Have you ever heard the Johnny Cash song "I've Been
Everywhere?"
If anyone would know the true meaning and heart behind
such a song, it would be Jimmy St. Louis. The tight end
from Murray St., a transfer from Auburn, began his
travels as a kid moving from one coast to the other,
from San Antonio, Texas to Augusta, Georgia, from
Seattle, Washington to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and
everywhere in between. He's moved around from city to
city and school to school, finally finishing up his high
school career in beautiful Cullman, Alabama.
In every step along his journey, Jimmy St. Louis was
involved in what would seem to many like an endless
number of sports and an endless amount of effort and
love for competition. He finished his high school
career with a school record 14 varsity letters. He
didn't even start playing football until his sophomore
year, while also running cross country. He did this for
two years, and was an All-State athlete in both sports
his junior year. He would get up at 5:30 every morning
and run cross country for 5-7 miles, hit the books for a
full day, and then show up in the gym again for a long
afternoon session of football practice. His high school
athletic career was rounded out with 3 years of varsity
basketball, 4 years of track, and one year of indoor
track.
Jimmy demonstrated he’s all about desire and dedication
early, playing football games late into Friday nights
and getting up to run in a cross country track meet
early on Saturday mornings. Jimmy said of his busy high
school days, "These were the years that truly turned me
into an athletic machine. I loved it, and apply that
same effort to my every day life now. I was born to be
an athlete and excited that I still can be." With 14
varsity letters, I think you could say that he was an
athletic machine to say the least. Some of the best
years of his life were spent in high school. He and his
best friend Wesley Britt (OT – Alabama) were
inseparable. "Our School was a small version of Varsity
Blues, as the town would shut down for football and
basketball games," Jimmy explained. "It was great being
the star of both of those teams, because it ended with
wonderful high school memories."
His hard work paid off. Jimmy was recruited heavily by
just about every SEC team and quite a few from the Big
Ten. Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Duke chased him
from the ACC, along with a number of Big 12 teams that
wanted a piece of Jimmy as well. But it was Florida,
Auburn, Kentucky, and Georgia Tech who seemed to be
tugging the hardest to have Jimmy come aboard.
Eventually he landed at Auburn. He came into a line up
behind two tight ends who were already on the Auburn
squad, and cemented as the starters; both of whom now
play in the NFL. With Jimmy’s desire to play, however,
he wanted to play now.
From a kid who played every down in high school, and
starred in 4 different sports, it was tough to ride the
pine and simply watch the other guys work. Jimmy isn't
built that way. Idle time is not something Jimmy St.
Louis is or was used to. So when the time came Jimmy
followed the coach who was instrumental in bringing
Jimmy to Auburn in the first place. Joe Pannunzio went
to Murray St. and Jimmy soon followed.
When I asked Jimmy about people thinking that he might
have taken the easy way out by going to Murray State, he
emphatically replied, "That is absolutely ridiculous.
It ticks me off when people say, ‘he took the easy way
out.’ NEVER, EVER, would I take the easy way out!"
Jimmy continued, “I want it the hard way and the right
way…through hard work. I have earned everything I have
through hard work. I transferred to Murray State
because I knew I would be an impact player no matter
where I went, and I wanted to prove that." Knowing he
was behind two tight ends at Auburn, he felt it was only
a matter of time before he surpassed them, but he wanted
results instantly. "I will laugh at people if they say
I take the easy way out, because I never have, and never
will. I challenge anyone to outwork me. It can't
happen. Not even when I am training with the best."
It doesn’t take knowing Jimmy St. Louis very long before
actually believing that he will outwork anyone. Nothing
is ever done just half-way with him; it’s all out, all
the way, every time. "When I want something, I go
after it because there is no room for uncertainty in
this world" says Jimmy. He takes so much pride in
his hard work, and it doesn't just apply to football. It
applies to every aspect of his life. Currently
just shy of a Masters in Business Administration with an
emphasis on finance, Jimmy is as dedicated to his school
work as he is to playing football. He pursued
and completed his internship with a highly regarded and nationally-known financial
services company as feverishly as he’s done everything
else. He ended up being the number two intern in the
entire country, and has a job waiting for him whenever
he decides to go back. His love for football might
force the company to wait.
