Jamaal Charles
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Born Jamaal RaShaad Charles on December 27, 1986 in Port Arthur, Texas, Jamaal plays running back for The University of Texas Longhorns in NCAA collegiate football. Jamaal is not the only one in the family involved in sports as his brother Shanderric Charles (running back at SMU from 2001-02) and cousins Graylin Johnson (football safety at UT from 1989-90) and RaShonta LeBlanc (basketball player at LSU from 2004-present) have also competed in the college ranks. As an athlete, Charles is pretty quick and agile, which makes him a very ideal and effective "speed back" for the Longhorns. Charles' speed in fact has been put into use outside a football field and inside the track field as he has represented his university in inter-collegiate track competitions. The College of Education enrollee however decided to focus his attention to football after a disappointing 2006 season and the sacrifice has so far worked to his favor as he has been named to the preseason Maxwell Award watch list and was also part of the preseason third-team All-America selection by Athlon.
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High School
Charles's first recognition came as a track athlete, being a member of the national record-setting 4x200m relay team as a sophomore. But it didn't take long for him to shine in the football field as a member of the Memorial High School football squad under coach Dean Colbert. As a junior, Charles rushed for 2,051 yards and 25 TDs to help his team reach the 5A Division II quarterfinals. He then earned first-team all-state honors from the Texas Sports Writers Association and second-team all-state honors from The Associated Press and was given the Willie Ray Smith Award for the Best High School Offensive Player in Southeast Texas that same year. During his senior season, Charles registered some impressive numbers which include a 400-yard-six-td-game against Spring Westfield and a solid one-half performance against Baytown Sterling wherein he recorded 258 yards and four TDs in the first two quarters alone. Charles was momentarily out because of shoulder injury but had a huge return game with 371 yards on 49 carries against Midland Lee. He finished his senior season collecting 2,056 yards on 260 carries with 25 TDs. He was then adjudged as the offensive MVP by the Houston Chronicle and was named into the first-team 5A all-state by The Associated Press.
Charles concluded his high school career rushing for 4,107 yards and 50 TDs, was named two-time first-team 5A all-state back, broke a Port Arthur city career rushing record held by Joe Washington that stood for over 30 years, and was named District 22-5A Player of the Year as a junior and senior. He also played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
College
2005
Charles made a splash on his debut, setting a UT rushing record for a debut game with 135 yards to go with a TD and one reception for 18 yards against Louisiana-Lafayette. He also set another school record for rushing yards in a player's first-career start against Rice with 189 yards on 16 carries to go along with three scores. In the rivalry game against Oklahoma, he gained the most yards rushing by a freshman versus the Sooners with 116 yards including an 80-yard TD run, which is the second-longest run by a freshman in UT history, the longest run by a Longhorn in the Red River Rivalry and the 10th-longest run in the school charts. During that game, Charles sustained an ankle injury and was limited for the next three games. He was able to return a few games later and played for the Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship against Colorado (7 carries, 62 yards and two TDs with 1 TD reception) and in the National Championship against USC (5 carries, 34 yards). He finished his freshman year fifth on the UT freshman rushing chart with 878 yards on 119 carries with a 7.4 average (third among the nation's top 100 runners) and 11 rushing touchdowns (tied for second on the UT freshman list) in 13 games, including three starts at running back. He also made 14 catches for 157 yards and two TDs, increasing his season total to 13 TDs which tied the UT freshman record.
Charles won several honors during his rookie year, including the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors from the conference's coaches, and an honorable mention Freshman All-America and Freshman All-Big 12 honors from The Sporting News, among others.
2006
Charles' sophomore year was not as explosive as his debut season, but nonetheless, he led the team with 831 rushing yards on 156 carries (5.3 ypc) and seven TDs in 12 games with one start and one missed game due to injury. Among his accomplishments include a career-long 72-yard reception in the Alamo Bowl which stands as the fourth-longest reception by a RB in UT history. He also earned second-team All-Big 12 honors from The Associated Press.
2007
Coming into his junior year, many believed that Charles was the fastest college running back in the up-coming 2007-2008 season. Unfortunately in his first few games, Charles' third year has been plagued by ball-handling problems. Both Mack Brown and Greg Davis hinted that Charles could face less playing time as a result of his problems hanging onto the ball. UT running backs coach Ken Rucker and former Longhorn running back Earl Campbell have both worked with Charles on his ball handling.
Charles earned a bit of redemption for his "sloppy" performance the past weeks with an explosive game against Nebraska wherein he ran the Husker defense to the ground with a career-high 290 yards on 33 carries, with three crucial TDs to lift the Longhorns to a 28-25 come from behind win.
College Track
2006
During his freshman year, Charles was successful in both indoor and outdoor competitions. He placed fourth in the NCAA 60-meter indoor track and field championship finals in March 2006 then followed it up with his first conference title and the third Big 12 100-meter title for Texas by winning the event in 10.23 at the Big 12 outdoor meet in May. He also led the 200 meter race after the preliminary round but elected not to participate in the final, as Texas had the Big 12 team title well in hand. A month later at the NCAA outdoor competition, Charles placed fifth in the 100 meter finals, edging out UTEP's stand-out sprinter Churandy Martina (sixth place), who earlier in the year ran a 9.76 (wind-aided) 100-meters, which is just shy of the current 100-meter world record time (9.74). Charles also placed seventh in the 200 meter finals, and ran the third leg of the 4 x 100 Texas Longhorn relay team, earning a fifth place in the finals. Charles' efforts helped the Longhorns earn a third place showing for the men's track and field team, the highest since a second place finish at the 1997 NCAA finals. Thus, Charles completed his first collegiate track season as a four-time All-American (60m indoor, 100m outdoor, 200m outdoor, 4x100m relay outdoor).
2007
Charles was the top qualifier in the prelims at the conference meet (10.34) and added his second regional qualifier with a 20.83 in the 200 prelims at the Big 12 Championships. He finished second in the 100 meters at the Big 12 Championships (10.32) and notched regional qualifiers in the 100 meters at the Penn Relays (10.50, 10.47). He also ran the anchor leg of 4x400 meter relay on two occasions (Texas Twilight, Big 12 Championship). He did not compete in the indoor competitions.
Highlights
| 2007 Career Game. Jamaal Charles ran for a career-high 290 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to carry Texas to a come-from-behind win over Nebraska, 28-25. |
Achievements
2007
- Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week - Week 9.
- Big 12 Offensive Player of the week - Week 9.
2006
- Named second-team All-Big 12 honors from The Associated Press.
2005
- Honorable mention Freshman All-America and Freshman All-Big 12 honors from The Sporting News.
- Named Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year by the conference's coaches.
- Named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year from the Houston Chronicle.
- Named second-team All-Big 12 by The Associated Press, Austin American-Statesman, Big 12 Coaches, Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle.
