Sports Sense

They are used up and eventually discarded, often years before they should be looking for other work. The NFL running back is fast becoming a virtual relic. The proof of this is never more evident than now based on what happened this week as two of the league’s very best runners were jettisoned by their teams.

On the surface one wonders how it is possible that LT – LaDainian Tomlinson – who holds the all-time single season NFL touchdown record can be let go by the San Diego Chargers at the age of 30? Tomlinson is 10 years younger than quarterback Brett Favre, who is still coveted by the Minnesota Vikings and other teams. And why did the Philadelphia Eagles cut the man who is arguably their most versatile and important player, Brian Westbrook?

Obviously the Chargers and the Eagles felt that Tomlinson and Westbrook, have taken too many vicious hits and can no longer produce the way they used to. And it appears that the two teams may have a point. Tomlinson’s numbers declined sharply this season, as he finished with less than 1- thousand yards rushing for the first time in his career. And Brian Westbrook suffered a debilitating concussion that sidelined him for much of the season.

Despite their glorious history, running backs have declined precipitously in value in today’s NFL. They are no longer among the highest paid or the most respected. This is in stark contrast to the way it was. Years ago the very best running backs were compensated nearly as handsomely as quarterbacks. This is underscored by the fact that the man generally acclaimed as the greatest football player ever was a running back – the great Jim Brown.

Other players like Gale Sayers, O.J. Simpson, Walter Payton, Earl Campbell, Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, and all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith dot the illustrious landscape of the NFL’s history. I could go on but I think you get the point. These are all-time football superstars. What makes NFL executives think that this can’t happen again? Look at how well the Tennessee Titan’s Chris Johnson played as he became only the 5th player to ever rush for over 2 thousand yards in a single season.

But now the thinking seems to be that running backs are interchangeable. What are NFL talent evaluators thinking? But at the same time I know the NFL is a far different league than when Jim Brown played. As a result running backs have fallen pretty far. I’m just hoping that one day these disrespected runners get a chance to get back up.

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I’m worried like I always am before an Indianapolis Colts playoff game. Somehow I’ve come to think that the New York Jets can actually beat the once undefeated Colts. I don’t really believe that do I? Still the last time the Jets played the Colts in a playoff game the score was 41 to nothing – Jets win. And even though that game was seven years ago, for a worrier like me it might as well have been last week.

Those of us who come from Indianapolis are used to being disappointed. I grew up in a city that never seemed quite worthy of, or comfortable with, top tier status. As such we natives have historically both derisively and proudly called the city Naptown, a place where not much happens, but is nonetheless a great place to raise a family. But its kind of like having to kiss your sister – not much joy in that.

But things have changed quite a bit in my hometown over the years and so has my perspective and reality. So now as a grown man I’ve spent a lot of time defending the Circle City (the better nickname) and extolling its virtues.

This is as good as it gets in Indianapolis. It is a city that remade itself by meticulously developing an enviable reputation as an international sports capital. And as a bonus Indianapolis now has one of the NFL’s best teams, it’s best quarterback, and a beautiful retractable roof stadium to play in. But perhaps the best and scariest fact of all is that the Colts are again the favorite to win the Super Bowl. The Colts help make Indianapolis mean something.

The rational me believes that if the Colts play their best game Sunday they should easily beat the Jets, who ironically thanks to the Colts, backed their way into the playoffs. But like many of the folks back home – the skeptical me is unduly focused on the fact that it was the Jets who a couple of weeks ago ended the Colt’s improbable bid for an undefeated season.

So will the Colts beat the Jets on Sunday and advance to the Super Bowl? I certainly hope so but I’m not sure yet. I’m from Indianapolis and I’m still worried.

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The last couple of weeks I have been watching number 7 from Stanford run the football. He can really play. I’ve got to tell you I’m surprised he’s this good. I just assumed …

Anyway, the kid’s name is Toby Gerhart. Not usually the kind of name we hear being called a potential star NFL running back.

