Tony's Take: Hard-working Stewart should bring grit to the Big Apple
It looks like ArDarius Stewart got it right after all.
Say what you will about the former Alabama receiver who is often as hard-headed as he is hard-hitting. But be honest, would you expect anything less from a player who wielded an ax and sledgehammer on the sidelines during games?
Along with the occasional weapon that rested on his shoulder, Stewart carried a chip. That’s what happens when a 5-foot-11 kid from tiny Fultondale High School makes it to the big stage. Stewart never attained the same star persona as former teammate Calvin Ridley. Unlike Ridley, Stewart’s name wasn’t linked in with the title of “next" that now follows elite Alabama receivers. Ridley was the next Amari Cooper who was the next Julio Jones.
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Stewart was just the guy who got the job done.
He led the Crimson Tide in receiving last season with 864 yards and eight touchdowns on 54 receptions. That was despite missing two games with a leg injury and another to a suspension.
When Alabama needed a big play in the passing game, more often than not No. 13 came through. It was Stewart who was on the other end of quarterback Jalen Hurts’ first career touchdown pass against Southern California to ignite the Tide in its opener. He was Alabama’s leading receiver against LSU when the Tide struggled to move the ball through the air and again the following week when he tallied eight catches for 156 yards and three touchdowns to help Hurts become the first quarterback in Alabama history to throw for 300 and rush for 100 yards in the same game.
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His career-high 10 receptions against Auburn will cement him in Iron Bowl lore. Had Alabama won the national championship game this season, Stewart’s 24-yard pass to O.J. Howard on the Tide’s final drive would have gone down as on of the most famous in school history.
Sure, he had his wayward moments. His suspension came against Chattanooga for what Alabama head coach Nick Saban referred to as a "violation of our standard of behavior." However, his rugged manner brought plenty of benefits, too.
The lifeblood of Alabama’s “assassins” mentality at wide receiver, Stewart’s willingness to get his hands dirty was noticed by his coaches and teammates.
“What you don't see is what a great job he does blocking and the toughness that he plays with and the competitive spirit that he has,” Saban said last year. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for that guy.”
NFL scouts also took note.
It should come as no surprise that when Stewart received a second-round grade from the NFL College Advisory Committee, he paid no attention to doubters who projected him as a possible Day 3 draft pick.
While the move caught some people off guard, it made sense for the father of two, who has never cared too much what other people think anyway. A solid showing at the NFL Combine ultimately led Stewart being selected by the New York Jets with the 79th overall pick in the third round.
Now, heading into his first NFL minicamp, the gritty receiver is back in a familiar place.
“I just want to come out and prove myself,” Stewart said in an interview via the Jets’ Twitter account Friday. “Being from a 2A school in Birmingham, not many people make it out. This is an opportunity to do something great.”
And just what is Stewart out to prove? Pretty much the same stuff he set out to show when he was recruited as a four-star athlete in 2013.
“That I can learn fast, and get out there and just play,” Stewart said. “I’ve been playing football for a long time, and it’s just been a dream for me.”
New York is a far cry from Fultondale in a lot more ways than distance. Now playing on the game’s biggest stage in its biggest city, Stewart will be tasked with helping to revive a Jets passing attack that ranked No. 27 in the NFL last season.
That’s a tall order for any receiver, but not one too big for Stewart to handle. So far, he says things are going well. He even received some advice from former Alabama teammate Amari Cooper, who advised him to use this time to learn the playbook and “get the little things right.”
“Right now, my biggest strength is going to be my learning process,” Stewart said. “Me being able to get in and be able to get into the playbook fast and be able to jump out.”
While Stewart plans to heed to the Pro Bowler’s advice, Cooper didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know. Hard work is nothing new to the gritty receiver.
Stewart might have left the weaponry back in Alabama, but his assassin mentality isn’t leaving anytime soon.