AJ Jimmerson: A Great Spartan, Role Model and Citizen

AJ Jimmerson: A Great Spartan, Role Model and Citizen ÂÂIn a day and age where sports pages are littered with athletes that make a mockery of their team or

AJ Jimmerson: A Great Spartan, Role Model and Citizen

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In a day and age where sports pages are littered with athletes that make a mockery of their team or sports, AJ Jimmerson demonstrates to all that it can be done the right way. Jimmerson is a role model, a consummate Spartan and by the way, he is a pretty darn good running back to boot.  When TV headlines echo the latest, “mistake” by an athlete, the Spartan Nation is truly blessed to have Arthur Jimmerson III (AJ) as a running back.

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He isn’t flashy. You won’t be intimidated by his size, but he is stellar in the classroom and is an even better person than he is an athlete. This is saying a lot because he is an explosive and talented runner. Now I admit that I like AJ as much as a person as a player. As you read through this story it will be easy to see why this is the case.

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His big beaming smile and his tender demeanor make you think about AJ the individual long before thinking about AJ the talented Spartan halfback. After a loss or win, off-season or not, AJ is always smiling as he walks around the beautiful MSU campus.

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He was raised by his mother, (Crystal), who is tough in every way that is needed to raise a young boy into an aspiring man. She is a boxing judge by trade and a tough mom by choice. She didn’t raise AJ like others do their boys in single homes around St. Louis. In fact, “I have pet peeves with how some single mothers raise their sons,” was how she described her style of parenting to me recently.

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“I can tell you that I never made excuses for AJ or to him. He knew what he had to do to play football or to have any privileges. Nobody owed him or owes him anything,” was her answer to her parenting secrets. I asked AJ about his mother last week and the impact she has had on his life. “She means everything to me. My dad was a boxer and my mom a judge. She was strict, but she had so much love. She’s my hero.”

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This family has truly made becoming a member of the Spartan Nation not only a life choice, but has embraced it fully. I asked Crystal and AJ about their journey to MSU and was surprised by what I learned.

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“AJ met Jerome Bettis early while he was in St Louis and the boxer Bernard Hopkins. Those two guys meant a lot to him and he never forgot what they taught him.” This was Crystal’s early memory of Jerome’s and Bernard’s influence on her son’s character. “I looked up to Jerome and Bernard a lot. I met them when I was a teenager and they reminded me to go hard and leave my mark.” His life is a true testimony to the words AJ recounted to me.

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How big of a mark has AJ left? I got this email from a reader of Spartan Nation last season after a disappointing home loss.

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Dear Mr. Carpenter,
I am writing because of an experience that I had with an MSU football player after the loss last Saturday. My grandson recognized the young man as an MSU football player. He walked up to him outside of the new press box and asked for an autograph. Not only did Mr. Jimmerson oblige my son in an incredibly generous way, but also he spent about twenty minutes talking with him about non-football things like loving his family and doing well in school. Mr. Jimmerson may not leave MSU as the best runner to every play, but he is the best example I have ever met in my twenty years supporting this team. When others talk about bad kids, please talk about Mr. Jimmerson.
Ilene
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When I read that e-mail to Crystal she was very quiet and after a few moments she responded with, “I am not surprised. I had to learn from other people that he was a Special Olympic volunteer. Those things make me proud. I enjoy him playing football, but I am proud of the man I raised.”

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AJ was more humble about the e-mail. “Being a Spartan is a special honor. I don’t take it for granted. If I do something wrong, people will look bad on the team and it looks bad for the fans. I like talking to kids. I love playing football, but being a better person is the most important thing to me.”

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AJ’s choice of MSU was much easier than you would expect. “I had offers from Missouri and UCLA, Oklahoma and Kansas State along with MSU, but I knew the moment I got here this was home,” was AJ’s account of his recruiting trip. “I was like are you sure? He looked right at me and reminded me that I had raised him to trust what he had in there. He knew immediately that this was home,” was Crystal’s account of that recruiting trip.

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Reflecting back on the recruiting process Crystal shocked me with this statement, “He didn’t like the recruiting process at all. He didn’t like all the attention and all the people calling all the time.”

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Attention is something that Crystal doesn’t mind from fans, but admittedly takes a different stance when it comes to the internet and people’s ability to anonymously rip kids. “I have no problem with someone who rips or says whatever they want. Just be a man and use your name. My son and those boys play football and everyone knows whom they are. Then they can go on the internet and anonymously rip kids. I don’t even have a problem when the media is critical. You all have to put your name on stuff. I just have no respect for people that say all kinds of whatever they want. I wear AJ’s jersey.  I sit in the stands. Come say to my face what you say on the screen anonymously.” AJ takes a different approach. “I don’t read it. I get upset so I just don’t read what people say anonymously. She’s a mom and I guess I would read it about my kid also.”

