Shannon Spralls keeps a spiral notebook that's more important to him than his Tyner football playbook.
It's his sketchbook.
It includes his three favorite drawings, all done with ink. "The Process" is a teddy bear shown from three different angles to depict how we all see things differently at the same time. There is "Tinkering with Toys," a fun piece depicting characters from the Mario Brothers franchise of video games. His most popular sketch of late is "Comfort," a fine-pen detail of a young man hugging his girlfriend.
Even though he's known around the Tyner campus as a star football player, the patience and elegance of his time spent drawing provides a contrast to the physical and aggressive nature of his game.
Tyner's Shannon Spralls carries in the game against Boyd Buchanan Friday, November 13, 2015 at Boyd Buchanan.The senior knows the pain the sport can deliver. He played in two games his freshman year before tearing the ACL in his left knee. He played three games his sophomore year before tearing the ACL and meniscus in his right knee. He played three games last year before breaking his right fibula. And he has missed six quarters this year because of a neck injury.
"After the second ACL, I was like, 'Is football really what I wanted to do?'" Spralls said. "I started thinking about taking up an art career. But no way could I see my teammates at school without me even attempting to get back on the field."
Spralls' career stalled due to the injuries. But he is flourishing this season as a running back and linebacker, helping lead the Rams (9-3) to the quarterfinals of the Class 2A state playoffs.
He has rushed for 832 yards (averaging 7.6 yards per carry) and scored 14 touchdowns on offense. He has 128 tackles, nine sacks and two interceptions on defense.
He also has played more games this season than in his previous three years combined.
"He's had some serious complications and a lot of adversity to go through in his career," Tyner coach Wayne Turner said. "If he would have been able to stay completely healthy for his entire career, he might have been in the same category of Kelvin Hughley, who won Mr. Football in 1997."
That's high praise - being compared to a former Rams running back and linebacker who played at Georgia Tech.
"It's a tremendous asset to have him healthy," Turner said. "He means a lot to us on both sides of the ball."
A good game from Spralls could help the Rams move on to the semifinals. Tyner will play at Marion County (11-1) on Friday in a rematch of a mistake-riddled 33-20 Marion County victory on Oct. 2.
"I remember that it was a sloppy game on both of our parts," Turner said. "They've improved a whole lot since then, and we've improved a lot since then. Our kids have been playing well on both sides of the ball for a few weeks."
Thankful to be healthy, Spralls is one of them.
"I'm really blessed to be able to walk on the field and make big plays instead of having teammates look at me like, 'When are you going to come back?'" Spralls said. "We have the pieces put together, and we're doing things that we've talked about doing since our freshman year."
The sketchbook Spralls keeps handy is nothing fancy, similar to the way he plays - business on the outside and sensitive on the inside.
"There is some art you can bring to the football field," said Spralls, who mentioned Tamara Salter is his art teacher at Tyner. "Since I was a little kid, it was about running the ball, making a cut and scoring a touchdown."
That would be a beautiful drawing for the Rams.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.