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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1998)
Bie Battalion So orts Page 5 • Wednesday, November 11, 1998 lg stud BThird DOWN and Tooooombs A TEXAS A&M ge Family considerations, opportunity to play led freshman fullback Ja’Mar Toombs to Texas A&M BY JEFF SCHMIDT The Battalion ME CORIEY/Tii d One Spirit, j > a polka group is and event] uisic is a new. I.” s not only fort Ohanian said] ?thing to singr] idio. kinds of peopS said. “I’vereel i guys who rail nusic to guysj ^vork schediilfj A/ith them.” [ students ar;l studio, a lot of collegl ugli here,”0lil they’re on a hi will work art.! round forfotnij so weeanst it them, n the needsoi y O’s can live album toil BRANDON BOLLOM/The Battalion Ja’Mar Toombs was paid perhaps the best compliment in his athletic career af ter the 35-14 Texas A&M victory over Baylor University. After the game, Aggie football players had to walk down a ramp in front of the Baylor Line, a partisan and profane bloc of Baylor freshmen. While Aggies walked by, the Line shouted their usual profanities at the play ers. However, the entire Baylor Line went silent when the 260-pound freshman full back walked by. This is the kind of respect Toombs receives. “Not since George Woodard have we had a fullback that’s done as much as Ja’ Mar as a true freshman,” A&M coach R. C. Slocum said. “That’s a long time ago. I had dark hair when George Woodard was here.” Toombs has become a big hit at A&M with two 100-yard rushing games and a wide fan base to his credit. He is also the only true freshman to play thus far this season. However, Toombs almost did not make it to A&M. If not for a devastating inci dent, Toombs said he may have gone down the wrong path. The incident, the murder of his half- brother, made Toombs take another look at his life. “It was kind of heart-stopping after we buried him,” Toombs said. “I started thinking, ‘what am I going to do with the rest of my life.’ The stuff I have to learn, I have to learn on my own. ” Toombs said before his half-brother was killed, he told Toombs to go to school and get an education. This and Toombs’ burgeoning athleti cism opened Toombs’ eyes to the possi bility of playing college football. Coming out of Kilgore High School, Toombs was nationally recruited and al most went to Florida State University. Toombs said it was A&M’s proximity to home and the opportunity to play early that drew him to College Station. '7 always told myself that if I had the opportunity to play anywhere, I was going to play, no matter what school I was looking at” — Ja’Mar Toombs Freshman fullback “He came in the last weekend with his uncle and mother,” Slocum said. “Most of our recruiting was done, so we really got to spend some quality time with him. It really got down to his feelings for his mother and being close to home.” “They told me that they most likely wouldn’t redshirt me,” Toombs said. “I knew I was going to come in and I was go ing to play like [senior fullback] Marc [Broyles] did.” With injuries to Broyles and junior full back Jason Bragg and the suspension of senior D Andre “Tiki” Hardeman, Toombs has made the most of his opportunities. He had a breakthrough game against the University of Nebraska, rushing for 110 yards, including a 71-yard run. Toombs set a career high in rushing against Oklahoma State University with 111 yards. He has also scored two touch downs this season. “I always told myself that if I had the opportunity to play anywhere, I was go ing to play,” Toombs said, “no matter what school I was looking at.” “You can’t say enough about what he’s meant to us,” Slocum said, “because it’s taken some of the pressure off the run ning back position. There aren’t too many people who could come in and do what Ja’Mar has done.” Toombs’ success is especially amazing considering he weighed nearly 270 pounds at the beginning of the season. Toombs said the weight gain was due to his laziness, and he said he will use the offseason to get in better shape and down to a playing weight of 240 pounds. Junior running back Dante Hall said he teases Toombs about his weight. “He looks so funny,” Hall said. “He looks like a big blob.” The “big blob” has quickly become a crowd favorite. Similar to the chant of “Mooooooose” that Dallas Cowboys fullback Daryl John ston receives when he touches the ball, Aggie students yell “Tooooooombs” whenever Toombs rushes for the Aggies. “It’s great. I’m surprised everybody is calling my name,” Toombs said. “It’s a good feeling.” V( ,.. 5-^ ' V- T V You’ve got plans to engineer the 21st Century. You’re looking fora company with the e er and resources to launch your career. ik lilt mpip Visit our Web site at www.abb.com/usa Information Session 501 Rudder • November 12,1998 • 7-8:15pm
