ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610100058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA TECH'S COACHES SAY speed has made linebacker Myron Newsome one of the best in school history at his position despite his 5-foot-9 stature.
Good thing those policemen stationed on the sideline during Virginia Tech football games aren't packing radar guns.
Because if they were, Hokies linebacker Myron Newsome would be a dead duck. If the cops could catch him, that is.
``Talk about a guy going 100 miles an hour all the time,'' said Frank Beamer, Tech's coach. ``That's Myron Newsome. He knows only one speed and that's full speed. For that guy, it's pedal to the metal on every down.''
Since arriving at Tech in the fall of 1995 after a two-year stint at Butler (Kan.) Community College, Newsome has sped to the forefront of the Hokies' defense. While Cornell Brown, Tech's All-America end, grabs the brunt of the media attention, Tech's coaching staff can't talk defense without mentioning Newsome.
``Nobody on our defense is involved in more plays than Myron,'' said Bud Foster, the Hokies' defensive coordinator. ``He's virtually in on every tackle. Just look where the ball is and you'll find Myron.''
One can find him every Saturday, too. While some may have questioned whether Tech's defense showed up in the 52-21 fiasco at Syracuse on Sept.28, Newsome certainly punched the time clock. The senior recorded a career-high 18 tackles, making two stops behind the line and forcing a fumble.
``I think if everybody had played as well as he played that we'd have been all right in that game,'' Beamer said.
At 5 feet 9, 216 pounds, Newsome is indeed proof good things come in small packages. Besides, if this guy was 6-3, he might be illegal. Or another Lawrence Taylor.
``I wish I was about 6-3,'' said Newsome, who is as quiet as his play is loud. ``I sure wouldn't be worried about playing football [in the NFL] next year then.''
Newsome may be short - ``better not tell him that; he's liable to deck you,'' Beamer said jokingly - but it hasn't stopped him from being one of the best, if not the best, linebacker in the past decade at Tech.
OK, he's short. But he's fast (4.55 seconds in the 40-yard dash) and strong as an ox (he bench-pressed 420 pounds this past summer, an all-time record for a Hokies linebacker).
``Without question he's one of the best I've had,'' Beamer said. ``He's a small guy who makes big things happen. He's always flying around somewhere, creating havoc and causing things to happen.''
The cat-quick Newsome has been causing a stir on a football field ever since he was a tyke in Hampton. The bloodlines were there from the start. His cousin, Timmy Newsome, played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1980-88.
``I'd watch the pros on Sunday and then go out in the back yard and copy their every move,'' Newsome said.
At Hampton High School, Newsome was an All-Group AAA linebacker and also ran for 874 yards as a tailback during his senior season.
``And I played him at [offensive] guard for three years,'' said Hampton coach Mike Smith, now laughing at himself.
``No doubt, we've had some awfully good ones over the years and he was among the best of the best. Myron played with such a passion, that's what I remember most about him.''
Smith also recalls how many college recruiters were turned off by Newsome's height.
``That made a lot of people shy away,'' Smith said. ``I tried to tell them he was a player. [But] if they didn't have no more sense and couldn't look at it and tell, there's not much you can tell those people.''
Newsome fell short of NCAA academic guidelines for freshman eligibility anyway and enrolled at Butler, where he played for two seasons and earned JUCO All-America honors.
Coming out of Butler, Newsome was pursued by Kansas, Missouri and Houston, but he settled on Tech, which had recruited him out of high school and stayed in touch with him in the two-year interim.
``I always wanted to come to Tech; it just took me a while to get here,'' Newsome said.
The Hokies haven't been the same since, whether it be in practice or on game day.
``Myron kind of starts it all for us,'' Beamer said. ``He won't allow a drill to be a half-speed drill because he'll make it full speed. If you're not going to hit him, he's going to hit you. And what happens is I think he makes the whole football team better.''
Brown on his fellow defender: ``That Myron is something else, man. He's out there going 100 miles per hour trying to kill people.''
To which Newsome responded: ``Yeah, you try to hit 'em hard so you don't have to worry about 'em. I like to put 'em away.''
Tech wideout Shawn Scales, who often faces Newsome's wrath in practice, said he's just glad ``the short guy'' is on his side.
``Myron is not only tough, but he never stops,'' Scales said. ``When you have a guy like Myron, man, that's instant energy right there. The team feeds off that. He's crazy.''
About football. Not airplanes. Apparently, the only thing that can slow Newsome is the thought of flying.
Newsome hates flying so much he asked Beamer if he could ride back home on the bus with the trainers following Tech's 27-0 victory at West Virginia last season.
``I'm scared of planes,'' he said. ``I think bad things when I get on them. I just don't like being up in the air.''
Newsome would much rather have his feet planted on a football field.
``Forget that up-in-the-air stuff,'' Newsome said. ``On the ground, on the field that's where I like doing my flying.''
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff Virginia Tech linebacker Myron Newsomeby CNBknocks the ball out of the hands of Rutgers running back Chad Bosch
during their Sept.21 game in Blacksburg. color.