cowboyjoe
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 28,423
- Reaction score
- 733
Doak Walker Award winner Gerhart won't take no for an answer
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedc...ries/stories/021910dnspodoaklede.3f54464.html
12:03 AM CST on Friday, February 19, 2010
By KEITH WHITMIRE / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
When Toby Gerhart is told he can't do something, watch out.
Although he was a record-setting tailback in high school, some of the colleges recruiting him wanted him to play fullback, or even switch to defense.
He will be honored tonight with the 2009 Doak Walker Award, given to the nation's top running back. So much for playing defense.
"Some teams didn't see me as a running back at all," Gerhart said. "You just have to battle through it and prove people wrong. It's something I've gotten used to over the years."
Gerhart was also a standout outfielder for Stanford's baseball team. He gave up playing baseball this spring to prepare for the NFL draft.
But there is one thing Gerhart doesn't do well: swim.
In a humorous video produced by Stanford to promote Gerhart as a multi-sport athlete, he is shown trying a number of different sports, everything from field hockey to golf. During a scene with a synchronized swimming team, Gerhart appears to be treading water while doing hand motions.
"I couldn't stay afloat to save my life," Gerhart said. "There's actually a girl behind me holding me up."
Gerhart rushed for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns last season and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting, a mere 28 points behind winner Mark Ingram of Alabama.
It was the closest vote in Heisman history * 1,304 to 1,276 * and Gerhart did it without benefit of a preseason promotional campaign.
"They [Stanford publicists] wanted to do something right at the very beginning of the season and that's when I told them no," Gerhart said. "I didn't want the hype, and it was too early in the season to talk about that stuff. Team goals were more important."
Gerhart said just being invited to New York as a Heisman finalist was a dream come true. Getting there his way, instead of through a lot of promotion and hype, made it even better.
"That's what I take pride in, letting the performance speak for itself instead of all this buzz," Gerhart said.
Gerhart did beat out Ingram for the Doak Walker Award, which ties into the other part of his life he takes pride in: his family. Gerhart is the oldest of six kids.
When Gerhart was named the winner back in December, he met members of the Walker family.
"The first thing they said to me was, 'Congratulations and welcome to the family,' " Gerhart said. "In my life, family means a lot to me. For them to open their arms to me, it was a humbling experience."
Gerhart grew up in rural Norco, Calif., a town about 50 miles east of Los Angeles that bills itself as "Horsetown, USA." Norco has horse trails instead of sidewalks.
Instead of a horse barn, the Gerharts built a baseball diamond behind their house.
Gerhart's father, Todd, is the football coach at Norco High School and his mother, Lori, teaches elementary special education.
Garth, the second-oldest, is an offensive lineman at Arizona State. Then there are the triplets: Teagan and Kelsey play softball at Stanford while Whitley plays softball at Cal Poly. Coltin, the youngest, is an eighth grader and multi-sport athlete.
Playing for his father, Gerhart set the California high school career rushing record with 9,662 yards. His senior year, he rushed for 3,233 yards and 39 touchdowns, including a memorable 458-yard, six-touchdown performance in a playoff game.
Yet when he was being recruited, some schools saw him as a linebacker or safety.
"That [criticism] actually was more of a motivator for him," Lori Gerhart said. "Truthfully, this NFL thing is driving him also. He keeps hearing he can't play tailback, he's not fast enough, he's not this or that."
Most projections have Gerhart (6-1, 235) going in the second or third round. Because of doubts about his breakaway speed, some draft pundits see his NFL future at fullback.
"I want to play running back and be the feature back," said Gerhart.
Gerhart said he has run a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash at Stanford. To make his case for being a primary back, he may have to duplicate it, or even improve on it, by the time of the NFL draft, April 22-24.
"Once I post some good times I think things will settle out," Gerhart said.
"I can't wait to go out there and turn some heads at the combine."
DOAK WALKER AWARD
What: 20th Anniversary Celebration and Presentation Banquet
When: 7 p.m. tonight
Where: Hilton Anatole Hotel
2009 recipient: Toby Gerhart, Stanford
PricewaterhouseCoopers Legends recipients: Eric Dickerson and Craig James, SMU
Hosts: ESPN College Gameday's Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit
Tickets: 214-768-4314
THE GREAT GERHART
Ht., Wt.: 6-1, 235
Hometown: Norco, Calif.
Notable: 2009 Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. ... ranked second nationally in rushing average with 143.9 yards per game. ... Stanford's No.2 all-time leading rusher with 3,522 career yards. ... also a pro baseball prospect who lettered three seasons as an outfielder
PAST DOAK WALKER AWARD WINNERS
Year Player School
2008 Shonn Greene Iowa
2007 Darren McFadden Arkansas
2006 Darren McFadden Arkansas
2005 Reggie Bush USC
2004 Cedric Benson Texas
2003 Chris Perry Michigan
2002 Larry Johnson Penn State
2001 Luke Staley BYU
2000 LaDainian Tomlinson TCU
1999 Ron Dayne Wisconsin
1998 Ricky Williams Texas
1997 Ricky Williams Texas
1996 Byron Hanspard Texas Tech
1995 Eddie George Ohio State
1994 Rashaan Salaam Colorado
1993 Bam Morris Texas Tech
1992 Garrison Hearst Georgia
1991 Trevor Cobb Rice
1990 Greg Lewis Washington
PAST LEGENDS RECIPIENTS
Year Player School
2008 Calvin Hill Yale
2007 Marcus Allen USC
2006 Walter Payton Jackson State
2005 Jim Swink TCU
2004 John David Crow Texas A&M
2003 Felix "Doc" Blanchard Army
2003 Glenn Davis Army
2002 Earl Campbell Texas
2001 Tony Dorsett Pittsburgh
2000 Pete Dawkins Army
1999 Archie Griffin Ohio State
1998
http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedc...ries/stories/021910dnspodoaklede.3f54464.html
12:03 AM CST on Friday, February 19, 2010
By KEITH WHITMIRE / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
When Toby Gerhart is told he can't do something, watch out.
