On the Clock: WR Meachem
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Tennessee wide receiver Robert Meachem is just a few short days from embarking on his promising NFL career, but he doesn’t need to hear his name called by the Commissioner to know that his hard work has already paid off.
That moment came a week ago Sunday when he presented his mom with the car of her dreams – a brand new Lexus.
“I told her she had to hurry up and come home and so she thought something was wrong and she came flying around the corner,” said Meachem. “She saw the bow and just went crazy. She was so excited. I think she slept in the car that night. She’d wanted that car ever since I was little.
“That was just one of the things in life that you enjoy because you got to do something you’ve wanted to do all your life. That’s big because I wondered at times if there was ever going to be a point where I’d be able to help mama out.”
After a breakout year in ’06 where he led the team with a career-high 71 catches for a school season-record 1,298 yards and 11 touchdowns, Meachem will also soon be helping out an NFL offense.
“He’s a big guy in terms of height and he’s very strong in his lower body,” said VP of Player Personnel Scot McCloughan. “He’s got playmaker speed and he can really score anywhere on the field. He’ll definitely be an asset.”
In an argument over who the best wide receiver is in the 2007 Draft, Georgia Tech Calvin Johnson likely takes the cake with most experts referring to Meachem as the second ranked receiver.
“We’re different,” said Meachem. “He’s taller. He plays in a different conference so who knows? It’s hard to compare when we are in different conferences. Everyone asks if I could have done what he’s done in his conference and vice versa.”
Johnson might get the overall edge, but Meachem stands out for his electrifying run after the catch ability.
“Of the top flight receivers, he’s probably the best run after the catch player in the draft,” said McCloughan. “He can really make you miss and that’s what’s really intriguing about him.”
Meachem attributes his ability to get extra yards after the catch to his early days playing running back.
“I played running back when I was little and my dad actually used to throw me in the ring with the bulls to see how fast I could run,” said Meachem. “They’d come at me and throw their head and I’d take off, but then they really didn’t try to chase me too hard. It’s much better making a defender miss. That might be the best feeling in the world when you are on the field.”
As a kid growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Meachem had plenty of farm animals to keep him company including his best friend, a horse named Little Man.
“I had him since I was about three years old and he was always with me,” said Meachem. “I taught him everything. He knew how to shake your hand, he could shoot the basketball of his nose.”
While a teenager, Meachem was devastated when his beloved horse was stolen.
“I was so mad and frustrated,” recalled Meachem. “We always had a whole lot of horses but he was mine and after he was gone, I just never felt the same about another horse and really didn’t care to ride anymore.”
Instead Meachem spent more and more time involved in athletics, splitting time throughout high school between both basketball and football. A point guard for Booker T. Washington’s two-time state basketball team, Meachem finished his senior season as an all-state first-team choice after rushing for 531 yards and eight touchdowns and racking up 543 yards through the air with another ten scores.
The highly prized recruit dismayed his home state when he opted to sign a letter of intent with Tennessee in order to follow in the footsteps of Carl Pickens and Alvin Harper.
“I had played running back all of my life until I was a sophomore in high school so I really wanted to develop more as a receiver,” said Meachem. “Tennessee was known as Wide Receiver U, so why not go where the best were? If you want to be good at what you do, you should go where the best are and not be scared of competition.”
Meachem was quick to impress the Vols, but his freshman campaign in 2003 came to a swift end after surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee.
“I sat our for 13 weeks on crutches and that was the worst experience of my life because I had never been hurt like that, and I’d never had to watch,” said Meachem. “It drove me nuts to have to watch.”
When his frustration got the better off him, he’d turn on some of the old school music he grew up listening to with his family – Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Johnny Taylor.
“I could go on and on forever listing them,” said Meachem. “Music was big in my house and when I get stressed or overly frustrated, that’s my escape.”
After two seasons of limited production, Meachem burst onto the scene in 2006, earning All-American and All-Southeastern Conference first-team honors after ranking fourth in the nation with an average of 99.85 yards per game.
“In 2005, our position coach got fired and that stuck with me because I thought I could have made more plays to help him stay there,” explained Meachem for his increase in production. “I told myself the next coach who came in I was going to do my best to keep him and his family from not having to move around. My new coaches demanded a lot, and I demanded a lot of myself. I just put my goals real, real high and I pushed myself all year.”
For anyone out there worrying about him being a one-year wonder, Meachem claims he’s just scratched the surface.
“Whatever team takes me, they can know this: I’m going to try to outwork your hardest worker on your team. I know there are celebrities and stars I grew up looking up to who I’ll be playing against now, but they put on their pants and pads just like I do. I’m going to come out and compete hard, approach practice like a game and work as hard as I can so I don’t let my teammates down.”
