Little Man, Big Man

There’s an old phrase that I’ve quoted before which says, “It’s not the size of the cat in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the cat.” This could not be truer in the case of my former suitemate Cyrus Lawrence, Virginia Tech’s all-time leading rusher who was recently inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Today’s sports world is obsessed with statistics. Fantasy football is getting bigger every year, and stories like Moneyball have become influential in our popular culture. From professional team analysts to casual fans, people break down everything about a player, from the more traditional football-related stats – RGIII’s incredible speed; Drew Brees breaking Johnny Unitas’ record of consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass – as well as everything else about the guy: height, weight, whether he’s dating a supermodel, etc.

If you had looked at some of Cyrus’ stats while recruiting him for college football, you might have thought he fell short in some of those important statistical areas. You see, Cyrus was about 5’7”, 180lbs and did not have the kind of blazing speed that coaches look for in running backs today. But once you saw him play, you would have realized that he didn’t let any of that bother him one bit.

He worked out hard in the weight room and ultimately became the strongest guy on our team. He played every practice like it was a bowl game – and he didn’t miss a single practice the entire time I was at Tech. He used his lack of height as an advantage – being lower to the ground combined with great agility when dodging tackles meant he was a hard target for the opposing team’s defense to bring down.

But the thing that impressed us all the most about Cyrus was his will to win coupled with a heart as big as Lane Stadium. As games wore on he would continue to carry the load and keep getting stronger. Our offensive line would play harder after watching Cyrus’ effort and intensity on each and every play. It was impossible to be on that offense with him and not want to give 110% to try and match his incredible effort.

They say that great players play their best games when the stakes are the highest. When Virginia Tech played Virginia in 1980 in Blacksburg, it was in front of the biggest crowd at the time to have ever watched a sporting event in the state of Virginia. The record crowd was in their seats early as the two teams took the field. Both teams had winning records, but UVA was favored because of its tough defense.

Cyrus ran through, over and around that defense, racking up an astounding amount of yardage against the favored team. His performance carried Tech to a 30-0 shellacking of its arch-rival UVA. The sound of the crowd that day and the enthusiasm shown would mark the beginning of big-time college football for both of the schools. Within 10 years, the two teams would meet at UVA while both were ranked in the top 10 football teams in the nation. That performance by Cyrus, for me at least, marked the beginning of it all.

In front of another packed stadium a year later, late in the season when Tech was trying to make it to a bowl game we faced off against a very good Memphis State team that boasted one of the top defenses in the country. It turned into a defensive battle, and Tech went down by 4 late in the game. Cyrus essentially single-handedly led the Hokies to drive down the field until we were on the Memphis State 2 yard line with 8 seconds left to play. On 4^th down, Tech called a toss sweep into the short side of the field. The Memphis State defense was not fooled, and when Cyrus got to the 5 yard line to turn upfield he was greeted by the sight of a “team picture” of the Memphis State defense lined up in front of him. Things could not have looked worse.

Cyrus put a spin move on the first would-be tackler, and then spun again, heading straight for 3 300-pound defensive linemen on the goal line. Undaunted, Cyrus lowered his shoulder and charged right into them and with a super-human effort split the defenders and managed to get the ball across the goal line. After a huge sigh of relief the crowd went bonkers. If I live to be 100 I will never forget the heart, will and effort that Cyrus put into that play.

These were a few memorable moments in a career that had many. As important as Cy’s career was for Virginia Tech football, the way he went about establishing that career was even more impressive. As I mentioned earlier he was the hardest worker on the team and despite all of his many accolades, he maintained his humble nature. He always deferred praise to the team and made sure to thank his teammates. If you had the pleasure to play beside him as I did, or if you were a Tech fan when he was around then you were better for having known him and you would never forget the impact that he had.

I love you Cyrus, my brother, and I hope this helps others get to know and love you, too.

Have a great weekend,

Ro