74

Winston Justice

Class: RS Senior Hometown: Long Beach High School: Poly

Height / Weight: 6-6 / 300 Position: OT Birthdate: 09/14/1984 Experience: 2V

2005: After a year's layoff, Justice likely will reclaim his starting right offensive tackle spot as a junior in 2005 (he started there in 2002 and 2003).

2004: Justice was slated to start for his third season at right offensive tackle as a junior in 2004. But he was ineligible for 2004 spring practice and the 2004 season because of a student conduct violation (he did not attend USC during that time), so he redshirted.

2003: Justice started for his second season on the right side as a sophomore in 2003. He was named to the 2003 All-Pac-10 honorable mention squad. He missed 2 games (Arizona State and Stanford) with an ankle sprain.

2002: As just a first-year freshman, Justice started 12 games (all but the opener against Auburn, in which he didn't play at all) at right offensive tackle in 2002 and did a marvelous job. He was named to the 2002 The Sporting News Freshman All-American first team, Scripps/Football Writers Freshman All-American first team, Rivals.com Freshman All-American first team and The Sporting News Freshman All-Pac-10 first team. He got his first start (at Colorado) on his 18th birthday, becoming USC's first true freshman to start on the offensive line since guard Travis Claridge and tackle Faaesea Mailo did so in 1996 against Notre Dame. After the season, he had arthroscopic surgery to repair a dislocating right shoulder.

HIGH SCHOOL: He earned 2001 Parade All-American, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Tom Lemming All-American, Max Emfinger All-American, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Dream Team, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-Western Region, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Orange County Register Fab 15 first team, Las Vegas Sun Super 11 first team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State second team, All-CIF Southern Section first team, All-CIF Division I first team, Los Angeles Times All-Southern California Lineman of the Year, Los Angeles Times All-Southern California first team, Los Angeles Times All-Southeast/South Coast first team Lineman of the Year and Long Beach Press-Telegram Dream Team first team honors as a senior offensive lineman at Poly High in Long Beach (Calif.). He had 38 pancake blocks in 2001.

As a junior in 2000, he was named to the Long Beach Press-Telegram Dream Team third team. He was a member of 3 Poly teams that went 39-1-1 and won 3 CIF Division I titles (he started 2 years). He didn't play football until his sophomore year in high school. Current Trojans Hershel Dennis and Darnell Bing also prepped at Poly.

PERSONAL: He's a sociology major at USC. His mother is from Barbados and he likes calypso music. While suspended in 2004, he trained daily at a Hollywood boxing gym with trainer Freddie Roach, who worked with Mike Tyson.

WINSTON JUSTICE ON:

Sitting out the 2004 season:
"It was hard. But life goes on...I learned a lot about certain situations during my time off. I learned you can't take things for granted because they can be taken away from you...I feel a lot more mature now. I feel like I have a better head on my shoulders...Now, I think I have to prove myself again. It's like I'm the underdog coming back...I'm ready to go. I've been waiting for this for a while. The past year went by real slow."

Considering opting for the NFL instead of returning to USC in 2005:
"I was very close to leaving at one point. I felt really distant from the program for a while. I thought it was time for me to move on as a person. But then I realized it wasn't the best move, so I came back."

His boxing workouts in 2004:
"Boxing has a lot of similar elements to what I do in football, with the hand placement and all that. I sparred with a lot of fighters, mostly smaller guys. I think I held my own. Hopefully, the boxing will help me when I play football...It was fun. It was a good workout for football with the way I got to be in some good one-on-one battles...But I don't think I could be a boxer. I don't have the jaw for it. I have a much better respect for boxers now."

Starting as a freshman:
"I wanted to start and I thought if I could start I could help the team. I think playing high school at Poly really helped me to not be afraid of big crowds and being used to being on TV or in the paper because Poly is like a mini college."

The difference between high school and college football:
"In high school, the players aren't as good as they are in college, where every player is big, strong and fast. And in college, they're older and have tattoos on their arm for intimidation. It was new to me, but after a game or two, all the trash talking and all the tattoos faded away and you were just playing football...It's 3 times harder than people think in college. They think it's just football, but it's everything-football, films, classes and social experience-and you don't have your parents with you to help like you did in high school. It's all on you."

Not playing football until his sophomore year of high school:
"Growing up, my parents weren't into sports. They never really emphasized sports. They emphasized school. I really got into sports by myself...I liked basketball before football. I wasn't sure how much I would like football but it worked out kind of well. It took me about a year to adjust, but after that football just grew on me...It felt awkward to play at first. But Poly had good coaches and a tradition, and I got comfortable as I learned."

His parents' interest in football:
"They get excited now. At first, when I was playing in high school, they didn't know what a first down was. They didn't understand much about it. So they just cheered when everybody else did. But they're learning."