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Long, lean Lawson packs powerful punch
49ers linebacker passed every test on the field at N.C. State
By Matthew Barrows -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 7, 2006
SANTA CLARA - North Carolina State's opponents must have thought it was the easiest choice in the world.
On one side of the Wolfpack defensive line stood Mario Williams, a 6-foot-7, 295-pound Adonis, fast enough to cover 40 yards in 4 1/2 seconds and powerful enough to bench press 225 pounds 35 times. Run at Williams or the guy on the other side of the line, a beanpole with long arms and skinny legs who only four years earlier stepped onto campus scrawnier than the team kicker?
More often than not, running in Manny Lawson's direction wasn't as simple as it looked.
"They definitely would come in and test Manny," recalls Todd Stroud, N.C. State's defensive line coach. "But you couldn't win against our ends. Manny was just as effective as Mario Williams in stopping the run."
In fact, Lawson finished with 70 tackles last season; Williams, the draft's No. 1 overall pick, had 60.
And you can bet Williams heard about the discrepancy.
"We're very competitive," Lawson admitted. "In college, we roomed together before games, and we always talked about what kind of stats we were going to have. 'I'm going to have six sacks,' " he'd say. 'OK, I'm going to have 6 1/2.' I have to beat him."
While the 6-5 Lawson is known for his foot speed - he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds - anyone who spends time around him knows his tongue is just as fast.
The 49ers' new pass-rushing linebacker took over the room during an introductory news conference last week, mostly by poking fun at himself and the town in which he grew up.
Just how small is Goldsboro, N.C.?
"I found myself putting a lot of football moves on trees," Lawson joked. "Nobody else was there to play with me in the country."
Well, not quite. Goldsboro might have more goats than skyscrapers, but it does have 40,000 residents, is about an hour from the state capital (Raleigh), and is big enough to have produced another current NFL player, Titans linebacker David Thornton.
Lawson, of course, knows this perfectly well. He's happy to get a few laughs playing the rube, but in fact was one of the best students in his high school class and easily could have gone to the region's top university, Duke, to study engineering.
Instead he opted for N.C. State, where a knowledge of physics also came in handy, especially when he was asked to shed blockers who outweighed him by more than 100 pounds.
"He's very good at using leverage," Stroud said. "His hands are very accurate, and he's stronger than you think. He uses that big wingspan to his advantage."
Defensive back Marcus Hudson, who also was drafted out of N.C. State last week by the 49ers, remembers seeing Lawson for the first time as a freshman and thinking there was no way he could be a defensive player. After all, Lawson weighed only 189 pounds.
"It was kind of funny watching him play linebacker," Hudson said, "because you'd think most tall guys with a slim figure like he had would be playing wide receiver or tight end. They put him at linebacker, and he made a good transition."
At the time, Lawson was more track star than football phenom, excelling in the high hurdles and long jump.
Those skills, however, translated well on the gridiron. Lawson broke to the ball faster than other players. And when combined with one of the longest reaches in college football - 35 3/4 inches - his leaping ability translated to seven blocked punts for the Wolfpack.
"With my arms - all I do is take three steps and just lay out," Lawson said. "That's it."
And though he's up to 242 pounds these days, Lawson still hasn't shaken his beanpole profile. And because of that, he's bound to attract more attention in the running game.
"I welcome that," he said. "I love a challenge. I wanted teams to have that mentality to run the ball at me and then to find out once I made the tackle that they were through for the day. ... Take a knee."
About the writer: The Bee's Matthew Barrows can be reached at mbarrows@sacbee.com.
Long, lean Lawson packs powerful punch
49ers linebacker passed every test on the field at N.C. State
By Matthew Barrows -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 7, 2006
SANTA CLARA - North Carolina State's opponents must have thought it was the easiest choice in the world.
On one side of the Wolfpack defensive line stood Mario Williams, a 6-foot-7, 295-pound Adonis, fast enough to cover 40 yards in 4 1/2 seconds and powerful enough to bench press 225 pounds 35 times. Run at Williams or the guy on the other side of the line, a beanpole with long arms and skinny legs who only four years earlier stepped onto campus scrawnier than the team kicker?
More often than not, running in Manny Lawson's direction wasn't as simple as it looked.
"They definitely would come in and test Manny," recalls Todd Stroud, N.C. State's defensive line coach. "But you couldn't win against our ends. Manny was just as effective as Mario Williams in stopping the run."
In fact, Lawson finished with 70 tackles last season; Williams, the draft's No. 1 overall pick, had 60.
And you can bet Williams heard about the discrepancy.
"We're very competitive," Lawson admitted. "In college, we roomed together before games, and we always talked about what kind of stats we were going to have. 'I'm going to have six sacks,' " he'd say. 'OK, I'm going to have 6 1/2.' I have to beat him."
While the 6-5 Lawson is known for his foot speed - he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds - anyone who spends time around him knows his tongue is just as fast.
The 49ers' new pass-rushing linebacker took over the room during an introductory news conference last week, mostly by poking fun at himself and the town in which he grew up.
Just how small is Goldsboro, N.C.?
"I found myself putting a lot of football moves on trees," Lawson joked. "Nobody else was there to play with me in the country."
Well, not quite. Goldsboro might have more goats than skyscrapers, but it does have 40,000 residents, is about an hour from the state capital (Raleigh), and is big enough to have produced another current NFL player, Titans linebacker David Thornton.
Lawson, of course, knows this perfectly well. He's happy to get a few laughs playing the rube, but in fact was one of the best students in his high school class and easily could have gone to the region's top university, Duke, to study engineering.
Instead he opted for N.C. State, where a knowledge of physics also came in handy, especially when he was asked to shed blockers who outweighed him by more than 100 pounds.
"He's very good at using leverage," Stroud said. "His hands are very accurate, and he's stronger than you think. He uses that big wingspan to his advantage."
Defensive back Marcus Hudson, who also was drafted out of N.C. State last week by the 49ers, remembers seeing Lawson for the first time as a freshman and thinking there was no way he could be a defensive player. After all, Lawson weighed only 189 pounds.
"It was kind of funny watching him play linebacker," Hudson said, "because you'd think most tall guys with a slim figure like he had would be playing wide receiver or tight end. They put him at linebacker, and he made a good transition."
At the time, Lawson was more track star than football phenom, excelling in the high hurdles and long jump.
Those skills, however, translated well on the gridiron. Lawson broke to the ball faster than other players. And when combined with one of the longest reaches in college football - 35 3/4 inches - his leaping ability translated to seven blocked punts for the Wolfpack.
"With my arms - all I do is take three steps and just lay out," Lawson said. "That's it."
And though he's up to 242 pounds these days, Lawson still hasn't shaken his beanpole profile. And because of that, he's bound to attract more attention in the running game.
"I welcome that," he said. "I love a challenge. I wanted teams to have that mentality to run the ball at me and then to find out once I made the tackle that they were through for the day. ... Take a knee."
About the writer: The Bee's Matthew Barrows can be reached at mbarrows@sacbee.com.