Texas A&M's Coryell Judie is so quiet, he politely turned down being interviewed for a feature story.
It's a unique trait for a player who at cornerback has to exude confidence, if not a little cockiness.
It's a trait, though, that's held true to form since long before he was considered one of the best college players at his position.
"That's Coryell," said his high school coach Jerry Malone, when told Judie passed on being interviewed. "You know he was one of the greatest kids that came through Marlin and that was because he didn't run his mouth like some of those other kids we had as athletes.
"No doubt about it, he's always been a real, real quiet kid, one of those kids that had been brought up right, no sir, yes sir, or no ma'am, yes ma'am. He was that type of kid."
Judie is still that type of kid, although at nearly 22 years of age, kid no longer describes him best.
"I could have told you that," A&M coach cornerbacks coach Charles McMillian said when told Judie declined talking to the media. "He won't talk."
That's not entirely true. He has opened up to his teammates, especially those in the secondary, and McMillian.
"It's taken him two years to actually talk to me and answer questions with answers," McMillian said. "It's one of those things where he's going to have a smile on his face, he's going to do what you ask him to do. It's more he'll talk to you when he gets comfortable with you but also when he's comfortable with what is being talked about."
Judie is at ease on the field and has been since being an all-district performer as a receiver and cornerback in his one season of football at Marlin High School.
Still, not much is said as he locks down on receivers or scoots past special team players like they are standing still. Instead, he has found a different way to express himself.
"He doesn't trash talk. The one thing that he does is he talks with his pads," McMillian said. "He will knock you around as far as taking on blocks, throw you out of the way. He doesn't open his mouth much, he just plays football."
Judie is not big as football players go - he stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 190 pounds - but playing physical has always been a trademark.
At Marlin he may have topped out at 170 pounds.
"The most physical player that ever came through Marlin, even with his size," said Malone, who now coaches at Chilton High School. "The kids that had to go against him, they knew he was going to knock the fire out of them, and he could cover as good as anybody in Class 2A, 3A football."
With Malone's help, Judie found his way to Fort Scott (Kansas) where he was selected Junior College All-American at cornerback.
His freshman season he had six interceptions and averaged 26.1 yards per kickoff return and 15.1 yards per punt return.
It was his physical play, not his numbers, that quickly caught on when he arrived at Texas A&M in the fall of 2009.
"When he first got here we did one-on-ones and he was a great jammer right off the line," said senior Terrence Frederick, who has started at cornerback since the middle of his freshman season.
Frederick and Judie continue to man the corners for Tim DeRuyter's defense, but it is the work they've done together while rehabbing injured shoulders that has afforded them time to get to know each other better.
"We definitely became closer friends since Coryell and I have been through these shoulder things," said Frederick. "We kind of push each other in that area too."
Judie had work done on both shoulders after the season but it didn't stop him from showing his versatility in the 2011 Cotton Bowl, where he had an interception and a 69-yard kickoff return to open the game.
He has yet to fully recover from the surgeries, having had to sit out a few workouts with ice strapped atop his left shoulder. When he has played in scrimmages he's worn a black jersey, much like the quarterbacks do, so as to stay away from contact.
As a junior, Judie tied for the team lead in interceptions with four and had 57 tackles. He also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, one for 100 yards against Oklahoma and another for 84 yards against Baylor.
His average of 30.3 yards a return was sixth in the nation.
Judie played a good percentage of last season with the injured shoulders, which makes some of his accomplishments even more incredible.
"I go back to the interception at LSU because he has two shoulder harnesses on and he really can't lift his hands above his head and so the interception that he picked with one hand, that was like 'Wow, you know the kid has talent,'" said McMillian.
That and another interception against Oklahoma, when he went up above the receiver for the ball, are two plays still being talked about.
Just not by Judie.
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