It's Super Bowl week. Everybody is stocking up on chips, dip, and pop here in Buffalo in preparation for the big game. Since the Bills are usually out of contention by October, most people usually just tune in for the commercials.
This year, however, people in Buffalo and at UB have another reason to watch the big game, because one of the community's own will don the green and yellow. Hopefully for Buffalo fans, former Bulls running back James Starks will help the Green Bay Packers knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
The week leading up to the game is crazy for players, with all of the media responsibilities that come with playing on Super Sunday, but Starks made time to check in with The Spectrum.
"[The entire experience] has been so exciting, I've been just living it day-by-day," Starks said. "I get the jitters just thinking about the game already…I have just been trying to take everything in and just focus on the games. Now I'm just focused on the Super Bowl."
Former Bulls linebacker Justin Winters has kept in contact with his former teammate and also hopes to make an NFL team next season. He's dreamt about playing in the NFL since he was a kid, and Starks has told him on several occasions that it's possible. He told Winters that the guys playing on Sundays aren't super-human, that they wear pads just like everyone else.
Starks' connection to Buffalo and his former teammates is what makes people hold him in such high regard. Winters explained that he and his teammates never expected anything less than the success that Starks is now finding at the next level.
"We knew he was going to shine," Winters said. "Every time he touches the ball, phones start ringing, teammates and people from home call me asking, ‘That's your man?' I say, ‘Hell yeah, that's my man.' We send him texts, and he calls right away because he's a humble dude. He never changed, that's why I love him."
Love is the perfect word to describe the feelings that the UB community – and even more so, the city of Niagara Falls – has for Starks. A very devout family man, Starks attributes much of his success to his immediate and community family in Niagara Falls. Seeing everyone back home so happy makes his success all the more rewarding for him.
"My family is really excited," Starks said. "Everybody from Niagara Falls is excited, they have pictures and everything hanging up [around town]. They have a nice dinner set up for my family and they're all going to be watching the game. Everybody's just really happy."
Starks has taken a unique route to national prominence.
The Bulls' all-time leading rusher was an afterthought in last April's NFL Draft after missing his senior season at UB due to a shoulder injury. His former head coach and current Kansas head coach, Turner Gill, thought that Starks' determination helped the former high school quarterback make it past the injury.
"I am proud of him for persevering through the ups and downs of the last two years," Gill said. "He was well-prepared when the opportunity was presented to him. He demonstrated that hard work and dedication pays off and you have to be ready to take advantage of your opportunities when they come."
Gill and athletic director Warde Manuel were the architects of the successful turnaround of the athletic program at UB. Both men were able to watch Starks' growth throughout his career at UB.
Manuel is thankful for the exciting moments that Starks has provided (and will continue to provide) for UB fans across the country.
"It has been a joy to have seen his perseverance and hard work rewarded in such a positive way," Manuel said. "I'm proud of James for becoming the second starter on a Super Bowl team in the history of UB football, and only the fifth UB player to participate in the Super Bowl."
Current Bulls head coach Jeff Quinn came to Buffalo after Starks had already played his final game for the Bulls. But he, too, is able to see what a great person Starks was just by the way people talk about him.
With national signing day quickly approaching, Quinn has been hard at work on the recruiting trail in hopes of finding the next James Starks for the Bulls. He says that it never hurts to be able to use Starks as an example to help bring young men into UB to play football.
"It brings instant credibility and great excitement to a program when a young man makes it to the next level and gets a chance to play," Quinn said. "Plus, he is a Western New York guy. We have a verbal commitment from his younger brother [Niagara Falls native Dale Stewart]…Whenever you hear ‘James Starks from the University at Buffalo' [on TV], it just brings a tremendous amount of pride."
Mark Pereira, a graduate student in the school of economics, has been watching Bulls football since he was a freshman. He will tell anyone who will listen that UB has the potential to be a top athletic university. Players like Starks continue to put the school on the map.
"National impact is really more about an individual's ability and not so much UB's ability to put guys in the NFL," Pereira said. "I felt from the start that Starks was legitimately on a different level. Gill did a great job helping him realize that potential, and I believe Jeff Quinn can do the same thing if he is able to get more guys like Starks who have that innate ability."
Starks may have left Buffalo to play in the NFL, but he still holds the city close to his heart. He made it a point to display his appreciation for UB and everyone who has been a part of his journey.
"[To everyone back at UB], thanks for all the support," Starks said. "I love ya'll and I really appreciate everybody being there for me and showing me all the love in the world."
E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com
