Panthers' Stewart breaking tackles and the mold

Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart is not your typical NFL player

LACEY, WASH. -- Here, where Jonathan Stewart grew up, there was only sunshine the day after his NFL debut, not the rain for which the Pacific Northwest is famous.

Snow-capped Mt. Rainier was visible from Timberline High, where students walk the hallways wearing Stewart's No. 28 Carolina Panthers jersey.

He is known here as "Snoop," a childhood nickname that stuck after friends mistook what his mother has called him, Snoot.

People in Lacey, an hour's drive south of Seattle, tell you he's bound for greatness.

They watched him dominate as a Timberline Blazer, rushing for a state record 7,755 yards and 95 touchdowns in four seasons. From 2001-04, he averaged 198.8 yards rushing and 2.4 touchdowns and was regarded the nation's top prep running back as a senior.

He turned pro after a stellar college career at Oregon and was a first-round draft pick of the Panthers in April, selected 13th overall.

The scoop on Snoop is consistent in Lacey, from Valerie Parret and Pat Geiger in the Timberline athletics office to senior pastor Anthony Obey and youth pastor Cecil Daniels at New Life Baptist Church.

They describe Stewart as quiet, humble, grounded, faith-filled, and enormously gifted at running with a football.

"The fabric of who he is is to avoid the typical athletic persona," Daniels said.

"I don't think you'll have the discipline problems that you have with a lot of players," Obey said.

Stewart attributes that to his older brother, Cory Faison, a U.S. Army 1st Lt. serving in Afghanistan, who made sure he made it to school, but mostly to his "backbone," the single mom who raised him, Lora Faison.

"When we were little, [she would say] 'a disobedient child doesn't live half his days.' " Stewart said. "It sticks with me now. When I first heard it, I was like, 'Oh man, I don't want to die.' "

The quest

Stewart doesn't mince words: He wants to be one of the greatest running backs in NFL history.

"I don't think you should play the game at this level if you don't have high expectations," he said.

He grew up admiring star backs Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions and Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys. But his all-time favorite was Walter Payton.

"My first book I ever read, like fully through, was a biography on Walter Payton," Stewart said. "Probably a month after I read the book, that's when he passed away. So it was just kind of a touching moment for me to have learned about this man and how great he was and how God called him home."

Stewart faces Payton's former team, the Chicago Bears, in his Carolina home opener at 1 p.m. today at Bank of America Stadium.

At 5 feet 10, 235 pounds, Stewart is an ideal fit for the Panthers' power running game. He has breakaway speed (sub-4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash) and bulging muscles in his arms, shoulders, chest and legs. He has lifted more than 400 pounds.

So far, he is backing up and splitting carries with third-year veteran DeAngelo Williams, but has only begun to show glimpses of his enormous potential. He rushed for 53 yards on 10 carries and gained 84 yards on four kickoff returns in Carolina's 26-24 season-opening win last week at San Diego.

Panthers tight end Dante Rosario, a college teammate at Oregon, says Carolina fans are in for a treat.

"He can be like an unstoppable force," Rosario said. "Physically, he's built for this game. He has speed, power, quickness, agility. He's a combination of all those things -- a good combination, at that.

"When he gets going, some of the stuff he's able to do, it's pretty impressive."

Humble beginnings

On the eve of her son's first NFL game, Lora Faison sat in the lobby of the Panthers' team hotel in San Diego, reminiscing.