Servite’s Malbrue Is ‘Full of Sparkle’ --and Confidence

Elphamous Malbrue III remembers being a wide-eyed kid, with a football tucked under his arm. Chasing him were players four and five years older.

Malbrue, then 7, didn’t care. He just ran.

“It was the first time I ever got to carry the ball in a game and my whole family was there watching,” said Malbrue, now a junior at Servite High School.

“I figured this was no time to tippy-toe. Before I knew it, I was flying down the sideline.”

When finally tackled, Malbrue popped up with a new outlook on football.

“The guy really slammed me to the ground, bam ,” he said. “I got up and thought, ‘Hey, I can do this.’ ”

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Elphamous (pronounced Al-FAmous) Malbrue III approaches it often. Then, like a tightrope artist, he walks carefully.

For most of his life, Malbrue has played football and made no secret about the fact he plays it well. Bashful, to him, is just a Disney dwarf.

This season is Malbrue’s first on the Servite varsity. He was used sparingly early on and then missed 2 1/2 games because of a knee injury.

Yet, he hasn’t reeled in his personality one bit.

“I’m still expecting to have a big year,” Malbrue said. “I’ve always stood out playing football. I just think it’s in my character to produce. That’s why I’m here, to produce.”

At 5 feet 7 and 156 pounds, Malbrue is hardly an imposing figure. But, with a football in his hands, he is something to be concerned about, especially for defensive coordinators.

Malbrue returned from his injury last week and made his presence felt with a 135-yard performance against Ocean View. Afterward, he regaled his teammates with a victory rap, something that has become a postgame ritual for the Friars.

“He goes through a little story and we all follow,” running back Ken Mousseau said. “It’s kind of like a Marine Corp chant. We just eat it up.”

Malbrue said his routine began as a cheer, which he made up as a freshman. He has used it ever since after Friar victories as a way to get the team fired up.

“He’s just full of sparkle,” Coach Larry Toner said.

And, apparently, always has been.

“Everybody remembers Elphamous,” said Sheelagh Sincee, his mother. “His personality attracts people like flies.”

Even the mention of his unusual first name, brings a bright smile from Malbrue. His response was quick and, probably well used.

“My mom says it fits because some day I’m going to be famous,” he said.

Malbrue was born in New Orleans, but when he was 9 his parents divorced and his mother later moved to Cypress. The two, who were always close, became closer.

It was his mother who introduced the game to Malbrue when they lived in New Orleans. She would take Elphamous and his 2-year-old sister, Rolishe, to the park to fly kites. However, Rolishe was frightened by the kite, so they switched to football.

“Rolishe was scared that the kite was going to come down and take her away,” Sincee said. “So we started throwing the football around.”

Malbrue was soon playing with kids in the neighborhood.

At 6, he joined Stallings Park, a youth football team for kids ages 10-12. He didn’t get to play much and, when he did, he was a little timid.

The following year, he got his chance and became the starting tailback.

“It was time to stop being scared and run,” he said.

His mother, though, wasn’t so sure. Her son looked too small, even fragile, playing against those older kids.

She changed her mind when football became the lesser of two evils.

“When he was 12, he tried boxing and knocked out this (older) kid,” Sincee said. “He really liked it, so it was football all the way. He wasn’t going to box.”

And football it has been.

“It’s the only sport I’ve ever loved,” Malbrue said. “Football is me; I am football.”

Malbrue certainly can swagger with the best. Yet, he manages to stay just this side of cocky.

One moment, he said, “I can be really lethal.”

The next, he was shaking his head and saying, “I’m just struggling, struggling like everyone else. I’m an average player trying to get better.”

In both cases, he was telling the truth.

Malbrue has been clocked at 4.6 in the 40-yard dash and has powerful legs, the result of hours in the weight room.

He is also a perfectionist, studying film on his own to improve. Even after the Ocean View game, Malbrue was far from satisfied.

“There were times when I made bad decisions,” he said. “I gained 12 on this one play, but I could have had 60 if I had just made the right cut.”

But, a moment later, the self recrimination was over. The smile returned.

“I was expecting to have a big game like that,” he said. “The first couple games I was kind of quiet, but I was just getting that nervous twitch out. Now I’m comfortable out there. That was only the beginning.”