By Tracy Gupton
Jared Flannel was the workhorse of the Columbia Roughnecks’ back-to-back district championship football teams in 2004 and 2005. Those teams finished 9-2 in consecutive years under Head Coach Brian Lane but made their deepest venture into postseason Jared’s senior season in 2006.
The Roughnecks avenged an early season loss to Belville by defeating the Brahmas 26-12 in a 2006 bi-district matchup in Katy. Jared amassed 277 yards carrying the ball and scored two late fourth quarter touchdowns for the Necks in the 2006 bi-district win against Belville. It should be mentioned that when Belville defeated Columbia in the second week of the 2006 regular season, Jared Flannel did not suit up. This was followed by one of the most exciting come-from-behind victories in Columbia High’s football playoff history. With Jared Flannel carrying the bulk of the load on offense, Coach Lane’s boys in maroon and white rallied from a 41-31 deficit with four minutes on the clock to an eventual 45-41 victory in Conroe.
Flannel, who was named The Facts’ All Brazoria County Most Valuable Player in both his sophomore and junior seasons with the Roughnecks, carried the ball 41 times for an amazing 245 yards and three touchdowns against Silsbee in that memorable 2006 area round playoff win. A region finals date with Waco Robinson followed and, although Columbia lost in the next round at Kyle Field in College Station, Flannel still ran for over 100 yards and caught a touchdown pass in a stadium at Texas A&M where he would roam the defensive secondary for the visiting Texas Tech Red Raiders in later years.
Houston Chronicle Photo
Despite being hobbled by a broken foot, Jared Flannel still rose to the occasion in leading the Columbia Roughnecks to a deep playoff run in the 2006 football season. He would later appear in multiple bowl games for Texas Tech.
During his glory years at Columbia, the Roughnecks were a much better team when Jared was in action.
“Jared is first and foremost one of the best people I’ve coached, testament to his parents, and all three of his siblings are great people,” said former Columbia High Athletic Director Brian Lane. “The best complement I can give Jared is he was a FOOTBALL player, would do anything we asked and always did it well, and he was tough.”
Flannel compiled gaudy offensive stats game after game while wearing number 22 for the Necks. His most impressive performance came against Columbia’s arch-rivals, the Sweeny Bulldogs, when Jared scored three touchdowns his junior year, carrying the ball 31 times for a whopping 312 yards. He also threw a touchdown pass in Sweeny that night in 2005.
Jared Flannel was MVP of the 2005 All-District team, earning the same deserved honor his junior year that he had captured in 2004 as a sophomore. Coach Lane saw the potential in a young Jared Flannel when he first came to Columbia High School in the wake of eye-catching performances in junior high sports. Jared made the varsity football, basketball, and baseball teams as a freshman.
Jared Flannel was crowned Homecoming King at Griggs Field in West Columbia his senior year in the 2006 season
In his first year on varsity, Jared was voted “Newcome of the Year” on both the All-District and All-County football teams. He was a starting defensive back for the Necks his first year in high school. As a freshman, Jared made All-District second team on both offense and defense. In his four years on varsity, Jared would be named the Roughnecks’ offensive MVP twice and was the recipient of the prestigious Marvin Gray Award in both his junior and senior seasons, given to the team’s most valuable player. Friday night Jared will join the late Marvin Gray in Columbia High School’s Hall of Honor.
Jared earned second team All-District his sophomore year in basketball. He also ran track at Columbia High before suffering a serious foot injury in the last regular season football game against Palacios his junior year. He was on the shelf in the early portion of the 2006 football season due to an extended recovery period from his foot injury. He showed his toughness by opting to play football instead of undergoing season ending surgery.
And even though his playing time was limited that senior season, Jared still topped the 1,400-yard mark carrying the ball and caught many crucial passes from quarterback Jason Scott, none more important than the one Flannel hauled in with time ticking off the clock late in the fourth quarter of Columbia’s big playoff win over Silsbee.
In his four years on the Roughnecks’ varsity, Jared Flannel rushed for 4,768 yards on 657 carries and scored 41 touchdowns. He also had 33 receptions for 551 yards and another seven scores.
As a highly recruited college prospect, Jared chose Texas Tech where he played football in the Big 12 Conference for head coaches Mike Leach and Tommy Tuberville. Jared was redshirted his freshman year in Lubbock but was a special teams standout in 2008 and 2009, missed the entire 2010 season due to injury but returned for his senior year with the Red Raiders in 2011 when he made a career-high nine tackles and posted one sack in a game against Iowa State.
Photo by Brittany Strebeck/RedRaiderSports.com
Former Columbia Roughneck Jared Flannel making his entrance in a college football game at Texas Tech University
Jared has bowl rings in his memorabilia collection that he received as a member of Texas Tech teams that appeared in the Gator Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Alamo Bowl, and the Ticket City Bowl. He was a team captain and special teams captain in the 2009 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, and he made the game winning tackle against Texas when Texas Tech upset the Number One ranked Longhorns in 2008, a couple highlights of his college football career.
Jared is the son of Marvin and Reeva Flannel of Brazoria. His siblings Marvin Jr., Whitney, and Sean, like their father Marvin “Buzz” Flannel, all are former Columbia High student athletes. Jared presently works for Dow and lives in Pearland.
2023 Roughnecks Hall of Honor inductee Jared Flannel posing with his Dad, mid-1970s Roughnecks football standout Marvin “Buzz” Flannel, at a recent Houston Astros game. Marvin Sr. and his wife Reeva are the parents of former Columbia High outstanding athletes Marvin Jr., Jared, Whitney and Sean Flannel (who played college football at the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio)
Jared and his fiancée Jazzmin Bullard are the parents of three-year-old Jared Michael Flannel Jr.
Jared Flannel is the grandson of the late Frank Flannel, who was the quarterback for the Charlie Brown Tigers in the 1953 season when old Griggs Field in West Columbia was the site of the Tigers’ appearance in the ’53 state championship game for Black high schools.
The Class of 2023 Columbia High School Athletics Hall of Honor inductees, comprised of Jared Flannel, Matt Varner, Carl Williams and Coach Kathryn Carr, will be available to their fans, friends and family at a meet-and-greet session prior to Friday night’s football game in the high school student center/cafeteria. The public is invited. The meet-and-greet session will be held between 5 and 6 p.m. with kickoff for the Roughnecks game against Wharton slated for 7 p.m. The Hall of Honor induction ceremony will take place at halftime.