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Toombs' Irish dream takes detour

By VAUGHN McCLURE

Texas A&M fullback Ja'Mar Toombs, who once dreamed of playing at N.D., vows he has put his troubled past behind him (Photo Courtesy of Texas A&M Sports Information)

The thought of walking into Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday sends chills down Ja'Mar Toombs' spine.

"I'll be in awe," said Toombs, Texas A&M's star fullback. "All I ever thought about as a kid was playing for Notre Dame."

Toombs didn't anticipate waiting so long to fulfill his fantasy.

As a prep All-American at Kilgore High in Texas, he expected to wear an Irish uniform, just like fellow Kilgore graduate Ronnie Nicks.

Toombs wanted to follow in the footsteps of former Irish cornerback Bobby Taylor, who was from nearby Longview, Texas. The two attended the same church and became good friends.

Most of all, Toombs wanted to play for Lou Holtz, the coach he grew up admiring. Toombs' high school coach, Mike Valley, is close friends with the former Notre Dame and current University of South Carolina coach.

"In high school, coach Valley asked me if I still wanted to go to Notre Dame after Lou Holtz left, and I said, 'no,' " Toombs said. "Coach Holtz was the main reason I wanted to go there."

With Bob Davie taking over for Holtz, Notre Dame opted not to recruit Toombs. He might not have fit in well with the Irish anyway.

True, any college program could use a 6-foot, 275-pound bull with tailback moves. But Toombs' off-the-field baggage is something Notre Dame would not have tolerated.

This past summer, Toombs was dangerously close to being dismissed from the A&M squad following a DUI arrest in College Station. The 20-year-old spent four days in the county jail for the incident. He already was on probation from a marijuana conviction earlier in 1999.

"It wasn't scary sitting in that cell, I was just mad to be there," Toombs said. "The scariest thing was wondering how long you'd be in there.

"I'm doing my best not to make those same mistakes again."

Toombs' punishment includes community service work, counseling, and a 10 p.m. curfew over a probation period that lasts more than a year. Meanwhile, A&M coach R.C. Slocum gave Toombs nothing more than a slap on the wrist. And the A&M players voted for Toombs to stay on board.

"As a coach I have to balance as to whether the young man is somebody that can be salvaged," Slocum said, "if what he did is something that can be corrected and if he is showing some accountability for his actions. And he's done all those things.

"Obviously, his rope is shorter now than when he came here, and he knows that. We'll go forward from here, and I don't anticipate any future problems out of Ja'Mar."

Toombs expressed his gratitude toward his coach.

"Coach Slocum went out of his way to keep me here," Toombs said. "I thank him a lot for having trust in me. He didn't get rid of me, like he might have done to a lot of other people. He knows that the things that I did weren't stuff that I would normally do."

It didn't hurt Toombs' situation that he is such an integral part of Slocum's offense. Last year, Toombs led the Aggies in rushing with 583 yards on 147 carries. He keyed A&M's emotional 20-16 victory over rival Texas with a 37-carry, 126-yard performance.

Toombs enjoyed his 1999 success lining up at tailback. When practice started this fall, he was back at fullback.

"I'm not disappointed that I got moved back," Toombs said. "It's going to change the way opposing teams see me. They won't see me as the focal point, the person that they have to stop. They'll have to pay more attention to the rest of our offense."

Don't expect Toombs to be ignored, considering his size.

Toombs came to A&M at 255 pounds, and was earning nicknames like "The Bus," a title already owned by former Notre Dame standout and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis.

Toombs believes the issue of his weight has often been overblown.

No pun intended.

"People don't think you can run the ball at this size," Toombs said. "But if you look at the game today, a lot more bigger people are playing the skill positions. I guess some people ain't caught up with the times."

It's hard for Toombs to make a prediction on how he will perform this season. He could care less about gaining 1,000 yards or scoring 20 touchdowns.

"To tell you the truth, I'm probably not going to get the ball that much," Toombs said. "I want to be the guy that opens holes, makes catches, makes big plays. I feel I can be one of the better fullbacks in the nation."

He has plenty of motivation.

Toombs wants to earn the respect of the fans who turned their backs on him following his latest arrest. He wants to show the writers of one preseason college football magazine that they were wrong for saying he is the most overrated player in the Big XII.

Toombs also wants to give his three sons (all of whom have different mothers) a reason to be proud of their father.

But most of all, Toombs wants to dedicate his play to fallen Aggie teammate Terry Nichols, a defensive lineman who was killed in a car accident in May.

"It (the incident) affected the team so much, because everyone here liked Terry," Toombs said. "To me, it seems like Terry and I were just together yesterday. It's hard to think about it. But it also makes you want to play harder."