Berry returning would bolster 2010 team

Here’s to hoping, err, pleading the next Tennessee player to have a street named after him stirs echoes of Peyton Manning with a rousing press conference to announce, in Manning-esque fashion, he is returning for his senior season.

Assuming he does what nearly everyone believes he will and enters the 2010 NFL Draft, enjoy the Vanderbilt and Kentucky games, as well as the likely bowl game to follow. Why?

Greatness doesn’t come around very often. With all due respect to Manning, Reggie White and all the other Tennessee greats, Eric Berry is flat out the best player to ever don the Orange and White (or black for that matter).

In fact, Berry has received at least one honor Manning, or any other UT football player in my lifetime, has not; have the Neyland Stadium crowd chanting his name. The first time I heard the crescendo of “ Er-ic Ber-ry,” I was dumbfounded. Never before had I heard the UT crowd single out one player in such grand fashion. Sure, the cheers were louder when Manning was introduced, but never once did I hear the crowd immersed in chants of “Pey-ton Mann-ing.”

If that doesn’t say enough about Berry’s effect on this university, his stat line does. His freshman year, he had 86 tackles and five interceptions on his way to being named SEC Defensive Freshman of the Year. He followed that up with a sophomore campaign in which he totaled 72 tackles and seven interceptions en route to SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Thus far in 2009, he has 70 tackles and two interceptions. One can only assume when All-SEC and All-America votes come due, Berry’s name will be at the top of the list.

Another year in Knoxville for Berry would be special for everybody with a vested interest in the Tennessee program. The fact that it’s someone with Berry’s class and leadership qualities, it could be a special year for the Tennessee football program as well. With Janzen Jackson’s future in doubt, it’s become Kiffin’s top recruiting priority to bring Berry back. They need more people that do things the right way, and Berry clearly leads by example. I’m not saying if Berry returns, a national championship will follow, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt their chances.

Still, some may wonder what has happened to Berry. Where did the multiple interceptions, big plays and return yards go? The answer is simple: Berry is a team player. Rather than sit back and play centerfield, like he did in John Chavis’ defense, he’s played all over the field, often up at the line of scrimmage where defensive backs typically dare not go. With injuries, first to Nick Reveiz, and then to Savion Frazier at middle linebacker, Berry was left to pick up the slack. Playing up at the line of scrimmage requires Berry to fight off offensive lineman and fullbacks to make tackles, leaving him little opportunity for interceptions. It’s not the stuff that shows up on highlight reels, or anything a typical safety could do, but Berry is anything but typical.

Ask Monte Kiffin why his defense has been so successful this season; he will quickly point to Berry as the catalyst for that success, regardless of what the stats say.

Clearly a player of Berry’s caliber and competitive nature feels like there is unfinished business he must attend to on Rocky Top after a back-and-forth 2009 campaign for the Vols. Leaving with victories over Florida and Alabama during a Tennessee championship season next year would solidify, without justifiable argument, that Berry is the G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time) in Knoxville.

So show up, enjoy it and applaud this once-in-a-lifetime player, because your lifetime may be over before greatness like Berry’s walks through the halls that Neyland built again.

In four short years, though, his twin brothers Evan and Elliot will likely be clad in orange (Evan is already committed to UT). Vols fans can only hope, err, plead they might stir up the echoes of “Er-ic Ber-ry” upon their arrival. After all, Berrys don’t grow on trees … or maybe they do.