For anyone who complains about the money that athletes, particularly football players, are making these days, the gruesome injury to the Los Angeles Raiders’ Napoleon McCallum should be the only counterpoint necessary.
McCallum’s leg was twisted and bent horribly while playing against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night, knocking him out for the year and putting his career in jeopardy. The play was so gruesome that viewers were warned by broadcasters not to watch the replays.
Dolphins running back Keith Byars was so mortified that he walked away muttering as the subject was broached.
“Don’t ask me about that injury,” Byars said. “I looked at it once, that was enough. Someday when I retire, I’ll look at it again. It’s not good for your mental health.”
“Anybody who complains about what football players make… ” said wide receiver O.J. McDuffie, his voice trailing off and his head shaking. “This guy almost lost a leg.”
McDuffie also injured his right knee in the opening game, straining the medial collateral ligament on a kickoff return. He said his injury, which will keep him out from two to four weeks, paled in comparison to McCallum’s.
“[McCallum’s injury) was frightening. It made my injury look like nothing. I thought the [Joe) Theismann thing was the worst thing I ever saw,” McDuffie said.
Theismann, the former Washington Redskins quarterback, broke his leg during a Monday night game in 1985 against the New York Giants as he was tackled by Lawrence Taylor. Theismann’s leg snapped like a pencil and was replayed constantly.
“That’s why as an athlete you’re taught to do everything as if it’s your last play, because you never know when the time will come,” linebacker Bryan Cox said. “It’s precious and you want to make the best of every play you got to play.”
The point is not so much that football is a risk. It doesn’t take many injuries, such as McCallum’s, or paralyzing neck injuries, such as the one to former New York Jets defensive end Dennis Byrd in 1992, to figure that out.
The bigger point is: Measure your words carefully when criticizing players for trying to get every dollar they can out of this game. In the past two weeks, All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders was referred to as “money-grubbing” by one columnist and accused of simply going after the money in another news report.
Even if that’s true, who can blame anyone for going after the cash, especially in the entertainment industry?
“Let people keep complaining all they want. I’m not worried about it. I’ll just keep collecting my check,” wide receiver Mark Ingram said.
And speaking of daredevils…
The Hack brothers, Dave and Bob, may qualify as some of the gutsier members of the Dolphins’ staff. They film every practice, hopping onto a motorized platform that elevates high above the field at the training facility.
With the exception of some nearby light standards, they are the highest target; no place to be when the almost-daily lightning comes through. When the flashes get too close, the Hacks don’t take too many chances.
“I’m not losing my life for football practice,” said Dave, the team’s video manager, who had to make a quick exit during one practice this week. “It’s our call whether to stay up there.”
The call isn’t exactly scientific. They count the seconds between flash and thunder to estimate how far away the lightning is. At least it has worked so far. Unfortunately, the weather patterns in Davie – which seems to be a Bermuda Triangle of lightning – are different from the Dolphins’ old training site at St. Thomas University.
“I’ve seen storms make a 270-degree turn twice in the two years that we’ve been here. I saw that once in 20 years at St. Thomas,” Dave said.
Fly patterns
Mark Higgs’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, met with the Dolphins this week to discuss the future of his client. What happens to Higgs depends on two things: 1. How well Irving Spikes does as a backup to Terry Kirby; 2. What happens to running backs around the league. Some team might be willing to trade for Higgs as the season goes on. The injury to McCallum, for instance, opens up a spot for a short-yardage back with the Raiders. Higgs doesn’t fit that role perfectly, but the injury is an example of what could happen…
The Dolphins will hold a vote soon to elect a new player representative to the NFL Players Association. Based on the fate of the last two, don’t expect too many volunteers. Former backup quarterback Scott Secules held the job in 1992 and was let go, signing as a free agent with New England. The Patriots then cut him before this season. Offensive tackle Mark Dennis did the job last year and was cut in training camp this year…
Despite the talk of owner H. Wayne Huizenga pursuing cornerback Deion Sanders for a baseball contract, a source in the NFL office said that the league isn’t that concerned at this point. “Wayne is too sharp for that. He knows what tampering is and that people don’t look too highly on it,” the source said…
Linebackers coach George Hill went through a scary situation two weeks ago when a 20-foot metal stairway fell on his car while it was parked at the Dolphins’ training facility. The stairway is there because of construction to enlarge the office space. The stairway was blown over by heavy wind. “You think about people who’ve had telephone poles or trees blown over on top of their cars and get killed,” said Hill, whose company car was damaged on the roof, hood and windshield.
Jason Cole’s column on the Dolphins appears Sundays.
