Harkey is unsung hero for Rams

Harkey is unsung hero for Rams

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/harkey-is-unsung-hero-for-rams/article_43c82aed-0acd-50c0-86fa-6398cae14299.html

At the end of pregame warmups, before the Rams go into the locker room one last time before kickoff, the team huddles up en masse on the field.

One player — usually it’s James Laurinaitis or Chris Long — addresses the team inside the tight circle. It’s an ultimate sign of respect, and pardon the schmaltz, a place of honor for the guy in the middle.

Well, guess who was in there before Sunday’s 52-0 pummeling of Oakland at the Edward Jones Dome?

It was Cory Harkey, the team’s unsung fullback/tight end.

“Harkey was juiced up, man,” Laurinaitis said. “I mean, Harkey was about to just hurt somebody out there (during pregame). You could just tell. I don’t know if he took that special energy drink, or what.”

Laurinaitis was talking to a young fan on the field Sunday at the end of pregame, turned around, and saw that the squad had gathered for the huddle.

“I knew Harkey was gonna take it over because, like I said, he had that look in his eye like he was gonna run through a wall or something,” Laurinaitis said.

Harkey’s message?

“I have no idea what he said,” Laurinaitis said. “He was just screaming, which is usually what I do. So there’s no rhyme or reason. Harkey’s always one of our most fired up guys before games.”

If any Rams player could run through a wall, it would be Harkey. Remember the old “Saturday Night Live” skit about Bill Brasky, the unseen businessman capable of superhuman feats according to his admiring associates? Well, Harkey would be a PG-rated version of Brasky.

Last week, while Harkey was being interviewed by the Post-Dispatch, a teammate maybe 10 feet away in the locker room, shouted out in admiration: “You can’t break steel! You can’t break steel!”

As in Harkey is made of steel.

Offensive line coach Paul Boudreau has said Harkey frequently beats the coaches to Rams Park in the morning to get his weight-lifting in. And as everyone in the game of football knows, coaches are early risers.

Brian Schottenheimer speaks glowingly of Harkey.

“One of my favorites of all time,” the Rams’ offensive coordinator said. “You probably have a handful of guys that, as you look over 17 years of coaching, I think Cory Harkey’s in the top two or three for sure.

“You just love his passion. You love his energy. You love the fact that it’s not about getting him the ball; he doesn’t want the ball. He just wants to go hit people. But what a wonderful young man. I told his father a couple weeks ago, if my son grows up to be like Cory Harkey, then I’ll be extremely pleased.”

Harkey’s father, Mike, is the pitching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks and a former major-league pitcher.

Things reached high point for the Harkey admiration society in the Rams’ 19-17 victory over Tampa Bay in Game 2 this season. Late in the third quarter, Buccaneers safety Dashon Goldson delivered a brutal blow to Harkey’s knee. The slow-motion replay was excruciating to watch, with Harkey’s knee bending in an unnatural direction.

The initial read by Rams’ medical officials was a potentially torn ACL. But he returned to the field a few moments later and finished out the game.

“I was not stunned to see him out there,” Schottenheimer said. “If you remember two years ago in the preseason, same type of thing happened. He got kinda hit in the leg. So nothing that Cory Harkey does amazes us.”

But it amazed some teammates, to that point that Harkey got the nickname “Harkcules.”

“It’s just something that kinda stuck with the guys,” Harkey said.

Of course, it was a variation of Hercules from Greek mythology. The son of Zeus was a pretty strong fellow, and so is Harkey.

“They guys know I like to get in the weight room and get after it with Rock (Gullickson),” Harkey said, referring to the Rams’ strength coach. “I like to get in here real early and work out, and get my lifts in.

“I like being able to stay strong throughout the season, especially it being such a long season. A lot of wear and tear on you body.”

Harkey has experienced plenty of wear and tear. He has been wearing a bulky knee brace since the Tampa game. Lately, he has been dealing with a thigh injury as well.

“It’s been rough,” he said. “I’ve obviously been dealing with a lot of stuff. I’m just thankful that I’ve been able to play through it. Obviously, there’s some stuff that I’m just physically not able to do.”

For one, he has been less of a factor in the passing game after working hard in the offseason and preseason to improve his pass catching and route running. He has had to finesse the knee injury, which turned out to be a strained MCL, for most of the season.

He did catch a couple of passes against Oakland, giving him six receptions this season. One of those grabs went for a 4-yard touchdown in the second quarter. And yes, he did do some blocking — his specialty — including a key block that helped spring Tre Mason on his 89-yard TD run.

“I saw my man ‘Big Hark,’ he came through the hole with me,” Mason said. “And when both of us go through the hole, that’s a pretty big hole.”

OK, maybe not quite the stuff of legend. But certainly fitting for a man called Harkules. Even Schottenheimer thinks it’s a fitting nickname.

“I think so, yeah,” Schottenheimer said. “I certainly would see him that way.”