Perseverance pays off for Helow

OXFORD, Miss. -- It would be easy to compare Ole Miss' George Helow to former Notre Dame walk-on Daniel Ruettiger, who inspired the 1993 film "Rudy."

Sure, Helow is 5-foot-nothing and a hundred and nothing, but he's played anything but a bit role during his five seasons at Ole Miss.

Unlike Ruettiger, who dressed for his final game at Notre Dame and recorded a sack of Georgia Tech quarterback Rudy Allen, Helow has been a key contributor on special teams for three years. Helow has recorded 16 career tackles, earned a scholarship and most importantly, gained the respect of coaches and teammates along the way.

The road to that respect was anything but easy. Helow, a 5-8, 175-pound fifth-year senior from Jacksonville, Fla., broke his arm prior to his senior year in high school. Some good luck balanced out the bad, however, when Brian VanGorder (then the linebackers coach for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, now the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons) moved in next door to Helow. VanGorder advised Helow to spend a year at Hargrave Military Academy, a well-known prep school/football factory in southern Virginia.

Helow played on special teams for the Tigers and struck up a friendship with his roommate/teammate, Jerrell Powe. Powe, a highly coveted defensive lineman, had a ticket to major-college football. Helow didn't. His coach at Hargrave, Robert Prunty, encouraged Helow to follow his dreams, but he didn't paint a rosy portrait.

"He said, 'George, you don't have the speed to play at a big school and you don't have the size, but if you want to try to walk on and help the scout team out and do that kind of thing, give it a shot and see what happens,'" Helow said. "I've always had high expectations for myself. I had an older sister who went to school here and I was with Jerrell and (former Ole Miss offensive lineman) John Jerry, so I thought I'd give it a shot."

In his first two years at Ole Miss, Helow worked as a scout team safety. He admitted Wednesday afternoon that there were plenty of evenings he returned to his residence and wondered, "What am I doing?" Then Houston Nutt arrived in Oxford, and suddenly, Helow's hustle, work ethic and determination got noticed.

"When coaches talk about special teams, that's all the talk about -- how enthusiastic they are about it and I knew I had the ability to play special teams, and I just worked hard at it," Helow said.

By the start of the 2008 season, Helow was starting on three special teams units.

"You find out a lot about yourself because you face a lot of adversity," Helow said. "But you just have to persevere and get through it. You're going to face adversity in life. It's not easy to get up every day and have that fighting mentality, but you've got to do it. It'll get you through it if you take that approach on life."

In August, Helow's approach paid off in a way he never could have imagined four years earlier. Helow earned a scholarship.

"Coach Nutt, he's the man," Helow said. "He's always been appreciative of what I've done for the team and he's always told me I'm a team player. He told me, 'I really want you to have this and you deserve it.'

"My goals were to come here and get a degree in marketing and management and also to play and letter and be a big contributor, but the other goal was to earn a scholarship. It was rewarding. It felt really good."

Nutt said awarding Helow a scholarship was "awesome, and then to get a letter like I got from his mom and dad sitting up there (pointing at his office), there's nothing like it.

"When he contributes, it means so much more. It seems like guys like that give back quicker to the program than the ones who've been on scholarship. George has a big heart. He makes a lot of plays. We're just appreciative of his effort and his attitude. He's done a really good job for us."

The scholarship was rewarding, but it's not what motivates Helow. The fuel to sprint recklessly into bodies much bigger than his comes on Sundays, typically, during game-film review sessions.

"I try to play as fearless as possible," Helow said. "There are a lot of guys out there that are twice my size, but I play with leverage and I try to play fast and I'll run through it. It doesn't matter to me. When we watch the Sunday film and you're doing what you're doing _ whether you're the contain man or you're hitting a wedge _ and you're out there making plays, nothing's more satisfying than having the respect of your coaches and getting your name called out and having the respect of your teammates and most of all, pushing yourself to your potential and doing the most you can do.

"It gives me chills. It's an unbelievable feeling. Having the respect of your teammates and coaches, it truly does give me chills."

Next Saturday, Ole Miss (3-2 overall, 1-1 in the SEC) will travel to No. 1 Alabama (5-0, 2-0). The game will mark the midpoint of Helow's final year of football. It's too early to get nostalgic, perhaps, but Helow, via conversations with his friend and former teammate Reid Neely, has already begun to think about life without football.

"I'm going to miss it a lot," Helow said. "It's a lifestyle. I've been playing football since I was eight years old. It's going to be hard."

Until then, Helow plans to enjoy the ride, one that has given him a lifetime's worth of memories and lessons.

"I love our fans," Helow said. "They're unbelievable. I'll be honest with you. It shocks the crap out of me how many people lately acknowledge me or when I'm going through the Walk of Champions, they say my name and stuff. It feels real good that people are cheering for you and they notice you out there. It's pretty unexpected. If you keep fighting, you can overcome anything in the world."

REBS WRAP UP BYE WEEK WORK: Ole Miss worked in full pads for 1 ½ hours Thursday before breaking for the weekend. The Rebels used a skeleton coaching crew to conduct the session, and none of the players who missed Tuesday's and Wednesday's practices _ Lionel Breaux, Enrique Davis, A.J. Hawkins, Johnny Brown, Brishen Mathews, Marcus Temple and Charles Sawyer _ were able to return to work.

"They're jogging around and running without a headache," Nutt said, referring to several of the players trying to return from concussions suffered in the Rebels' 42-35 win over Kentucky last Saturday. "That's a positive. I'm anxious for (head athletic trainer) Tim (Mullins) to give me good news Sunday. We're getting close."

Nutt said he thought this week was good for some of the Rebels' younger players. It also might be critical for freshman center Evan Swindall, who would have to make his first start at Alabama next Saturday if Hawkins can't recover from the stinger he suffered in the fourth quarter against Kentucky. Offensive lineman Jared Duke got extensive work this week as did LaMark Armour, Carlos Thompson and Cameron Whigham at defensive end.

"You've got a lot of things happening all at once, so it's been good," Nutt said.

The Rebels will return to practice on Sunday. Nutt said that full-pads practice "will be more like a Tuesday, so that will be good. We'll get a head start."