Preseason accolades begin to roll in for Brimmer

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, May 25, 2004 | 9:35 a.m.

It's the time of year that college football magazines begin making their way into supermarkets and bookstores. And with them comes an array of preseason All-America squads.

UNLV senior safety Jamaal Brimmer might want to reserve his copy of Athlon Sports, which is scheduled to officially hit the stands on June 7, right now.

That's because the two-time Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year from Durango High School has been named a first-team All-American by that publication.

It's believed to be a milestone for the Rebels football program. Brimmer is believed to be the first nonpunter to be named a first-team preseason All-American since the school moved to Division I football in 1977.

Brimmer was named a second-team preseason All-American by both Athlon Sports and Phil Steele before the 2003 season and responded with a Mountain West Conference-leading six interceptions to go along with 77 tackles and four forced fumbles. The 2003 Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist was also named a first-team All-American after the season by College Football News.

"That's nice to know," Brimmer said when informed of his Athlon's honor on Monday. "I haven't really focused on things like that because it could become a distraction. I'm more looking toward the season and what happens to our team. My main thing is to win and to get to a bowl game."

Brimmer last winter explored the possibility of bypassing his senior year and entering the NFL draft. But fortunately for John Robinson and company, the hard-hitting 6-foot-1, 210-pounder decided to return after an NFL underclass committee evaluated him as a potential fourth-round pick.

"It was something I took a serious look at," Brimmer said. "It's my future. But in the end I decided what would be the best for that future is to come back and play another year."

Would Brimmer have returned if he had been told he would have gone higher, say in the second round?

"I would have given it strong consideration," he said. "But they said fourth round. And you never know. Sometimes they might tell you you're a first- or second-round pick and then you don't go that high."

Brimmer, who has been timed in the high 4.6's in the 40-yard dash, plans to spend the summer working with a sprint coach to try to lower that time. If he can chop even a tenth of a second off his 40 time, it could make a difference of a couple of rounds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in next spring's NFL draft.

"I haven't picked out a sprint coach yet but I plan to," he said. "I always try to learn and work on a few things in the summer, like rushing the passer better and stuff like that."

Brimmer is even more focused in the classroom. He said he will attend three summer school sessions in an attempt to complete his double-major in communications and sociology by December.

"I should have my communications degree done by the end of the summer," Brimmer said. "And then I'll finish up the sociology degree in the fall."

A fall that could be somewhat bittersweet for Brimmer if Athlon's predictions are correct. The magazine picked the Rebels to finish just seventh in the Mountain West Conference ahead of only Wyoming.

"The main thing is winning and getting to a bowl game," Brimmer said. "That's the No. 1 thing on my mind right now."