The way it looks in print, Jimmy St. Louis stands 6’5''
and has his weight up to 270 lbs., coupled with Murray
State’s team rushing statistics, one might think Jimmy’s
just another lineman, rather than a tight end. Well
that's the way it looks in print, but there’s more than
that in watching Jimmy play. Jimmy is surprisingly fast
for his size. Simply put, he has amazing hands, having
made his fair share of eye-popping one-handed grabs; and
yet, for his size, he moves with an elite grace across
the field. He’s also a smart tight end, from executing
his routes to the game plan. When asked about simply
being a blocking tight end, he said, “I always want the
ball, and I will still get it in the NFL. I am willing
to do what it takes to be an impact tight end, and if
that means putting a defensive end or linebacker on his
back every play, then I will do it." Still Jimmy knows
he has the speed to stretch the field, and the hands to
make some great plays; and the desire and dedication is
in him to demonstrate that in order to get to the next
level.
Jimmy has the self-confidence that he’ll catch anything
thrown his way. "I don't care if it's high, low, short,
or in front of me. I will catch it with one hand." Yet
he knows that people will see him more as a blocking
tight end, and he takes pride in that as well. He loves
the fact that Murray State had 3 RBs combine for more
than 2,500 yards last season in a run-oriented offense
with a young quarterback; stating, "What it comes down
to is, I just love to get in the dirt and physically
manhandle my opponent.”
We
recently had a chat with Jimmy St. Louis about playing
tight end, his football career, and his pursuit of
playing at the next level.
DraftBoardInsider.com:
How would you describe and characterize your overall
collegiate football experience, and more specifically,
transferring and playing for Murray State, overcoming
injuries and ending your final season with a team
winning streak? Jimmy St. Louis: I am satisfied with my college
experience. It is always great to end your college
career on a team winning streak as it leaves a good
outlook on what hard work and team camaraderie is all
about.
Throughout college, I have grown into the person I will
be the rest of my life. I have fully overcome a couple
of injuries through the same effort that I put into my
life every day, and this has taught me what it will take
to be a success for the rest of my life. Additionally,
the transfer to Murray State was not easy as I left a
lot of friends behind. But over my last three years at
Murray, I have really seen the importance of it. It is
never easy to leave your friends no matter where you are
leaving from, but once again, it helped me develop my
character and grow into what I am today. I thrive on
success through hard work, and I take pride in it every
day. Every experience I had in college helped me become
a better character and a more successful person.
DraftBoardInsider.com:
It's apparent that you're a very focused, goal-oriented
person, and that's certainly been true academically as
well as athletically. Does football and the player you
are help you achieve in other aspects of your life, has
this focus and determination to achieve in everything
you do helped you in becoming a better football player,
or both? Jimmy St. Louis: Without
a doubt, it has helped me achieve in both. Once I start
something, I never want to stop until it is done. That
goes for everything, including schoolwork, workouts,
football practice, games, anything. I always want to
complete everything, and that means complete everything
as it should be, successfully. My hard work and
discipline goes back to my cross-country/football days
where I would wake up in the morning and run and then
practice football in the evening. It took a lot of
sacrifice with time, and time with friends. However, it
had never been done in school history, so I decided to
do it, and I loved it. Additionally, I took this
relentless effort to the working world last summer.
When I met a representative from the firm at which I had
my internship, he told me that his summer internship was
the number one sales internship in the nation. I heard
that and I wanted it. I went after it and finally
landed the position. As you can see, hard work and
relentless effort has been applied in all parts of my
life.
DraftBoardInsider.com:
You've been determined to improve and develop as a
football player for some time in order to have an
opportunity to play at the next level. When you
evaluate your development as a player, having played in
the Ohio Valley Conference at Murray State, a team that
ran about twice as often as they threw the ball, what
parts of your game do you think have developed the most
to this point and what have you been particularly
committed to improve as the draft approaches? Jimmy St. Louis: Being
a big part of a successful running attack has really
been important to me. I have always been able to catch
the ball successfully and make big plays. However, as
my time in college developed, I really developed into a
dominating blocker. My goal every game was to make the
big plays when the ball came my way, but it was also to
make the defenders that I was going against excited for
the game to end. I wanted to punish somebody every
play. With our great running attack I took pride in
that. However, I equally took pride in making big plays
when my team needed me. As far as the draft goes, I
have been working on my routes over and over and over.
I am a believer that it doesn’t matter how good you run
routes, or do anything with football, you can always get
better. In addition to routes, I have developed into a
physical specimen by my relentless hard work. This will
help me become a more dominating blocker. Also, I have
been mentally preparing for the NFL as I study the game,
and pick up any knowledge I can about it no matter where
I am at. I want to be an NFL player, and I am willing
to do what it takes to become successful at that too.
