Arizona State offensive lineman Jalen Klemm tried to get out of bed early one morning. His balance was off. His legs were wobbly. He sat back down and collected himself, thinking maybe he just got up too fast.
When he arose for a second time, he stumbled and fell into the wall.
Klemm's first call was to Gerry Garcia, ASU's director of football training, who rushed over to his apartment. Off to the emergency room they went. Head coach Kenny Dillingham and offensive line coach Saga Tuitele arrived there quickly, as did Jalen's father, Adrian, who lived in Florida at the time but happened to be in town.
The diagnosis? Something they would have never imagined. Klemm, then 20, had suffered a stroke.
Two years later, Klemm is fully recovered and finds himself battling for a starting spot at left or right tackle, something he was primed to do when he transferred here from Washington in 2024. The fact that the game was taken away from him for a short time and that he dealt with a medical condition from which some don't recover has given him a new perspective.
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"That was one big lesson, living in the moment, appreciating all the little things we have right now," said Klemm, now 22. "There was a time I couldn't go have lunch with the guys, couldn't be with them in the locker room. I really missed that. You don't know how much you miss something until it is taken away."
Garcia said Klemm's call came early in the morning, at an hour when most college students aren't awake, so he knew it wasn't good, but a stroke wasn't something he had imagined. It was all he could do to get the 6-foot-6, 295-pounder to his vehicle.
"My first thing was maybe it had something to do with the nerves in his back or legs," Garcia said. "He said it was like that feeling you have when your leg falls asleep. He was weak, and his balance was off. He had some numbness. It really was hard to figure it all out at first."
Klemm finds the answers
Klemm had a battery of tests, but nothing worrisome came up. His speech was not impaired, which is typically a first indication of a stroke. He was treated and released, but went for an MRI the next day. That revealed the stroke, so he went back to the hospital, where he remained for 10 days.
Then it was on to an intensive stretch of physical therapy, three times a week for the next five months at Barrow Neurological Institute.
"I think I was a little bit naive about what happened. I don't know anyone who has ever had a stroke," Klemm said. "That was the thing. I didn't know what to expect, what the recovery was like. As time went on, I learned more about what a stroke is, and then it was like, 'OK, am I going to be able to play football again?'"
The last thing those around him were thinking about was football.
"In a situation like that, the only thing you're worried about is the young man. You're not thinking about football," Tuitele said. "You're worried about him being able to recover and live a normal life. We recruit these kids, and we get to know their families, and we tell them we're going to take care of them when they come to play for us, and we want to be there and do that."
Klemm's mother, Nina, arrived and stayed for six weeks. It was a difficult ordeal, but she said they leaned on their faith.
"It was horrible. And he's an athlete. And as a mom, it's your son, seeing him lose all the function. It was hard," she said. "I knew my faith. I knew God was going to be there. With every trial, there is testimony at the end of it. He's become stronger from it. His faith has become stronger.
ASU offensive lineman Jalen Klemm is competing for a starting job two years after suffering a stroke.
"For whatever reason, why it happened, I think he can be an example for people to get back on their feet and have the strength to get through something difficult."
There was a lot of downtime both in the hospital and at home after he was released. Klemm passed the time by building things with Legos, a suggestion from his therapist at the hospital. That helped the manual dexterity in his hands. Garcia had a few things he passed along to Klemm that helped with that, too.
He wasn't able to be around the team because he couldn't drive and he was on medication, but coaches and teammates were constantly checking in on him. Tuitele's kids made him cookies.
"I can't say enough about how well everybody there looked after him," Nina Klemm said. "When you send someone your son, you hope they take care of him like they would their own, and they really did."
Garcia said Klemm is a naturally positive person, and he isn't surprised at how he approached his physical therapy. Klemm said it was easier to remain optimistic because he could see how quickly he was improving.
"When I got out of the hospital, I was walking under my own power. For me, the recovery was happening pretty fast, so that was a good sign," Klemm said. "Seeing how fast I was recovering made me feel better. I knew I had to just keep grinding away at the PT."
He was finally able to do some light physical activity with the team in October, but wasn't completely cleared until January 2025. He was woefully out of shape. If a player suffers an injury, there is usually some work he can do while rehabbing that ailment. If you have an upper-body injury, you can ride a stationary bike or do other leg work. If one is recovering from a lower-body injury, they can lift some weights. Klemm couldn't do anything.
A new starting point
Jalen Klemm spent months relearning normal life after a stroke. Today, the offensive tackle is battling for a place in Arizona State football's starting lineup.
He really was starting over.
"It's crazy how fast things go away," he said. "I was in the best shape of my life, and I'm having a hard time walking around."
Klemm played last season, but he was down to 280-285 pounds, which is light for a lineman. His strength wasn't where it really needed to be to compete in the trenches either. Josh Atkins and Max Iheanachor were the full-time tackles, with Klemm getting a dozen or so plays per game in a backup role. With injuries and opt-outs, he ended up starting the Sun Bowl game against Duke.
Now, a full year removed from the episode, he is in the best shape he has been in since before the episode. He is up to 298 pounds and wants to be around 305 come game time. With the addition of so-called good weight and strength, his confidence is back, too.
Four players are vying for the two starting tackle positions — Klemm, junior Champ Westbrooks and newcomers Jarmaine Mitchell and Luke Baklenko. The Sun Devils will have an entirely new starting five up front, no matter who wins the jobs.
"That was one big lesson, living in the moment," ASU offensive lineman Jalen Klemm said of suffering a stroke at just 20 years old.
What his teammates think of him is reflected in the fact that he was one of seven players voted to this year's Pat Tillman Leadership Council. He represented the Sun Devils at Big 12 Football Media Days in Frisco, Texas, on July 7, where he discussed his journey. He wants to be an inspiration for others.
Dillingham said he already is.
"When you have the illness, the injury that he had, and you fight back, and two years later you're on the leadership council. That is absurd. That is wild. That is a movie," Dillingham said. "If he continues to progress, it will be a movie. It will be a book.
"It will be whatever he wants it to be because it really is an incredible story of a person who's just got the work ethic, the mindset of what you hope everybody would be in your program."
