ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A huge Florida State presence greeted highly recruited linebacker
Tony Steward when he walked into Menendez High School‘s packed gymnasium Wednesday morning. Students wore FSU T-shirts. They held a Florida State garnet-colored banner. They had known that Steward was a lifelong FSU fan, as was his mom.
But when Steward announced at precisely 10:03 a.m. that he had chosen to accept a scholarship offer at Clemson University instead of FSU, a few students wearing Clemson orange shirts jumped up to celebrate.
"I think of them (the Seminoles) still as my favorite college team. Even though I committed to Clemson, I‘m still a Seminole at heart," Steward said. "They're such good people, they recruited me the right way, they did everything the right way.
"It just came down to Clemson."
Steward, who named winner of the Butkus Award this past season as the best senior linebacker in high school football, said he did not decide on Clemson until Tuesday night. And after calling Clemson and FSU coaches with the news, he said his toughest act was telling his mother which school he had selected.
"It was tough. I almost felt like I shouldn't tell her," Steward said. "She supports me. I felt like I did the right thing."
Steward, 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, is the highest-ranked recruit to come out of Florida‘s St. Johns County, located just south of Jacksonville, since Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow came out of Nease High School and went to the University of Florida. In fact, Steward was ranked higher on national recruiting lists. He totaled 81 tackles this past season.
In addition to being a force at linebacker for Menendez, he scored touchdowns from virtually every offensive position, linebacker and on special teams this past season. Three times, he ran back kickoffs for scores.
"He caught passes for touchdowns, threw passes for touchdowns, returned kickoffs for touchdowns, rushed for touchdowns, returned interceptions for touchdowns, and then made 100 tackles along the way," said Keith Cromwell, his coach at Menendez High School. "So he did it all and can do it all. He's just an amazing athlete."
Steward tore an ACL in the Falcons‘ last game of the season, but wasn‘t aware during the game how serious the injury was and played through it, even through an overtime period. He had surgery to repair the ACL in December and said Wednesday he expected to be football ready in May or June.
Asked why he chose Clemson over FSU, Steward did not point to any one thing. He credited the coaches, football programs and academics at both schools.
"It was God," Steward said. "He led me to this decision. I'm still going to leave everything in His hands and live by His word."
The emotions of the moment caught up to Steward and his family as they walked into the school gym. A portion of the school band was playing and cheerleaders performed routines as the students cheered loudly. Steward sat behind a microphone, his head down, as his mom sat beside him and wiped away a tear.
"He's handled this recruiting process amazingly, probably better than any kid could possibly do it and probably better than a lot of adults could do it," Cromwell said. "I can't imagine what he's had to go through as a 16-, 17-, 18-year-old kid. The maturity level that he has and possesses is what has led him to do this. It's just been amazing."
"He helped me through it," Steward said of Cromwell. "He really kept the coaches off me whenever I felt like I was being overwhelmed."
And even on this day, Steward chose to share the stage with his classmates. At the same time that Steward signed his letter to accept Clemson‘s offer, and a large Clemson banner was placed on the table in front of him, four other Menendez seniors also signed letters of intent. Among them was football teammate
Ryan Bryson, a defensive end who accepted an offer to attend Bethune-Cookman.
So what is it going to be like for Steward in that first FSU vs. Clemson game next fall? The question produced a smile from Steward.
"I have no idea," he said. "I feel pretty good, though. I think it'll be good."
