An Outlaw at receiver - MU hopes former QB can finish strong

The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Army Sgt. Eric Outlaw, out on the road for a conditioning run, smiled at the patter of little feet behind him. He knew that his 6-year-old son, Darius, was following him.

"I ran two miles at my regular pace, and Darius was about 5 feet behind, matching me step for step," said Sgt. Outlaw, now a truck driver. "I thought he'd get exhausted and quit, but he stayed right with me. I was totally shocked."

Darius, now 23, has struggled to keep up all through his football career at Missouri. But entering his senior year with the Tigers, Outlaw might finally be getting ahead.

Outlaw arrived at Missouri in 1999 as a partial-qualifier. The high school quarterback from Powder Springs, Ga., would need to complete 75 percent of his degree work by the end of his junior year or else lose his fourth season of college eligibility.

For Outlaw, who admits he is "not book smart," that would be a challenge.

After starting nine games his first two seasons, Outlaw was told he'd need to switch positions if he wanted to keep playing football for the Tigers. Outlaw had completed 141 of 306 passes for 1,687 yards and 11 touchdowns, but he also threw 19 interceptions.

Outlaw took coach Gary Pinkel's recommendation to switch to wide receiver, but became academically ineligible and missed spring practice in 2002.

Outlaw said he considered chucking it all and returning to Georgia. Instead, he enrolled in summer classes, regained his eligibility and rejoined the team in August, albeit somewhat apprehensively.

"I went out there for two-a-days, I was at the bottom of the depth chart, and I didn't know what to do," Outlaw recalled. "I'd never played receiver before. But I love to play the game, and I couldn't see myself not being on the field."

Like all Missouri receivers, Outlaw spent last year in the shadow of the Tigers' record-setting receiver Justin Gage. Behind Gage's 82 receptions for 1,075 yards -- both school records -- Outlaw was second on the team with 46 catches for 552 yards.

Outlaw said he even surprised himself with last year's performance. One year after he was at the bottom of the Tigers' depth chart, he's now at the top, heading into Missouri's season-opener Aug. 30 against Illinois.

"He's a playmaker," quarterback Brad Smith said. "If you get the ball in his hands, good things are going to happen."

Pinkel said he's proud of Outlaw's perseverance.

"It was hard work," Outlaw said. "There have been nights where I've (thought), 'Man, am I going to be able to do it?' There have been nights where I've laid there and prayed: 'Please help me.' But there also have been times where I've known that I could do it. And I just had to follow that.

"It takes confidence to go out there and fulfill the goals that you set for yourself. I set them, and I achieved them. It's a blessing. And I'm just so glad to be back."