Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 105, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 31, 1992 Page: 8 of 26
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Polk County Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Livingston Municipal Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
SPORTS
cSStton
m
Thursday December 31,1992
THE POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE
__ ««.
- |Q NOTM PAMC
NeavJw. 1.1M9
PAGE 8A
Texas Aggies to battle Notre Dame Friday afternoon
Spotlight on Groveton's Thomas
DALLAS---Texas A&M
University sophomore tailback
Rodney Thomas, whom Aggies
coaches consider a starter, will
finally get to start Friday afternoon
against Notre Dame University in
the 57th annual Mobile Cotton
Bowl Classic.
Kickoff is set for 12:03 p.m.
(NBC-TV.)
Thomas has alternated with
A&M sophomore Greg Hill for two
years. Hill has started A&M’s last
24 games but was suspended last
week by A&M officials after the
university looked into allegations
that Hill had received improper
payments from an A&M supporter.
‘‘It’s a big shot for me,”
Thomas said. .“There’s pressure.
You can use pressure as a footstool
or a stumbling block.”
Video machine
The room will be dark, and the
footage of Texas A&M football
game will be flickering on the
video machine.
The audience will be staring in-
tently at the screen when Rodney
Thomas, a former Groveton High
School all-round athlete, one of the
team’s tailbacks and some think the
best backup running back in the
i game, will make one of his leg-
driving, pile-moving runs. Some-
where underneath the clump of op-
posing uniforms, they know, is
Thomas.
From the darkness will come the
comment from one of the many
Thomas impersonators.
Anonymous voice
"I’m blessed,” says the
anonymous voice, gently mocking
the mantra of the sophomore run-
ning back.
“I’m blessed,” echoes another.
“Thank God."
The room fills with laughter.
Thomas merely smiles to himself.
Thomas regularly thanks his
linemen, his receivers, his fellow
tailback Greg Hill, his coaches, the
trainer, Reveille and anyone else
who comes to mind.
So when his teammates rib him
ever so gently, he knows they’re
laughing with him, not at him.
“They let me know they care,”
Thomas said. “They’re teasing me,
but it’s a good tease.”
No problem
There’s no problem of accept-
ance when it comes to Rodney
Thomas. He is easily the MVP of
this team if you’re scoring the Most
Venerable Player.
If any player is worthy of
respect, it’s Thomas. No one has a
bad word to say about him.
"He’s totally unselfish,1 ’ Defen-
sive Coordinator Bob Davis says.
- “He’s legitimately a great kid.”
As far as Thomas is concerned,
no one has been blessed more rich-
ly than he. His teammates and ac-
quaintances all think he is special
for reasons beyond his abilityon a
football field.
Not that his play on the field
isn’t exemplary enough.
In his first two seasons, Thomas
has rushed for 1,150 yards, 856 of
them this season. He has scored 13
touchdowns, including three touch-
downs in two different games. He
has caught eight passes.
He has started just one game.
But don't expect Thomas to
complain about it. Even his lone
start—against Missouri this year—
-came because fullback Doug Car-
ter was hurt Thomas would sooner
miss a block for him—evem
though his 5.6 yard per carry ex-
ceeds Hill’s 5.0—than moan about
not getting enough playing time.
Running back Rodney Thomas (20) of Texas A&M
Photo by Linda Peterson
Starting a game
“Starting a game means starting
a game. It’s just one play,”
Thomas said. “Who wouldn’t want
to start? But being the man is not
something I dwell on.”
Davie does have one thing he’d
change about Thomas. Even though
the Class 2A Player of the Year ran
Tor 8,441 yards in his career, Davie
says he would have been just an
outstanding on defense.
“Rodney Thomas would be one
of the all-time great linebacker to
ever play at Texas A&M,” Davie_
said. “But I know that’s never'
going to happen.”
Thomas smiles at Davie’s
remarks. At Groveton, he played
some linebacker as well as defen-
sive end and cornerback.
But defense now?
"I love collisions,” says
Thomas, who plays like one wait-
ing to happen. “I’ve always loved
playing linebacker.”
His coaches could switch him to
that side of the ball tomorrow, and
he’d have no complaint. That’s part
of the reason he got the nickname
“Rock” in high school for all the
times the band would play the
Peaches and Herb song “Solid” in
his honor at pep rallies.
Few players
Few players are as solid as
“Rock” Thomas, a 5-foot-11-inch,
203-pound running back who idol-
ized the durability of Walter Payton
and—as long as Hill stays healthy-
-may never get the chance to show
similar stamina.
Perhaps part of the reason
Thomas is such a power, straight-
ahead runner is his vision. Thomas
is not one of those running backs
who see the field all that well, if
only because he’s lucky he sees
anything well. An accident during
his childhood when he was hit in
the left eye with a pipe left that eye
much weaker.
“It’s probably 20-45 or 20-50,”
Thomas says. “Things are kind of
blurry on the football field. But as
long as I can distinguish
colors.......”
Thomas always shows his true
colors. His selflessness and com-
mitment to team goals seperate him
from many players.
“I love the guy,” says Aggies
defensive lineman Lance Teichel-
man, a Austin Westwood High
graduate. “I want to take him home
for Christmas.”
“Rodney is one of the greatest
human beings you’d ever want to
meet,” A&M linebacker Marcus
Buckley said.
His mother sensed her son might
be special almost from the moment
she gave birth to the dangerously
small, 1-pound, 8-ounce boy on
March 30, 1973. His 2-pound twin
brother was stillborn.
Both Rodney and his mother,
Shirley Williams, nearly died, she
of complications from the delivery
and problems with anemia and her
rare blood type. Mrs. Williams
wasn’t even allowed to see her son
for two weeks. Rodney spent most
of his first six weeks in the John
Sealy Hospital in Galveston in an
incubator.
