a good football player.”

Through eight games this season Meeks has recorded 43 tackles, 12 tackles-for-loss, one sack and one touchdown.

Meeks credited Aledo’s community culture for making him what he is today, not a quality football player, but a person, too.

“The community shaped me a lot. They come behind us not just during football season, but year-round and they invest in us. It’s really a family and the culture and standard that’s out here in Aledo. Seeing the younger Bearcats want to be like us is amazing to watch, because I remember at one point in time when we were in their shoes and we wanted to be high school, college, and pro athletes.”

Last season, Aledo faced the Denton Ryan Raiders twice. In the first game Oct. 3, 2025, Aledo survived the Raiders in a close game, winning 15-14 on the road. The second game, which was the Class 5A-Division 1 regional playoff game Dec. 5, 2025, saw a much more lopsided result. Aledo won that game, 43-17. 

In the playoff game, Meeks had three sacks. Meeks hailed that game as the best memory of his Aledo football career.

“My favorite memory was the playoff win versus Denton Ryan in my junior year. In the regular season, we had a one-point game that we pulled off to get the win, but then that second time we played them in the playoffs, it was a different feeling and atmosphere,” Meeks said. “My sophomore year, we lost to them in the playoffs, but I think we played with a different type of chip on our shoulder the next year. We knew we had to win. I had three sacks that game, and the defensive line in total had nine sacks that game.”

Meeks has committed to Oregon State University to play college football. He was part of newly hired head coach JaMarcus Shepherd’s first official recruiting class. 

“It’s been amazing how quickly Coach Shep has been able to turn that program around,” Meeks said. “I would say that if you can live in a place like Corvallis, where you won’t be stressed and you can play football, then that’s the right spot for you. It’s just like (Aledo), everybody’s getting around the football program.”

While it’ll be a different environment and a different group of teammates and coaches, Meeks said he aims to take the lessons he learned in Aledo with him.

“The biggest lesson I would take from Aledo to Corvallis is that nothing’s ever gonna be handed to you,” Meeks said. “It doesn’t matter what it is. If you want something, you have to go take it. You have to work your butt off for it.”