Does Eric Berry have a chance at the Heisman Trophy?

Knoxville Magazine

Eric Berry

Knoxville Magazine

Eric Berry

Eric Berry stood in the lobby of Neyland-Thompson Sports Center and laughed at the idea. "A Heisman Trophy for a player on defense? Not anytime soon."

"You know, in this day and age, fans like to see offense," UT's star defensive back admits regarding college football's highest honor. "They like to see big points; they like to see quarterbacks throw for thousands and thousands of yards. It's just pretty much an offensive game."

He smiles and shrugs. "But as long as my team's winning, I'm happy."

Therein lies the needle-in-a-haystack quality about Eric Berry: he's much more modest than he should be, especially for a player highly regarded as a long-shot Heisman candidate. The rising junior bypasses the ego that usually comes with such stardom and instead embodies a selfless demeanor that has become the face of UT football.

Though Berry hardly gives himself a chance at the Heisman Trophy, the UT sports information department has jumped head-first into Berry's Heisman campaign. The school printed Eric Berry tear-off calendars for the fall complete with the team's schedule and pictures of Berry in action. His Heisman campaign includes Facebook and Twitter accounts under the name Berry4Heisman as well as a website, Berry4Heisman.com, which will feature updates, videos, and a blog from Berry himself throughout the season.

"I like that responsibility, to be honest with you," Berry says. "I like dealing with it. I like being the face of Tennessee. But I just like representing my school well."

If leadership is what you're looking for heading into UT's 2009 season, check that off the list. But what about Berry's skills ON the field? He's got that, too, as he was the first consensus All-America selection for the Vols since 1990. It didn't take his teammates long to realize the talent they had on Rocky Top, and fans argue that he is perhaps the best player Tennessee has ever brought to the front lines Ñ even if he never caught another interception.

"Believe it or not, [former UT quarterback Erik] Ainge was still here, and we were throwing 7-on-7 on the turf," quarterback Nick Stephens says. "Ainge looks like he's about to throw a touchdown. Out of nowhere, I saw a big hand go up into the air and [Berry] picks it off."

"We were like, ÔOh my gosh, this guy's gonna be good.'"

That was the summer before Berry's freshman season, over two years ago. Since then, Berry's play has garnered numerous accolades and major rewriting of the UT record books. Thanks to his ball-hawking ability in the backfield, Berry now holds school records in interception return yardage for a UT season, UT career, SEC season, and SEC careerÉ records that stood for a combined 187 years. He enters the 2009 season needing only 15 interception yards to break the NCAA mark of 501 set during the 1989-91 career of Florida State's Terrell Buckley.

Despite Berry's ability, his Vols struggled through a 5-7 season in 2008. Berry's personal accomplishments meant very little to him, and he'll be the first to say so.

"It really makes me mad when people say I'm the only one on the field, and I'm the only one doing this," Berry says. "We have a lot of talent, and that's what people don't understand."

This fall? Call it a clean slate. New Head Coach Lane Kiffin shipped in the best of coaching and recruiting he could find, including his father, former NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. The elder Kiffin is regarded by many football afficiandos as pure genius on the defensive side of the ball.

"He [Monte] says it's not in the scheme; it's in the player," Berry says. "It's the mentality he's putting in and never giving up on a play. A lot of speed."

Speed is what Berry savors because as he'll tell you, tackling is why he loves football.

"I just want to make the tackle, get them down, loss of yards or something," he says. "It really just depends on how I'm feeling. If I'm in the zone, and if I feel like I could run through a brick wall, then I might just try it."

"He just makes us all better," defensive end Chris Walker says of Berry. "Some teams gameplan where he's gonna be, what he's gonna be doing. It's gonna be hard for teams to try to gameplan us."

It's often hard for Berry's teammates to grasp his skill level. "The biggest change for guys when they come in from high school to college is the speed of the game," Walker says. "The first day we were out in practice, it seemed like he had been playing that way his whole life, like he'd been in college forever."

Berry's ability shouldn't be so surprising. After all, football runs in Berry's blood. His father, James Berry, was a 1981 captain and four-year letterman at Tennessee. Eric's 13-year-old brother, Evan, even verbally committed to UT in July.

"To be honest with you, he committed before I did," Berry smiles.

Even if it meant losing an armful of awards, Berry would prefer to erase the 2008 season out of his mind. In fact, he's already forgotten the dismal year.

"I moved past last year right when we started winter training," he admits. "It is a new year. There's no reason to dwell on last season because it wasn't a good one."

Rumors have circulated that this could be Berry's last season wearing orange. A sure-fire first round NFL draft pick, Berry could wave goodbye to Knoxville for an early shot at a pro career next summer. The decision is his alone, but Berry embraces his leadership role and refuses to look further into the future than he has to. At least, not yet.

"Not much thought right now," Berry says of a possible NFL career. "Just trying to get ready for the season and finish this season out. And hopefully get to the SEC Championship and win this year and get to a BCS bowl." And who knows, one more surprise could be thrown Eric Berry's way Ñ the chance to pick off the Heisman Trophy for the record books.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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