Berry’s Intangibles Make Him Tangible Choice

From the Truman Sports Complex

The work ethic that lifted Eric Berry into the position as a top NFL draft choice was learned on hot summer days in his native Georgia. He made $5.50 an hour painting houses with his father.

“It was very hard, especially outside during the summertime and it was like 96 degrees and you would be on the ladder at 12 noon and the sun was beating down on you,” Berry remembered. “But that definitely showed me why the lights were on in our house.”

Now, Berry can pay for the electric bill … heck, he can pay the mortgage for his mother and father Carol and James Berry and his younger twin brothers. He’s going to have millions of dollars to spend as the fifth player selected in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Berry is in that position because he thoroughly impressed the Chiefs in the last four months as they evaluated him and hundreds of other potential draft picks. It was not only his All-America-level of play for Tennessee over the last three years. It was his personality and character that had the Chiefs jumping at the chance to draft him.

“We did a lot of research, we worked out a lot of players, we put in a lot of time with a lot of different players,” said head coach Todd Haley. “As time went on, it became more and more clear that this was the fit for us.”

Said GM Scott Pioli: “I’m happy with the player we drafted and I’m happy with the person we drafted … he was a player at a position of need and the best player.”

Pioli and Haley continually stress their hunt for talented players of character and they feel like they hit the jackpot with Berry.

“On Friday’s of game week they would find him in the equipment room helping the managers shine the helmets before the game,” Haley said. “Then when you put that with what he does on the field, it just became clear that this was the guy for us.”

That character and work ethic was instilled in him by his folks. It was his mother who during his Pee-Wee football days filmed his games. Far more than just a normal family’s record of their life, those films because something Berry used to improve his game before he even got to high school.

“I used to look at the tapes when I got home and first it was just entertainment,” said Berry. “I used to like to see how I did and how I scored. But then I started seeing things that I could improve. I started critiquing myself and tried to become a better football player.”

James Berry was a three-year starter at running back for the Volunteers and was team captain for the 1981 season. He went to training camp as a 5-10, 191-pound running back with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted college free agent in 1982. He did not make the team and returned to the rest of his life in his native Georgia, where he worked at Owens Corning and as a painter.

“I don’t know if you’re familiar with it (Owens-Corning), but they make insulation for houses,” Berry said. “He also was an interior and exterior painter. That’s the job I worked with him. He didn’t let me work at the other one. It was too dangerous.”

It was his father’s heart surgery late last year that convinced Berry it was time to leave the college ranks and move onto the pro game. His goal was to help his mother and father live out their years with fewer worries.

“I really just wanted to be able to sit him down and just let him enjoy life for a little bit,” Berry said recently. “When I sat down and made the decision, I had to put my family pretty much before my school.”