RoaminSooner
8/14/2010, 07:42 PM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/wires/08/12/2060.ap.fbc.oklahoma.s.hammer.0885/
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -Ronnell Lewis' teammates at Oklahoma have learned to recognize the sound of the "Hammer'' at work.
Instead of driving nails, the Sooners' hard-hitting linebacker excels at smashing opponents - and sometimes teammates in practice - into the ground. Enough so that coach Bob Stoops gave him his moniker after the Sooners' Sun Bowl win last season.
"He's the most violent hitter I've been around,'' said defensive coordinator Brent Venables, whose former pupils include two Butkus Award winners and a handful of Big 12 defensive players of the year.
"I haven't been all over the place, OK, but I've been here and I've had some good players and he's as violent as they come.''
Venables even told the Sooners' incoming freshmen that they were in for a treat by getting to witness Lewis, a sophomore with only one start under his belt, at work. He describes Lewis as having a natural gift of being able to generate speed and power and still hit people flush with regularity.
And when it happens, it's music to the ears of any defensive player.
"His hitting is - I don't even know what type of level that is. It just seems like on every contact he makes, it's a hard hit,'' freshman safety Tony Jefferson said.
"You know when it's Hammer. It's a unique sound. It's not just a regular hit. You know when Hammer hits someone.''
Lewis brings a different pedigree than the NFL-caliber linebackers who have come through Oklahoma's system in recent years. He played eight-man football at Dewar High School in eastern Oklahoma but was dominant enough that he caught the eyes of the Sooners' coaching staff and recruiting experts across the nation.
As a junior, he rushed for 2,000 yards and 40 touchdowns while also picking off 11 passes as a safety. When Venables got the chance to meet him, he was even more impressed than when he watched tape of Lewis dominating overmatched competition.
"He walked in the room and he looked like a million bucks,'' Venables said. "He looked like The Incredible Hulk when he walked into the room, and he had a fabulous smile, a fabulous demeanor, a great presence to him. I couldn't find a person that would say a bad thing about him.''
Lewis grew up with six sisters and one brother in Hoffman before moving a few miles west to Dewar, a slightly bigger but still a small town. There, he got involved in basketball, track, power lifting and rodeo before excelling at football.
And when football practice was over, he'd go to his coach's ranch to ride horses and sometimes go fishing - hobbies he'll still pursue as a release from all those hard hits.
It's that background that Venables credits with Lewis' physical strength.
"He learned that out there wrestlin' steers,'' Venables said. "He's just got country strength to him.''
Lewis, the third-born of his siblings, can remember thinking when he was young that he should do something to help his father support the family. By his sophomore year of high school, he started thinking football might be the answer.
"I never thought it would be OU,'' Lewis said. "It was a dream that came true.''
Now, he's the first one to go to college, and he hopes football takes him even farther.
"I just wanted to make a change for my family. We grew up struggling and I just want to try and change that path, go get a good education and hopefully go to the next level,'' Lewis said.
Not that he views life in his close-knit clan in a bad light.
"We didn't have certain things that other kids and families had,'' Lewis said. "We had a roof over our heads and clothes on our back and food, but there's just some things we did struggle with from time to time over the years. But we overcame that.''
That means there's still work to do, and Lewis has been more than willing to do it. Stoops complimented him for being one of the standard-setters in the weight room for the Sooners.
"Ronnell's one of those guys that's a physical phenom like an Adrian (Peterson) that just can't get enough. He just loves it,'' Stoops said. "The guys see it. They see the work ethic and the attitude, and then he backs it up on the field. He's a very physical player when he plays.''
As a result, Lewis has Oklahoma's coaches looking for ways to get him on the field more often. Among the possibilities: putting him in more of a defensive end's role when the Sooners use a 3-4 scheme.
"Wherever the coaches put me, I'm going to try and do the best I can,'' Lewis said, "and really just work hard and show them that I can play here or there and give it my all.''
