Jonathan Cyprien following in the footsteps of Anthony Gaitor

By: Jonathan Ramos / Asst. News Director

Anthony Gaitor is in the National Football League, but a leader in the defensive backfield is still wearing the number seven and doing quite fine.

FIU safety Jonathan Cyprien changed his number from 25 to seven this offseason, a number Gaitor wore in his four-year career at FIU from 2007-10.

Not much else has changed for Cyprien, however, as he is once again a key piece in the Panthers’ defense in his third year as a starter, and his status as a veteran player has molded him into a leadership role.

“It came naturally. Becoming a leader without the teammates has been a seamless transition,” Cyprien said. “Everyone on this team I believe respects me.

“Everything that I do for the team and for the program here, I believe they respect me in a way where if I have to say something they will listen and if they need help they can come to me about it.”

Cyprien still speaks frequently with Gaitor, who is a backup cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after being selected in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft.

Both players were starters from the time they were freshmen, and Cyprien is now the most experienced member of the secondary in terms of games started.

“Last year, we had Ash Parker and Toronto Smith, as the leaders, to make calls,” FIU linebacker Winston Fraser said. “Now that they have gone and graduated it’s up to [Cyprien] to step up and make those calls and replace them. So he’s done a very great job lining up the [defensive backs], calling up plays and getting everybody in the right spots.”

With Gaitor gone, Cyprien changed his number to one that is more significant to him.

“Well, number seven is a special number to me. I just feel like number seven is just the perfect number,” Cyprien said. “Number seven is the number that I wore in high school and I wanted it because number seven is my favorite number. It is also my sister’s birthday, July 7, and I’m also born in July. It’s a feeling of wearing that number seven that makes me want to play better.”

Not that he was not confident before the number change.

He made All Sun Belt Conference Honorable Mention as a freshman and came on in 2010 to lead the team in tackles and be named to the All-SBC second team.

He is once again on pace to be amongst the team leaders in tackles, but he has sought to improve his disruptive ability after only intercepting two passes his first two seasons.

After accumulating 4.5 tackles for loss and recording no sacks in his first two years altogether, Cyprien has one sack and 4.5 tackles for loss through eight games this season.

“I would like to take everything to the next level, but particularly that, the ball-hawking,” Cyprien said. “I get my hands on a lot of balls but I want to start bringing them down and start racking up more interceptions, more forced fumbles and more fumble recoveries.”

Cyprien took on an offseason routine of working to refine his ball skills and footwork and also to take on studying film.

“A lot of us are in the film room,” said Cyprien, who also studies NFL players like Ed Reed. “I’m trying to learn everything about opponents. I feel like it’s my job to get in there, not only myself, but bring a lot of players with me, a lot of defensive backs and go in there and watch it together so we can be in unison out there. It’s a completive edge.”

The work in the film room is something FIU head coach Mario Cristobal calls “infectious” and extends into studying professional players.

Cyprien was in contact with Gaitor as he was drafted to the NFL and made the Buccaneers’ active roster, hoping to one day be in that position himself. For now, he will look to lead the same secondary he saw Gaitor lead, wearing the same number.