Surely it was supposed to be just another outburst from the outspoken former Texas A&M defensive back, Chet Brooks.
Ten years ago, wasn't it just good chatter from a good defense? Call us the "Wrecking Crew," Brooks said during one of those seemingly-routine Tuesday press conferences.
Ten years later, the Wrecking Crew name has become synonymous with the Aggie defense. An Aggie tradition? Definitely.
It's a way of life for the players themselves, who have their exclusive, players-only line of apparel, complete with Wrecking Crew hats and shirts. The A&M players even developed their own hand signal a year ago that flashes each time the Wrecking Crew wreaks more havoc.
The hand signal, which consists of forming a "C" with your index finger and thumb and a "W" with your three remaining fingers, was developed by two Crew veterans involved in their own bull session.
Linebacker Larry Walker II and former A&M linebacker Reggie Brown were trying to figure out a hand signal for their beloved defensive teammates, when Brown came up with the "C" sign for "Crew."
"He came up the initial idea," Walker said of his roommate. "And then we kind of modified it a little bit. There's a standard with the name Wrecking Crew. And when you go out and play on the Wrecking Crew, there's a certain level you have to play at. It's become tradition; you're part of the Crew. That's why I came here, to be part of the Wrecking Crew."
In college football, nicknames for various teams and offensive or defensive units pop up every year. And most, if not all of the names, have a shelf-life of a year or two.
Arizona's Desert Swarm defense was catchy and timely as the Wildcats proved to be as dominating as the American soldiers in Operation Desert Storm. Then Arizona, and its dominating defense, faded like a desert sunset.
Jackie Sherrill, intent on building a 12th Man Kickoff Team at Mississippi State, started his own walk-on kickoff unit, holding a contest to find a nickname. The "Mad Dawgs" were born.
But voting on nicknames is too preconceived, and thus, MSU loses points for lack of spontaneity. The Bulldogs aren't very good, either, and the "Mad Dawgs" just don't have the celebrity of their predecessors at A&M.
Oregon came up with a clever, yet morbid, nickname for its smothering defense the last couple of years with "Gang Green." Any nickname that is a homonym for something that festers loses its appeal when trying to build a line of apparel.
The only school that has a nickname with longevity and exclusivity to compare with A&M's Wrecking Crew is Nebraska's Black Shirts.
The starting Cornhusker defensive players, even when they were slow and ineffective, have always practiced in black shirts. The nickname didn't mean that much nationally until NU's defensive became A&M-like with speed and aggressiveness over the last four years.
But there is only one Wrecking Crew. And the name is here to stay, mainly because the players won't let it die. The coaches don't want it to go away, either.
"I think it's a big deal," A&M defensive line coach Bill Johnson said. "I guess the start of it was with R.C. (Slocum) and (Bob) Davie did a good job of keeping it. Every other coordinator has come in like 'Tub' (Tommy Tuberville) and Phil (Bennett), and they continued on just like a player. It's an intangible thing. It's snowballed and something every kid on our defense and every coach on our defense wants to continue."
The Wrecking Crew name has become so big that recruits are asking the coaches and players about it. And when recruits come to A&M for official visits, the current A&M players almost hand-pick the players they can see fitting into their elite club.
"From the get-go, when you're recruiting a defensive player and the first thing he says is 'Wrecking Crew,' right now, we're ahead of the eight-ball, " Johnson said. "You're in front of the game.
"When you bring a kid in here to recruit, the players on the Wrecking Crew have a lot of pride in recruiting the type kid they want on the defense. Some kids they really smother up and cover up because they think they'd be a great addition to the Wrecking Crew."
The down side, perhaps, to having a defense with such a name and following is that the Aggie offense goes through the season as, well, the "Aggie offense."
Former A&M offensive coordinator Bob Toledo never believed there should be a nickname for one side of the ball. The idea of having a nickname for the defense, he said, fractured the team. It became the Wrecking Crew and the "other guys."
So does it bother current Aggie offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger that the A&M offense goes about its difficult business in relative obscurity compared to the Wrecking Crew?
"No, not all," Ensminger said. "Bill Johnson has been my best friend for 15 years. And they're playing well, and they've got a name to live up to. But it's all part of the team, because playing with a good defense like that gives us more opportunities. If they can keep up their end, it's going to make us better offensively."
Ensminger pointed to the Alamo Bowl game with Michigan as how he would like to see the games unfold.
