Las Vegas Sun

By Case Keefer

Fri, Dec 16, 2016 (2 a.m.)

To make things fair, Donnel “D.J.” Pumphrey’s flags should have been twice the size of everyone else’s on the field.

No one could ever catch the 5-year-old version of the Canyon Springs High graduate on the youth flag football fields of San Diego. Pumphrey zipped past and weaved through defenders in the same manner he has throughout a record-breaking career at San Diego State, finding the end zone almost as often as he was stopped.

The child mesmerized adults in the stands as much as he immobilized peers in his way. Pumphrey’s mother, Gina Padua, particularly remembers one proclamation from a distant relative at one game.

“He told me, ‘D.J. will go to the NFL,’” Padua recalled. “I was like, ‘What? He’s playing flag football. What are you talking about?’ He said, ‘Mark my words. This kid is going far.’”

Seventeen years later, the words sound more prophetic than absurd. Padua is in the initial stages of planning a party for April’s NFL Draft, where Pumphrey is projected to go in the middle rounds.

But for one more day, Pumphrey’s professional future is a secondary focus behind an even more unbelievable achievement. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound running back needs 108 yards against Houston in the Las Vegas Bowl, which kicks off at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium, to surpass Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne for the most career rushing yards in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history.

“I get to play in front of all my friends and family out here,” Pumphrey said. “It’s just exciting because this is where it all started.”

There’s no question in Padua’s mind that Pumphrey will cross the 6,397-yard barrier. She’s learned not to doubt anything when it comes to her middle son.

“He’s always been the type of kid where if you tell him he can’t do something, he’s going to prove to you that he can,” Padua said.

• • •

He can’t play.

Before Pumphrey started dominating the flag football games, he was told he was too young to participate. He was still practically a baby when he started attending his older brother Tyree Erskin’s games.

At as young as 3-years-old, Pumphrey would grab a ball and run his own plays on the sidelines.

“He wanted to get in there so bad,” Padua said.

It turned out well worth the wait, as Erskin, who’s two years older, and Pumphrey fed off of each other and became a force in San Diego’s youth football scene. Asked to draw a picture of what they wanted to be when they grew up, they drew the NFL’s Barber brothers.

Erskin was the Buccaneers’ Ronde Barber, a defensive back. Pumphrey was the Giants’ Tiki Barber, a running back.

Erskin moved on from his football dreams, but Pumphrey never did. Padua said the first time she realized Pumphrey had transcendent talent was when she told her family she was moving to Las Vegas for better work opportunities.

Her brother, Gino Padua, who had coached Pumphrey throughout the youth ranks, was worried it would stunt his football development.

“He was really upset,” Gina Padua said. “He said, ‘Gina, you don’t understand. This kid is very special. He has vision. He’s 9 years old and sees the field like no one at that age can.’”

 • • •

He can’t stay.

The move went smoothly — at least at first. Pumphrey found a Pop Warner football team in Las Vegas where he continued to thrive and was teammates with the son of his eventual high school coach, Hunkie Cooper.

“You knew what you had with D.J. right away,” said Cooper, currently the receivers coach at San Diego State. “He had vision, speed, acceleration but it was his work ethic and will to be successful that was it for me.”

Cooper took over at Canyon Springs before Pumphrey’s freshman year, but for a moment, he wasn’t sure if he’d have the centerpiece of his class of 2013. Concerned with Pumphrey’s suddenly combative personality and penchant for finding trouble, Gina Padua sent him to San Diego to live with her family for his 8th grade school year.

“He was going through puberty, starting to hang out with the wrong crowd so I just felt like I had to send him away,” she said. “Kids at times don’t appreciate their parents, but he quickly realized he wanted to do better.”

Pumphrey wanted to return to Las Vegas partly so Gina Padua could be at all his games. She knew he had matured, and felt comfortable knowing Cooper would also provide guidance.

“My gift is I can reach young men that a lot of people can’t reach,” Cooper said. “That’s my wheelhouse. D.J. was a young man that could have gone down that wrong road. A lot of his friends did. But football was his safe haven. Football was his outlet, so he loved being nowhere else other than that field.”

 • • •

He’s not Reggie Bush.

At some point, Bush surpassed Tiki Barber as Pumphrey’s primary football idol. Pumphrey molded large parts of his running style after the fellow San Diego native and former USC standout, and decided to sport his No. 5 number at Canyon Springs.

