Jim Thorpe Award notebook

Published: February 13, 2008

In this regard, Jim Thorpe Association president Lynne Draper said this year's winner, Arizona's Antoine Cason, rates high on the list of past winners.

"He does so many phenomenal things away from football," UA coach Mike Stoops said. "You only have to spend a couple of minutes around him to see what a neat kid he is. He always has a smile on his face, very positive and very bright."

Cason is deeply involved in the Tucson community and already has started the Cason Cares campaign. He donated $5,000 to the American Cancer Society in memory of his grandfather, Royce Rambo, who succumbed to the disease a year ago. As a junior, he was co-president of the school's student-athlete advisory board.

•In the beginning: Cason's character needed some work in the early years.

His mother, Deborah, recalled when Antoine was 3 years old and had been given a pack of gum from his grandfather.

"I noticed he had some gum and I said, 'Oh, can I have piece?' " Deborah said. "I turned my head for a minute and when I looked back, Antoine had unwrapped all the gum and stuck it all in his mouth. I said, 'Oh my God, Antoine. That is selfish.' OK, now I have some work to do with this child."

•Different strokes: Draper said 2002 Thorpe winner Terrence Newman of Kansas State had the motto, "It's better to have character than to be one."

"Our two winners from Texas (Michael Huff and Aaron Ross) are both great young men who continue to lend their support," Draper said. "They're just good people. (1989 winner) Mark Carrier of USC was another good one. There are lots of them when you look back at our winners. They're fantastic people."

But Draper admitted there have been characters who are characters, namely 1988 winner Deion Sanders of Florida State.

"Deion had a reputation of being a hot dog, a showoff and so on," Draper said. "But Deion was a marketing major in college. When he won the award, he told us a lot of that was for the benefit of the business. And in order to be in the business, you've got to be in the limelight. On a personal basis, his teammates loved him and he does many things for charities.

"Deion's a good guy. A hot dog, but a good guy."

•Perfect attendance: Cason started all 46 games he played at Arizona and reminds Stoops of previous Thorpe winners Roy Williams (2001) and Derrick Strait (2003) at Oklahoma.

"Antoine's a really diligent worker, a lot like Derrick and Roy," Stoops said. "Antoine's like all the great ones. He has a unique blend of talent and charisma that the great ones seem to have. Very humble, too. He was an easy guy to coach because he competed every day in practice and worked hard to get better. He may not be blessed with all the great skills, but he certainly has worked hard to improve."

By John Rohde

Comments