The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Justin Blalock: The thinker
09.14.2006 | Football
For most of his life, there is not much Justin Blalock has done that he has not put considerable thought into.
"I would say I like to think before I talk, therefore I don't talk a whole lot," Blalock said laughingly of his quiet demeanor.
When directly asked a question, there is noticeable thought even in his facial expressions, but what follows is a precise, yet thorough answer. It is a very similar process to his actions both on and off the field.
"Justin is more of a deep thinker," said offensive line coach Mac McWhorter. "He's not very boisterous; he's not a loud kid by any stretch of the imagination. He really spends time with quality questions, quality conversations, not a lot of chatter. He's very mature."
Even when recounting his youth, when Blalock would play baseball with other children in his Plano, Texas neighborhood, they were thoughtful enough to use tennis balls to make sure no windows were broken.
"We always want to make certain that any decisions he made were well thought out," said his mother, Jacqueline Robinson. "Even as a kid, I always asked him, 'Why did you do that? Did you put thought into that before you did that?' So that is something we taught him, and we definitely wanted him to think before speaking."
Blalock grew up under the care of his mother and stepfather, Louis Robinson. His mother was the first of her family to earn a college degree, which she received from Northwestern University in Chicago.
"My mom, from an early age, always stressed education," Blalock said. "She wanted to instill the principal that education was first. She pushed me in the classroom, more so than any other activity, whether it was sports, music or Boy Scouts. There were plenty of times where she would check my homework, just to be sure I had done it before I went out and played."
The Robinsons can speak of numerous times where he excelled in the classroom, even advancing to the state level in a 7th-grade science fair.
"He's had some exceptional times in the educational field," said Louis Robinson.
"We always thought that education would provide an outlet with a career," Jacqueline Robinson followed. "We figured he needed to do well in school, because education will lead to a good career and a better lifestyle."
It was never more evident how much their efforts paid off as when Blalock began to get recruited, not yet for football, but for academics, while he was still in middle school. Not far from his grandparents' home in Chattanooga, Tenn., a private high school recognized him through a talent identification program.
"I think Ted Turner was a big sponsor, and it's a very prestigious school," Blalock said. "I went there for the summer just to go to school, and they wanted me to come board there. They were going to give me a five-year scholarship, which would have been the first one they had ever done like that, but they didn't want me to play any sports."
It was a big decision for a 12-year-old, and with the proximity of his grandparents, he felt a certain comfort level in the move, but after his typical thorough consideration, he and his family decided he should remain in Texas with his family, friends and athletics.
The irony is, Blalock was so smart there were instances where it almost got him into trouble. In middle school, he would finish his work well ahead of his classmates, become bored and admittedly start to cut up in class, but it was not something his parents would allow to last.
"I definitely got that trained out of me," Blalock laughed. "Being disciplined now, and seeing so many friends of mine who really aren't doing anything with their lives, I was just willing to make sacrifices to get the delayed satisfaction. My parents would always tell me, 'You can go out and do the stuff your friends are doing, but you'll probably end up just where they are.'"
The discipline, will and ability to think on his own were what made it fairly easy for him to shape up and avoid many of the pitfalls his classmates fell into, including the opportunity for drugs.
"It was just something that wasn't for me," he explained. "How other people think really isn't going to influence me. I have my ideas of what's right and wrong, and I'm going to stick with those. Peer pressure has never really affected me. I really listen to people when it relates to playing football and other positive things because people around me have more knowledge than I do."
Being around people of good nature at a young age helped develop his love of sports, which prior to football, included baseball, basketball and even a little hockey, which he calls a fad due to the arrival of the NHL's Dallas Stars to the area.
It also helped develop his enjoyment of music. Not only did his mother play the piano, but in middle school, it was a requirement to be in band, orchestra or choir, so Blalock began playing the tuba, because as he says, it was about the only instrument he wasn't too big to play. He took to it so well, however, he even made all-region band as part of a group that competed in UIL competition.
Blalock was eventually inspired by a friend to pick up the guitar and drums on his own and learn songs by artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. There was even a time when he performed a Hendrix song at a school talent show.
