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Page 5 • Wednesday, November 11, 1998
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BThird DOWN and Tooooombs
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TEXAS A&M
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Family considerations, opportunity to play led
freshman fullback Ja’Mar Toombs to Texas A&M
BY JEFF SCHMIDT
The Battalion
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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.”
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