Fighter
“Rodney’s just a fighter,” says
Mrs. Williams, who is a supervisor
at the Groveton Nursing Home.
“He has always been tough. Rod-
ney is special. There’s a reason for
the good Lord to bless him to
live."
As a result, Thomas is always
looking to share his blessings.
That’s why he was particularly
moved a year ago when a Groveton
sixth-grader accidentally shot his
12-year-old twin, wounds that
eventually claim his life.
Jim Magee, who was shot in the
neck and paralyzed, was confined
to a wheelchair and was in and out
of the hospital until he lost his life
this fall. Paul Magee was left to
deal with the tragedy.
The story so gripped Thomas
that he gave the twins his watch
See GROVETON P 9-A.
C.T LOOP Mor
X HWY190W
967-4202 *-
VILL MNANCE - BONDED Y'AHRAb fit
1989 BUICK LESABRE
LIMITED, 4 DR. FULLY
LOADED, IMMACULATE
*7,995
1986 SUBARU XT
AUTOMATIC AIR P.S P B
POWER WINDOWS AM/FM
STEREO w/CASSETTE
REAL SPORTY
INI PONTIAC SUMMRDLE
4 DR, AUTOMATIC, AM, F/l,
P/», AMAH CASSETTE, TIT,
ONE OWNER, EXTRA CLEAN
*6,995
1989 FORD
ESCORT LX 4 DR.
AUTOMATIC AIR. AM EIW
SIIREU GOOD CONDITION
s3,995
1978 CHEVY
CUSTOM VAN
AUT0.AIC.AM/FMW/
CASSETTE, FULLY CARPETED,
4 CAPTAINS CHAIRS, TABLE,
SINK, ICE SOX, RUNS GREAT.
$2,495
1002 BUICK CENTURY
4 OR. W
AUTOMATIC, AM, AM/m
CASSETi, TILT A CRUISE,
0000 CONDITION
WILL FINANCE
1980 JEEP CJ7
RIM0VABI f SPEED
A!71 EM CASS^g^O %\'ll TIRES
w«*vw>^7[)iiior
*4,495
1985 CHRYSLER
NEW YORKER
AUI0MAIIC. AIM. AM,'I MS IIIU 0
III I CHUISI Will I INANE I
blJD DOWN
s45/m.
1M4 CHEVY SUBURBAN
3/4 TON,« OR. SSS VS,
AUTOMATIC FRONTS
MAR AM
*4,695
TODAY..
PAY ONLY
lRill I
$31.
O
'4AVINGI.
tlffi TIRE PRICES INCLUDE ValVB SIMMS
|?.£) Computer Balancing
lVI
*40°°
on a iat of 4 tlrM \
($10 par tire)
f%£) Computer Alignment £&
KELLY
KELLY
_MVNATNMI
M14MIMf1ML-NLNDM0Ml
PIMMII __ N
P17MMM...»
PMMMM ._»
PNMMM —»
PNMMM ...»
PMMNM ...»
P»tM»M ..._»
PNMMM...»
PNMMM
PNMMM...»
PNMMII —»
KELLY
*NM0I1I__4B
P17M0R1S _-4B
SSS2::S
P1H0M14 .—IB
PIO/7W14 _||
*216/7*014 ..._•»
WRzS
3SS2:=:
KELLY
MBIT IMMllMI WOE
phmmii
pnmmm...»
PNMMM...»
PNMMM—S
PNMMM ...»
3#BS:::S
PNMMM.....*
PNMMM...Ml
PNMMM ... Ml
PNMMM.... fM
PMMMM .....M
PIMAMM ... IN
KELLY
METRIC SOOT
MMMl-BIAaOH STEEL-
MDUL TOMffOftTB
1B4TH18___m
ITlflfVMS
1B«/70Tft1l ......14
116/701*14 ......«7
1*6/701*14 ...... Bl
lOiTTfTftW .
KELLY
L BELTED WkOIAl fO* MPOfTCB
KELLY
m i«mb mmt ubht hubs mb*
LTt1MM1fl0 HI
.TtSMUtl* 117
7MBML10 .1*2
•7W1NLTD It*
960ft MITD... 944
mm--tii
1466*18____48
ttOftl* ____44
tMftt*______47
17681114 -.......62
ISSSftM_____64
tMMtf------12
171/PDBftll 61
tB6/70ftft18......68
tSi/7081114 6*
196/706*14 ...»
206/706*14
KELLY
J/u
MOW 1UNI4JP
B MOTION SYSTEMS
8-cyl 8-cyl
SrsSSsSS
AUPOMKWIEUI NOME NltMtO
• PMPWUPIPBIV*,
IIP
*216/791116......77
*284/791116 ......B0
LT28 S/79* 16 100
SQNMOftlSLT 101
HXtSMftlUT 114
iTtiaum too
LTtMIfttB 110
LT1M-79* 1# 101
ITMMIftlt 124
mmm___ttt
160*19.6—... lit
DISC OIDIUM
■UKISENKE
C)
*49”
Most Cars
KELLY TIRES Agooddea.
on a great tire
For A Full Featured
Cellular Phone
DURING DECEMBER - THE PRICE IS THE DATE
Example: On the 31st of December you can buy a cellular phone for $31 00.
'Phone must be activated on Cellular One ol Huntsville's Smart Talker or Business Plan w Annual contract
ided Hours
day iV^ phT C E LLU LA RONE 327-7900
EPPES EXXON
327-3103 *?££*?[gg
602 W. CHURCH
LIVINGSTON
1
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 105, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 31, 1992, newspaper, December 31, 1992; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth781481/m1/8/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.