United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Tar Heels recruit uses passion play
By Tim Stevens
timstevens@newsobserver.com
Posted: Sunday, Jul. 18, 2010

BUIES CREEK You probably can bench press more weight than North Carolina recruit Jarrod James, a 6-foot-4, 287-pound offensive lineman at Pikeville Aycock who is ranked by rivals.com among the top three guard prospects in the country.

Many high school linemen can lie on their backs and push up 300 pounds or more during a bench press, but James can't lift the bar off the rack. In fact, he can't raise his right hand higher than his ear.

James might not be able to bench press 300 pounds, but he can push around 300-pound defensive linemen. His speed, powerful legs, back and shoulders and intense drive make him an ideal offensive lineman.

If winning a weightlifting contest was a prerequisite for playing football, James still might be like the chunky 10-year old who started playing football at the Boys and Girls Club in Goldsboro because some kids picked on him.

James has brachial plexus palsy, a condition caused by an injury at birth to the nerves that control movement in his arm and fingers. The condition is rare, less than two in 1,000 births, but it is more common among large babies.

James was a whopper, weighing 12 pounds, 1ounce and stretching 24 inches.

Elvin James, Jarrod's father, believes the condition was created when his son was stretched after birth to be measured. The palsy is caused when the shoulder is forced down and nerves are stretched or torn. Football players sometimes experience a similar, temporary condition called a "burner" or "stinger" after collisions.

The condition often clears up without treatment, but James' problem persists.

"Most people recover from brachial plexus palsy when they are about 3 months old," Jarrod James said. "I didn't. I don't have an answer for it other than this is the way God made me. God has a reason for it."

He is fearfully made.

He can run incredibly fast for his size. He covers 40 yards within about 5 seconds. He runs the 400 meters in track and this locomotive of a man is an awesome sight churning around the curve toward the finish. Under a full head of speed, the earth seems to quake at his every stride.

And he plays football with a passion and a mission.

"I am an easy-going guy. I smile, and I'm friendly," he said last week while attending Campbell's football camp. "But I had a football coach tell me long ago that one of the great things about football is that you can be someone else when you pull on the helmet.

"... Football is a spiritual game. ... When you play with great spirit and the guy you're playing with plays for what he believes in, it is an unbelievable game."

People, especially his father, Elvin, and his mother, Mary Kay, have believed in him. His father is the football coach at Livingstone in Salisbury and in 1996 was tabbed as the most caring high school coach in America by USA Today. He was a 2007 finalist for the NFL's national coach of the year while at Goldsboro High.

"I was just a child and didn't understand any of that until years later," Jarrod James said. "I just knew Daddy's picture was in the paper. Later I understood what a great man he is."

Weakness becomes strength

Jarrod James was not pushed toward football, although his father designed a set of exercises for him to compensate for his condition when he was young.

"We tried to let him know that life can't be a pity party," Elvin James said.

Jarrod James started playing football because many "of the cool kids did," he said.

"I wanted to be like the cool kids," he said. "It worked."

Jarrod James developed his own exercises, lifting 5, 10, 15 pounds over and over. He built tremendous strength in his legs, hips, back, neck and shoulders, the perfect combination for an offensive lineman, who accelerates from his stance and makes contact with his hands. The elbows are close to the body and the fingers pointing upward.

The pectorals, the large chest muscles used during the bench press, have little to do with a football block. The pectorals pull more than push.

"A big number on the bench press sounds impressive, but the back, hips and legs are much more important in being an effective blocker," Aycock coach Randy Pinkowski said.

"Jarrod may not be able to do a bench press, but he can lift your car off the ground."

Tears and resolve

James used to avoid talking about his condition, but he has written a paper on brachial plexus palsy for his senior project. He said the only time he remembers feeling sorry for himself was after he was cut from the eighth-grade basketball team.

He heard the coach cut him because he could not extend his arm overhead and would never be a good rebounder.

"I went home and cried," he said. "I told my mother that it wasn't fair. I thought I was a better player than some of the players who made the team."

The next day, though, he did what he has often, make the best of the situation. He joined the team as a manager. Eventually, he was allowed to practice with the team.

"Whenever I was practicing, I worked as hard as I could at rebounding," James said. "I wanted to prove I could rebound."

Later in the season when another player was dropped, James was the replacement.

"We've always told Jarrod that a handicap is what you create in your mind when you face difficulties," Elvin James said.

Jarrod James gave up basketball after his freshman year and started wrestling. He has a 55-20 career record.

He carries a 4.7 GPA and had his pick of college scholarships. He liked programs at N.C. State and North Carolina best, but he chose the Tar Heels because he thought he'd be happier there if something happened, and he couldn't play football.

His sister, Ashleyn, was a Morehead-Cain Scholar and graduated from North Carolina in 2009.

Livingstone, a 1,200-student private college, plays NCAA Division II football in the CIAA with schools such as Johnson C. Smith. Livingstone has a rich football tradition, having played its first game in 1892. The Blue Bears had a scholarship for James, too.

"The coach there would have loved to have me," James said with a smile as he referred to his father, "but my Dad wanted me to go where I would be happiest."

"We definitely had room for him here," coach Elvin James said. "He is a tremendous prospect. ... But he summed up the situation well. His father wants him to do what's best for him."

And Jarrod James is happy.

"I believe in miracles," he said. "Maybe one day something will happen and suddenly I can lift both arms over my head in celebration. But this is the way I am now. I don't have a problem with that."