ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
MICHAEL STUEWE NEARLY detoured before arriving at Virginia Tech, but he's turned around his football career with hard work and lots of help. - As it turned out, Virginia Tech split end Michael Stuewe may never run a better route than the one he did down Interstate 81 in 1993.
Searching desperately for a chance to play Division I-A football, Stuewe loaded up the family car in Somerset, N.J., and headed south.
``It was just me, my father and my video,'' Stuewe said. ``We stopped at the University of Richmond first and I loved the place. But they certainly didn't love me.
``So we get back in the car and my dad says, `Let's go to Virginia Tech.' But on the way there, I remember telling him `just forget it, it's a waste of time, so why even bother.'
``My dad started to turn the car around. He was mad that I wasn't going through with all our plans. He wouldn't even talk to me. Since we had six hours left to drive back home, I was like, `OK, dad, let's go.'''
Because Stuewe didn't complete that I-81 button hook, Tech's 1996 receiving corps is in much better hands. Just ask Hokies wideout coach Terry Strock.
``Michael Stuewe is our possession receiver,'' Strock said. ``He's got the best hands of any receiver we've got. He's one guy who we know if we get the ball to he's going to catch it.''
Stuewe, once rated too small, too slow and too weak to play big-time college football, didn't bobble his chance.
``When I got here, I was totally awed,'' Stuewe said. ``It was such a big place. And the football players, they were so huge. Meanwhile, I was 6-1, weighed 59 pounds and was just another slow white guy.
``But Coach Strock invited me to walk on the team. He said we're not giving any more scholarship to wide receivers. He told me straight up that I'd have to earn it on my own. He said it's a hard thing to do, but people have done it, and I'm going to give you that opportunity.''
After spending two long years on Tech's scout team and a lot of hours in the Hokies' weight room, Stuewe finally got his reward last year.
Two weeks after coach Frank Beamer put him on scholarship, Stuewe came off the bench to catch six passes in Tech's first two games.
``He really surprised me,'' Strock said. ``Coming out of high school, the kid was just a very average receiver. He wasn't very fast, he wasn't very big, and he was wasn't very strong. He didn't have near what you needed, but he did have those hands.''
Talk about good hands. This guy could be the poster boy for Allstate.
``He's definitely got a pair of Vise Grips,'' said Jim Druckenmiller, Tech's starting quarterback. ``I know if I get the ball anywhere near him, he's going to catch it. I can't remember the last time he dropped a ball in a game.''
Beamer's eyes lit up when asked about Stuewe.
``You know what,'' said Beamer. ``I'll take that little old guy to the bank every time.''
Such talk humbles Stuewe.
``Oh, I drop balls in practice all the time,'' he said. ``But come game time, it all has worked out in my favor. The way I figure it, I don't get that many balls, so I'd darn sure better not drop one.''
As Tech's No.4 wide receiver last year, Stuewe finished with a modest 13 receptions for 122 yards. Sharing time at split end with senior Cornelius White, Stuewe has four catches in Tech's first two games this season, including his first touchdown reception, a 9-yarder at Akron.
Strock noted Stuewe has more than hands going for him now.
``The kid has really improved his speed and strength through the weight room,'' Strock said. ``He's gone from a 4.8 in the 40 when he first got here to a 4.43 last spring. And he's stronger, which has helped him fight better for yardage once he catches the ball.''
White, Tech's only veteran wideout, said Stuewe has come from nowhere to somewhere fast.
``To come from a walk-on to where he is now is very impressive,'' White said. ``When I first saw him he needed a lot of improvement. But he's gotten faster and stronger. Shoot, he's faster than me now in the 40.''
Stuewe said he owed his remarkable progress to Tech strength coach Mike Gentry, Strock and his father, Dennis.
``I made a big turn physically under Coach Gentry,'' said Stuewe, who has bulked up to 181 pounds.
``And Coach Strock has been great. He has pushed me into what I've accomplished. When I thought about giving it all up, he took time for me, even if I was just a mediocre player.
``And my dad taught me about not being a quitter. A lot of times I would say, `I don't know if this is going to work out,' and he'd always tell me to just work harder. I'm sure he's proud of me now.''
Dennis Stuewe was a running back at Nebraska from 1962-64.
``I guess he didn't have any contacts out there,'' joked Michael, when asked why he didn't try to walk on at Nebraska. ``My dad was given a scholarship. He never had to do what I had to go through.''
The tough road to hike was well worth it, Stuewe said.
``There was so much in my way to get where I wanted to get,'' he said. ``I had so many walls to hurdle. But it slowly worked out for me.
``Looking back, it's pretty unbelievable what's happened to me here. I just thank God now that dad didn't turn that car around on the interstate three years ago.''
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. Wide receiver Michael Stuewe hasby CNBcaught on at Virginia Tech, making the tough grabs like this one
along the sideline Saturday at Boston College. color. 2. (headshot)
Stuewe.