Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Traditions
 Everybody Likes an Underdog
It's hard not to like junior wide receiver Jammie Deese.By Sam Walker He's a big-play guy who is sure-handed, fast, strong, reliable, fiery and smart. He's also admittedly an underdog. That's why it would be hard not to like junior wide receiver Jammie Deese. Everybody likes an underdog. Perhaps it is no surprise that Deese has slipped into the shoes Thabiti Davis filled a year ago, continuing the talented wide receiver tradition at Wake Forest this season. And Davis left big shoes to fill. He left Wake Forest as the school's No. 2 all-time leader in receptions. Deese, who is part Lumbee Indian, grew up waking up early on Saturdays to play "kill the man with the football" with his brothers and to watch college football on television the entire afternoon. He was raised in the city of Laurinburg, a mill town in southeastern North Carolina with a population of approximately 14,000. About 10,000 of those close-knit residents usually show up at Scotland County High School on fall Friday nights to watch football. It's the kind of place where one might believe storybook heroes are made. Jammie's father, Ricky Deese, played semi-professional football with the Laurinburg Renegades for the sheer love of the game. Jammie remembers wanting to go with his father when he would go out of town to play on the weekends. His father told him he would one day get his chance. "When I think of Laurinburg, I sort of think about Wake Forest. It's small, everybody knows who you are, and they're willing to take you in, befriend you," Deese said. "We used to play high school games with 10,000 fans there; so I grew up dreaming of being a big player for Scotland County High School. "People always said I was too small; so my dad started making me lift weights when I was 11 years old. Dad said: 'People are always going to underestimate you.' " Playing with a fierce passion Deese claims he got from his father, he accumulated 760 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns his senior season at Scotland County. He scored twice on kickoff returns and once on a punt return. His talents were not underestimated by high school coaches. He was selected for the North Carolina Shrine Bowl team and the North Carolina East-West All-Star game. If it weren't for an unexpected knock at the door, Deese would have never considered Wake Forest the place he would play college football. He grew up a North Carolina fan and was considering playing for the Tar Heels. But a visit from former Deacon running back James McDougald, an old friend of his father, intrigued Deese. "I was sitting around the house one day, and there was this knock at the door," Deese said. "I looked at this guy, and he was big. I was thinking he was a Jehovah's Witness or something. He introduces himself as James McDougald and asked if my dad was at home. My dad came up and gave him this big hug, and I really didn't know what was going on. Dad told me they played high school football together and that they go way back. "He (McDougald) told me about Wake Forest and urged me to look at the fine print. After that I started considering Wake Forest, and I made my visit and fell in love with the atmosphere here. I looked at the guys they were bringing in and thought they looked better than the guys Carolina was getting. I thought things might be changing, and I wanted to be part of that." Deese has been a big part of the recent evolution of Wake Forest football. He possesses a certain presence on the field because of his 4.3 speed, great hands and his ability to take away double teams that many opposing defenses like to put on Desmond Clark. That makes the Deacon passing game all the more potent. "Last year he kind of stepped in as a third wide receiver because we had two guys in Desmond and Thabiti Davis that we could go to," said wide receiver coach Bobby Kennedy. "What Jammie has done is stepped into the role as a primary guy, and he hasn't missed a beat. He's always had the ability to make the big play, and he's taken some shots. You don't have to get on him about dropped passes and also you notice his speed. He can really run. He has deceptive speed because they see a little guy running around, and they think he can't be that fast, and then he surprises some people." Deese, who is what many might call a slender 6-1, 185 pounds, already had over 1,000 career receiving yards and ranked 20th in all-time receptions at Wake Forest entering this season. He ranked sixth in the ACC in catches and 10th in receiving yards in 1997. This season he has kept up the pace and currently ranked second in the ACC with 19 receptions (after the Clemson game) while nursing a nagging groin injury. He hasn't played at 100 percent this season. But according to his teammates, Deese may just be the catalyst of the Wake Forest offense. "Jammie's kind of a free spirit around the locker room," senior quarterback Brian Kuklick said. "He's always getting onto somebody, and he is a pretty fiery competitor honestly. He's definitely an outspoken guy on the field. He lets me know when he's open. He lets me know all the time. "I think a lot of teams concentrate on Desmond. Their first job is to stop him. But that allows Jammie to do a lot. I go Desmond or Jammie first and foremost in tough situations because I know they'll make the big catch." Clark, who is closing in on becoming the ACC's all-time leading receiver credits Deese's abilities with many of his catches over the past couple of seasons. "Jammie's a tough competitor out there, and he is the most talented receiver on this team in my estimation," Clark said. "He takes a lot of pressure off me. When I'm not pulling the load, having a bad quarter, we can always count on Jammie. Going into his second year, he's only one catch behind my pace, so he's taken away a lot of those double teams that teams like to put on me just by making them respect him." His leaping reception against N.C. State last year was the turning point in the Demon Deacons' 19-18 victory. That catch may be the one most people remember today, but he has a handful of others that have been big. His 12-yard touchdown catch against Northwestern in last year's home opener gave Wake Forest the lead for good. But those receptions are not considered certain milestones in Deese's mind. "I don't hang my hat on any one particular play," Deese said. "I want to be the guy who makes those types of catches all the time. I want to be counted on and for teams to know they can't take Desmond Clark out of the game because I'm going to be there to hurt them. Next year I want to be the same way - counted on all the time." Respect is something Deese has worked for all his life, and now he has quietly gained it around the ACC. He not only has the pressures of being a driven student-athlete but also lives with the pressures that come with being a Native American, a heritage of which he is very proud. He says he has always been accepted around Wake Forest for the person he is. "We always kid around with each other," Clark said. "He calls me fat guy, and I call him the Indian. He's always got a fat joke so I have to come back with an Indian joke. But we're pretty tight." But no matter how great the catch, or how many yards he has in any game, one can tell that Deese still believes he is the underdog. Perhaps it is that kind of bravado that fuels his personal passion for the game and keeps him going over the middle despite his smaller frame. No matter what psychology he implements he is comfortable as is. "I'm not the big guy like Desmond," Deese said. "I'm just the 6-1, 185 Indian kid."
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