And the OU community remains . I got in and I just matriculated down the field and I only got applause when we got the touchdown. Son, would you like to come to practice this week and run the scout team for me? The Shadow League is a narrative company. We will get together once a year in September, but not this year, at my moms house, and when people know that I am coming into town, we will have a five-day party. January 2, 1989; Orlando, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jamelle Holieway (4) running the option with fullback Leon Perry (2) against the Clemson Tigers at the 1989 Citrus Bowl with a victory by the Clemson Tigers 13-6. The first time he ever had a phone in his residence was in college. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. I am going to be cold. Let me tell you what really sparked everything, Holieway said. All I know is he was a good qb and nobody could stop him or ou that year. These type of articles are your best Berry. Good luck to Jamelle Holieway. I wanted the ball in my hand, Holieway said. If you have heard of Holieway, you have heard the story. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports, Well then, going in to the watch the film, my coach (Switzer) reassured me of one thing: You cant play that sandlot football against Texas, Nebraska, against Miami. While Mitchel possessed both the superior size (6-foot-1, 195 pounds compared to 5-11, 175 for Holieway) and speed (a 4.27-second 40-yard dash vs. Holieway's low 4.5), it was Holieway that . That accomplishment is underrated in Sooner Lore. In 1959, at the age of 21, he heard a gunshot outside of his home and went out to find that his mother had committed suicide, shooting herself in the head. 4 Washington in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31 in a national semifinal. Because this was my first go around, so this is normal for me. The Tim Lashar kick at the end and (sophomore tight end) Duncan Parham going all wild, throwing his hands up like we just won everything, Holieway said. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images). I loved it because when they talked about Michael Vick, Jamelle Holieways name got brought up, Holieway said. He made me want to go put my damn helmet on one more time and play, Holieway said. So I know when he speaks to his own team, he kind of reminds me of (former Oklahoma Coach Barry) Switzer when it comes to motivation. "My mom was my heart," Holieway said. The top-ranked Crimson Tide will play No. Holieway likes the intelligence Hurts brings to the game. Hes made a name for himself in this state., A name both good and bad. Magic stopped to sign some autographs and he put his bag down, said Holieway. A week ago I was playing out in the park, and here I am doing my thing against the varsity team thats getting ready to play for the city title! I was back to Banning a year ago, Holieway said. Yet, when it came to national retrospectives on 1980s college football, Holieway was customarily left out in favor of players like Doug Flutie, Bo Jackson, Herschel Walker, and Holieways teammate, Brian Bosworth. 1 and won its first eight games, which set up a Bedlam matchup against No. A native of Carson, California, Holieway convinced his mother, Charlie Mae Harris, to move into a school district that would allow him to play football at Phineas Banning High School in Wilmington, Calif., for Coach Chris Ferragamo. On that afternoon of October 19 th in 1985, when Jamelle Holieway stepped into the crucible of the Miami game, replacing an injured Troy Aikman in the second quarter, his teammates didn't sense . He seems well and happy.has a baby due in March. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. This is his home, Holt said. I didnt know any different, Holieway said. Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP, 2023 ABG-SI LLC. Due to his dads illegal activities, his home was frequently raided andsearched, often without a warrant by the state, local and federal authorities. Ultimately, Holieway whittled his list of suitors down to Colorado, Oklahoma, and the hometown school, Southern California. Holieway dazzled the college football world as a true freshman who mastered Oklahoma's dynamic wishbone attack and led the Sooners to the 1985 national championship. Alabama's Jalen Hurts is two wins away from joining Holieway. Holieway still lives in Oklahoma and spends much of his summers coaching football camps.[1]. Highly recruited from Banning High School in Wilmington, Los Angeles, California, under longtime head coach Chris Ferragamo, Holieway attracted interest from a swarm of schools. A name both good and bad. During his senior year of high school, his father was sent to prison after being convicted for the illegal trafficking of alcohol. I wish him much success. 5 Nebraska. Jamelle and Switzer later went to the airport together for his official on-campus recruiting visit when the season was over. You're awesome Jamelle. It's a shame he didn't get a fair shot in the pros. Colorado won the game 10-9. But I had to grow up fast because they are all looking at me to lead., OU quarterback Jamelle Holliway looks for running room while Penn States Shane Conlan moves in for the tackle during the 1986 Orange Bowl.Holieway 3. It was the days of the Grapes of Wrath, Switzer told Sports Illustrated in 1986. He is having some very serious heart issues right now. 4. His decision to play for the Sooners came at the last minute, as he had a three-year-old sister that he didn't want to leave behind. Mandatory Credit: Photo By USA TODAY Sports. Jamelle Holieway was a 18 Year old True Freshman who answered the call and led OU to a National Championship. I knew what every guy at every position was supposed to be doing on every play. Holieway finished the game with 110 rushing yards via 25 attempts and the two scores as the 27-7 win clinched a Big 8 title and berth in the Orange Bowl. So we've got three things going.''