DraftBoardInsider.com:
As a follow-up to the previous question, you've trained
hard to prove yourself to be a better and more complete
athlete beyond that prototypical run-blocking tight
end. Could you talk about your work ethic in general,
but specifically that recent training regimen leading up
to your pro day and your results? Jimmy St. Louis: I
can go on all day about my work ethic, but I will leave
it at this. I will not be beat. I don’t care who,
what, where, or when, I won’t be outworked. I cannot
stand losing, but I absolutely resent being outworked,
and that is why it won’t happen. I take pride in my
relentless effort. Just the other day, when I was
running route after route with the scouts, they said
“take it easy, we don’t want to run you into the
ground.” I responded, “I don’t get tired, I really
don’t get tired.” I am willing to do what it takes,
whenever I have to or whenever I want to. I want to
work toward my game every second of every day, and if
that’s what it takes, then that is what I will do.
Additionally, my workout regimen with Joe DeFranco has
been intense. He is a very good trainer, and he
recognizes what athletes need as individuals. His
workouts are short, (around 2 hours) but intense.
Mondays are our only two-a-days. We do our speed
work in the morning and in the afternoon we do a max
effort upper body lift. Tuesday is just
stretching and explosiveness. He really works our
flexibility. Wednesday, we do speed work and
agility. Thursday is another upper body day, but
it is a repetition day. Friday is another
running day were we work more on our straight-line
running. Saturday is our intense lower body
day. It is the most intense workout of the week, as we
really put up some weights. These workouts are intense
and very full of purpose. That is the regular workout
regimen; however, I develop into a player when nobody is
watching. I stay after every day and run routes, get an
extra stretch in and catch ball upon ball upon ball, to
improve my game. I love doing the extra work every day
because that is what it takes to be successful.
However, Joe keeps a close eye on me to make sure that I
don’t overdo it, because apparently I have a tendency to
do that. All of this proved to be beneficial on my
pro-day as I turned in some great numbers, and I will
continue to impress because that is what I have worked
so hard for.
DraftBoardInsider.com:
Head coach after head coach, scout after scout, at the
Senior Bowl, at the scouting combine in Indianapolis,
they've all echoed how critically important the personal
interview and time to learn first hand about the
character of a pro prospect is in the scouting process.
Consider this an opportunity to make your case to the
NFL powers that be - as a football player and as an
individual - that you think any team would be proud to
select in this April's draft. Why draft Jimmy St.
Louis? Jimmy St. Louis: I
am a complete athlete, tight end, and person. I have
all the tools and the tenacious work ethic to be a force
on any NFL team. Additionally, I have the character,
people skills, and motivation that every man should have
in order to be a truly successful NFL player. I love
the game of football. I take pride in being a success
at it, but I take equal pride in presenting myself as a
man each and every day. I have always been a gifted
individual. I am lucky to have great physical talents
and come from a highly educated home, but the one thing
about me is that I have always worked to be the best,
and worked to accomplish everything that I have up until
this point. Additionally, I will work to be the
dominating player on the field each and every snap. I
take pride in that and won’t stop, even when I do
accomplish success, because I always want to get
better. I was born to be an NFL player. I work harder
than anybody in the nation, and I won’t ever stop
working at it.
Jimmy St. Louis obviously loves challenges, and exudes
more confidence than any player I've personally come
across. I love Jimmy's work ethic, I love his drive,
and I love the way the kid just gets after life. He's
so wound up in everything he does. You have to think
that just sitting down and playing a video game with
this kid or even watching him do something as simple as
wash the car would be an adventure. Something tells me
you wouldn’t walk away from the video game a winner and
even if it took cleaning the air conditioning vents with
a toothbrush until midnight, that car would be
spotless. Again, with Jimmy, it’s all out, all the way,
every time.
It’s fair to say that entering this draft, Jimmy St.
Louis has his fair share of doubters. But in watching
him, communicating with him or even reading this
article, any of those doubts about him being a good pro
should be thrown out the window. In terms of making a
positive contribution as a football player on the roster
and the character he brings to an organization, why
would you NOT want a kid like this on your football
team? You know you’ll be getting the complete package
with Jimmy St. Louis. As if tight end wasn't enough,
he’s also working like crazy to perfect his long
snapping abilities just to add more value. "Just something
else I'm working at, adding to my resume," says Jimmy.
I asked Jimmy what makes a guy like him tick. His
response was what you’d expect, "The motivation and
benefits of hard work make me tick." He went on to say
"I enjoy out-working everyone in the country. I love
the fact that I can boast my hard work because I back it
up every single day with relentless effort in everything
I do." How great is that for an NFL scout to hear?
What's really different about Jimmy’s situation is, he's
not cocky or brash and in your face; he’s just a hard
worker, taking so much pride in it that he not only
tells people about it, he shows them as well. Most NFL
front offices would love to have a roster full of
players in the mold of Jimmy St. Louis; come draft day,
one NFL team will happily grab the original for
themselves.
