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Article published Nov 23, 2008 Berry fights pain, breaks another record
By Ryan Callahan of The Daily Times Staff
NASHVILLE -- Eric Berry knows in hindsight that he probably should have told someone about it last year.
That's when Tennessee's record-setting safety first felt the soreness that still lingers in his left shoulder. It started after the Volunteers lost to LSU in the SEC Championship Game, the next-to-last game of Berry's freshman season.
So what if it hasn't gotten any better?
"It's pretty bad," Berry said Saturday. "I just never said anything about it because that's how I was raised, you know? If it's not killing you, wrap up and go on out and play."
The pain appeared to be no problem for Berry in Tennessee's 20-10 victory at instate rival Vanderbilt, a game highlighted by his 45-yard interception return for a momentum-swinging touchdown late in the first half.
The Fairburn, Ga., native's seventh interception of the season, also his second taken back for a touchdown, allowed him to break the 52-year-old Southeastern Conference record for interception-return yards in a season.
Berry already had become the SEC's all-time leader in career interception-return yards with a 72-yard return for a score in UT's 34-3 win over Mississippi State on Oct. 18.
His latest defensive touchdown, which extended Tennessee's lead to 17-0, gave Berry 487 return yards on his 12 career interceptions, moving him within 14 yards of the NCAA record held by Terrell Buckley of Florida State.
Vols defensive coordinator John Chavis responded by offering perhaps his highest praise yet for Berry.
"I think he's the best defensive player in the country, bar none," Chavis said of Berry, a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is given to the nation's top defensive player.
Berry, who also had a sack and two tackles for losses against the Commodores, said he spotted Vanderbilt quarterback Chris Nickson "peeking" at running back Jeff Jennings in the middle of the field before blitzing linebacker Rico McCoy prevented Nickson from throwing.
Nickson evaded the pressure long enough to lob a pass that sailed over Jennings' head and into the hands of Berry, who ran untouched down the right sideline with 5:56 left in the second quarter.
"I guess (Nickson) thought (Jennings) was still open when he beat the rush, and he tried to throw it," Berry said. "I was already breaking on it, so I just took it all the way."
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer hardly was surprised by Berry's latest game-changing play.
"Eric has achieved enough here already to be one of the greatest who has ever played here at Tennessee, and certainly is going to be one of the greatest in the conference if he stays healthy," Fulmer said.
"He's got unbelievable personality, that dynamic personality that you build a football team around. We've built a defense around him in a lot of ways. He's fit into that leadership mode and he's a guy that, if he's around the ball, he's going to impact the team some way or another."
Berry made an impact on both sides of the ball in helping Tennessee snap its season-long, three-game losing streak.
The former high-school quarterback took the long-awaited first snaps of his UT career in his own variation of the so-called "G-Gun" package that uses sophomore wide receiver Gerald Jones as a change-of-pace runner.
Berry ran for 7 yards on his first carry, which allowed the Vols to move the chains for the first time. He finished with four rushes for 11 yards.
"That was exciting, man," Berry said. "Just being on that side of the ball again, not being over there since high school, it brought back a lot of memories. I had a lot of fun doing it."Fulmer said the shoulder injury, which he first revealed Tuesday, had prevented Tennessee from playing Berry at quarterback earlier in the season.
But it still isn't keeping Berry from following up on his Freshman All-America season in style.
"He comes to work every day," Chavis said. "You'll never get an excuse out of him. He doesn't do that. He's not that kind."