OK, so Jagger's talking about living in New York City, not playing soccer for the Rams. Nor is he talking about living on-campus at Texas Wesleyan University.

     But Jagger's perspective can certainly apply to both One must be tough in order to play the fast-paced, contact sport. One must also be tough to live away from home.

     Rams defender Damien McBrien can relate to Jagger's redirected stance. The Belfast, Northern Ireland native is doing both, plus a lot more, which definitely makes him "tough, tough, tough, tough, tough!"

     McBrien is no stranger to the rough-and-tumble arena. Before he took up soccer, McBrien played Gaelic football, beginning when he was 4 years old.

     "I played Gaelic, which is an ice sport. It's like a mixture between soccer and rugby, but not many Americans know what that is," McBrien said. "I still play it once or twice a week with my friends."

     Whereas Gaelic football prepared McBrien for the rigors of team sports, it was the English Premier League that motivated him to play soccer.

     "The English Premier League is a pretty big league with all the best players. Glasgow Celtic is the ultimate team," McBrien said. "I grew up watching soccer. By watching, I got inspired to play."

     Prior to playing defender for Wesleyan, the sophomore advertising-public relations major stated he played several positions while playing competitively in the United Kingdom.

     "I have played all over throughout my career, even in goal for a few years, but defense is where I like to play," remarked McBrien. "I like to play hard and put in hard tackles, and defense is the best place to do this."

     But playing hard comes with a price: injuries. McBrien has played injured the entire season.

     "I've had a few knocks but I just try to play through them," he said.

     One of those "knocks" occurred in an off-field accident. McBrien sustained a knee injury that required stitches. He was out for 10 days, but returned to action on the road against John Brown University.

     It was that game that truly illustrated McBrien's toughness. His wound started bleeding in the first-half of the contest.

     "We pulled him off, retaped him back up, and he went back out. He didn't want to come off the field," Steve Jones, head coach, said.

     McBrien's wound was cleaned and retaped once more at halftime.

     "He went out and finished the game. That's just Damien," Jones said. "He goes out on the field and puts in 100 percent. Damien will make the sacrifice."

     Off-field, McBrien demonstrates his toughness by juggling 21 hours of studies, which includes an internship, work and athletics while dealing with living away from home.

     Humanities is McBrien's most demanding course. "There is so much work to be done, it takes up more time than all the rest of the classes combined," said McBrien.

     Work-wise, McBrien is doing double-duty. He can be found on-campus behind the reference desk at the Eunice and James L. West Library. Off-campus, he coaches soccer at Country Day Middle School.

     "It's just fun teaching kids how to play. Someone taught me when I was a kid, so I figured I should pass it on to somebody else," said McBrien.

     In addition, McBrien stated he just completed doing volunteer work at the Dallas Texans Soccer Academy.

     "I rarely have time to myself or to study, but so far I have been doing pretty good in class," he said.

     Despite his busy schedule, McBrien carries a 3.7 grade point average.

     "Academically, he's a great student," echoed Jones. "He's got a passion for what he does, no matter what it is. Be it soccer or studies."

     Even though McBrien leads a very active life, it's not enough to keep him from thinking about his family back in Northern Ireland.

     "Of course I get homesick. I miss my family now and again," he said.

     "It's tough, but I get to talk to them a lot, plus I'll get to see them at Christmas," said McBrien. "The hard thing is not having any family to go visit on a Sunday when everyone else does."

     Even though his family is across the Atlantic Ocean, McBrien indicated that he found a solution to the separation: friends.

     "Right now, I only have my friends in America and they're more or less my family," he said. "It makes it easier not to be homesick."

     McBrien has definitely showed his toughness on and off the field. Perhaps Jagger should rewrite the song.