FAYETTEVILLE — When Beaux Limmer was in junior high school, he desperately wanted his own cell phone.
He was one of the only kids his age who did not have one. His parents, Susan and David, were both public educators in Tyler, Texas, and strived to be frugal.
Their only son was going to have to work to get a phone. Limmer’s father, who was no stranger to weight rooms and, according to his mother, judged high school powerlifting competitions, struck a deal: Reach a certain weight on the bench press and it’s yours.
“He kind of gave him a goal, and, I mean, that sucker got to it,” Susan said. “He made his weight. The day he reached the weight his dad gave him to make, he got his first phone.”
Arkansas’ starting right guard and a player long said to be one of the strongest in the program, has always been at home in gyms and around weights. At the age of 3, when he was old enough to visit the nursery at his parents’ gym, he got involved with aerobics and calisthenics.
His mother recalls him chomping at the bit, even in those days, to be around his parents during their workouts. In the seventh grade, David again made his son work for what he wanted — to be put on the family gym membership plan.
For that to happen, he first had to show a strong, consistent desire to work out at home.
“He started in the garage in the hot Texas sun lifting with my husband’s old weight equipment,” Susan said. “One thing about him is he doesn’t say what he’s going to do. It’s just, like, he does it. He’s like, ‘I’ve put X plates on and now I’m going to put more plates on,’ and he just does it. You go into the gym with him and he doesn’t have this (toxic) attitude.
“But you get in there and he gets done, and we don’t do this in front of him, but we’re like, ‘Golly, he’s strong. Dang, he’s strong.’ If we’re ever in the gym together and he’s squatting, I can’t watch it. It makes me sick. I can’t stand it.”
His actions behind the scenes, and in the weight room, have aided him this fall in putting together his best season at Arkansas. Pro Football Focus last week named the guard a mid-season second-team All-American.
According to PFF’s data, Limmer has the No. 7 overall offense grade (83.5) among guards in the Football Bowl Subdivision. And as a run blocker, his mark of 85.0 is No. 4 at the position.
“I’ve been really pleased with him this year,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “He’s a really good center, as well. We just, because of Ricky (Stromberg), haven’t had a chance to put him in there. But I think he’s an NFL player. I think he will be.
“And maybe in the future we’ll be able to look at him at center some, as well.”
Bye-week recognition did not end with PFF. A post from the Twitter account of the Joe Moore Award, which honors the most outstanding offensive line unit in college football, included a 47-second video highlighting the play of Arkansas’ veteran front.
With the video was a bit of analysis from the award’s voting committee, which is comprised of college football experts, offensive line coaches at the FBS level, and former players, coaches and colleagues of the award’s namesake. Moore is widely regarded as the best offensive line coach in the history of the game, and he sent 52 players to the NFL.
“Scrappy as hell,” the tweet reads. “(Limmer) has some junk to him. ‘Five functioning as one’ is there big-time. They define the teamwork criteria.”
Pittman, who made a name for himself at the college level as an offensive line coach, said the “junk” referenced in regards to Limmer simply means he has a nasty streak about him. He believes Limmer finishes blocks with the best of them.
Limmer’s parents saw it all throughout high school. Their son, Susan joked, would get “crazy and mean” on the football field, a complete turnaround from his reserved off-field nature, especially when an opposing player trash-talked him.
It birthed David’s regular pre-game line to his son: Get out there and get mad at somebody.
“Beaux is extremely smart and strong,” Pittman said. “I think he probably is the most improved offensive lineman we have this year. He’s played really well. I think he’s playing with a lot of confidence.”
When Susan saw the Joe Moore Award account’s tweet on her phone, she began crying. The rush of emotion, though, did not come because her son received a bit of well-deserved publicity.
The tears flowed because he sent her the tweet himself. Usually, she said, Limmer does not care about any press that involves him. He did this time, because Arkansas’ entire line had a spotlight cast on its play through seven games.
“When he showed it to me, of course, as a mom, I’m so proud,” she said. “I watched the video three times. I’m so proud, and I know he must be proud, too.”
She remembers well when her son received his first scholarship offer to play football in college. It came in October 2017 from Texas State. But the next one did not arrive for another three months.
Then they rolled in. From Jan. 29, 2018, to March 3, 2018, Limmer picked up 11 offers, the last of which in that span from Arkansas. He committed to the Razorbacks five days later.
On account of their jobs, Limmer's parents were transparent with him from an early age — beginning late in his elementary school years — about their inability to send him to college without the help of an academic or athletic scholarship. They would be willing to pay for his final two years of college at the school of his choice.
But a four-year school with no assistance was out of the question.
“When the offers came in from bigger schools, your heart just kind of pumps, like, ‘Wow, this might really happen,’” Susan said. “I felt like he was going to get to go academically, but as far as sports, it was his junior year. My mouth was just on the floor.
“When he got his first big, big offer, I mean, his dad and I were both like, ‘Wow, son, this is big-time. This is crazy big-time.’”
Another make-your-heart-skip moment for Susan came after a visit to Arkansas. Walking down the steps outside the Fred W. Smith Center on campus, Limmer said he knew he had found his college home.
At schools he had visited previously, coaches and team personnel said he would know where he was meant to go because he would experience “a feeling.” They were right. He found it with the Razorbacks.
“I remember he sat out on the front porch and (committed) and we were inside listening. It was fun,” Susan said. “We had at least three other schools that we told we were coming for visits. We wanted him to find where he wanted to be, so we had these trips lined up. He said (Arkansas) was where he wanted to be.
“I told him he needed to call those other schools himself and tell them what he was doing. He did, and he bowed out. That was it. He said, ‘This feels like what I envisioned college to be.’
“We’re always just constantly amazed at the next steps he takes. We just hope he continues to be successful.”
Dalton Wagner, who shares the right side of the offensive line with Limmer, said the right guard approaches every day like a champion. That, he appreciates and respects.
“He brings a lot to the table in terms of physicality, his strength and also his quickness and his nimbleness,” Wagner said. “He does a lot of really good things in the run game. He’s great to double-team with. It’s so much fun to double-team with him.
“He’s a tremendous teammate, an even better friend and an awesome football player.”