Kickin' back with Thomas Jones

Dreams, screams from Mr. Hygiene.

He is the Bucs running back who came from Arizona and brought with him bulging biceps and a bit of baggage. No, no, not Michael Pittman, but Thomas Jones. And here he is, on his brother Julius and the rest of his family, Arnold, candy, bad dreams, country musics and other Tom Jones.

TJ: We were both going through our own things, difficult times, and to have the opportunity to be together, we were able to help each other. I look at Julius as if he was my son.

TJ: I watched the whole thing. I had butterflies in my stomach. I know how hard he worked. We worked out every day. I know how badly he wanted to play and finish at Notre Dame.

TJ: I want him to take advantage of the opportunity. To understand that it may not come again. We were real close growing up. We slept in the same bed as kids and I'm very proud of him. I want him to do better than me. He knows I'm there for him, regardless. When he does well, I'm at my happiest.

TJ: Well, I also had five sisters. The worst thing was getting to the bathroom. Julius and I could never get to the bathroom, we would always have to wait on them because we were boys. The best thing is that there was never a dull moment. There was always someone there to talk to, someone to play with, someone to laugh with. There's nothing like that. I thank God for my family.

TJ: Well, my oldest sister Gwen is 33 (works in accounting firm), Beatrice is 30 (owns a bridal business), I'm 25, my brother Julius (senior at Notre Dame) and his twin sister Knetris are 22. Knetris just graduated from Virginia and is going to Brazil to teach for six months. My younger sister Kanetta is 19 (at Virginia) and my youngest sister Katrice is 14. I'm blessed. And you know what, we're all real, real close.

TJ: Man, who told you about that? Pittman's got a big mouth.

TJ: I couldn't breathe. Have you ever experienced that? I was having this dream that I couldn't breathe and shot up and was gasping for air.

TJ: I don't remember, I just knew I couldn't breathe and I got up screaming. I scared Pitt. I thought I was suffocating. I started yelling. The room was pitch black and I'm knocking over things in the room, clocks and stuff. I was trying to get to the light. Pitt jumped up and said, "What's going on?"

TJ: Pretty quickly, as soon as he knew I wasn't dying.

TJ: What's wrong with my hair?

TJ: Look, sometimes I shave it, sometimes I let it grow out, sometimes it's knotty. It all depends on my mood.

TJ: No dog, I've got a lot of hair. I'm not going to end up like you.

TJ: I loved candy. Skittles. Snickers. Slushies. Mike and Ikes. All that stuff. I ate them all the time. But I don't eat them like that anymore.

TJ: When I started working out with my trainer I realized that I was paying him a certain amount of money and if I'm going to be paying him that amount of money, I need to be taking advantage of his advice. If I wasn't taking his advice, I was throwing my money down the toilet.

TJ: That's (Aaron) Stecker telling you all that mess.

TJ: He's trying to clown me. First of all, he says where I come from all we wear is Timberlands and no socks, that's not true. Let me say, my hygiene is up there in the top 99 percent of the fellas on the team. You look in my toiletries bag and you will find a lot of good stuff in there. It's a myth. The person, whoever made that comment, is just hating.

TJ: The character of his heart.

TJ: Discipline.

TJ: Paying her complements.

TJ: Besides rap music, it's my second favorite.

TJ: Yeah, what's wrong with country music? Country music is mellow and I'm a mellow person. I like the words to the songs more so than just the rhythm. I listen to what people are singing. Country music makes sense. I like things that make sense. I probably got some Garth Brooks in my car.

TJ: I thought it was kind of funny.... I didn't mind.

TJ: Never been to the Grand Canyon.

TJ: I didn't want to be in Phoenix.

TJ: The Magic Stick, hmm? He's just got magic.

TJ: I don't know man... that might be too explicit.

TJ: Why not?

TJ: President. I think he'll make a bad president. Nobody will mess with him.

TJ: I'd say the head of the NAACP.

TJ: He'd make a great football coach. He's a great motivator. I'd play for him.

TJ: Yeah, it's like a skunk.

TJ: I'm the real Tom Jones. But, you know what, I like Tom Jones the singer. I like that song he sings, "It's not unusual.." I like that song. He's a cool dude.

TJ: Never.

TJ: 4, 6, 22, 26, 31, 34 and 34.

TJ: Cool.

TJ: You did a good and bad job. The good job is that your principles are right. The bad job is that they are not being carried out and things have changed but not enough.

TJ: Most definitely. We're best friends. We're like one person. A lot of people think we look alike, sound alike, play alike, think alike. I see so much of me in him. Every year I get older, I look at him and see myself. I look at pictures of me when I was his age, and I look exactly like him and he looks exactly like me. We're one person.

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