LIKE IT IS

Hogs fullback gets most out of opportunity

Arkansas fullback Kiero Small runs during an Oct. 12, 2013 game against South Carolina at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas fullback Kiero Small runs during an Oct. 12, 2013 game against South Carolina at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Kiero Small gave up on his dream once.

Small dropped out of a military prep school and went to work for his dad in his T-shirt company. Without football his weight went up and his conditioning went down, but working was what he knew and school was something that could be ignored.

No male in his family had ever graduated from high school. During the next 18 months, Small’s work ethic sharpened, and so did his desire to go to college and play football.

His old high school coach made some calls, and when given the opportunity Small became the first male high school graduate in his family and at the end of this semester he will be the first college graduate from his family.

It has been a tough road, but one that Small, the starting fullback for the Arkansas Razorbacks, has never complained about.

He shared a two-bedroom apartment with seven teammates at Hartnell Community College, and being 2,914 miles from his home in Baltimore meant home sickness had to be forgotten quickly.

Small busied himself with his classes and relished in his roles as a fullback and a linebacker. He was named All-Coast as a linebacker in both seasons, but he would have mopped the locker room if they had asked.

He loved being part of the team that much.

Depending on where you read his bio, he stands somewhere between 5-8 and 5-10, but former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino looked at the fight in the player, not the size of the player.

“There’s a whole lot of fight in that little guy,” Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said.

Saturday’s game with Auburn will be senior night, and Small will be honored for his contributions, just a year later than he had planned. Small broke a bone in his foot and missed the last 11 games of last season.

“I was telling my cousin breaking my foot may have been the luckiest thing that ever happened to me,” Small said. “First because I will get my degree, and second I got to play for Coach B. This has been the greatest football experience of my life being around Coach B and this staff. I’ve learned more than I ever thought I would.”

What has him really pumped about the final game is it will be the first time his parents have seen him play a college football game. It will be the first trip to Arkansas for Leslie Mackall and Johnny Stith.

“My dad has dropped me off at schools, but he had to get back to work and couldn’t stay,” Small said with a laugh. “I can’t wait for them to see the house I live in and how I’m living now. Having them make this trip for me is really special.”

Small has a well-earned reputation as a bone-rattling blocker, but he’s been an offensive threat too. He has carried 25 times for 102 yards (and has zero carries for a loss) and has caught 13 passes for 94 yards and 1 touchdown.

No one is more team-oriented than Small, who was voted this year as one of the four team captains.

When he lines up on the field with the rest of the seniors, he will be greeted by more than parents and an appreciative Razorbacks Nation. Bielema will have the entire team on the field to show respect for the seniors.

Small doesn’t know what the future holds, but he’s going to give the NFL a shot - it’s another dream - and after that, someday, he will probably return to Fayetteville to live.

“I was almost in shock when I first got here,” he said with a laugh. “I’m a city boy, but it didn’t take me long to fall in love with the area.

“I don’t think I even knew Razorbacks and wild pigs were real when I first got here.”

The experience with Bielema and his staff has Small thinking about coaching someday, but for now, he’s still realizing a life-long dream.

Sports, Pages 17 on 10/31/2013

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