As of his last game – a loss to Cal, Gerhart had rushed for 1531 yards and 23 touchdowns. He scored four touchdowns against Cal.

Toby Gerhart is busting stereotypes. He is big and fast and can run you over. Plus as a bonus – he can make you miss. The last part – can make you miss – is why running back is the blackest position in football. But the very white Gerhart might just be the next great white runner.

It has been a long time since a white guy was taken seriously – by anybody – running the ball.

John Riggins comes to mind. He retired 25 years ago. These days most of the time the white guy gets to play fullback with a big white collar around his neck. He’s the stubby blocker who never gets to run with the ball. This is apparently how it should be according to football’s decision makers. Well at least that’s what their actions seem to be saying.

And most of us tend to agree with their stereotypes.

There is not a league in sports that stereotypes more than the NFL. White guys get to play the “smart” positions – quarterback, center, head coach.

Black guys get the speedy, athletic positions – running back, cornerback, wide receiver.

Position by position the numbers don’t lie. And it seems most of us are just fine with these statistical stereotypes.

But Toby Gerhart might actually defy our assumptions. He is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. And he might actually get to run the ball next year in the NFL.

If he does get to play and run as a pro, I will cheer him on. Because for every successful Toby Gerhart, there will hopefully be another minority coach or quarterback.

Stereotypes have held us all back for too long.

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On Wednesday controversial broadcaster Rush Limbaugh was knocked out of the ownership group that is hoping to buy the St. Louis Rams. Thank goodness!!!

But on Thursday Limbaugh got up and came out swinging. He loudly blamed everyone but himself for what happened to his potential ownership share.

Limbaugh also took a swing at his former partner in the deal, Dave Checketts, who dropped him from the group. Limbaugh says it was Checketts who sought him out to join the ownership group and assured him that there would be no problems with the NFL about his involvement. Now Limbaugh suggests that Checketts betrayed him in order to keep the deal alive.

But it shouldn’t end there. Ironically, I too have a problem with Dave Checketts.

If in fact Checketts approached Limbaugh, why did he do it? If Limbaugh asked Checketts if he could join the ownership group I wonder why did Checketts say yes? In either case I question Checketts’ judgement, and I now wonder whether Checketts is fit to own the Rams even without Rush Limbaugh.

Limbaugh is a polarizing personality who seems intent on not just advancing his own conservative political views, which is his right, but to demonize, demean and ridicule anyone who dares disagree with him. And that is wrong. Although I am not a conservative, I believe strongly that you can nonetheless be a conservative without being intolerant and cruel.

If and when Limbaugh ever learns this and takes it to heart, then perhaps he can own an NFL team. The same can be said for Dave Checketts, who like his former partner, Limbaugh, also might never own an NFL team. Checketts should have known better than to team up with a loudmouth bigot.

Let’s consider the knockout of Limbaugh and perhaps Dave Checketts a victory for civility.

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Another blow to the pro football ownership hopes of Rush Limbaugh.

Now an NFL owner says he doesn’t want to see the conservative broadcaster in the owners box.

Indianapolis Colts owner, Jim Irsay said Tuesday that there is no way that he would vote to approve the controversial Rush Limbaugh as an owner of an NFL team.

Limbaugh is reportedly a key part of an ownership group seeking to buy the St. Louis Rams.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Jim Irsay said, “I, myself, couldn’t even consider voting for him. When there are comments that have been made that are inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive … our words do damage, and it’s something that we don’t need.”

Irsay has earned the credibility to speak out against Limbaugh. He has proudly hired two African-American head coaches in this decade. And Irsay who won the Super Bowl three years ago with the revered Tony Dungy at the helm, now has a high-powered, undefeated team under new head coach Jim Caldwell this season. Some football insiders believe this could be the Colts best team yet.

