Tom Waterman is not big or tall.

He doesn’t have Ken Griffey’s swing, Dan Marino’s passing ability, or Michael Jordan’s explosive drive to the basket.

But the Bangor High junior, who will start at quarterback for the defending Pine Tree Conference champions this season, seems to have a knack, a talent, a gift which allows him to turn the course of a game. He loves to compete and loves to win even more.

As a freshman second baseman, Waterman turned an inning-ending double play to get the Rams out of a bases-loaded jam and put them on track to a 1-0 Class A state baseball championship victory over Portland.

The next season, nine days after his 16th birthday, Waterman’s two-out RBI single in the eighth inning gave Bangor a 2-1 victory over Biddeford for another state championship.

Bangor’s third consecutive baseball title also happened to be Waterman’s fifth state championship game as a starter in his 21 months as a Ram.

But Waterman was such a quiet part of his teams’ four state titles – two each in basketball and baseball – and one Eastern Maine championship that of the 52 NEWS articles in which his name was included, he appeared in only two headlines. And both of those were shared with a teammate.

However, on each championship team, he consistently did all the little things that most coaches, but few fans, notice.

“Even last year, I think he was as good of a player as there was in the state,” Old Town basketball coach Marty Clark said, noting his disappointment that Waterman was not included on an All-State team. “Or as important to Bangor as any one kid on that team.”

“If I could pick any one kid in the state to build my team around, or add to my Old Town team, I would pick him. Even if he was a senior, I’d take him for just one year,” Clark added. “He’s like a coach out on the floor, and he makes all the right decisions.”

Family ties

The youngest of Neil and Lesley Waterman’s three children, Tom was introduced early to an athlete’s life of practice, games, and the value of a team.

His sisters, Amy and Kelly, now 21 and 19, respectively, played basketball for Tom Tennett, Neil’s University of Maine roommate.

Neil, an assistant coach for men’s basketball at Husson from 1985 to 1994 and still an assistant coach with Bangor High baseball, brought little Tommy to games and practices.

The boy would go through dribbling drills and be boosted up for a dunk by the taller Braves players. On road trips, Tom would sit in the back of the van with the players while Neil sat up front.

At baseball practice, being the only son of the man hitting the ground balls didn’t mean 9-year-old Tom got any soft grounders.

“According to Neil, he was the best shortstop ever at Bangor when he was about 3,” joked former Bangor three-sport standout John Tennett. “He practiced with us, he was right out there in the drills. He wasn’t like a bat boy or anything. He was involved.”

Tom was playing in Bangor’s YMCA basketball program at age 6 and played youth soccer, also. But it was John Tennett, a former Bangor quarterback, who gave Tom his first taste of the position.

“He was in the fifth grade when John Tennnett called him up and said, `Hey, I need a quarterback for tag football,’ and Tom said, `Uhh, I’ve never played quarterback,’ ” Neil recalled with a grin. “So Tommy comes home and I said, `How’d you do?’ And he said, `Good.’

” `How many touchdown passes did you throw?’ And he said, `None,’ ” Neil said. “I said, `What kind of quarterback are you?’ And he said, `I ran for six.’ ” I like these two graphs right here. It gives a bit of analysis and surprisingly good comments from Steve.

The knowledge gained from those early practices may be a pivotal factor in distinguishing Tom from his peers.

“He understands the games fundamentally very well, which allows him to anticipate things that other kids don’t,” said Bangor Athletic Director Steve Vanidestine, who is also Bangor’s American Legion baseball coach. “He relies on his ability to anticipate, and he sees the game differently than other kids, too.”

The quietest competitor

A conversation with the honor roll student often involves one-word answers early, but if you hang in long enough, you can get a grin and a few more quiet words.

“If you meet him in the corridor of the school, walking to his classes, he’s very shy,” Bangor basketball coach and teacher Roger Reed said. “You would never see him in a boisterous manner walking to classes.”