"When I walked into the locker room after the Michigan game, we all felt like we won," he said. "We didn't have 400 yards of stats, but we played the type of game we needed to play to win that game. We played as a team right there.
"The more productive you are, people write about you. But as long as you win, it still goes by 'A&M.'"
But A&M offensive players, most notably the running backs, appear to long for a nickname of their own. Sophomore A-back Sirr Parker recently came up with the "Rushing Crew"to describe A&M's quartet of young backs.
If Branndon Stewart lifts the passing game to new heights, would "Air Aggies" be appropriate?
"It won't be 'Air' around here," Ensminger said with a laugh. "Maybe a little more 'Air,' but that's it. I think we'll be better offensively, but I never really have heard of a good nickname for a good offense, anyway."
Johnson and the defense doesn't apologize for the Wrecking Crew name. As Johnson says, the Aggie defense still "rides on the second bus."
"I don't see our kids having an advantage over anything else in this program. As a matter of fact, if there's any disadvantage is they've got a reputation to withhold that every Saturday, they have to step out on that field and play up to that tradition."
The tradition is such that former A&M wrecking balls Quentin Coryatt, Sam Adams, Eric England and Kevin Smith still watch the Wrecking Crew from afar. When there is a snag in a Saturday demolition, the defensive coaches and players hear about it from the Wrecking Crew alumni.
As Aggies know, tradition is more than just lip service. It's a passion for keeping a legacy alive. It's loyalty to loyalty.
"There are other people who would like to name their defenses, but it might be a one-year deal," Johnson added. "This has been a 10- or 12-year deal now. I think it's very unique in college football to have caught on like it has."
PROVO, Utah - As if Branndon Stewart didn't have enough pressure building this summer, here he was, the man under center and under the gun with less than a minute remaining in his first collegiate start at Texas A&M.
With the noise becoming deafening in Cougar Stadium, the sounds of "Rocky Top Tennessee" were so distant.
He had already engineered a 37-yard scoring drive with under two minutes remaining that could have been a 66-yard drive had Albert Connell's 29-yard touchdown catch and run not been nullified by a penalty. Still, Stewart, the Aggie offense and kicker Kyle Bryant and given A&M a 37-34 lead with 1:27 remaining in the game.
Of course, BYU countered with a split-second scoring drive of its own to take a 41-37 lead. But at this rate, it seemed Stewart was destined to work some kind of magic. It had been the nature of the game, where quarterbacks shined and the offenses dominated.
And so as cool as he was when he led Stephenville to the Class 4A state title in 1993, Stewart didn't panic but looked amazingly in control with bedlam around him.
On the final, potentially-dramatic drive, Stewart ran for 10 yards and completed three straight passes to the BYU 34-yard line with 18 seconds remaining. Then, in search of the fourth straight completion, the Aggies went vertical with their passing game in hopes of getting close to the end zone with one timeout left.
Stewart looked downfield, stepped away from some pressure and dropped the ball. But Stewart, and make no mistake about this, did not drop the ball in the figurative sense in his debut in the maroon and white.
In fact, he had perhaps the best first game of any A&M quarterback in recent history. His numbers read 20-of-28 for 232 yards and two touchdowns. No interceptions. This was not John Mazur flopping in 1983.
"I thought Branndon did a good job in his first start," said coach R.C. Slocum. "I thought he had a good performance today."
Of course, if Stewart had found Albert Connell leaping in the end zone for the winning touchdown, Branndon Stewart Day would be held in College Station next week. But it didn't work out that way for the transfer from Tennessee, but it will in the future.
There is no doubt the Aggies have found themselves a talented, perhaps special, player at quarterback. Consider three plays in the Pigskin Classic:
Yes, BYU quarterback Steve Sarkisian was outstanding and deserves any praise he can get from his 536-yard passing performance. But, as one press box observer from pass-happy Provo ackonwledged, "That kid sure has a nice arm." And he wasn't talking about No. 12 in blue, but No. 7 in maroon.
And when Stewart did commit the fumble to end the game, he walked off the field in pain, but not shame. His upbeat attitude in the postgame press conference was just as refreshing, and to be frank, very classy.
"You learn throughout your career in sports that once there's misfortune, you have to put it behind you and build for the next time," Stewart said.
But could he actually believe, after countless interviews and question about his talent, that he was leading the Aggies in a two-minute drill for a possible gut-wrenching victory on national television?
