Give Jamal Womble the eye test, and you’ll see a classic bruiser, but your notion will quickly be put to rest.

Sure, the NIU running back is built like a soda machine, but his feet tell a different story.

“As soon as we got out there for the first day of [spring] practice, I saw how quick his feet were,” said Huskie running back Akeem Daniels. “He was making cuts through the hole and everything.”

This is inevitably Womble’s final chance to show what he’s made of at the college level.

Coming out of Buena High School in 2009, Womble had plenty of football programs knocking at his door. Rivals.com had him rated as the 14th overall running back in the country. The Sierra Vista, Ariz. native received interest from several schools, including Wisconsin, Nebraska and his eventual choice, North Carolina.

Everything seemed set for him to make a name for himself in the ACC, but that was not the case.

Womble redshirted his freshman season, but when he made his debut a year later, he fractured his right wrist on the opening kickoff against Southern Georgia. Sitting out due to injury, Womble’s grades dropped, and he left the Tar Heel program.

“At the time when I left North Carolina, I had no idea if I’d play football again at all,” Womble said. “For that month I had of not knowing what was going to happen with my life, I was lost. I really had no idea what I was going to do with my life.”

From there, Womble transferred to Hutchinson Community College, the path that would eventually lead him back into the Division I-football circle with NIU.

“I got a second and third chance,” Womble said. “I got a chance at the [junior college level] and a chance to be able to get back to the Division I level.”

Daniels thinks Womble has taken advantage of his time with NIU so far.

“He came in with a chip on his shoulder, and I think he’s living up to the hype,” Daniels said.

Womble is competing to inherit the workload of former NIU running back, Chad Spann.

With his football-clock ticking away the seconds, he’s embracing the chance and the circumstances that go with replacing a work-horse like Spann.

“Pressure brings out the best in everybody,” Womble said.

Speed has always been a component of Womble’s arsenal of athleticism, as he competed in track and field events in high school. Even when his overall frame started to grow, he didn’t lose any of his briskness.

“I just kind of kept on getting bigger, but I really didn’t loose any of my speed,” Womble said.

And now, he’s looking to run in the right direction with his chance at NIU.