Oklahoma Sports Top 30: No. 7 - Nowata OL/DL Austin Beck

It’s not as easy as you think to typecast Austin Beck.

Thursday, July 28th 2011, 5:43 pm

By: News On 6

Oklahoma Sports Top 30: No. 7 - Nowata OL/DL Austin Beck

Originally Published: Aug 23, 2010 8:50 PM CDT

Oklahoma Sports Top 30 -- Austin Beck, Nowata High School
- View the full Oklahoma Sports Top 30

Kyle Dierking
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

NOWATA, Oklahoma – It’s not as easy as you think to typecast Austin Beck.

“He can dance to rap,” said Nowata football coach Eric Walkingstick. “For a country kid he can definitely move.”

That’s not bad for a 6-foot-7, 295 pound teenager. His footwork on the football field might be even more impressive.

“He’ll be chasing a kid down from the backside and he tackles a 170 pound kid and I think he’s going to crush the guy. I mean literally,” Walkingstick said. We had a play the other day in a scrimmage where he tackled somebody and you know, sometimes it’s not fair.”

Beck’s always been big. He says he was 5-foot-3 and about 130 pounds in the third grade.

“I drank my Braum’s milk as a child,” Beck quips.

Believe it or not, baseball was his first love, but that’s where being big came into play again.

“I gave up on baseball,” Beck said. “I didn’t look too good in that uniform.”

Said Walkingstick, “I’m sure it probably fit a little small. It’s one of those things where sometime I think the sport chooses you.”

Beck left baseball in eighth grade and focusing on football has paid off. He’ll play football at Arkansas next season and plans on enrolling in January.

“He knew that was a place that he wanted to be,” Walkingstick said. “When he got a chance to go there on a recruiting visit, he fell in love. He knew that’s where he wanted to be.”

Said Beck, “I went to a lot of places. They were all nice, but this one was just perfect. There wasn’t anything I didn’t like.”

It’s another move that will serve the country boy well.

Oklahoma Sports Bio: Austin Beck

Height: 6’7”
Weight: 295 pounds

Role Model: Nowata Football Coach Eric Walkingstick & his father
Favorite Food: Home cooked Double Cheeseburger
Listening to Right Now: Country
Favorite Video Game: NCAA ‘11