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/wires/08/12/2060.ap.fbc.oklahoma.s.hammer.0885/#ixzz0wdAm5yKs
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -Ronnell Lewis' teammates at Oklahoma have learned to recognize the sound of the "Hammer'' at work.
Instead of driving nails, the Sooners' hard-hitting linebacker excels at smashing opponents - and sometimes teammates in practice - into the ground. Enough so that coach Bob Stoops gave him his moniker after the Sooners' Sun Bowl win last season.
"He's the most violent hitter I've been around,'' said defensive coordinator Brent Venables, whose former pupils include two Butkus Award winners and a handful of Big 12 defensive players of the year.
"I haven't been all over the place, OK, but I've been here and I've had some good players and he's as violent as they come.''
Venables even told the Sooners' incoming freshmen that they were in for a treat by getting to witness Lewis, a sophomore with only one start under his belt, at work. He describes Lewis as having a natural gift of being able to generate speed and power and still hit people flush with regularity.
And when it happens, it's music to the ears of any defensive player.
"His hitting is - I don't even know what type of level that is. It just seems like on every contact he makes, it's a hard hit,'' freshman safety Tony Jefferson said.
"You know when it's Hammer. It's a unique sound. It's not just a regular hit. You know when Hammer hits someone.''
Lewis brings a different pedigree than the NFL-caliber linebackers who have come through Oklahoma's system in recent years. He played eight-man football at Dewar High School in eastern Oklahoma but was dominant enough that he caught the eyes of the Sooners' coaching staff and recruiting experts across the nation.
As a junior, he rushed for 2,000 yards and 40 touchdowns while also picking off 11 passes as a safety. When Venables got the chance to meet him, he was even more impressed than when he watched tape of Lewis dominating overmatched competition.
"He walked in the room and he looked like a million bucks,'' Venables said. "He looked like The Incredible Hulk when he walked into the room, and he had a fabulous smile, a fabulous demeanor, a great presence to him. I couldn't find a person that would say a bad thing about him.''
Lewis grew up with six sisters and one brother in Hoffman before moving a few miles west to Dewar, a slightly bigger but still a small town. There, he got involved in basketball, track, power lifting and rodeo before excelling at football.
And when football practice was over, he'd go to his coach's ranch to ride horses and sometimes go fishing - hobbies he'll still pursue as a release from all those hard hits.
It's that background that Venables credits with Lewis' physical strength.
"He learned that out there wrestlin' steers,'' Venables said. "He's just got country strength to him.''
Lewis, the third-born of his siblings, can remember thinking when he was young that he should do something to help his father support the family. By his sophomore year of high school, he started thinking football might be the answer.
"I never thought it would be OU,'' Lewis said. "It was a dream that came true.''
Now, he's the first one to go to college, and he hopes football takes him even farther.
"I just wanted to make a change for my family. We grew up struggling and I just want to try and change that path, go get a good education and hopefully go to the next level,'' Lewis said.
Not that he views life in his close-knit clan in a bad light.
"We didn't have certain things that other kids and families had,'' Lewis said. "We had a roof over our heads and clothes on our back and food, but there's just some things we did struggle with from time to time over the years. But we overcame that.''
That means there's still work to do, and Lewis has been more than willing to do it. Stoops complimented him for being one of the standard-setters in the weight room for the Sooners.
"Ronnell's one of those guys that's a physical phenom like an Adrian (Peterson) that just can't get enough. He just loves it,'' Stoops said. "The guys see it. They see the work ethic and the attitude, and then he backs it up on the field. He's a very physical player when he plays.''
As a result, Lewis has Oklahoma's coaches looking for ways to get him on the field more often. Among the possibilities: putting him in more of a defensive end's role when the Sooners use a 3-4 scheme.
"Wherever the coaches put me, I'm going to try and do the best I can,'' Lewis said, "and really just work hard and show them that I can play here or there and give it my all.''
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/wires/08/12/2060.ap.fbc.oklahoma.s.hammer.0885/#ixzz0wdAm5yKs