http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/2/075827-6922-036.html
Poetry in motion
Imagine the embarrassment to ball carriers if they knew they had been stopped by a poet.
The poet is Brandon Hoyte. The 226-pound junior linebacker is Notre Dame's top tackler and one of its hardest hitters.
He is an Ernest Hemingway type who loves action and language.
"A lot of sport is poetry," Hoyte said. "If you love music, you love poetry. It's a way to escape from the world if things are going bad or if it's too hectic or busy."
Busy doesn't begin to characterize Hoyte. Football dominates his fall semester but not his life. He won't turn 20 until Sept. 26.
He changed majors from pre-medicine to psychology and has a 3.35 grade-point average. More recently, his reading has included books on real estate and money management.
He has written and recited poetry since his freshman year of high school in Parlin, N.J. He has volunteered to read to elementary school children. A Jehovah's Witness at a Catholic university, he has been active in campus ministry. And he operates a restaurant, Bullwinkle's, out of a dormitory kitchen five nights a week.
"When I came here, I understood that everyone was here for the education," said Hoyte, whose father is a chemist.
"He was born in Trinidad and moved with his family to New York when he was 4. He never met his maternal grandfather but composed a poem of dialogue between the two, using a Caribbean accent for the grandfather. He surprised himself by what he wrote."
Whether it's poetry or football, he is unrestrained.
"I'm a very emotional and physical player," Hoyte said. "That's something that I always want to keep."