![]() ![]() Only five games into his freshman season he suffered another ACL tear, injuring himself while back-pedaling during practice. It began to look like neither Swinney, nor anybody else, would ever get to see Steward play at the level that had been expected of him so many years ago. It's my last year and I want to do as much as I can.” “It's just one of those feelings you can't really explain. “It feels awesome to be able to get on the field on a regular basis and to be making plays and help the team out as much as I can,” Steward said. He's just like a freshman out there, he's just having a blast, plus he's getting to be who we knew he could be, but just had to go through so many hurdles to where he now plays free and loose and doesn't think about anything other than playing fast and making the tackle.” “And Tony's only going to keep getting better. Tony's playing at a high level and those two guys are kind of feeding off each other. ![]() “Obviously it didn't quite go the way any of us wanted it to go, but I'm enjoying where we are right now. “Watching Tony and Stephone out there, it's something that we wanted to see and just had great visions of that coming out of the recruiting process,” Swinney said. Steward strained his hamstring in Saturday's win and his availability for Louisville is day-to-day. The duo is currently first and second on the team in tackles, with Anthony's 35 topping the resurgent Steward by five. While Anthony has emerged as a star and probable early-round NFL draft pick next spring, he is starting alongside Steward this season for the very first time. How highly regarded was Steward? Consider that he was rated the 13th-best prospect overall by Rivals, two spots higher than receiver Sammy Watkins and 11 ahead of Anthony. Linebacker Tony Steward arrived on campus as part of a 2011 recruiting class that Rivals dubbed “one of the biggest surprises” in the nation with the Tigers coming off their first losing record in a dozen seasons in Dabo Swinney's second full year as head coach.ĭespite tearing his ACL as a high school senior, Steward was billed as a five-star prospect that, when teamed with fellow five-star recruit Stephone Anthony, was going to provide the defense one of the strongest linebacker duos for years to come. This originally wasn't how it was supposed to unfold, with one final shot at glory for a guy once expected to be a longtime cornerstone in the revival of Clemson's defense.
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