There has been alot of banter about our new WR and the potential he has within several other threads, so I dug this up from "post-draft" and the Digest....
By JIM WEXELL
Digest Correspondent
Growing up in Brenham, Texas, a town a few miles to the north and west of Houston, back when they called him “Little Limas” or “Lima Bean,” back when Limas Sweed was getting a jump on being “a real country person,” he got up on one of his family’s horses.
Now, his dad had told him not to be nervous or scared, that the horse would sense it and take off.
Well, he was, and the horse did. The horse bolted and threw young Limas to the ground.
Was he hurt? “Nah,” he said. “I was a tough country boy. ”But he didn’t get right back on the horse. His dad, Limas Sr., had to do some convincing.
“It took about a week to build up that courage again,” Limas said. “My dad said I had to get back up there and show him who was in control.”
Limas can’t wait to get back on the horse again. He tore a ligament in his wrist just before the start of his senior season at the University of Texas. He was a decoy for six games and managed to catch 19 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns. But against
Oklahoma on Oct. 6, he fell off the horse, onto the wrist, and hasn’t been back on the
animal since.
Maybe the NFL doesn’t think he’ll ever summon the courage. Fifty-two times a team called a name that wasn’t Limas Sweed. With the 53rd pick, the Steelers stole the best
combination of size, speed and work ethic in the draft.
And now Sweed can’t wait to get back up on the beast.
“I can’t wait to get in there and learn the offense and get a good chemistry with the rest of the team, which I know will happen,” he said. “I just want to get in there, work
hard, learn the plays and see what happens.”
Scouts say Sweed is “driven,” that he has one of the best work ethics of any wide receiving prospect in the draft. He said he got it from his parents, particularly his mother, Evelyn, who worked as a prison guard in Navasota before being promoted to captain.
“She used to jack me up against the wall, ”Limas said. “My mother’s always been real strict and it worked on me. She said ‘no pass, no play,’ and she enforced that. She’s probably my biggest critic, but also my biggest fan. My dad, he’s a deacon, so he’s kind of quiet by nature, but he’s a cool guy. He always competes with you, whether it’s sports or dominoes.”
The combination of discipline and competitiveness made Limas a three-sport star at Brenham. As a senior in 2002-03, he led the school to its first appearance in the Texas (4A) state championship game and also finished fourth in the state in the 110-meter high hurdles.
Sweed redshirted at Texas in 2003, but was needed the next season when the top three receivers left. Sweed and his raw, inexperienced quarterback, Vince Young, combined for 23 catches in 2004, but the pair took off in 2005. Sweed caught 36 passes and the Longhorns won the national championship. Young threw him eight passes for 65 yards in the title game as Texas nipped USC, 41-38, in the Rose Bowl.
Sweed blossomed the next season. As a junior, he caught 46 passes with 12 of them going for touchdowns. He averaged 17.4 yards per catch and returned to school with the hope of becoming a No. 1 pick by an NFL team. But the injury stymied his progress and he ended up falling to the second round.
The Dallas Morning News explained the fall best: “He wouldn’t be able to help as a returner during the grooming process. Can a team ... afford to spend a first-round pick on a player who won’t make an immediate impact?”
Well, the Steelers believe he will make an immediate impact. Wide receivers coach Randy
Fichtner already named Sweed the No. 3 receiver.
“It tickles you to death because you’re looking at a (top) three group that’s really strong and a possibility of Nate Washington being No. 4 is really exciting,” Fichtner said.
Perhaps Sweed isn’t the automatic No. 3 man.
Perhaps it was just Fichtner’s adrenaline rush talking because he was so happy the Steelers were able to draft a player with Sweed’s potential.
“I love his range,” Fichtner said. “The area of miss is big. He’s got the longer arms and he vertical-jumped (37.5). You couple that with him being taller than 6-4 and you’re talking about a larger frame and target.”
All Sweed has to do now is get back up on the horse, show it who’s in control.
Sweed indeed:
Steelers get size at WR position.
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