DOESN’T ANYONE KNOW WHO THIS IS?

Hint: He plays college football in the “Metroplex.”’ Hint: He was the eighth leading ground gainer in the nation last year (1,266 yards) and tops among fullbacks. Hint: He is in the process of breaking the all-time rushing record in his Conference. Hint: Pro scouts are drooling over him, predicting he will be selected in the first few rounds of the draft.

Give up? His name is Derrick Jensen, fullback for the UTA Mavericks. “Derrick Who?,” you say. So does most everybody else. Obscurity is nothing new to Derrick Jensen. As a tailback for the Osowa-tomie High Trojans (that’s in Kansas), he gained 2,100 yards in his senior year to lead his team to a state championship. Nobody (as in college coaches) noticed. He had enrolled in Cof feeville Junior College when he got a call from UTA. Not that UTA is center stage in the football world, but, as Derrick says, “Arlington seemed like New York City compared to Cof-feeville.”

And so he toils in Mid-Cities anonymity, piling up many more yards than headlines. Last year, the Associated Press named him third team All-American. When he returned home to Osowato-mie, there was less than a hero’s welcome. “Everybody said howdy,” says Derrick. “But then a couple of people asked me why I wasn’t playing college football.”

And when the Miami Dolphins or somesuch announce “Derrick Jensen” as their second round draft pick this spring, a lot of people will say “Derrick Who?” And now you can say, “Jensen. UTA fullback. Terrific runner. Great prospect.”