[Buckskin86]

Super 11 Diary: P'tree Ridge's Cameron Heyward
'Knowing that my dad is looking down on me makes me play harder'

For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/12/06

Don't put Super 11 selection Cameron Heyward in a box. The 6-foot-7, 282-pounder has proven what a mistake it would be. Label him a basketball player, and he'll turn heads on the football field. Call him a defensive tackle and he'll turn around and lay someone out while playing on the offensive line. Heyward, the son of the late Pro Bowl running back Craig "Ironhead," is a do-it-all athlete ? period. The Peachtree Ridge senior, a mainstay at defensive tackle, talked to staff writer Rana L. Cash:

This season has been pretty good, but we have had a couple hard losses. We've become closer as a team, though, and there's been a lot of improvement since the beginning of the year. For me, knowing that my dad is looking down on me makes me play harder. I have dedicated this season to him. I know my mother is watching me, too. She's at all my games. She can be kinda loud if she wants to! She worries about if my asthma will get the best of me, but since I've gotten older, it's not like it used to be.

Against Forsyth Central, I played offense [offensive tackle] and defense [defensive tackle]. I've done it before, but not for the whole game. I just wanted to help my team. Obviously, I got the job done. It was different, playing offense, but I still put people on their butts. I don't know if I'd play offense in college, though.

The million dollar question is where I'm going to school. I plan to take all my official visits. I may not visit Georgia [because he's already familiar with the program]. I'm going to visit Tennessee, Florida, LSU, and probably Ohio State and USC.

Most of them have been open to me playing both basketball and football. I see it as a challenge. I think I can do it. I'm not going to doubt myself.

For right now, it's about football. My best game was against South Forsyth. I had an interception, a fumble recovery, a sack and forced a fumble. The only thing wrong with that game was that I didn't score a touchdown.

As for my personal goals this year, I want to be an All-American. There's always going to be pressure, but it's all in how you deal with it. The way I see it, it's about staying focused.

http://www.ajc.com/highschool/conten...uperdiary.html