"I could see it developing," Stewart said. "I didn't really want it to end up like that. I was trying to be as calm as possible, but I was preparing for it."
No one could have imagined the conditions that Stewart would encounter in his first game. An offensive shootout with BYU, with two-minute drills and hurry-up offenses in game one of a long season?
And the Aggies will one day win a big game in the last minute because of the offense, and it won't be on a wing and a prayer against SMU. A&M will beat a top 10 team when the offense has to drive the length of the field for the win.
And the legend of another No. 7 will be firmly entrenched in Aggieland.
Dalton to Serve as Field DirectorLiz Dalton, who formerly worked for Tim Cassidy in the Football Operations office, has joined the staff of the 12th Man Foundation as field director. Dalton, who graduated from Texas A&M in 1990, will be travelling around the state approximately 3-4 days per week, initiating programs and events to involve current donors and to attract new members into the Foundation. One of her major responsibilities will be acting as the line of communication between donors and the teams and coaches of the athletic department. |
When opposing offenses line up against the Texas A&M defensive line, they are facing mountains of trouble.
Pike's Peak on the left in Pat Williams. Mount Rainier on the right in Brandon Mitchell.
But in the middle, there could lie the biggest rock for offenses to scale: Mount Everest.
Indeed, senior nose guard Eddie Jasper is big, immovable, and with a family and NFL career in the works, he is on top of the world.
"It's kind of weird going from one extreme to the other," said the 305-pound Jasper. "One day, I was just happy to be playing at A&M. The next day, they're telling me I may be one of the best linemen in the country. It really hasn't hit me yet."
It hasn't hit a lot of people yet. Most fans and college football observers fawn over rush linebacker Keith Mitchell or Brandon Mitchell, and deservedly so. Meanwhile, it is Jasper who, as one A&M assistant coach says, is the real leader of this A&M football team. It is Jasper, not Sam Adams or Mark Wheeler before him, who can really make a mark in the NFL.
"Guys who have gone on to play in the NFL may have had more ability or a better-looking body or run a faster 40 (yard-dash)," defensive line coach Bill Johnson said. "But I haven't seen any of them play any faster or any more productive than this guy. I would assume with the type of season we're looking for, I think he's going to be a hot commodity."
Coming out of Class 2A Troup High School, Jasper was more fit for the commodity exchange on the collegiate level. After playing tight end and linebacker in high school at 235 pounds, Jasper came to Aggieland unsure of where he fit into the A&M defensive plans. The coaches weren't sure, either.
Former A&M defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Bob Davie had first crack at "Troup," as Jasper is known around the locker room. But because of a lack of numbers in the defensive line and the potential for growth on Jasper's frame, Johnson coaxed Jasper into the interior of the defense.
"The first day I kidded him and said, 'You come over and play defensive line for me, and we'll go back to Troup, Texas, and ride on the fire truck for Eddie Jasper Day, Eddie J. Day,'" Johnson said. " I really was kidding him. Heck, Troup may have Eddie J. Day before this is all said and done. And I told him I'm going to drive the fire truck."
The first step in Jasper's rise from waffling redshirt to pancaking defensive lineman was putting on some serious weight. Jasper had hoped to one day reach the playing weight of 240 or 250 pounds. Instead, he gained 40 pounds between his freshman and sophomore year.
"Cain Hall has been good to me," Jasper said as he finished lunch at A&M's athletic dining hall. "At first, I could see myself as a defensive end at 240 or 250 (pounds). Then when I hit the 260 point, I said, 'What am I going to do now?'
"I put on 40 pounds from when I first got here to my sophomore year. I thought something was wrong with me to gain all of that weight all of a sudden. I was all clumsy with it. I'd be walking along and misjudge things. When I gained all that weight, I'd be walking by (a wall) and run into it. I'd cut a corner to quick and 'boom!' People don't think about those things when you're little."
At 300-plus pounds, Jasper has been able to keep his quickness and strength, and thus, elevated his status to being one of the premier nose guards in the Big 12 Conference, if not the nation.
He led the Aggies in tackles for losses last year with a school-record 14 stops behind the line and finished with four quarterback sacks.
By season's end, in games against Texas and Michigan, Johnson said Jasper was playing as well as any defensive player in recent A&M history.
"To me, the mark of a great player is a guy who plays great in big games," Johnson said. "He may have played as well as anybody we've had around here for two consecutive games. I thought it was almost close to dominating the guys he was playing against, because those were good players."
