Oklahoma freshman finds new home among Sooners

<br>NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Michael Hawkins was living on the street not long ago, surviving on stale bread and sleeping in a Dallas park while another homeless man watched his back. <br><br>He never imagined

Sunday, September 22nd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Michael Hawkins was living on the street not long ago, surviving on stale bread and sleeping in a Dallas park while another homeless man watched his back.

He never imagined then where he would end up little more than two years later.

Last week, 74,000 Oklahoma fans cheered for the freshman cornerback as he intercepted a pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. It was his first taste of college football fame and Hawkins, from the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, loved it.

``You go from living on the street to having 70-some thousand people screaming for you,'' he said, leaving the locker room in khaki slacks and a diamond earring. ``You didn't have anybody that was there for you when you were 16, 17 years old. A lot of things changed.''

Hawkins, 19, was raised by his grandmother, who died when he was 11. His mother wasn't part of his life. He lived with his father after his grandmother's death, but that didn't last long.

His father forbid him to play sports or get involved in any after-school activities, he says. Their relationship ended with a fistfight the summer before Hawkins' junior year.

For five weeks, he slept on the streets of Dallas _ stretching his $25 by buying old bread and cheap bottles of water. He washed himself in fast-food restaurants.

Then he decided he had enough.

Hawkins called a former neighbor who helped him find a temporary place to stay _ a couch in a one-bedroom apartment with a young couple who took him in for about a year.

Living in Carrollton, Hawkins entered R.L. Turner High School and played football for the first time. But by his senior year, the couple who had taken him in was buying a house outside the district.

That's when the Alexander family, whose son was the high school's starting quarterback, gave Hawkins the first real home he had had since his grandmother died.

``They took me in and just basically showed me what a family life was,'' he said.

``I guess they cared about the well-being of a child. They paid for everything. They paid for my SATs. They treated me like one of their own kids.''

Gary and Lissa Alexander, the parents of four girls and one boy, figured one more was no big trouble.

``Our house is kind of a revolving door,'' Lissa Alexander said.

Hawkins arrived one Friday night to spend the weekend and never left. He brought everything he owned in a duffel bag.

Lissa Alexander bought him clothes and learned to perm and braid his hair. Her oldest son, who had just left to play football for the Naval Academy, guided Hawkins through the recruiting process, and called Hawkins to calm him down after he got hotheaded on the football field.

``Michael does kind of make a family wherever he goes,'' Lissa Alexander said.

The Sooner family, she said, is already growing on him.

Hawkins is doing well in class this fall and is impressing coach Bob Stoops with his speed and competitiveness.

``He's got a great opportunity to get a great education, to be around some great players and be part of a great program,'' Stoops said. ``Michael's had some tough circumstances, but he's also had some good people that have been with him and have helped him, and he's got a lot of talent and ability as well.

``Fortunately to this point, Michael's realized that and has taken advantage of it.''

Hawkins, who looks up to Deion Sanders and Lester Hayes, said the pressures he faces now don't compare to living on the street.

``It's time to ... live and relax, not worrying about what I'm going to have to eat this day or where I'm going to stay today or if I'm going to get rained on,'' he said. ``If this is my ticket out, I might as well take it.''

But, Hawkins says, he won't take any of his success for granted.

``I owe a lot of people everything,'' he says. ``Some people think they're supposed to be here. It's not supposed to be. It's an opportunity. It depends on if you're going to take it and run with it or if you're just going to let it pass you up.''