Palmer bringing intensity
After an injury derailed his junior season, Westmoore wide receiver James Palmer is working overtime to regain his form.
James Palmer can’t be stopped.
It’s 6:30 a.m. when Westmoore coach Lorenzo Williams gets to his office. Palmer is already there and done with his workout.
Once, it was 10 p.m. and Williams was in his office. He left and Palmer was outside with a parachute. He had been running sprints.
“I’ve got to get back, man,” Palmer tells his second-year coach.
“His work ethic reminds me of guys I played with on Sundays,” Williams said, chuckling. “He would literally work all day long if I let him.”
Less than a year after rupturing his Achilles, Palmer has returned with an intensity few can match. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound tight end is bigger, faster and stronger than he was preinjury.
And recruiters are taking notice.
Palmer, ranked No. 19 on The Oklahoman’s Super 30, has added a handful of offers this summer to a list that began last year with Oklahoma State.
Colorado State, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, Memphis and Ohio offered among a few others.
“I’m excited to see what happens during the season, because a lot of coaches are trying to figure out if I can still run again — as if going to those camps weren’t enough,” Palmer said. “They want to see what I can do in game formations and stuff like that.”
For Palmer, the recruiting process is special.
He suffered the injury Sept. 15 when he attempted to catch a fade pass in the end zone. A once-promising future he expected felt bleak.
Colleges stopped calling. Normally nothing but positive, Palmer went into a funk.
His family and friends stepped up in huge ways. But once he was able to begin workouts in February, his mood changed.
“Being able to go from there to being able to sprint and run with my teammates and encourage them … man, it goes from zero to 100 real quick,” Palmer said. “It’s more than a blessing every day to cherish what I’ve got and not take any day for granted. I never really took any day for granted before I got hurt, but the significance of every single day weighs more than it did before because I had to sit out for so long.”
Palmer now offers some needed versatility and leadership for a talented Westmoore team.
He runs crisp routes and can catch well. He can block well, too. That allows Williams to line him up in the backfield, on the line or wide.
“I’m kind of a matchup killer,” Palmer said.
That’s exactly why Williams was baffled when he recently left two summer camps with Palmer. College coaches say Palmer is undersized, but yet he dominated in his position group.
Williams, who was a defensive tackle for Missouri and on NFL practice squads at just 6 foot, doesn’t get it.
He’s watched Palmer tirelessly work to rebound from a gruesome injury. He’s seen him improve all around in the short amount of time they’ve worked together.
“That’s weird to me that people say he’s not that tall,” Williams said. “Well, he’s a football player. Do you want a guy to be tall and suck, or do you want a guy who is not as tall but really, really good? I’ll take that all day long.
“His success is going to come from always being looked down at. Somebody is going to get him and somebody is going to be very, very happy.”