8/13/2003 - Football
Transcript Of Jason Tomlinson's Press Conference

Q. Coach Johnson has mentioned how difficult it is on freshmen here, Plebe Summer is such a unique situation, can you talk about what it was like for you and did it take a toll on you a little bit?

A. It was kind of a shock early, but I adjusted to it. After the first couple of weeks it kind of becomes natural. You just forget about everything else and do what you have to do.

Q. Did it wear you down physically? Did you lose any weight?

A. Yes sir, I lost a lot of weight. Before I came here I weighed 185 and I got as low as 169, but now I?m back to about 175. They are going to help me build my weight back up.

Q. Are you surprised that you?re getting as much run out here with the first and second units?

A. I?m not surprised, but it?s motivating. It makes me work that much harder. It shows that my hard work has paid off, but I still have some work to do to get better.

Q. Did your high school (Kennedale in Arlington, Texas) throw a lot of passes? Do you remember your stats?

A. It was a running offense. I may have caught 15-20 passes in a season.

Q. Do you think that hurt you as far as being recruited by some bigger schools?

A. That entered my mind, but I figured if I were good enough people would find me no matter what.

Q. What other schools were you looking at other than Navy?

A. Stanford, Minnesota and West Point.

Q. What made you choose Navy?

A. At the end it came down to here or West Point and Coach Spencer (Todd) was the coach that recruited me and he did a really good job. He was there with me the whole time. He made me feel comfortable coming here, so that?s why I chose to come.

Q. How do you like it so far?

A. I think it?s great. I don?t have anything to compare it to as far as another college, but it?s a big difference from high school. Everything here is fast paced.

Q. Do you think it will become more difficult for the freshmen once classes start?

A. Yeah, I think it will be. I know the academics here can be really tough. I hope I can just stay on top of everything and not get behind and I should be all right.

Q. Have you thought about the possibility of playing in that first game?

A. Yeah, I?ve thought about it. It?s something that I?ve strived for. I want to play and help the team be better, but even if I don?t play in that first game I?m going to continue to work hard and try to make the team better that way.