. Or Id go and help people wash their cars so I could gather up enough money to get her some flowers, some type of trinket, or a candy dish that you could sit on the table. ', Top 50 OU Football Players of the Modern Era, 30 Best OU Football Games in School History. This is how long we have to practice.'. Thanks for the update on Jamelle - always my favorite OU qb. Who is the greatest freshman Sooner of all time? jamelle holieway heart attack Holieway still credits Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer for showing confidence in him. Thirty-one years ago, that was us.''. National Championship aspirationsran rampant throughout the locker room as the season got underway. I guess that is why I dont like Clemson to this day, because they beat us the last game.. Best wishes to Jamelle! But I believe he wants to. If you are looking for former OU football greats, go to our website www.formersoonergreats.com for our new publication. Jamelle was an amazimg college player. Another one of the great plays in #Sooners history. Since then he has learned that he has heart disease and only about 15% of his heart is functioning. ''He believed in me as a baby, as a young man, and I was up here with grown men,'' Holieway said. Jamelle Holieway is considered one of the greatest option quarterbacks in NCAA Division I-A history. Though he takes a pounding, Holieway has missed only one game the last two years with an injury. Highly recruited from Banning High School in Wilmington, Los Angeles . (Troy Aikman at OU,Photo Credit: newsok.com). Aikmans main target in the passing game was Keith Jackson, the best tight end in the country. Holieway lost for just the second time as a starter, 23-7, that day and started two more games while alternating playing time with Thompson before his limitations health-wise made it clear that Thompson was the faster, more effective option going forward. He was quizzing me on different situations and scenarios, said Holieway. He recorded 32 rushing touchdowns and 22 passing scores with 15 interceptions. NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Jamelle Holieway dazzled the college football world as a true freshman who mastered Oklahoma's dynamic wishbone attack and led the Sooners to the 1985 national championship . #Gatewood @GotBoz44 #EddieWally #1987OUNeb @Barry_Switzer @SpenceTillman @EarlJoh26055677 pic.twitter.com/hTzhvYx5id, Wallis Marsh (@WallisMarsh) August 30, 2022. So you can basically weed them out and figure out who's going to win the national championship. He expects Hurts and the Crimson Tide to claim the championship. I am going to be sitting on the bench. Coach Ferragamo would set up the projector for us and we would watch a ton of film, said Holieway. With Jamelle at the controls, Banning rolled through the regular season and into the Los Angeles Coliseum for the city championship in 1983. All the Sooners, we all try to stick together, Holieway told Stormin In Norman. The Sooners beat the Bruins 38-3. But on that glorious 1985 fall Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma, Miami walked in with an arrogance and swagger that would help them to later bully all of college ball like Debo did Red in the movie Friday. Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. At Oklahoma, he took over for an injured Troy Aikman in his freshman year in the Miami game when Jerome Brown and Dan Sileo broke Aikman's leg. He was by far the best wishbone quarterback every to play the game. Though he came back to play the following season, he saw limited action and reinjured the leg on October 8, 1988 versus the Texas Longhorns. Seemingly buried at fifth on the quarterback depth chart, injuries to sophomores Kyle Irvin and Glenn Sullivan immediately vaulted Holieway into a training camp battle with fellow freshman Eric Mitchel to determine who would back up sophomore Troy Aikman. Once USC made it clear that it wanted Holieway to play defensive back, it became a two-horse race. "Holieway obviously was a liver in the fast lane, even back then. When the starter returned from his injury the next week, he was moved to wide receiver. Jamelle Holieway is one interesting person. And when I tell you I loved it, I wanted to be a coach right then and there if this is all it takes to coach, all the press conferences and seeing all these different sites because he was Coach Switzer and I am the quarterback. It is all about how you are being a general amongst this team and moving down the field and getting us in the right plays. 2 Nebraska 27-7 in Norman, then beat Oklahoma State and SMU to position themselves for a shot at the title on New Year's Day. Just there for you no matter what.. He is from United States. Thats what catapulted me to some good stuff, said Holieway. About a month ago he found out that he had a heart attack at some time. That was the one and only time that Coach Switzer ever lied to me, said Holieway. unbelieveable talent, courage and decision making. Hed eventually go down in history as one of the best to ever play the position. The flashy, charismatic and likeable true freshman from Los Angeles was jabbering away and . I'm asking all my prayer warriors to please say a prayer for former OU quarterback Jamelle Holieway. ''Now, because of the parity, because of the equality across the board - back then, you might have had six powerhouses. And you have to do whatever it is that the coaches ask of you, and you have to do it well. I am playing with grown men that have wives and have to feed their families however (they can), trying to get to the league. Jamelle was the Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year, rushing for 811 yards and eight touchdowns and throwing for four TDs. But with Penn State leading in the second quarter, 7-3, and Oklahoma facing a 3rd down and 24 yards to go from its own 29-yard-line, Holieway made his mark. He is the only one who has silver shoes like nobody else. That threw me back, and then I saw Thomas Lott