Although he was a record-setting tailback in high school, some of the colleges recruiting him wanted him to play fullback, or even switch to defense.
He will be honored tonight with the 2009 Doak Walker Award, given to the nation's top running back. So much for playing defense.
"Some teams didn't see me as a running back at all," Gerhart said. "You just have to battle through it and prove people wrong. It's something I've gotten used to over the years."
Gerhart was also a standout outfielder for Stanford's baseball team. He gave up playing baseball this spring to prepare for the NFL draft.
But there is one thing Gerhart doesn't do well: swim.
In a humorous video produced by Stanford to promote Gerhart as a multi-sport athlete, he is shown trying a number of different sports, everything from field hockey to golf. During a scene with a synchronized swimming team, Gerhart appears to be treading water while doing hand motions.
"I couldn't stay afloat to save my life," Gerhart said. "There's actually a girl behind me holding me up."
Gerhart rushed for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns last season and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting, a mere 28 points behind winner Mark Ingram of Alabama.
It was the closest vote in Heisman history * 1,304 to 1,276 * and Gerhart did it without benefit of a preseason promotional campaign.
"They [Stanford publicists] wanted to do something right at the very beginning of the season and that's when I told them no," Gerhart said. "I didn't want the hype, and it was too early in the season to talk about that stuff. Team goals were more important."
Gerhart said just being invited to New York as a Heisman finalist was a dream come true. Getting there his way, instead of through a lot of promotion and hype, made it even better.
"That's what I take pride in, letting the performance speak for itself instead of all this buzz," Gerhart said.
Gerhart did beat out Ingram for the Doak Walker Award, which ties into the other part of his life he takes pride in: his family. Gerhart is the oldest of six kids.
When Gerhart was named the winner back in December, he met members of the Walker family.
"The first thing they said to me was, 'Congratulations and welcome to the family,' " Gerhart said. "In my life, family means a lot to me. For them to open their arms to me, it was a humbling experience."
Gerhart grew up in rural Norco, Calif., a town about 50 miles east of Los Angeles that bills itself as "Horsetown, USA." Norco has horse trails instead of sidewalks.
Instead of a horse barn, the Gerharts built a baseball diamond behind their house.
Gerhart's father, Todd, is the football coach at Norco High School and his mother, Lori, teaches elementary special education.
Garth, the second-oldest, is an offensive lineman at Arizona State. Then there are the triplets: Teagan and Kelsey play softball at Stanford while Whitley plays softball at Cal Poly. Coltin, the youngest, is an eighth grader and multi-sport athlete.
Playing for his father, Gerhart set the California high school career rushing record with 9,662 yards. His senior year, he rushed for 3,233 yards and 39 touchdowns, including a memorable 458-yard, six-touchdown performance in a playoff game.
Yet when he was being recruited, some schools saw him as a linebacker or safety.
"That [criticism] actually was more of a motivator for him," Lori Gerhart said. "Truthfully, this NFL thing is driving him also. He keeps hearing he can't play tailback, he's not fast enough, he's not this or that."
Most projections have Gerhart (6-1, 235) going in the second or third round. Because of doubts about his breakaway speed, some draft pundits see his NFL future at fullback.
"I want to play running back and be the feature back," said Gerhart.
Gerhart said he has run a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash at Stanford. To make his case for being a primary back, he may have to duplicate it, or even improve on it, by the time of the NFL draft, April 22-24.
"Once I post some good times I think things will settle out," Gerhart said.
"I can't wait to go out there and turn some heads at the combine."
DOAK WALKER AWARD
What: 20th Anniversary Celebration and Presentation Banquet
When: 7 p.m. tonight
Where: Hilton Anatole Hotel
2009 recipient: Toby Gerhart, Stanford
PricewaterhouseCoopers Legends recipients: Eric Dickerson and Craig James, SMU
Hosts: ESPN College Gameday's Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit
Tickets: 214-768-4314
THE GREAT GERHART
Ht., Wt.: 6-1, 235
Hometown: Norco, Calif.
Notable: 2009 Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. ... ranked second nationally in rushing average with 143.9 yards per game. ... Stanford's No.2 all-time leading rusher with 3,522 career yards. ... also a pro baseball prospect who lettered three seasons as an outfielder
PAST DOAK WALKER AWARD WINNERS
Year Player School
2008 Shonn Greene Iowa
2007 Darren McFadden Arkansas
2006 Darren McFadden Arkansas
2005 Reggie Bush USC
2004 Cedric Benson Texas
2003 Chris Perry Michigan
2002 Larry Johnson Penn State
2001 Luke Staley BYU
2000 LaDainian Tomlinson TCU
1999 Ron Dayne Wisconsin
1998 Ricky Williams Texas
1997 Ricky Williams Texas
1996 Byron Hanspard Texas Tech
1995 Eddie George Ohio State
1994 Rashaan Salaam Colorado
1993 Bam Morris Texas Tech
1992 Garrison Hearst Georgia
1991 Trevor Cobb Rice
1990 Greg Lewis Washington
PAST LEGENDS RECIPIENTS
Year Player School
2008 Calvin Hill Yale
2007 Marcus Allen USC
2006 Walter Payton Jackson State
2005 Jim Swink TCU
2004 John David Crow Texas A&M
2003 Felix "Doc" Blanchard Army
2003 Glenn Davis Army
2002 Earl Campbell Texas
2001 Tony Dorsett Pittsburgh
2000 Pete Dawkins Army
1999 Archie Griffin Ohio State
1998