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O Man, Can Plant's Charles Carry Load

Tribune photo by BILL WARD

Orson Charles kept the Panthers on track after starting quarterback and good friend Aaron Murray went down with ankle and leg injuries.

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 10, 2008

Some call him "Specimen" or "Orson the Barbarian" or "Manchild." Others call him "Big O" or the one he likes best.

"Just O," he said.

O is Plant High School's senior tight end and two-way terror Orson Charles. Last week Charles, 6-foot-3, 230 pounds of winged granite, rallied his teammates as the Panthers warmed up to play Armwood in the Class 4A playoffs.

"There is no way, no way, we're losing," O shouted.

They didn't. The Panthers upset the top-ranked Hawks, 17-14. And Orson was everywhere, catching two touchdown passes and flying in from defensive end to harry Armwood's offense.

Game over, he picked up Plant head coach Robert Weiner, just as he had lifted Plant since his good friend and teammate, quarterback Aaron Murray, was injured earlier this season. O, what a win.

After the game, college coaches, including Tennessee's Lane Kiffin, waited for Charles. The Michigan man was at practice Tuesday. Everyone wants O. His decision won't come anytime soon. "I want a ring first," he said.

O, does he want a ring.

The road to a state championship continues Friday night at Dad's Stadium, when Plant takes on Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer in a state semifinal.

"I'm doing what I love," Orson Charles said. "I'm here with my boys, having fun."

O does insane things on football fields, major college things, NFL things. He twists his body in the air, makes one-handed grabs, outruns everyone, overpowers everyone.

He speaks softly off the field, especially to adults. It's always "Yes, Sir" or "Yes, Ma'am," with O. His mom, Naseline, wouldn't have it any other way.

Charles has 66 catches for 1,254 yards and 19 touchdowns. Now he has his boys all around him, waiting for O to pump them up, or just that O grin or that deep O laugh. Orson, he just kind of pulls you into his world, his joy.

"Orson has a tremendously warm heart," Weiner said.

The other Panthers always look to O to do something. They think he can do anything. Hard to believe this is the same Orson the Klutz who, while on a recruiting visit to Florida, bonked into the Gators 1996 national championship trophy and broke it. O, was he worried.

The Florida coaches laughed.

"It was OK, sir," O said.

"Orson was taking a plate from the refrigerator the other day and it broke," Naseline said. "I guess so long as he holds onto the football …"

There's no bigger moment in this Plant season than the Hillsborough game, the night Murray broke his leg and dislocated his ankle. All seemed lost. O hugged his friend and they cried.

But on the first pass thrown by Murray's replacement, sophomore Phillip Ely, O went up, way up, over two Hillsborough defenders, and made the catch. Another Wow play. Plant receivers coach T.J. Lane says the play helped define this never-quit Plant season.

"That was Orson telling Phillip 'I got your back,'" Lane said.

"I had to catch that ball," O said. "I need to catch all of them."

It's about the ring.

"We're taking it, sir, all the way," O said.

O is talking about nicknames. He was in class one day, reading a book about the origins of children's names. He found out Orson meant "bear" and Charles meant "courageous."

"I thought, wow, Courageous Bear," Orson Charles said.

He smiled.

"But just O is fine."

And, O, is he ready.

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