Jarmez Zuber barely made it to play college football and is one of the many who ended up at a Junior College due to unforeseen circumstances. However, he plans on being one of the elite who makes it to the big show.
Zuber was born in Starkville, Mississippi, but moved as an infant to Memphis, Tennessee, where he spent his childhood. It was hard growing up in Memphis for Zuber will all the violence. “There were so many gangs around me and negative crowds, my mom was scared for me growing up there because my brother had been shot and our house had been broken into,” said Zuber. Making a wise decision, she made him leave Memphis at 13 to move to Texas, where he spent his high school years.
A hard life continued for Zuber as he was homeless and had nowhere to live for three months during his Junior year of high school. Fighting through the adversity, he knew he wanted and needed to graduate high school, so luckily the Davis family took him in for a few months to get him back on his feet. He started working and before the start of his Senior year, he started to pay rent for an apartment so he could attend school. With the support of his coaches, he had groceries so he could eat and they always offered a ride to and from school if he needed one. Even though his final year of high school was a struggle, he managed to keep fighting and ended up receiving his diploma as he graduated from Creekview High School in Carrollton, Texas.
Outside of the hardships in his personal life, football was the other driving force for Zuber. During his senior season, he was struck by a car and had his leg completely run over. Nervous and unable to pay medical bills, he did not report to the hospital. Battling through the injury on his own, he ended up playing again two weeks later, where he tallied up 9 tackles in the game and finished with an outstanding 98 tackles on the season. He was also awarded first team All-District at Linebacker.
After all of these challenges and distractions, he found himself struggling once more. Originally signing to play football at Blinn College, he was supposed to report to Blinn in the summer of July 2016, but things never went as planned. He received a letter the day before he was suppose to report to Blinn saying that he could not stay on Campus. This was highly unfortunate, so Zuber ending up switching schools at the last minute and attended East Mississippi Community College for a semester in the fall and sat out of football until he transferred to Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California. He will play this fall for the Marauders.
“With a good family, I look forward to having a big upcoming season here. I will be going through some of the same challenges I went threw in High School with paying rent for an apartment and eating all over again. I know this will only make me stronger as a man to get through it,” said Zuber. “I feel like god is giving me a test and I am passing now that I am at Antelope Valley. I plan on having a big season here and hopefully receive an offer from Mississippi State.”
Off the field, he already has proved his worth as a young man having to go through much harder situations then most kids at 18 years old. On the field, he feels he has D1 potential, he just needs to continue working hard every day to prove it. This season is now Zuber’s chance to prove he belongs amongst the best.