with the bandana. The Citrus Bowl loss was also the last game for Switzer at Oklahoma, who was forced to resign the following summer after the program suffered a serious string of criminal incidents involving its players. But a string of injuries during summer and early fall practices had bumped him up to second-string. January 1, 1986; Miami, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Oklahoma Sooners running back Jamelle Holieway (4) celebrates defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl 25-10 at the Orange Bowl. Eric Bailey Oct 22, 2021 Oct 22, 2021 Updated Nov 27, 2022; 0; 1 of 2 . To me, he is more famous than Brian bosworth. We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. When her family left the oppressive, racially-charged powder kegs of Longview, Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana a generation before, lured by the sunshine and utopian dream that California offered, South Central was a welcoming community of many African-American homeowners who earned moderately high wages as skilled union workers. I met Mr Holieway at a little league baseball game he was very open to speaking and mentoring the kids on the team, which a lot of professional athletes wouldn't take a minute of their time to do! And that is what I did. Through the air, he threw 257 times, completing 117 passes for 2,430 yards with 22 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. I dont care who is the coach, we know we put on that crimson and cream. Holieway was named the backup quarterback during the preseason, which began on August 15 and consisted of an incredible month and a half of two-a-day practices four or five days a week.Once the season-opening home game against SMU was moved to December 7 to accommodate a national television broadcast by ABC, it meant the 1985 season would not begin until September 28 at Minnesota and, amazingly, the home-opener would not be until October 19, a week after the annual clash with Texas in Dallas. It was a distinction that Holieway shared with no one for the next 33 years. That is when reality set in, Holieway said. 12 Oklahoma State in Norman. To me, that is some good stuff for your mama to believe in you when you are 15 years old, and it is only me and her.. I got to step in and run my stuff. They were hard times. I get on that bus to get on that plane, and Coach Switzer says, Where did you get that jacket from? I said, Coach, it is going to be snowing up in Lincoln. With Tennessee handily beating second-ranked Miami in the Sugar Bowl, a win over Penn State would give Oklahoma the national title. So you stay away from there and you stay away from strangers. However, it looks like he has worked as a sales rep for an insurance company in Oklahoma -- and unfortunately has been arrested multiple times: in Eufaula, OK in 2007 on marijuana possession, (and possibly DUI since he was apparently driving and smoking at the time), November 2008 in Pontotoc County, OK for driving on a suspended license, and in 2009 in McAlester, OK for petty larceny and outstanding fines and warrants. You couldnt make that pivotal mistake. Thompson, however, broke his leg on the final play of the Nebraska game on November 19, 1988, so Holieway became the starter again for the Citrus Bowl vs. Clemson, in a 136 loss on January 2, 1989. Just a bit of constructive criticism Only thing missing was the fur coat & purse. I immediately upon reading your version of the above, visualized an internal organ flopping around on a highway. They were on a mission, returning a statuesque, rifle-armed sophomore quarterback that had given the team a new dimension that it had previously lacked: a potent passing attack. In our practice film, I was taught if I saw their free safety start cheating over coming to the tight end, if that safety starts moving from the middle of the field down to the box, he is going to come on the blitz, Holieway said. His mother taught him, at an early age, the need to be mobile and self-sufficient. Despite never being teammates, a player from the 1990s reaching out to an icon of the 1980s served as a fitting testament to the sort of brotherhood that comes with being an Oklahoma Sooner. Went to Banning Senior High. A Lashar field goal cut the Oklahoma deficit to 17-10 with 10:39 to play, but the Sooners fumbled the ball away twice on their next two chances to drive for the tying score. I am hollering all my friends names and all like that, it was the ultimate.. Youre not moving like you used to.. I dont care if there are no ticks on the clock and it is the last Hail Mary, we have to think that we are going to win that. The recognition I get is from my friends and my family still remembering those times, Holieway said. Always been the same. But the Watts riots in 1965 led to white flight and businesses being abandoned. The face mask on fourth down on the short side of the field where Broderick Thomas grabbed by face mask. And Holieway says his three proudest moments are 1) winning the national championship; 2) graduating in four years and getting his political science diploma; and 3) sitting with Lee Roy Selmon during the 2000 national championship Orange Bowl, watching OU beat Florida State. An internal organ flopping around on a highway still credits Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer for showing confidence in.... Know is he was a good qb and nobody could stop him or OU that year threw times! 1937 ) is a former American football coach and player ( born October,... Very serious heart issues right now of alcohol brought up, Holieway said it a..., Oklahoma, and then i saw Thomas Lott with the bandana only about 15 % of his coaching... This state., a name for himself in this state., a win over State. And then i saw Thomas Lott with the bandana in March 22 touchdowns and 15 interceptions told in... Was us. '' yards with 22 touchdowns and 15 interceptions and Crimson! 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