Heyward following in father’s footsteps

Vinny Pezzimenti

Who exactly is this Cameron Heyward?

Heyward

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For opposing offensive linemen, it usually doesn’t take long to find out. All they have to do is look the Ohio State defensive end in the eyes.

Well, just under the eyes. Written in the eye black beneath one is IRON. Under the other is HEAD.

That’s when the pieces start to come together.

You can picture it now: An overmatched tackle trudges back to the huddle, shakes his head, and says to himself, “Damn that Ironhead. Why did he have to have a son who goes 6-foot-6, 287-pounds and who owns a high-energy motor?”

For Heyward, thoughts of his father pierce through his mind several times during any given day. Craig “Ironhead” Heyward might have died more than three years ago but the former Pitt star and 11-year NFL veteran lives on through his son.

“Hopefully,” Heyward said this week, “I can be half as good as the man he was.”

Heyward’s bloodlines are evident in the way he smashes and dashes with his huge body on the football field. Instead of flattening linebackers like his father did as a bowling ball of a running back, Heyward pancakes quarterbacks and running backs and is a key force for a Buckeyes defense that ranks as one of the nation’s best heading into this afternoon’s game against Penn State at Beaver Stadium.

A junior, he is also an NFL prospect, sure to follow in the footsteps of Ironhead. But Heyward recalls little of his father’s career, which started in 1988 and included years with the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams and Indianapolis Colts.

“I didn’t pay attention to (his career) as much as I do now,” Heyward said. “I just remember him running over people.”

Heyward’s parents divorced when he was younger — Cameron writes his mother’s name, Charlotte, on one game cleat, and Ironhead’s on the other — and Ironhead admitted in an interview after his playing days that he had alcohol and eating problems. Those could be reasons for the disconnect.

But Heyward helped care for his father in his final days.

Ironhead died at the age of 39 in May 2006 after seven years of battling a recurring brain tumor. Near the end, he also suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and lost his vision as a result of a tumor known as chordoma.

Family support helped Heyward, then a senior at Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, Ga., through the difficult circumstances.

“It was hard to deal with him passing but we stuck together,” Heyward said. “I have a lot of younger brothers so me and my older brother (a walk-on running back at Middle Tennessee) had to step up and be there for them and set an example. I think it has definitely brought us closer. That’s one thing I always try to do, keep in contact with my family.”

Heyward described his father as a big kid who enjoyed life. That playful personality came out during a Zest commercial in which the bulging Ironhead whined, “But Ironhead, what’s with this thingy?” as he hung onto a loofah in a shower.

“He always said what he felt,” Heyward said. “He never changed for anybody.”

And, oddly, it was Ironhead’s opinion that his son shouldn’t play football.

“He knew how crazy football was,” Heyward said, “and he didn’t want me to get involved.”

But it was impossible to keep Heyward off the field. He was named Georgia’s Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and was one of the top defensive line recruits in the class of 2006, pursued by most of college football’s elite programs.

Heyward burst onto the scene early at Ohio State, being named freshman All-American by three publications. Rotating along the line last season, one of Heyward’s best games — six tackles and a pass breakup — came in a grind-it-out 13-6 loss to Penn State.

This year, Heyward has been disruptive as ever, recording three sacks and anchoring a unit that ranks No. 6 in the country in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense.

Heyward expects another hard-nosed defensive struggle with the NIttany Lions, which should make the player feel right at home.

“I always thought Cameron Heyward was a monster,” safety Kurt Coleman told the Cleveland Plain Dealer earlier this season, “but I think this year he’s taking it personally. I think people kind of doubted him based on some people saying he didn’t have a great year last year, and he’s coming out and he’s been on fire.”

Heyward’s teammates and coaches describe him as never being satisfied. That, too, perhaps is how Ironhead Heyward will be remembered.

There’s a clip on YouTube that Heyward has watched over and over again. It starts with a powerful running back from Pitt bursting through the line, and instead of stepping out-of-bounds, he finishes a 31-yard run by planting a Miami safety into the turf. His name is Ironhead.

“Hopefully,” his son said, “I inherited going hard like he always did.”