Jonathan Dwyer, a runner and a prankster

A lot of fans don't know this, but Georgia Tech B-back Jonathan Dwyer went out one night with a group of teammates and got a tattoo that covered most of his arm.

One of those sleeve jobs with a lot of artwork.

At least that's what teammate Roddy Jones told Dwyer's mom.

Dwyer's dad, Tony, remembers his wife, Keely, saying, "No, not my child. My child wouldn't do this. Put him on the phone."

And then she heard Jonathan giggling in the background.

It's not just the minds of opposing defenders that Dwyer likes to mess with. He loves to play pranks on everyone, and no one, not even mom, is spared.

"That one threw us for a loop," Tony Dwyer said. "His mom was livid."

Jones and Dwyer run down the list of hi-jinks that Jonathan has pulled: switching shoes, hiding shoes, hiding keys, putting stuff in shoes, switching gloves, hiding helmets, hiding in stores when he was younger. Jones says the only thing that Dwyer hasn't messed with is mouthpieces.

"It's all in good fun, and I usually get him back," Jones said.

But still, they can't let him get away with it, even if he is the ACC's player of the year. But here's hoping Jones and his teammates have more luck catching him than opponents did last year, when Dwyer rushed for 1,395 yards, or this year heading into Saturday's game at Virginia.

Dwyer said the jokes started coming when he was a little boy growing up in Marietta. His dad recalled a moment when they were shopping and couldn't find him. They frantically ran all over the store shouting "Jonathan, Jonathan!" And then they saw his shoes sticking out from under a circular clothing rack. He had been there the whole time, laughing as his parents became more and more worried.

"He's always been a good kid," Tony Dwyer said. "But he's had moments where he's done things, like hiding and scaring you."

At Kell High school, if his team was winning by a lot, he would hide somebody's helmet on the sidelines.

Now, one of his favorite pranks is to put lotion or muscle milk in people's cleats.

"They don't see it at first, but they feel it as the start running," Dwyer said.

Somebody tried to turn the tables on Dwyer by putting lotion in his shoes earlier this season. But Dwyer's little brother, Jordan, put the shoes on first, sparing Dwyer a squishy-toed punishment.

While Jones might be Dwyer's most-frequent target, quarterback Josh Nesbitt is the recipient that he is most wary of.

"He doesn't talk a lot, so everybody doesn't think he's going to do anything when he says he's going to do it," Dwyer said. "But you better watch out. When he says he's going to get you back, he's going to get you back."

And Dwyer knows that of which he speaks. It seems Nesbitt bought a new umbrella and put it in his locker. Dwyer saw it and started playing with it. And, in what will ring true to many parents who have warned their kids to put something down before they break it, Dwyer broke it.

But, because Nesbitt wasn't there, Dwyer put it back in his locker and didn't say anything. An innocent accident ... or was it?

When Nesbitt took the umbrella to use it one day, it fell apart in his hands. Of course, he went to Dwyer, who blamed it on someone else. Nesbitt vowed revenge. Dwyer said he thought it was Nesbitt who put the lotion in his shoes. That doesn't appear to be the case.

"I've been waiting," Nesbitt said. "I think he's forgotten about it."