TJ JENSEN (22) FLYING FOR A SHORT GAIN
By Terry Mosher
Editor, Sports Paper
Jeff Weible isn’t given to hyperbole. The North Kitsap football coach will tell you like it is, leaving no doubt what he’s saying. So when Weible says TJ Jensen “Pound for pound he is the toughest kid I have ever coached and is probably the hardest hitting kid I have coached – in terms of football,” you tend to believe him.
What is wild is Jensen is not a big guy. Jensen is five-foot-eight and weighs about 165 pounds. But, man, he played football for Weible and the NK Vikings with reckless abandonment.
“He hits like a Mack truck,” says Weible. “He has no fear.”
Jensen, son of Jerol and Lisa Jensen, might be small in terms of football but when it came to handing out awards this year, the NK senior gathered up some big ones – Co-MVP of the 2A Olympic League and Associated Press 2A first team All-State as a defensive back.
Joining Jensen as a 2A first team All-State player was NK teammate Andrew Heck, as placekicker. Hecker was also a 2A second team All-State defensive back and teammates Bob Evans, senior linebacker, Chris Robison, senior defensive line, and Brendan Gill, senior offensive line, also made the 2A second team All-State.
Jensen and his decorated teammates led the NK Vikings to the Olympic League title (6-0) and to a 10-0 record before falling in the state playoffs to Hockinson, 7-2.
The sad part of the Jensen story is that major football schools do not know what they are missing. Jensen has not been heavily recruited, and it’s because of his lack of football size. Even the Seahawks hard-hitting, fearless Earl Thomas has some size at five-foot-10 and 200 pounds, although we look at Thomas and think he’s small because he’s surrounding by teammates in the team’s secondary who are pretty big.
“If he was five-foot-eleven or six-feet, there is not a Pac-12 school that wouldn’t be offering him a scholarship,” says Weible. “That is how good he is.”
Maybe those Pac-10 schools, including Washington, should take a second look at Jensen, who also was a running back for the Vikings (91 carries, 615 yards, and 6.9 yards per carry). They would be remiss if they didn’t take a glance at his father and notice he’s about six-foot-six and 230 pounds.
“TJ will probably come back from college some day and be three or four inches taller and 30 to 40 pounds heavier,” says Weible.
“My dad grew a couple more inches late (after high school),” says Jensen.
Of course, those same Pac-12 schools might look at Jensen’s mom. She is only five-foot-two.
“I take after her,” Jensen says, and then jokes, “It’s kind of her fault. I’ll blame it on her.”
It is likely Jansen will wind up going to Whitworth, just about the only school that has shown real interest. Dave Snyder, assistant NK football coach and head track and field coach at the school, would like Jensen to go to Campbellsville (Kentucky) where his brother William is an assistant coach. But Whitworth is first in line.
The funny thing is Jensen did not play football until he was 10. His mother did not want him to play the sport, so he was a baseball and soccer guy. Then one year his friends begged him to try football so he went out for the North Kitsap Pee Wees. And lo and behold, the first week of practice he broke his arm when somebody landed on it.
“(His mom) was thinking the football thing is over. He’s not going to play again. We’ll get our money back and go back to playing soccer,” Jensen said.
Think again, mom.
Jensen was right back out there doing push-ups with the team with a cast on his arm. He played right guard with the cast on the first half of the season and once the cast came off he became the team’s quarterback.
Did we mention that Jensen is tough?
Jensen became a running back in middle school and played cornerback on defense. When he reached high school as a freshman, he was moved to safety, which is where coach Tom Driscoll though he should be playing. It took a little while for Jensen to get used to the new position, but the position fits Jensen like it does for the Seahawks’ Thomas – smooth as a glove.
“Right now, I’m really glad I play that position,” says Jensen. “I think it fits me a lot better. I can make a lot more plays. I love flying around the field; I like to be part of every play.”
The no-fear thing with Jensen is a mystery as to where it comes from, although a clue might be from dirt bike racing. Jensen started racing dirt bikes when he was around six and did it until he had a bad accident.
“My dad just pulled the plug on it,” says Jensen. Now if he rides a bike it’s with friends, but you get the feeling he misses the excitement of living on edge.
“I’m always on the edge,” says Jensen. “When you are riding bike you have to live on the edge. There is a fine line between riding safe and where you are going to crash. You have to find that line and push that line all the time or you are not going to win. That has kind of stuck with me through all the sports.”
Baseball is a sport that is not so daring. It’s more a mental sport. Jensen plays baseball and was a catcher until another injury, this to his kneecap that required surgery, forced him to move to the outfield.
Last year he was the lead-off batter for the Vikings, but a mid-season slump blew that up. But he should be back there this spring.
Jensen, by the way, is part of a family that goes back a long way at North Kitsap. Both his parents went to NK and so did both sets of grandparents. Once he leaves for college, probably to Whitworth which has a good mechanical engineering program he likes, younger sister Cassie will continue the family’s NK legacy when she graduates from the Poulsbo high school.
In the meantime Jensen will not be forgotten.
“He only knows one speed – that is full speed,” added Weible. “Whitworth’s coaches are impressed how he plays the game. He does remind you of (Earl Thomas). He’s just so enthusiastic, and just has no fear. He played football downhill. He has had his share of bumps and bruises just from how hard he plays.”
That was evident once again in the playoff game against Hockinson when he came up from his safety spot and leveled the Hockinson running back in the end zone for a safety and the only two points NK scored.
“He did the same thing against Bremerton,” Weible says, adding, “He’s a well-respected kid, a very good student, and works hard and is one of those kids you don’t get very often. He just does everything right.”