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Santonio Beard

Santonio Beard

RB, 6'1, 204, 4.4, 275 BP
Nashville, TN

Nickname: Tee
Birthday: 2-14-80
High School: Pearl-Cohn
HS Mascot: Firebirds
HS Coach: Maurice Fitzgerald
HS Position: RB
HS Number: 10
AL Number: 10
Official Visits: AL, TN, KY, GA
Second Choice: None
Host During Alabama Visit: Fernando Bryant
Committed: 12-10-98
Roommate To Be: Kenny King
Academic Status: Not Qualified

Stats

HS Junior Season

Rushing

  • 2164 yards
  • 25 TDs

HS Senior Season

Rushing

  • 2432 yards
  • 38 TDs

Career

Rushing

  • 6185 yards
  • 91 TDs

Honors

  • Three-time All-Conference
  • Three-time All-Distirct
  • Three-time All-City
  • Three-time All-County
  • Three-time All-Area
  • Three-time All-Region
  • Three-time All-State
  • Three-time All-Metro
  • Two-time Class 4-A Mr. Tennessee
  • Two-time Team MVP
  • Two-time Region MVP
  • Team Captain
  • USA Today All American
  • Pigskin Preps Super South 75
  • Forrest Davis All South
  • SuperPrep All American
  • Prep Star All American

SBR Scouting Report

Cut-back runner with good speed. Plays big in the big games. Will get stronger on a college strength and conditioning program. May be capable of moving to another position such as defensive back or wide receiver. Projects as a running back.

[Observation: live as a member of an opposing coaching staff (sophomore), live as a junior and senior.]

Stories

I Bleed Crimson

Ask him when he became an Alabama fan and Santonio Beard starts rattling off names from the Tide's '92 national championship team.

"Palmer, Lassic, Teague, Langham, those were my favorites." he says. "That's when I fell in love with Alabama football."

He recalls many of the Tide's biggest games, especially the ones against Tennessee. And one that sticks in his craw is the '96 game in Knoxville which Alabama lost 20-13.

"We should've won that game," Beard says. "Dennis Riddle ran all over them. But Jay Graham killed us with that 75-yard run at the end of the game."

Beard was a budding sophomore star at Pearl-Cohn. He attended the game as a guest of Tennessee.

"Before the game they had all of the prospects on Tennessee's sideline," recalls Beard. "I was wearing an Alabama cap and my high school coach was telling me that I should take it off. I told him that I wasn't going to take it off. Alabama is my team. I didn't care what the Tennessee people thought."

The pressure to take off his Alabama cap was nothing compared to what he faced during the recruiting process.

"There was tons of pressure to go to Tennessee," Beard says. "My high school coach, Tennessee fans at my school, the media, everybody thought they knew what was best for me. But I always wanted to play for Alabama."

In December, Beard committed to Alabama. But a month later a Nashville newspaper reported that he had changed his commitment to Tennessee.

"I never, ever committed to Tennessee," he says. "The only reason that I visited Tennessee was because of my high school coach. He was my father figure and he thought I should go to Tennessee."

To avoid further pressure, in late January Beard transferred to Milford Prep School in Connecticut.

"On signing day, I had papers from Alabama and Tennessee in front of me," he says. "I didn't even look at the Tennessee papers. I signed with Alabama as fast as I could."

Beard says there was never any doubt where he was going.

"If you cut me, I'll bleed crimson red. I couldn't imagine playing for another school."

Alabama Football Out of Business?

How did people in Tennessee react when Santonio Beard committed to Alabama?

"The Tennessee fans dogged me out," Beard says. "The nicest thing they said was that I'd better be ready to be on my butt the third Saturday of every October."

The Tennessee coaches weren't too happy either.

"Let's just say that they don't think too much of the Alabama program or where it's headed," Beard says. "I was told that Alabama football will be out of business in two years."

If Alabama continues to raid the state of Tennessee for it's best prospects every year, Tennessee might soon be out of business.

"The in-state players know how Tennessee operates," Beard says. "They can make Knoxville sound like this great impossible dream. Out-of-state kids fall for their tricks. But in-state guys like me, Eric Locke, Kindal Morehead and David Paine, we know better."

Neyland Stadium Finds It's Match

During a recent visit to New York City, Santonio Beard had some bad flashbacks.

"It was so, so congested," Beard says. "People were almost on top of each other. I thought I was in Neyland Stadium."

Beard currently attends Milford Prep School in Connecticut, which just 45 minutes from New York.

"Downtown New York and Neyland Stadium are the two most horrible places I've ever been. They're a perfect match."

He Leads Pearl-Cohn to State Title

Santonio Beard was playing in the biggest game of his life.

"It was the state championship game against Knoxville Halls during my sophomore year," recalls Beard. "I had never played in anything like it. All these college coaches were there. I was scared to death."

Shortly before halftime, Halls scored a touchdown to cut Pearl-Cohn's lead to 12-7. When Pearl-Cohn got the ball back, they planned to just run out the clock. But when Beard gets his hands on the ball, anything can happen.

"We had the ball at about our 40," Beard says. "We ran a toss sweep to the right. They had me surrounded at the line of scrimmage, so I cut straight across to the left. They didn't have any backside containment, so it was all over."

The touchdown won the game for Pearl-Cohn. Beard finished with 196 yards and two touchdowns.

"That was the play that broke their back," Beard says. "It's the play that will always stick with me."

Q&A

TI: Santonio, describe your running style.

SB: I'm a cutback runner, a lot like Terrell Davis. I like to let the defense overflow and cutback. I can run between the tackles, but I'm more of a finesse runner.

TI: Would you consider playing a position other than running back?

SB: If they told me that I had a better chance of making it to the NFL playing safety or linebacker or any other position, then I'd move. Anything I can do to help my team, I'll do it.

TI: Have you set any goals for your Alabama career?

SB: First, I want to get my team back to where they're supposed to be. We need to be playing for the national championship. I want to help restore that tradition. Florida and Tennessee and some of these other teams in the SEC shouldn't be ahead of Alabama.

Personally, I'd like to break the school freshman rushing record and someday win the Heisman. But the individual goals really don't mean much to me. They'd be nice to have, but playing in a national championship game is much more important.

TI: Now that you're at Milford Prep, has the recruiting process already started over again?

SB: Oh no, no, no. There won't be another recruiting process. I haven't told anybody this, but I'll be at Alabama in August. I'll have my grades. All I need is the test score. If I don't get it, I'll be a partial-qualifier. But I expect to get it and be redshirted next season.

TI: Do you want to be redshirted?

SB: I've already talked to Coach [Ivy] Williams about it and I want to spend next season getting ready to replace Shaun Alexander after he leaves.

TI: What do you think about the Alabama-Tennessee game being moved to Tuscaloosa?

SB: That's great! I was at the Alabama-Florida game last year in Tuscaloosa and thought then that all of Alabama's games should be in Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa is home and there's nothing like being on campus. I'm glad that Tennessee will have to come to our place.