“I’ll quietly say, `Hi, Tommy,’ and he’ll nod,” Reed said. “You’ll never hear him yell, `Hey, coach.’ ”

Most often described as quiet, Waterman can be talkative with his friends and does have a good sense of humor along which doesn’t hide his strong leadership instincts.

“He talks to me all the time because my locker’s right next to him in school, but if anyone else comes around, he’s all quiet, hushed right up,” said Luke Turner, who, with Tim LeBlanc, are two of Tom’s closest friends. “He’s not really an outgoing person, I guess, but he gets his point across.”

“Like in football, he’ll get his point across,” Turner said. “If you don’t go hard, he’ll kill you. He’ll basically talk with his actions a lot.”

Turner and Leblanc were early witnesses to Tom’s will to win even the simplest of games.

“Usually when we go over there, we’ll either – because he has a little basketball hoop – we’ll play basketball or football or stuff like that,” Leblanc explained. “I don’t know how it started, probably Luke hit him with a pillow or something.”

“We were having a pillow fight and he grabbed three pillows and stuffed them into one pillowcase just so he could have the biggest and beat everyone else,” Turner said of the sixth-grade battle. “He’ll do anything to win. He doesn’t like to lose. I’ve never seen him not give 100 percent in anything.”

It’s that drive which has coaches a bit envious of Bangor’s 5-foot-10, 160-pound athletic treasure. Orono basketball coach Dave Paul, who also coaches baseball for Old Town High and the Old Town-Orono Legion team, says he would happily accept Tom at either school. Lawrence basketball coach Mike McGee is more than willing to have him join his family.

“He’s well-respected, polite, he doesn’t really say much of anything, he just goes about his business and gets the job done,” Paul said. “He knows what it is to be an athlete and to compete and do the best for your team, your school.

“He knows what it is to be on the winning side,” he said. “The only problem I see in it, being at Old Town, is we have to see him for another two years.”

Work, work, work

Subscribing to an ethos of good things follow those who work hard, Tom’s faith in game preparation is unshakeable.

“During practice, if you go harder than you’ll face during a game, the game situation will be easier,” he said. “So during practices, we’ll go 110 percent against each other and it will make the situation easier for the game coming up and then I think we have more success.”

It’s that faith which sustained Tom when he was thrown in as the starting quarterback when senior Richie Day went down with a collapsed lung as Bangor prepared for a postseason run last season.

In his first year on the varsity squad, Tom guided the Rams through a 3-1 run, completing 14 of 34 attempts for 293 yards and one interception.

He raced 69 yards for a game-winning touchdown in his first postseason start – his second start overall.

“Josh Morse and all the seniors who helped me out throughout the season made it easier because they had faith in me that I could do the job just as good as Richie,” Tom said. “The coaches had faith, too, and it was easier with all that instead of just going in and people saying it’s a different quarterback, and it might be a different way to do something, but it was all the same.

“Whatever I’m asked to do, I just go out and do my best and if that’s not good enough, I’ll try harder.”

Veiled by his quiet exterior, Tom’s competitiveness is often overlooked by the casual observer until he makes the big play.

“I think he’s very, very competitive, and that’s a tough concept for people to understand with quiet people,” Bangor football coach Gabby Price said. “He wants to be good. He wants to lead people.”

And after all of these pressure-filled moments at focal positions, Tom doesn’t worry about pressure.

“I don’t feel them as pressure positions because during football, you need all 11 people to do their jobs and all the quarterback does is throw the ball and they catch it, or hand it off,” he said. “The line blocks and the running backs run. Quarterback’s not a pressure position.”

Those leadership qualities will be put to the test as Tom and Bangor’s football team will chase the trophy which has eluded the team since 1979, the year before Tom was born.

But before all of the championship games are played out, Tom has just one more goal he’d like to reach.

“I’ve always wanted to grow to be 6-3, but it will probably never happen. I’ll just work with what I have, but if I get to 6-foot, I’ll be happy.”