Monday, December 31, 2007
An unexpected field of dreams for Lewis
Aaron McFarling
Recent columns
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Occasionally, Kenny Lewis Jr. finds himself chewing sunflower seeds during football practice. This is a habit, not to be confused with nostalgia.
Lewis has no wistful flashbacks to patrolling the outfield at some Class A outpost in the Midwest, or curling up for a seven-hour bus ride to the next small town. He does not miss the smell of pine tar. He does not long for another stare down with some relief pitcher who knows he's going to swipe second.
But he definitely knows how to daydream. Playing center field for three years in the Cincinnati Reds organization provided plenty of down time to envision moments like the one that will come this week, moments he really wanted -- football moments Lewis wasn't sure he'd ever have.
"There's something about having that ball in your hand out there in front of 80 or 90,000 people going crazy," Lewis said. "I don't know, man. There's just something about playing football."
And there's something about starting at tailback in one of the biggest games in your program's history. Lewis will get that chance Thursday when Virginia Tech meets Kansas in the Orange Bowl.
The opportunity might only last one quarter -- that's all first-stringer Branden Ore is suspended for, after all -- but that doesn't matter. For Lewis, a 5-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore from Danville, this is an opportunity five years in the making.
"It's all bottled in for the first quarter of the Kansas game," Lewis said. "I can let loose on Kansas."
Knowing you belong is a special thing, and Lewis has no questions about that now. He belongs here, with these football players who share his passion. Somehow, he knew that all along, even when he was stealing 37 bases in the Gulf Coast League in 2003 or struggling to make a name for himself in the Midwest League in 2005.
His father, a former Hokie football great and member of the Tech Sports Hall of Fame, was the only other one who really knew. But others could sense it.
One day, one of Lewis' baseball coaches sat him down and told him the story of Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, who ordered his men to burn their ships upon arrival at enemy shores. They'd either win the battle and capture the enemy ships or they would die trying, no in between.
Lewis understood exactly what the coach meant. This was a story of commitment to a cause, something Lewis didn't have.
"They wanted me to understand that I had to burn my ship," Lewis said. "My ship was football. I couldn't burn that ship."
Lewis had been a star running back at George Washington High School. He took up baseball his junior year on his father's advice -- the possibilities for a lasting career were much stronger there, Kenny Sr. reasoned -- and Lewis shined immediately on the diamond. After committing to the Hokies for football, he was drafted in the fourth round by the Reds.
He couldn't pass it up.
"But from Day 1, me and my father knew I was coming back" to football, Lewis said. "I didn't know how it was going to happen, but I knew that I was coming back."
It happened late in the fall of 2005. Before a night game against North Carolina, Tech coach Frank Beamer invited Lewis to come to Lane Stadium. Lewis instantly reconnected with guys such as Duane Brown and Chris Ellis and Justin Harper, players he knew from the recruiting days.
Then, Beamer asked Lewis if he wanted to walk through the tunnel.
"That was it," Lewis said, his eyes widening. "If he wouldn't have let me walk through that tunnel, I might have gone back [to baseball]. I walked through the tunnel and I said, 'Dad, I can't go back.' "
So he didn't. He burned a ship -- only it was baseball.
He kept the seeds habit, though. It's served him well over these first two years as a backup tailback for the Hokies. When he's not in on the first-string drills, he pops in a handful and waits his turn.
The only warm memory that they might bring back is hanging out with Ken Griffey Jr. during spring training. Griffey would show up to batting practice with his hat turned around backward, flip-flops on his feet and the joystick of a remote-control car in his hands.
"That might be the biggest kid I've ever met," Lewis said with a smile.
But he had some good advice for the fledgling Lewis.
"He told me the sky's the limit," Lewis said. "Have fun. Never take anything for granted. If you see something funny, laugh at it."
That's easy for Lewis now. He's just days away from his big break, and no matter how well he plays, he's sure of one thing:
He's exactly where he belongs.
