"Game Changers Magazine Hall of Fame Selection: Wayne County Hot Pick"
written by Michael Brown
Rod “Plump” Holmes is a brother who grew up in Jesup,GA, a small town in SouthEast Georgia raised by a single mom. He played football wearing the #4 at Wayne co high school with an abundance of skills and talents which allowed him to be a multiple sports superstar with the quality of being an achieving student athlete. Although Plump had accomplished so many accolades as a rising star, growing up in Jesup with dreams of making it to the next level, was an uphill battle for most black talent across the board at Wayne County. Rod chose to go against the street life and stay focused on sports.
Rod had coaches to help mold him: Roy Davis in baseball, Jimmy Heights in football & Horace Boyd in basketball / football. With the support of being surrounded by good mentorship and leadership, Rod still felt a void in his life, always wishing and hoping that one day his father would be in the stands to watch him play. The feeling of not seeing his father in the stands was the fuel that lit his fire and motivated him to play at a high level and excel.
Rod recalls Larry Armstrong was one of his biggest motivators that told him to keep his nose & name clean and eventually Rod changed his geographics to stay on course to be all he could be. Tyrone Wilson saw something in Rod and continued to feed his needs to keep him going because he saw something special in him. Mr. Holmes says” It was the Village, The People around me are all I had.”
Reflecting back on his early childhood, Rod recalls how so many great athletes came through Wayne County and missed the opportunity to play at the next level. Some didn’t have the resources or the relationships, and some received many letters from schools across the country that they never received. Looking back, one of his #1 picks were people who he looked up to such as Wayne James and how he felt this gentleman should've been on someone's team to succeed, but political circumstances took over. He remembers: Mikey Hill, Tyrone McGill, Todd Murray, Dale Holmes, just to name a few, who he considers should be recognized in the Wayne County Hall of Fame. All great talents that kept championships coming to Wayne County but were not promoted to the next level.
There was so much sports talent in the Southeast Georgia area, and Mr. Holmes says “he feels too many gatekeepers kept those talents from growing.” There was no push to elevate their talents or allow scouts to see the talents and with lack of technology resources, as advanced as it is today, many players were often looked over because they had no one in their corner telling them or helping them to create highlight reels or footage of game play.
Rod recalls from his own experience how politics held him back, how coaches would hide letters from Universities offering scholarships and visits to come play at the collegiate level and how so many players were disadvantaged of just getting an opportunity after giving their blood, sweat, and tears for Wayne County High School and the Prestige these athletes brought to school. It was a conversation where he was asked “What does Rod Holmes plan to do after high school? Rod answered, he planned to go to college & further his football career. Not to mention,
Plump had an outstanding career at Wayne County with one notable achievement where he returned 4 consecutive kickoff returns for touchdowns, a stat that somehow never made the record books. Although Plump was an exceptional athlete, growing up in Wayne County GA presented many obstacles off the field, with the influence of drugs and street life playing a major role in how many young black males fell victim to the lack of resources and opportunity the city of Jesup provided.
Seeking for answers and a chance to produce on a higher level, Plump never gave up on finding out the truth. Was he the reason opportunity didn’t knock on his door at the time or was information being covered and if so why and by who? In his senior year, Holmes recalls a juvenile disturbance, a fight that broke out between teammates which enticed him and Amp McGill to break into the coaches office where he found letters addressed to his mom tucked away in the coaches desk. He was never told he had opportunities to get him to success hidden in his coaches desk in the form of acceptance letters. “I remember coach Davis encouraging the athletes to come out of college prep classes and take vocational classes knowing that would oppress the efforts of student athletes to succeed.
Rod says, “I love what Wayne County made me to be, because it made me better.” There were black coaches on the inside pushing the black athletes to bigger and better schools, but the politics of Wayne County elitist blocked many of these efforts to overcome a chance at opportunity for those with a dream of hope. Overtime things are now on the brighter side for athletes coming out of Jesup, GA and the Southeast Region of Georgia. With the advancement of technology, changing the way athletes are able to promote highlight reels through social media and digital outlets, coaches and scouts from around the world can now be reached and give the next generation a better chance to be recognized and recruited. With trailblazers like Coach Shag, a fellow African American woman, helping and guiding young men and the former alumni like Tre Jackson, JR Bryant, TY McGill, The Wallace Brothers and a list of others, Southeast Georgia is now one of the biggest hubs for grooming top tier student athletes.
Rod "Plump" Holmes Speaks on The Hidden Gems In Southeast Georgia
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