Cooper began telling everyone he had the, “next Reggie Bush,” on his roster. No one listened — especially not college recruiters.

They came around scantly even as Pumphrey put together a junior season that statistically rivaled Bush’s. Pumphrey rushed for 1,666 yards and 22 touchdowns to lead Canyon Springs to its first Northeast division title.

San Diego State was one of the lone schools to offer a scholarship. That was only after Cooper appealed to one of his own former coaches from his days at UNLV, current San Diego State offensive coordinator Jeff Horton.

“I told Coach Horton, ‘On everything I stand for as a man, not just as a football coach and former player of yours like a son, ‘This kid is the real deal,’” Cooper said.

For Cooper and Pumphrey, there was no mystery about the relative lack of interest. They both knew it was because of the running back’s size.

It’s something Pumphrey says he takes pride in overcoming to this day.

“That’s why I try to play with a chip on my shoulder and play as big as possible,” Pumphrey said. “I try to play like I’m 6-foot-1, 240 pounds. That’s just how my game is.”

• • •

He’s not fit for fatherhood.

Committed to San Diego State and poised to win the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year award, everything appeared perfect for Pumphrey headed into his senior season at Canyon Springs. It wasn’t.

Gina Padua said her son mostly stopped talking to her, except to argue. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong — until Pumphrey’s ex-girlfriend told her.

Pumphrey was going to be a father. The baby was due near the end of football season.

“He was dealing with a lot inside and didn’t know how to tell me,” Gina Padua said. “And to be honest, I wasn’t too thrilled. He’s a young kid, and I knew his future and what we planned for him.”

Pumphrey confided in Cooper to help deal with his emotions.

“I was that kid: I was 18 when I had my first child, and I was a pretty good football player too,” Cooper said. “I told him we’re going to work together to find common ground because she’s the most important thing. It’s not about him anymore.”

Pumphrey took Cooper’s words to heart. Maliya was born on Nov. 2, 2012 — Pumphrey’s senior night with the Pioneers — and everything he did in football from then on, he did with her in mind.

Throughout his run of surpassing legendary running backs like Ricky Williams and Herschel Walker in career rushing yards, Pumphrey has cited Maliya as his inspiration.

“I’m so proud to see him be a stand-up guy and take on that responsibility,” Gina Padua said. “When he sees her, he lights up and her as well. I’m really happy with their relationship.”

Pumphrey points toward Maliya every time he scores a touchdown, and she’s always waiting for it. Gina Padua has taken Maliya to every San Diego State home game over the last couple of seasons.

When they ascend up the hill that leads to Qualcomm Stadium, Maliya comes to life in her car seat.

“We’re here,” she’ll yell. “We’re at the football game. My dad’s a superstar.”

 • • •

He’ll never be an every-down back.

Even after Pumphrey emerged as a big-play threat his freshman season at San Diego State with an average of 6 yards per carry and eight touchdowns, coach Rocky Long openly wondered if he could shoulder a full rushing load. Pumphrey responded in the next three seasons by totaling 915 carries while maintaining his average of 6 yards per attempt.

“We were worried about his size and thought that might be a detriment,” Long said. “But obviously, it has not been.”

Long has promised to give Pumphrey plenty of touches against Houston in order to give him the best chance to break Dayne’s record. It still won’t be easy.

The Cougars rank third in the nation in giving up 3 yards per rushing attempt. They limited Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, whom Pumphrey bonded with at the College Football Awards in Atlanta last week, to a season-low 33 rushing yards.

Pumphrey says he he’s trying not to think too much about the record.

“It’s not really important to me but it’s important to my teammates,” Pumphrey said. “I’ll do anything for my teammates, so that’s where it’s at.”

Mentioning teammates has always been the courteous way for athletes to discuss individual accolades, but both Gina Padua and Cooper agreed that the record meant a great deal to Pumphrey.

“He wants to break it,” Gina Padua said. “He’s the kind of guy who knows exactly what he needs, (108 yards). He’ll chant that as he comes out. He’s ready to get that.”

She’s amazed that his journey will culminate in Las Vegas, where Pumphrey can look toward not only Maliya, but also rows full of family and friends after his potential record-breaking rush.

They drive him every bit as much as those who said he couldn’t have a college career like the one he’s about to finish.

“I knew he’d be good, but I didn’t know he’d be this great,” Gina Padua said. “He’s always been an overachiever. He always had to be No. 1 at everything he did.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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