Rocco Spindler & Garrett Dellinger May Not Be Package Deal, But Quite The Duo

ORLANDO – If Garrett Dellinger‍ and Rocco Spindler‍ aren’t tired of each other by now, they probably never will be.

The 2021 Clarkston (Mich.) High School teammates are together at school, practice, recruiting visits and now they’re down here together as part of Under Armour’s Future 50.

They’re used to it, though. They’ve been teammates since they were youngsters, save a couple years in the middle.

“We’ve been playing football together since flag football,” says Spindler. “I was the quarterback, had the luscious hair like I do now still. I can throw the ball, I can run all over like I still do now, but they put me down in the trenches, which isn’t fair.

“I’d get the ball, ‘Hike,’ give it right to him and man, we dominated. He’d run right up the middle and it was like the parting the seas, he’d run right into the end zone. Sometimes, I’d like to take the ball here and there and I’d run and he’d lead the way.”

The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Spindler says he and the 6-foot-6, 285-pound Dellinger were “skinny back in the day,” although he acknowledges they were still bigger than most of the other kids.

“I think it was the Titans we were on,” he laughs. “We were undefeated. We dominated.”

For Future 50 check-in on Tuesday afternoon, Dellinger and Spindler were placed close to each other at a table, maybe too close.

“Garrett, I’m trying to talk over,” Spindler said at one point during the interview session as their voices competed with each other. “Shhhh. Quiet down over there.”

Dellinger fired back playfully, “Talk a little louder then.”

“I’m trying to, but I can’t focus,” Spindler said before turning his attention back to his original answer.

It’s obvious they truly enjoy each other’s company.

Enough to go to the same school at the next level?

“It’s not our first priority because we’ve got to do what’s best for us, but me and him have the same interests,” Spindler says. “We’re almost identical in what we like and dislike. It possibly could happen and be a package deal…It’d be something really, really special. Almost like a movie.”

Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State are a few of the programs that both are seriously considering.

“We’re looking at the same exact schools, so the odds must be pretty high, but we’re not going to pick a school because of each other,” Dellinger says. “We have to do what’s best for us.”

They do appreciate the opportunity to bounce their thoughts on particular schools off each other.

“It’s actually really nice because we can use each other to talk and interview each other,” Dellinger says. “‘What do you say about this? How did you like this school?’ We talk about it.”

Spindler agrees.

“This makes it easier because we already know what’s going on. We can talk to each other,” he said. “That helps us out a lot.”

While they may not necessarily go to college together, the plan as of now is to make their announcements together, likely sometime this spring.

“I think we’re going to have our commitment date together with the whole school there,” says Spindler.

“Our community and our school and our teachers have really supported us through the whole process. They’ve worked around our schedules, we’ve worked around theirs. They helped us get to this point.”