Jalen Stewart has a nickname that is suited for the next level.
On Friday, Stewart made a decision that opened the door for a new set of fans to get to know him as “Chop.”
For now, though, the Columbus High School senior defensive lineman/middle linebacker will wreak havoc on teammates in practice and on opponents of the Falcons. Next year, Stewart will take his 6-foot, 265-pound back to his second home, Birmingham, Ala., when he joins the University of Alabama at Birmingham football team. Stewart said his decision to give a verbal commitment to UAB last week was designed to eliminate any distractions for what he hopes is a final prep season to remember.
“People told me I was going to get other offer, but it is back to that height thing,” Stewart said. “After all of my camps, I probably lost three one-on-ones (against offensive linemen in individual drills). I used my speed to know their hands off and get to the cone.
“It feels good because momma doesn’t have to pay for my school and I get a free education.”
Stewart transferred from Minor High in Birmingham, Ala., to Columbus High prior to last season. He was born in Columbus but moved to Birmingham for about 10 years before coming back. Stewart said he was the biggest player on his youth football team, so he earned the nickname “Pork Chop.” That nickname refers to former Mississippi State University player Floyd Womack, who played in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals. Stewart hopes one day to follow in Womack’s footsteps, but he will do so with a shorter nickname that also helps describe his love for one of his mother and father’s best dinner creations.
“It is unique. No one else is named Chop,” Stewart said. “I love fried pork chops and smothered pork chops. I eat them about every other week. It gives me a headache if I eat too many of them.”
Stewart said he attended a football camp at UAB, where he built a relationship with members of the coaching staff. He also liked the fact that Birmingham is like a second home to him, so it was easy to make up his mind to become a Blazer.
Last summer, Stewart went to football camps at the University of Alabama, MSU, UAB, and Auburn University. Earlier this year, he said he attended camps at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. MSU, UAB, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Southern Mississippi. He said people told him he likely would have attracted more recruiting buzz if he was taller. Even though UAB was his only scholarship offer, he said he didn’t let the lack of attention distract him from his goal of earning a scholarship to play football in college.
“Players my height have made it before,” Stewart said. “They have used other things, like quickness and explosiveness, more than other players might use it.”
Stewart said this year’s Columbus High team is one of the most talented squads he has been on. He hopes to be a fixture in the middle of the defense to help the Falcons get past the first round and, possibly, to make it all of the way to Jackson, the site of the Class 6A state championship game.
“It is going to take me being a leader because I am the leader of the defense,” Stewart said. “I have to get everybody in position. If I do that we should be good.
“I want to get at least 100 tackles and I want at least 15 sacks and 20 tackles for loss because last year I had 18. I want to do all of that plus get everybody in the right positions so we can do that as a team.”
Columbus High football coach Tony Stanford said Stewart was a key ingredient to a defense that helped the program get back to the playoffs. This season, he expects Stewart to do more of the same.
“He stabilized our defense,” Stanford said. “You could not move him out of the inside playing three technique. In practice and in games, he was double-teamed. You just can’t move him out of the hole. He is a tremendous front player. As good a player as he is, he is as good a person. He really works hard, he is a leader on the field, and in a year the kids really have bought into the way he plays. It has made our defense a lot better with him being here.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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