NEW ORLEANS – LSU running back Jacob Hester is a curious mix. He's one part John Wayne, one part John Riggins and a whole lotta Elvis Presley.
Hester is not only old school; he's a throwback. As a freshman at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, La., he played defensive end. The next year he shifted to nose guard. As a junior he played running back. Then he moved to wide receiver.
“A good experience,” Hester called it.
Hester began his LSU career at fullback but now is the primary running back. He led the team with 1,017 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns but still falls short in some fans' eyes.
“I got stereotyped as a slow guy,” Hester said, “I guess because I played fullback for two years. But that was the fastest way to get on the field. I would have played nose guard again if they wanted me to.
“If the fans don't think I'm fast but I still get it done, it's nothing that will bother me.”
Hester is his own man. While teammates download Rihanna or Lil' Wayne, Hester loads his iPod with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
“My teammates would never borrow my iPod,” he said. “They think I'm a grandpa. They were giving me a hard time on my way over here because I was trying to find the Elvis station on SIRIUS.”
Hester says he likes all “crooner music . . . Miles Davis, jazz or Blues. But Elvis before anybody.”
Hester's father, Joey, passed on his love for the King of Rock 'n' Roll, and the LSU community suddenly has a jones for blue suede shoes.
“Jacob Hester is the most popular guy I know,” LSU quarterback Matt Flynn said. “Everyone loves him. Around Baton Rouge there has been a (surge) of popularity for Elvis because of No. 18.”
Hester is even popular among Ohio State players. They laud the 6-foot, 224-pounder for his toughness.
“Hester would fit well in the Big Ten, as far as a downhill running back who will run you over before he runs out of bounds,” Buckeyes cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said. “I've seen guys on film try to take him low and just get smashed. I've never seen him go down with a solo tackle.”
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock said the best word to describe Hester is “relentless.”
Hester, who was named for John Wayne's character from the movie “Big Jake,” says he loves being told that he plays football like “some old-time guys. I really enjoy that, being that I like old music, old movies. I'm an old-school guy.”
Old-school enough that he got married last summer at age 22. He proposed to his then-girlfriend, Katie Tilley, outside Arkansas' War Memorial Stadium minutes after the Tigers beat the Razorbacks.
That might not sound romantic, but Katie also has football in her blood. Her father was Hester's offensive coordinator at Evangel. He played a major role in moving Hester to running back.
“You usually don't hear about nose guards switching to running back,” Hester said. “But our team needed defensive linemen. And in high school we passed the ball so much because our quarterback was (USC's) John David Booty that the running backs really never got the ball.
“One game a couple of running backs got hurt and our offensive coordinator put me in and I had 200 yards. He told the defensive coordinator: 'I think our best offensive player is playing nose guard.' ”