The notion that a nose guard creates traffic in the middle while others make spectacular plays on the ends is a fallacy at A&M, at least as long as Jasper plays.
"The technique is such that our guys are designed to go make plays," Johnson added. "To be successful with a pressure defense, your defensive front has got to make positive plays. And he's made as many positive plays as anybody we've got on this defense."
Still, four years ago, Johnson had no idea Jasper would blossom into a 300-pound dominating force. Very few people did. However, Jasper not only elevated his physical play, but he fine-tuned the mental aspects of his game as well.
Jasper is now known as a student of the game, describing the nuances of every offensive lineman he may encounter. When the offense is running a counter play, Jasper can tell in an instant, before the ball is even snapped.
The hint? An offensive lineman's foot just barely out of place.
"He's got a lot of football awareness," Johnson said. "He understands blocking schemes, formations and personnel they've got in the game and what they're trying to do. He understands the game really well."
And Jasper is fiercely competitive. So much so that Johnson didn't hesitate to detail what Jasper would do for his Aggie teammates.
"Eddie Jasper will do anything you ask him to do," Johnson said, looking for the nearest brick wall. "If I told him to get back and get a head start and try to knock a hole in that wall with his head, he would do it. And he probably could do it because he's got a big ol' head."
But for all of Jasper's physical traits, the low-key senior could be just as valuable to the Texas Aggies for his leadership qualities.
Just three days before the Builders Square Alamo Bowl with Michigan, some A&M players were interested in loading a bus and beginning Fiesta Week four months before it officially begins on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.
Jasper went to his head coach and told him to quash the idea.
"He was the one who stepped up to Coach Slocum and said, 'No, we don't need a bus. It's getting to close to game time,'" Johnson said. "And not another kid who wanted to do it questioned him. If the truth be told, he may be the biggest leader we have on this football team. When his voice his spoken, there's enough kids on this team who will listen."
The incident thrust Jasper, willingly or not, into the role as team leader. Jasper was hesitant to accept the responsibility then, but not anymore.
"At the time, I didn't want to accept the role," Jasper said. "I felt it was just something somebody had to do. We were there to play a game, not to party. We can have fun together in the things they let us do as a team. We don't need to be doing all that.
"It's hard to look guys like Keith Mitchell in the face and try to tell him what to do or how to do something. Somehow, I get the nerve to do it."
Maybe Jasper has grown into the role as team leader because of his stature, mentally and physically. Perhaps it's because he understands responsibility more than ever now.
Jasper and wife Nicole have been married for 16 months and are the proud parents of a 10-month-old son, Nicolas Edward Jasper.
And if you think your schedule is demanding, consider Eddie Jasper's:
During two-a-days, Jasper awoke at 5:30 a.m., saw his wife off to work at 6 a.m. shuffled his son to day-care, just in time to make a 7:20 a.m. practice. After rounds of meetings, media interviews and maybe a nap, Jasper was back for meetings, the evening practice, more meetings and finally stumbled home around 11 p.m.
There, waiting eagerly was Nicolas, ready for an hour of primetime play time. The elder Jasper finally found the pillow around midnight each night. All this, before classes even started in the fall.
"I had to grow up on the run,"Jasper said. "It really did change my life. In the middle of football season and with classes, it was hard at first. It just took a little getting used to."
Nicole Jasper smiles when she is informed that her husband is a busy man.
"He makes time for me," she said. "He's got a busy schedule, and he's always on the go, but I know that he's doing it for us."
Johnson has seen Jasper mature quickly over the last two years, especially over the last 16 months. With pro football on the horizon, Jasper's focus in college has narrowed even more.
"I don't know if being married and having a kid hasn't been a positive thing toward his football career,"Johnson said. "He has a reason to play hard and a reason to be successful."
In a year, he may have millions of reasons. Jasper is projected to be a high pick in next spring's NFL draft.
"I look at it as a way to get ahead in life," Jasper said as he pondered his professional future. "There's not many families who can start out like that. Take, for example, Reggie Brown. He's got $1 million in the bank, and he doesn't even have to touch it because of his base salary. I just want my family to be taken care of like that."
And he wants his 10-month-old son, already big for his age, to be taken care of by the Aggie family one day.
"He is a big kid," Jasper said with a smile. "He doesn't have to go to A&M, but if he wants me to pay for it...."