Irons' ironic return

[DKW 86 7,431]

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/huntsvill....xml&coll=1

Irons' ironic return

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

By PHILLIP MARSHALL

Times Sports Staff pmarsh9485@msn.com

Auburn star goes back to field where he felt unwanted

AUBURN - So many of Kenny Irons' South Carolina memories are happy ones.

He expresses admiration for the atmosphere at Williams-Brice Stadium, comparing it to Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. He says he looks forward to seeing former teammates whom he still considers friends. He talks about last summer, when he went back to a cookout at the home of former teammate Troy Williamson.

Just three years ago, Irons couldn't have imagined that he would ever play college football anywhere other than South Carolina. After all, he'd broken into the running back rotation as a true freshman, rushing for 201 yards and averaging 4.3 yards per carry.

But Thursday night, when No. 2 Auburn (4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference) plays at South Carolina (3-1 and 1-1) on ESPN, Irons will be on the other sideline.

"Just going back is going to be a weird feeling, seeing some of the guys, seeing the tunnel I used to come out of, knowing my locker used to be right back in there," Irons said. "It'll be kind of weird, but all in all, I'm not a Gamecock anymore. I'm a Tiger. We're going to be out there to win and try to be SEC champions."

If the Tigers are to be champions, Irons will probably play a large role. Irons has made a storybook journey from unhappy reserve at South Carolina to Heisman Trophy candidate at Auburn.

After sitting out the 2004 season as mandated by NCAA rules, Irons led the SEC in rushing as a junior, gaining 1,293 yards on 256 carries. He sat out Auburn's 38-7 win over Buffalo last week, but he leads the SEC again with an average of 107.3 yards per game.

He is projected to be a first-round NFL draft choice.

Irons believed those things could happen when he was a South Carolina freshman. He was the team's leading returning rusher as a sophomore and worked with the first team through spring and preseason practice. But at the team hotel the night before the opener against Louisiana-Lafayette, South Carolina coach Lou Holtz told him that true freshman Demetris Summers would get the start.

Things were never the same again. Irons started a week later against Virginia but got just two carries. He carried five times in the third game against Georgia. By the fourth game, against UAB, Summers was anointed the starter. Holtz wanted Irons to go into the game late, but Irons said he couldn't because of a hip flexor injury. He was accused of refusing his coach's order.

"Everything went wrong," Irons said. "We played Georgia Military in a JV game. I never thought I'd be called on to play. They said 'Irons, you're playing in the JV game.' I looked at it as loyalty to the team. I played every down. I ran like it was a real game.

"The time I didn't go out there, I had hurt my hip flexor. The trainer knew I couldn't go out there. They turned it around and made it look like I said no. I mean, I played in a JV game. If I'd been able, I would have gone out there."

Irons carried just one time the remainder of the season, and he knew it was time to go. After first refusing, Holtz agreed to release him to go to Auburn, where his brother, David Jr., was a cornerback just out of junior college.

Both will be in the spotlight Thursday night. Kenny will be the workhorse in Auburn's running attack. David will be called on to contain star South Carolina receiver Sidney Rice.

Their father, David Irons Sr., watched it all unfold with dismay, but he'll watch with pride Thursday night. He says he wouldn't change anything, not now.

"We're trying to put the whole South Carolina experience behind us," David Sr. said. "You don't go from being a fifth-team running back to a Heisman Trophy, to a running back with the highest NFL draft grade in the country."

Kenny Irons got his first crack at his former team last season, helping Auburn to a 48-7 rout at Jordan-Hare Stadium. His emotions, Irons admits, almost got the best of him. He rushed 11 times for 27 yards and scored two touchdowns.

This season, he says, it's different. There's no nervousness, just excitement. There's a touch of irony, too. Holtz, who turned the South Carolina job over to Steve Spurrier after the 2004 season, will be a studio analyst for ESPN's telecast.

Irons says he holds no grudges, pointing out that all the former coaches are gone. He admits he found it humorous when teammates told him of Holtz mentioning him on the air as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

"Lou has moved on," Irons said. "He's doing his thing on television now. Anything that happened in the past is in the past. Everybody has moved on with their lives. I have nothing bad to say. That's just life. You go through some struggles and some changes.

"How well can you accept the change? I had a huge change in my life and I handled it pretty well, coming over here and being accepted into the Auburn family."

No one knows how Irons will be received by the fans who once cheered him. He says it doesn't matter.

"I met a lot of cool people at the university," Irons said. "It's going to be nice being back there, shaking some of those guys' hands. I'm just going to go out there and play, have a good time and try to win."

David Irons says it's different for his brother this season than last. He says there are more important things than looking back at an unhappy time.

"It's not a big deal like it was last year," David Irons said. "He really got over it. He's trying to take Auburn to the promised land now."

[IdahoCock 0]

irons is going to run wild on us thursday night. his runs vs. lsu were amazing.

none of us knows all the events that took place with irons at Carolina. but, he wasn't just behind summers on the depth chart. he was behind boyd too. were the coaches missing something with irons? maybe.

he's a good/great running bacd; his runs in that lsu game and other games (where he's breaking tackles, etc) show me a lot.

i'm dreading having to listen to the announcers go on and on about how badly irons was treated at carolina, this that and the other..and how this is sweet revenge for him. whatever. it's time to move on.

guess it's better than listening about david greene and david pollack being best friends forever.

[AUHansel 0]

I hope he runs all over them!!! He needs to have a big game. I hope he is healthy like they are saying he is.

[stoic-one 1,548]

irons is going to run wild on us thursday night. his runs vs. lsu were amazing.

none of us knows all the events that took place with irons at Carolina. but, he wasn't just behind summers on the depth chart. he was behind boyd too. were the coaches missing something with irons? maybe.

he's a good/great running bacd; his runs in that lsu game and other games (where he's breaking tackles, etc) show me a lot.

i'm dreading having to listen to the announcers go on and on about how badly irons was treated at carolina, this that and the other..and how this is sweet revenge for him. whatever. it's time to move on.

guess it's better than listening about david greene and david pollack being best friends forever.

Yeah, there was way too much manlove between those two...

[COCKnLOAD 0]

Irons is a guy I really hated got away from us here in Columbia. I hope he has an off game Thursday (sorry guys, we need every break we can get), and then rushes for a 1,000 more yards the rest of the season for you guys.

[geaux_time 0]

Oh thank god those two are gone, and i think its safe to say that David pollock, david greene and fred gibson were the most over publized trio in the history of the SEC. All you heard was how pollocks motor was always running and how great fred gibson was(never really saw it), dont get me started on david greene!

[BZ770 2]

The USC website has a poll on how many yards he'll have 60% say it is over 200

[kickerman97 3]

As much as I hated hearing about Pollack and Greene, I still like to see sec guys go pro and do good. Was tough to hear about Pollack's injury this year, I hope it doesn't hurt him later in his career.