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AJ was surprised, as were the Spartan coaches, when he got to MSU and AJ had a classmate by the name of Javon Ringer. “John L. and the staff explained to us that they didn’t expect to get both he and Javon. It didn’t bother either of them, it was more of the staff that was surprised,” was how Crystal recalled it. “Javon and I have become close. We really want what is best for MSU and not really for each other,” was AJ’s thoughts on the Ringer situation.

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“I think what was best for me was that Javon and I are Spartans first. We play for that name on the front of the jersey. I am a competitor and I want to play. When he beat me out it wasn’t coach picking on me. He wants to win as bad as I do. His winning told me what I had to work on. Sure I root for him. He is my teammate and my friend. Before we were best friends it was competitive. It is still competitive. Coach Dantonio has no favorites. His favorite is Sparty.” was the very mature perspective Jimmerson had about his competition for reps with Javon Ringer.

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I asked Crystal about the transition from JLS to Dantonio from a parent’s perspective. She had this to say… “He means what he says and his yes is yes and his no is no. As a parent all you can hope for is that he truly loves your son and that he tells the truth. That is Coach Dantonio. Dantonio tells those boys that there is one way. He shows no favorites and no exceptions. That is how I raised AJ and that is why I am his biggest fan. I didn’t think I would like him at first, but I love him now.”

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It wasn’t just Crystal that was nervous about Dantonio at first. “I was really nervous at first. I came to MSU because of Coach Smith. I love MSU and even though the change probably needed to be made, I didn’t dislike the previous staff. I was a Spartan because of them. He (Dantonio) didn’t make any promises. He just told us to judge him on what he did and that he would judge us on what we did when he arrived. I love Coach D now. We used to dread practice. It wasn’t any fun. Now they (practices) are a lot harder, but we love them and look forward to them. You knew Coach Smith more personally, but Coach Dantonio you know by his character and by how he treats the team. People may not like how strict he is, but people can live with how it is now. A rule is a rule for all the team.”

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I asked AJ what the big differences are between the MSU he came to and the one that he plays for now. “We used to see coaches not talking or getting along and the bad vibes. Now they all get along. Practice is planned and they all stick to the same plan. Everything we do, on the field and off is planed for a purpose. Last year when we lost some games there were some guys saying what some of the fans did. That this was the same old Spartans. Coach Dantonio got real mad. He told us that he didn’t come to MSU to stay home from bowl games. He said that the fans didn’t pay our scholarships to stay home. He said if we expected to lose then leave, but he and the coaches were going to a bowl game and the whole team picked up. He told us that an unbelieving attitude was not going there. He said if we listened and did what we were told we would go to a bowl game. We believed him and we did.”

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Crystal told AJ when Dantonio first came too, “Remember that he doesn’t know you either. If he is willing to let you show him who you are, then show him and let him show you.”

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Crystal reminds her son what being a Spartan means, even though he has fully proven he gets it. “You won’t see him in the clubs. You won’t see him in any fights. He owes it to his team and the Spartan family to be a role model and he will do it right.” AJ echoed his mother’s sentiment, “I think about everyone that gave me an opportunity and I owe them. Coach says that if we do it wrong, that we make everyone look bad. Being a Spartan is not just a school. I love it here. I love being a Spartan and I won’t do anything to hurt my family.”

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AJ told me why he loves working with the Special Olympics kids, “Some people think that because they are handicapped that they can’t communicate. I just think some people don’t take time to listen.”

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Many of us can learn a lot from AJ. Maybe we just need to take the time to listen. Ilene is right. He may not be the all time leading rusher at MSU when he leaves.   He may not make the MSU Hall of Fame. However, AJ Jimmerson is a great kid, a very good athlete and a perfect example of what it means to be a Spartan. He will leave MSU better because he was a part of it. He is a proud member of the Spartan Nation and the Spartan Nation should be very proud of him. Not only will he accomplish a lot as a player on the field, I think we all can learn a lot from AJ and the example he sets.

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AJ walks on the field to play a game and when done he walks off of it. Nothing he did or didn’t do affects who he is as a man of character and integrity. He plays on a team with many great young men. He is a man. Crystal, you did your job.

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As a Spartan fan, I am proud that AJ wears the green and white. As a parent I am even prouder that my sons admire such an admirable man.