Nelson finally throwing his weight around
Published: 10/27/2009 1:40 PM
Last Modified: 10/27/2009 1:40 PM
NORMAN — You wondered if Jonathan Nelson was ever going to be able to really contribute at Oklahoma.
When Nelson arrived at OU in 2006 from Summitt High School in Mansfield, Texas, the defensive back was listed at 180 pounds, but was closer to 160. He said on Tuesday he spent most of his first three years in Norman steadily at 171.
Now, though, Nelson is almost 190 — 187, officially, he said — and is finally making a contribution. He's been the Sooners' fifth defensive back and occasionally even replaces free safety Sam Proctor, strong safety Quinton Carter or cornerback Brian Jackson.
"I think every football player wants to say they're a student of the game," Nelson said on Tuesday, "but now, when you have a certain role on the team and you realize you may not be the starter, then you want to know as many positions as you can so that you can get on the field. To just have coach (Bobby Jack) Wright or coach (Brent) Venables tell me, 'Hey, you might need to know free as well as strong as well as boundary corner,' then that means that maybe I need to get in the playbook just a little bit more, in case on of the safeties or one of the corners goes down and I may have to play a different position than I'm used to."
Coaches can count on Nelson more because Nelson counted on strength coach Jerry Schmidt's hard-core nutrition plan to add some muscle to Nelson's frame.
"I was pounding shakes before and after workouts, and Smitty had me eating about four peanut butter-jelly sandwiches before I went to sleep and when I woke up," Nelson said. "Smitty actually had sandwiches in his refrigerator that I would eat right after a workout, so I was basically just stuffing myself, not being able to move throughout the day."
Nelson said he previously had tried to gain weight, eating ex-roommates Keenan Clayton, Dominique Franks and Reggie Smith out of house and home, but said no matter what he ate, it "ran right through me."
So Schmidt intervened with his peanut butter regimen. Last spring, Nelson still weighed 171. But by September, he was up to 187. He told Wright he was ready to help out at safety if needed, but he had a hard time even convincing his coach that he had put on enough weight.
"It was actually good weight," Nelson said. "I know beforehand, when I was at a consistent 171-172, if I would eat a big meal and try to gain weight, then I would feel stuffed. But now at the weight that I'm at, I feel like I'm 171, but I have a lot more weight to me."
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
