Most people know of Panthers undrafted free agent Bumper Pool because of his name.
Jeff Pool made good on a promise that he would call his first-born son Bumper as a take on the billiards game played on a smaller table than traditional pool and featuring fixed obstacles, or bumpers. Then, Bumper James Morris Pool legally changed his name when he was 16, assuring he would have one of the coolest and most apt names for as long as he played football.
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What few people know about Pool is that the Dallas-area native became Arkansas’ career tackles leader despite playing his last two seasons with almost constant hip pain that required surgery on both hips.
And what almost nobody is aware of — according to Pool’s agent — is that doctors expect the 6-foot-2, 232-pound linebacker to be more mobile than ever when he’s fully cleared this summer.
“His doctors have said he’ll have more hip mobility than he has since he was a junior in high school, which also means he’ll be able to move when he’s fully healed,” said J.R. Carroll, an Arkansas-based attorney who represents Pool.
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“The guy that had 441 tackles at the University of Arkansas was severely limited (compared) to the guy the Carolina Panthers are gonna get,” Carroll added. “And that comes from the doctors, not from anybody else.”
Pool was unable to work out at the Razorbacks’ pro day following surgeries to repair the labrums in both hips. The Panthers were the only team to bring Pool in for a pre-draft visit, during which their medical staff did X-rays on and examined his hips. They were comfortable enough to sign Pool after the draft — their only inside linebacker addition this offseason.
“I think quite honestly the Panthers just out-homeworked” nearly every other team in the league,” Carroll said.
The Cowboys also were familiar with Pool, who is close with Dallas owner Jerry Jones’ grandson after the two played together at Arkansas. Mark Muller, an orthopedist for the Cowboys, performed the surgeries on Pool on Nov. 22 and Jan. 4, the first of which ended Pool’s season with two games left.
“I was just in so much pain that I finally got to the point at the end of the season (where) I was like, ‘Coach, I can’t even run,'” Pool said.
After Pool was cleared for non-contact drills about a week before the draft, the Panthers asked Carroll for a video of him going through drills. Carroll said Pool’s lateral speed is faster than before the procedures.
(Video courtesy of J.R. Carroll)
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Pool participated in last weekend’s rookie minicamp and should be good to go during OTAs. Carroll said the hope is Pool will be cleared for contact drills before the start of training camp in July.
In the meantime, Pool will try to learn the defense and bide his time until the pads come on, which should be a time when a guy named Bumper shines. Asked about Pool, the first thing Panthers coach Frank Reich and defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero mentioned was his production for the Razorbacks.
“Very, very productive player in college. And so far has come in and done a nice job,” Evero said. “I really appreciate — in the few days we’ve been together — his level of preparation. He’s really into it and really doing the things you need to do to be a good professional. … When preseason comes he’ll have a chance to make some plays and see what he can do.”
What Pool has done well since his earliest days of pee wee football is tackle. He racked up 166 stops as a senior at Lovejoy High, where he was also on the wrestling, track and golf teams.
That’s a unique collection of sports. Pool said golf was a no-brainer because it got him out of the last period of school, while wrestling was something he did for two years at the urging of an assistant coach, who was his position coach in football.
Pool competed in the 220-pound division but practiced against the team’s heavyweight because he was the only one close to him in size. That the workouts took place in the sauna-like mat room made it all the tougher.
“It’s an extremely hard sport, probably the hardest sport I’ve ever played,” Pool said. “You’re in there sweating. You’re with some big dude. They were always better than me because I started (the sport) so late. So I just had to learn on the fly but I loved it.”
Pool said wrestling helped him with football, specifically providing him new techniques “to get guys on the ground.” That continued to be one of his strong suits at Arkansas, where his older sister worked for six years in the football recruiting and operations departments.
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Pool posted six tackles against Eastern Illinois in his first game as a freshman. He had 21 games with 10 tackles or more, including a career-high 20 at Mississippi State in 2020. When he finally gave in to the hip pain last November, he’d accumulated 441 tackles, breaking Tony Bua’s school record of 408.
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“With all those snaps, it’s instinctive,” Reich said. “Guys who love football just have a feel for where to be. That’s a big deal when you’re looking to pick guys up like that. Do they have that toughness and do they have the football instincts you’re looking for, certainly at that position?”
He certainly has a name befitting an inside linebacker, though it stemmed more from the billiards pun than running into ball carriers on the field.
“My dad just said he was going to name his first son ‘Bumper.’ When I was born, everyone just started calling me it and it stuck,” he said. “Growing up, a teacher would ask me to write ‘James.’ And half the time I was like, I don’t even know how to spell ‘James.’ When I was in preschool, I know how to spell ‘Bumper.’ I’m 5.”
Pool had a good feeling about Charlotte during his visit and appreciated how genuine the Panthers’ staff was. In addition to Carolina, Carroll said Dallas and Chicago were both interested in signing Pool as an undrafted free agent. Pool was hesitant about going to Dallas because of his ties to the owner’s family.
“He wanted to make sure that whatever he got, he got on his own and there wasn’t any special treatment,” Carroll said.
Pool understands most rookies — especially those who weren’t draft picks — have to make their “bread” on special teams. That’s something he embraces.
And while his name and gaudy college stats might get him recognized, Pool has always wanted to be known for something more.
“I always just played as hard as I could. If you’re out on the field playing hard and being where you’re supposed to be, you can get those statistics,” he said. “But for me, I just love football. So hurt or not hurt, I was gonna play as hard as I could.”
(Photo of Bumper Pool: Wesley Hitt / Getty Images)
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