Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker is always calm and collected. Well, most of the time.
Hooker had a rare emotional outburst against Florida late in the second half on Saturday when the Gators were trying to slow him from getting off the turf after a hard hit near the goal line. There was some pushing and some shoving between Hooker and some Gator defenders, but nothing egregious. In fact, many Tennessee fans probably loved it. They should.
The showcase of emotion was a bit surprising just because of how Hooker carries himself. His press conferences are never about him, always about the team and there are times in which it’s hard to tell if the Vols just won or lost. Even keel doesn’t even begin to describe Hooker, but don’t let that normal demeanor trick you.
“He’s very calculated in the way that he handles himself and how he presents himself to the media and to fans and even to people that he meets on a daily basis, but you get on the field with him and I guess not a lot of people know, but he’ll give it to you,” Tennessee tight end Jacob Warren said on the Vol Report. “He’s got fire. He’s got swagger.
“He’s got that dog in him. He truly does. He’s a competitor and he wants it the most out of anybody.”
The thing about Hooker’s brief display of emotions that should be so appealing to Tennessee fans is the fact that he seems like the last player in college football that could lose control. There might be fire. There might be spirit, but it would be stunning to see Hooker cross the line based on his career thus far. Still, that doesn’t mean that opposing players shouldn’t be ready for a little bit more jawing than Hooker shows off in press settings.
“He takes a hit or whatever and a guy is talking to him and he’ll give it right back to him,” Warren said. “The next play, it’s going to be different next time. The way he goes about his business. It’s never chippy and it’s never dirty. It’s never after the whistle, trying to hit people. It’s truly just his competitive nature and how he carries himself on the field.”
In other words, Hooker keeps that “dog” on a leash when he has to.
