Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon only wanted to lose a few pounds. Instead, he lost his final season of eligibility.
He wanted to set an example. Instead, he feels as if he has been made one.
Jeremy Jarmon wanted to get in better shape but wound up banned by the NCAA.That’s why Jarmon, suspended by the NCAA after a failed drug test in the spring, is working hard at the D-1 Training Center in this Nashville suburb in preparation for the NFL supplemental draft on July 16. Jarmon, Florida State wide receiver Corey Surrency and Central Michigan offensive lineman Joe McMahon are hoping to be selected.
Jarmon is focusing on strengthening his hips and adding an explosive quality to his pass rush by executing set after set of lunges while carrying 265 pounds of weights.
“I think when I show up on July 9 in Lexington [for a pro day workout], I will show them exactly what they’re looking for,” Jarmon said. “I definitely feel I have a lot to offer. I can play in a 4-3 or outside linebacker in a 3-4. I’ve worked hard and my [game] films speak for themselves.”
Frankly, he’d rather be focusing his camera lens in a photography class in Paris.
“After the Liberty Bowl, I told Coach [Rich] Brooks I wanted to talk to him,” Jarmon said. “He said, ‘What’s on your mind?’ I told him I was thinking about studying in France over the summer. I wanted to take photography classes in Paris. He said, ‘Does that mean you want to stay [for a senior season]?’ ”
He did. And Wildcats coaches rejoiced.
Jarmon was an All-SEC selection in 2007, when he was fourth in the league with nine sacks. He had a sore shoulder last season and managed just 4.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss, but he still was a key figure on a defense that also included cornerback Trevard Lindley, linebacker Micah Johnson and tackle Corey Peters in its nucleus.
Jarmon said he was so excited about the possibilities for the 2009 season that he wanted to set an example for his younger teammates. He planned to cut about 8 pounds from his 6-foot-3, 286-pound frame.
“Being a defensive lineman, I’m a bigger guy, period,” Jarmon said. “But I wanted to be slimmer and fit. I wanted to lead by example. Some guys need to go on weight-loss programs, some need to go on weight-gain programs. I wanted to be an example and look the part.”
Jarmon said he began taking fish oil and omega-3 tablets. He changed his diet and started eating turkey burgers, turkey bacon and turkey sausage. Yet he still was having trouble managing his weight because tendinitis in his left shoulder prevented him from working out. So, on advice from a clerk at a health-food store, Jarmon said he began taking a dietary supplement in early February; he said he was unaware the supplement included banned ingredients.
It was a bad move. A Kentucky spokesman said the university requires athletes to sign a policy in which they agree not to take any supplements without approval from a trainer or strength coach. Jeremy Jarmon is preparing for the NFL’s supplemental draft.
Jarmon said he took supplements because it’s somewhat easier and more cost efficient than eating healthy.
“It’s expensive to eat healthy,” said Jarmon, a Memphis native. “I come from a well-off family, but I’m not going to ask my parents to pay for fresh tilapia. Instead of eating fish every night, I take supplements.”
Jarmon admits he should have talked with Kentucky director of sports medicine Jim Madaleno before using the supplement, which he took for 15 days. When he finally talked with Madaleno, Jarmon was told to stop using the supplement immediately. A few days later, Jarmon took a random NCAA drug test.
“I came back from spring break and learned of my status,” Jarmon said.
Kentucky appealed Jarmon’s case while he remained suspended even though he said he passed another NCAA drug test several weeks later.
Jarmon said he believes his suspension would have been reduced – or even lifted – if he had been instructed to take the same supplement by Madaleno or a trainer. A Kentucky spokesman said Madaleno has opted not to comment about Jarmon’s situation because of student privacy laws.
“I learned through the process that it’s OK for a member institution or for an adult to make a mistake,” Jarmon said. “It’s not OK if a student-athlete makes a mistake. Because I made a mistake as a 21-year-old, it cost me my eligibility. If someone had made the decision for me, I wouldn’t have been suspended.”
Jarmon is an eloquent speaker and has a gregarious personality, traits that makes him likeable. Thus, when he claims he didn’t know he had taken an illegal substance – and asserts that he’d never before taken anything illegal – you want to believe him. You hope there still are athletes who won’t resort to breaking rules to be successful. You want to believe it was an honest mistake.
Then you remember all the athletes who have failed drug tests in recent years and how they maintained – even trumpeted – their disdain for performance-enhancing drugs right up until (and in many cases after) tests revealed otherwise. And you also wonder why Jarmon refuses to reveal the product he was taking or the store where it was purchased.
“I just don’t want to say,” he said. “It would be bad publicity for the place. I told NFL teams what the product was and where I purchased it. It’s not a big issue. It’s behind me now.”
Kentucky appealed Jarmon’s suspension, and he thought he’d have a chance to have some or all of the suspension lifted. He thought that proved his case.
Obviously, that wasn’t enough. So instead of taking photos in Paris and getting ready to help Kentucky’s bid for a fourth consecutive bowl appearance, he’s hoping to land a job in the NFL, where the minimum rookie salary is $285,000.
That will buy a lot of tilapia.
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