"I'm not going to blow anyone away with my skills, but it was something fun to do," Blalock said. "I would try to mimic stuff from the radio, anything I'd hear. Of course, it never came out quite the same, but it was really cool to think you could reproduce the sounds of all these famous people."
His music taste is not just limited to rock. It varies so much that he professes to being a fan of just about everything except traditional country music, but says he does listen to some contemporary country. The variation is a testament to his open-minded nature, and he even claims he wouldn't mind one day spinning some Barry White on his own radio show.
"My parents were always supportive of anything I did, so they tried to find any way they could help, as well," Blalock recalled. "I've just really been blessed to be around a lot of good people who either had some knowledge or knew someone else to help me out."
One such instance was when a friend's father, who was also a flag football coach, spotted him while playing baseball. Baseball may have been Blalock's first love, but as he started to grow quickly, the move to football was an easy one.
"I started to realize I was bigger than most kids pretty early," Blalock described. "Even by kindergarten, I was a foot taller than kids in my class. I think I was almost as tall as my teacher, actually. At that age, I was just tall and lanky. I don't know what happened for me to get so big (smiling)."
Fortunately for Blalock, it has led him to what he now describes as the place he is most happy - the football field. After an All-American high school career, when it came time to choose where he was going to play in college, it was Texas that emerged over Oklahoma, Michigan and Florida.
"When I came here, I just liked all of the guys," Blalock admitted. "It was close enough where my parents could come see the games, plus it's a great school."
It also did not hurt that as he was making his decision, he had witnessed UT offensive linemen Leonard Davis and Mike Williams selected in the top five overall of the 2001 and '02 drafts, respectively.
When Blalock arrived, it was another future NFL draft pick that served as his greatest mentor - consensus All-American Derrick Dockery.
"When I came in, freshmen couldn't come in early, so we were just kind of thrown in the fire," Blalock recalled. "Derrick took time to help me when he didn't have to. He helped me figure out plays and techniques."
Blalock also received help from All-Big 12 guard Tillman Holloway and was even hosted on his visit by fellow Dallas-area native Jonathan Scott, who he would later team with as one of the top offensive tackle combinations in the country. Like Dockery did for him, Blalock now does what he can to support the newcomers in the program.
"I really try to lead by example, first and foremost, and have a good work ethic, so other guys can look up and say, 'This guy's working, and he's been here all this time. If he's got to work, I've got to work,'" Blalock said.
"If some of the younger guys are having a tough time picking something up, I try to be as helpful as I can. Everybody needs help now and then. There are still times when I ask Lyle (Sendlein) questions."
Through thought, study and questions of those around him, in addition to his unique combination of size and quick feet, Blalock has become one of the top linemen in the nation and a leading candidate for the Outland Trophy.
"I've been around some honor students who weren't football savvy, and then I've been around some lesser students who had great football savvy," McWhorter said. "Justin is a great mixture of off-the-field intelligence and great football savvy. He's had three years of starts, so he's seen just about everything anyone can throw at him. He's got a great mixture of everything you'd like to have."
Even if Blalock were not involved in football, his character is built such that he enjoys helping people and enjoys teaching, which is what he would like to eventually do with his major of youth and community studies.
"I really like helping other people understand things," Blalock explained. "In my major, I've been fortunate enough to be able to help in classrooms. I think the coaching aspect will be a pretty smooth transition. Every day we help each other on the field, and with what I've learned over the years, I think I could be pretty effective, at least as a high school coach."
His desire to help is not limited to just the classroom. Louis Robinson is involved in outreach ministries in the Plano and Dallas area, and would make trips on which Blalock would frequently tag along as a kid.
"One year, my dad and some other guys, we helped build a house," Blalock recalled. "It was one fall when I was in high school, and I just really could see the people we were helping out and realized there's something greater than just looking out for myself that I could do. Any time we would go to a homeless shelter and feed people, you'd just see how grateful they are."
From being taught, to being a teacher, Justin Blalock has used the knowledge of the people around him to improve in every aspect of his life. He has listened, he has thought and he is ready to pass on what he has learned.
