HattiesburgAmerican.com: A Refusal to Give Up - Tim Blackwell

Posted on June 26, 2009

HATTIESBURG, Miss - That may come as a surprise to those who know anything about the former Mize High and Southern Miss standout running back. For as much potential as Blackwell possessed, the Mount Olive native also struggled - and did so mightily.

Not on the field, mind you. Never on the field. Blackwell was the kind of player who had the uncanny ability to use his agility to sidestep a linebacker on one play and bowl over the same guy on the next.

"He was no doubt one of the best athletes we ever recruited," former Golden Eagle head coach Jeff Bower said. "He was a guy that could do a lot of things - very, very talented."

But the problems that seemed to follow Blackwell around off the field led to two separate dismissals from the Southern Miss football team. Since then, he's bounced around from one indoor football league to the next, playing for five different teams in the past three years. Blackwell has also had several jobs away from football that never panned out.

Now 27, and playing for the Austin Turfcats of the Southern Indoor Football League, Blackwell believes he's left his problems in the past and that a bright future is still in front of him.

"This is what I expected I could do," Blackwell, who currently ranks second in the SIFL with 156 rushing yards, said. "But I was listening to the people who were doubting me, so I was doubting myself."

Tremendous potential

Blackwell was primarily a quarterback during his high school career at Mize, and drew attention from several Division I schools including Auburn, Florida State and Tennessee. But he was also being recruited by Southern Miss as a running back.

"(Southern Miss) was on me pretty hard, but I had put them on the backburner," he said. "I was going to be the first player from my high school to go Division I, so I was really going into this whole thing blindfolded. I was learning on the go."

Blackwell was already drawing comparisons to the likes of Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown by former Southern Miss runnings backs coach Shelton Gandy
"Timmy's potential was tremendous," Gandy said. "I would rank his potential as a running back along with guys like Tony Smith (another former Southern Miss star). He could stop and start just as good as any kid you could name."
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But as decision day neared, other factors came up that played into his thought process - most notably the birth of his first child. Blackwell said before his first child was born, he was set on going to Florida State.

"The week prior to signing day, I sat down with my family and we came to an agreement that I should stay around home," he said. "I was still contemplating going off, but I turned down Auburn, Florida State and Tennessee all on the same day."

Once Blackwell signed with Southern Miss in 2000, his presence was immediately felt. Injuries forced Blackwell to spend most of his freshman season at the wide receiver position, seeing action in 10 games. He only had two catches for 17 yards and no touchdowns, but he was a valuable part of a team that went 8-4 overall, including a victory in the GMAC Bowl over TCU.

In 2001, Bower decided to move Blackwell to running back.

"I was second (on the depth chart) behind Dawayne Woods, and he got injured during the first game of the season (against Oklahoma State), so I got my first start against Louisiana-Lafayette," he said.

The move to running back paid off huge dividends for both the team and Blackwell, who responded by gaining 78 yards on 25 carries and scoring three touchdowns. The next week: Blackwell rushed for 97 yards on 24 carries in a win over UAB.

Gandy said he always knew Blackwell could play.

"It was never about his ability," he said. "He just had some off-field distractions."

Away from football

Following the 2001 season, which saw Blackwell average 39.5 yards per game, family problems drew a lot of his attention.

"I stopped down and talked to coach Bower in the spring (of 2002)," he said. "I told him I couldn't concentrate on what I was going into. I couldn't give the team my full attention."

So Blackwell withdrew from school and went to work for his father at a grocery store in Selma, Ala., and attended classes at Chattahoochee Valley Community College two nights a week. His plan was to go to school for a semester, then enroll at Alabama State and play football there. But he soon realized that Alabama State wasn't the place for him.

Bower said it was disappointing to see Blackwell excel on the field, but struggle with so many things away from the gridiron.
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"He probably never had to work very hard to be successful," Bower said. "He just didn't shift gears quick enough to adjust to the college level. I think that's typical of kids who are really, really talented."

Gandy echoed Bower's sentiments.

"A lot of times it has to do with maturity and maturation," he said. "You hope the kid never has to go through things like that. You hear it all the time: Potential means you haven't done anything yet."

Despite it all, Bower offered Blackwell the chance to return to Southern Miss and earn a spot on the team as a walk-on.

"That was fine with me, because I knew he obviously called me back for a reason," Blackwell said.

And Blackwell didn't disappoint.

After sitting out the entire 2002 season, he rushed for 332 yards and had 15 catches for 160 yards in eight games, while helping lead Southern Miss to a 9-4 overall record and a Conference USA championship (the last time the Golden Eagles have won an overall conference title).

Then came the final straw. Without going into specifics, Blackwell said there was an off-field incident where he was simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bower and Gandy wouldn't comment on the incident either, other than to say he was suspended for three games.

Blackwell wasn't taken in the NFL draft and wasn't offered an undrafted free agent contract, so he opted to sign with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. However, he was released before the season began.

On the comeback trail

Over the past three years, he's spent time in the af2 (the Arena Football League's minor league), the Continental Indoor Football League, and the Indoor Football League. Despite all of the setbacks, Blackwell maintains the drive, desire and hope that he will get a shot realize his dream of playing in the NFL.

Blackwell is currently playing for the Austin Turfcats of the SIFL, and has helped lead the team to a 6-2 record. But the former Golden Eagle running back still has his sights set on the NFL. He's been in touch with several NFL teams about a possible tryout, including the Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints.

"I don't know the end of the story yet," he said. "All I know is that things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they're right."

Gandy said he's hopeful Blackwell has found his way.

"You have hard lessons in life," he said. "Maybe he's learned from his mistakes. Maybe it's his time. Maybe the light came on for him a little later than most. The main thing is that his light has come on."