University of Tennessee Athletics
HUMBLED BY SUCCESS
November 17, 2006 | Football
Nov. 17, 2006
By Austin Ward, UT Sports Information
Jayson Swain can't resist a needling.
What does he think about the season his partner in crime, Robert Meachem, is having?
"Sorry," he says.
Has there been any difference in Meachem as he has emerged as one of the nation's best receivers?
"His head's big already," Swain says with a wide smile and Meachem well within earshot. "It can't get any bigger."
The senior Swain continues to give the junior a hard time before turning serious and pouring on the compliments for the Vols' leading receiver and the country's second-most productive pass-catcher.
Meachem's season?
"We've been fortunate," Swain says. "All the work he did in the offseason is paying off, and he's taking advantage of all the balls that are coming to him and making plays with them."
Any attitude adjustments?
"With the season that he's had, he's still humble," Swain says. "He goes out there everyday and tries to get better. "He's staying hungry and staying humble. That's the best thing about him."
And there's been plenty to like.
Meachem has already shattered his previous career bests in essentially every meaningful category, and there's still three games left to be played.
The quick rundown looks like this:
- 54 catches through 10 games this season. Coming into the season, he has 54 total grabs in 24 games.
- The big-play threat has nine touchdowns this season. His previous season-high was four as a freshman, and last season he nabbed just two scoring strikes.
- Meachem's 1,054 yards this season are 212 more than his career total after two campaigns, and he's more than doubled his previous career best. In fact, it took him just a little more than four games this season to blow past the 459 yards he piled up as a freshman.
There's plenty more, and pretty much all of it has come as a bit of surprise.
Meachem had led the Vols in receiving in each of the last two seasons, but his assault on the national leaderboards came largely unannounced. Heading into the campaign, the semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award - given to the nation's best receiver - wasn't even listed on the preseason "Watch List" for potential candidates.
Now he's become just the fourth Vol ever to go over 1,000 yards in a single season - joining Kelley Washington, Joey Kent and Marcus Nash - and starting to leave his fingerprints all over the UT record books.
"As of right now, I don't really think about the stats," Meachem says. "Getting to 1,000 yards was my goal, and my goals are still really high, but they're just all about winning.
"Before we started the season, (receivers) coach Trooper (Taylor) always told us that we were going to have a 1,000-yard receiver. He kept saying it, and kept saying it. When you keep hearing it, and keep on hearing it, it stays in your head. But when you're out there playing, you're not thinking about how many yards you have or your stats, you think about first downs or trying to score and help the team win.
"That's all I want to do."
It's typical Meachem, who's every bit as humble as the serious Swain proclaims and nearly as quiet - the anti-T.O.
"For one, I just gave everything to God and let him handle everything," he says about his approach to this season. "My little girl was born, she was a great focus in my life and I wanted to be able to show her a positive influence and not somebody who's just out there just doing something.
"I would say coach (Trooper) Taylor and the rest of the receivers have really helped me, and then Cedrick Wilson coming to talk to us and telling us that we got our (wide receivers) coach (Pat Washington) fired (last season).
"That hit home. Coach Washington, I looked up to him because he helped me come a long way. As far that goes, it was just so big and it hurt so bad to see him and coach (Randy) Sanders go."
Meachem turned that hurt into fuel in the offseason, and opposing defenses have been paying the price since he opened the season with 182 yards and two touchdowns in a rout of California.
"It was all mental," Swain says. "He's physically gifted and maybe better than anybody in the country.
"It was all mental for him. Studying and really preparing himself for practice, and it's definitely paid off for him."
And it could pay off for him even more in the spring if the junior elects to come out early and declare for the NFL Draft.
But the T.O. in Meachem - Terrell's Opposite - isn't even thinking about the pros right now.
"Honestly, I don't think about the draft," he says quietly. "That's for everybody else to think about. When it's time to think about that, I'll think about it.
"I'll sit down with my mom and we'll pray. Whatever God wants me to do, that's what I'm going to do."
Big head?
Maybe Swain was talking about a different Meachem.
