Jefferson’s Marcus Stamps puts up the numbers, and the grades

If you need some inspiration and hope, let me introduce you to Marcus Stamps, a 16-year-old running back-linebacker at Los Angeles Jefferson who keeps overcoming obstacles and odds.

He gets A’s in trigonometry and honors chemistry. He’s 6 feet, 198 pounds, benches 285 pounds and runs 40 yards in 4.5 seconds. He raced 97 yards for a touchdown last month against Washington Prep. He has rushed for 519 yards and averaged 8.8 tackles a game in helping lead Jefferson to a 5-0 record. And, since he was 7, Stamps says, he has had no contact with his mother or father. Stamps developed a passion for football while relying on his aunt, Valerie Robinson, for guidance and support.

“I can’t go home with a D,” he said. “I can’t go home with a C. I have to strive for A’s and Bs.”

Education and respect for elders is what Aunt Valerie, who took him in as a ward of the court, preaches over and over.

“I do a lot of rewarding and a lot of loving,” she said. “I keep him in church. I tell him, ‘Marcus, if you want to be all you can be, you have to pursue your education and be a good boy.’”

Stamps has a 3.6 grade-point average and has embraced the idea that his future is tied to what he does both in the classroom and on the field.

“I think that’s what makes the difference between a good player and a great player,” he said. “Grades and the great athletic ability can get you somewhere. That’s what the coaches always tell me. If you have the grades and the athletic ability, then you can’t be stopped. If you’re athletic without the grades, there’s no college, just high school ball, and then you’re done.”

Stamps certainly has athletic ability. He cleared 6-4 in the high jump as a sophomore last school year. He can dunk a basketball. His legs are so muscular, they look like they belong on a college athlete.

“He’s almost like a ninth-grader in an 11th-grader’s body,” Coach David Wiltz said. “We always joke he has muscles that others don’t have.”

Stamps arrived at Jefferson in December 2009 after playing on the freshman team at Moreno Valley Canyon Springs. He has come into his own as a junior, becoming a key performer in Jefferson’s double-wing attack.

“It’s as if he punishes people when they try to tackle him,” Wiltz said.

Stamps has moved on from the troubled days when he said his mother had too many issues to remain in his life.

“When it first happened, I felt sad,” he said. “But sad doesn’t get you nowhere. It gets you droopy eyes and tiredness. I just realized I can use that on the football field. I guess that’s what makes me different. I don’t use my problems and feel sorry for myself and give up. I keep going for it.”

Teachers, classmates and coaches appreciate Stamps’ work ethic, humility and leadership.

“He’s a shining example around campus,” Wiltz said. “A lot of people look up to him.”

Come February 2013, Wiltz said he expects Stamps to sign a letter of intent with a college football program.

On that day, Stamps said he would cry “because of the family I come from and the background.”

“We’re not expected to do good,” he said.

Expectations have changed.

Said Aunt Valerie: “I’m very proud of him.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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