Louisiana receives 8th commitment: Tommy Briggs (Tight End)

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. — Just over a week ago, Tommy Briggs was working for his father’s construction business, putting up drywall.

On Thursday, he became the ninth verbal commitment to Louisiana's 2004 football signee class.

“I needed them and they needed me,” Briggs said Thursday. “I knew I wanted to get back into football.”

The 6-foot-5, 258-pound tight end, a product of Fresno City College, gave Ragin’ Cajun head coach Rickey Bustle a commitment Thursday after visiting Louisiana's campus last weekend.

“I enjoyed being over there,” Briggs said. “They treated me well and didn’t have any hesitation about giving me a second chance to play football.”

Briggs had originally committed to Arizona last spring after his second year at Fresno City, but despite earning his junior college degree fell short of academic requirements at Arizona.

“A lot of my classes didn’t transfer,” he said. “That was one of the great things about coming down there, they took just about all of my classes.”

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com

[Turbine]

After graduating from Merced High School, Merced, California in 2000 Tommy Briggs comes to Louisiana from the same Junior College that former Defensive Lineman George Benson attended where they were coached by Tony Caviglia; Fresno City College in Fresno California.


Briggs was named to the 2002 pre-season JCFootball.com JC Top 101 and while it does not have players ranked inside of the top 101 it has him 2nd on the list at the Tight End position. source

After all was said and done, he did not disappoint.

In 2002 he garnered All-Central Valley Conference honors playing on a club that won its first 9 games before losing to. Reedley College and then again to Reedley in the Northern California Championship game of state playoffs.

As a sophomore at FCC he had 19 receptions for 277 yards and four touchdowns, which averages out to 14.6 yards per catch.

Here is an excerpt from one of Tommy’s games :
Hetherington showed good patience in the pocket hitting Johnson, then hitting Tommy Briggs (Merced) where the 6'5 Tight End's long strides fooled the secondary as he made the corner and got down to the 5. From there Charles pushed it in with 2:42 left in the half, and a seemingly insurmountable lead at 35-7. Somehow, the score just didn't seem to reflect the talent of the teams. Fresno's awesome offense took advantage of every penalty and turnover that Butte dished up. source

On August 4th of 2003 he found out he would not be able to play for the team he signed with (Arizona) and sat out the 2003 season.

Tommy still has two years of eligibility left and will be a Junior.

[snote]

question asked, "can he run?"
question answered, "yes he can"

[Turner]

"the 6'5 Tight End's long strides fooled the secondary"

He is going to look like a beacon to Jerry Babb. This is just what the offense needs, and if he can catch this is NFL size.