But Irsay will need at least another 8 owners to join him in opposition to Limbaugh. NFL bylaws require that at least 24 of the league’s 32 owners must vote in favor of an ownership change.

Several NFL players have spoken out against Rush Limbaugh, and they have been joined by the NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith who indicated the other day that he also strongly opposes Limbaugh’s bid.

Sports have long been the place where America has tested its appetite for tolerance. But changes on the playing fields and on the courts did not come without many disappointments, hurts and shame. But more than 60 years ago several significant racial barriers were hurdled.

Joe Louis won the heavyweight championship of the world in the 1930s. Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin in front of Adolph Hitler. And of course Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball in 1947. Those three athletes transcended their sports and helped change the way America viewed and treated all African-Americans.

Here’s hoping a united front of NFL owners, players and fans speak up strongly against Rush Limbaugh and send an even more powerful message about the kind of progress we’ve made as a nation.

UPDATE

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We learned this week that Rush Limbaugh is part of an ownership group trying to buy the St. Louis Rams. But a couple of NFL players are making clear that they are having none of it. Saying they would never play for a team owned by Limbaugh.

Let’s deal with facts. Limbaugh is a race-baiter. His history for fostering racial division is long and distressing. But he is also an extremely well-paid, highly-skilled, professional broadcaster. Which means Limbaugh knows exactly what he is saying on his number-one rated radio show. That makes him especially dangerous.

While I’m not a conservative, I do not for one minute believe that most conservatives are racists. But where are the decent conservatives to straighten out the Limbaugh’s of the world when their discourse turns ugly? Does their silence make them complicit in Limbaugh’s and others’ demeaning rants? I believe it does.

Rush Limbaugh is famous for criticizing what he calls “the drive-by media” or as they are also known – “the mainstream” media.

But the irony is that some of those very same mainstream media companies own many of the radio stations that carry Limbaugh’s show. And not one of them has repudiated the hateful things that Limbaugh has often said, and why should they? Limbaugh is making millions for them.

So why might it fall on the NFL to decide if Rush is acceptable or not. Sadly, millions of Americans think he’s just fine – the ratings certainly say so – and so too do the broadcast companies that profit from him.

This is a deeply polarized time in this country.

It’s a time when President Obama who is bi-racial can be called a racist with very little in the way of protest from anyone. Glenn Beck, the TV host who stupidly called the president a racist, is still allowed to spew his ignorance on the air. And Beck’s network, Fox News Channel, has done nothing so far to reign Beck in. Fox officials simply point to his ratings, which continue to go up.

So while I applaud the players for speaking out against Limbaugh, I am appalled that too many other Americans and corporations for way, way too long have been willing to sit in silence and do virtually nothing about racial hatred broadcast over the air.

I don’t think this is really about the NFL or Rush Limbaugh at all.
It’s really about us and what we are willing to put up with.

UPDATE

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After two seasons away from the game, the prodigal son, a convicted felon, returns to the gridiron, chastened but wiser, and now ready to lead some NFL team to the Super Bowl.   Wouldn’t that be a story?  If only it was that simple for Michael Vick.   But rather than a story of redemption and second chances, Vick’s possible comeback may prove to be as much about public intolerance and public relations as anything else.  

On Monday NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell conditionally reinstated Michael Vick saying,  “I accept that you are sincere when you say that you want to, and will, turn your life around, and that you intend to be a positive role model for others.”

Goodell also said that Vick could participate in training camp and play in at least the last two preseason games.  The commissioner indicated that if all goes well then Michael Vick could get to play in regular season games by week six or earlier.

In a statement released by his agent, Vick, who completed his prison term a week ago said, “I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to Commissioner Goodell for allowing me to be readmitted to the National Football League. I fully understand that playing football in the NFL is a privilege, not a right, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity I have been given.  As you can imagine, the last two years have given me time to revaluate my life, mature as an individual and fully understand the terrible mistakes I made in the past and what type of life I must lead moving forward.“

While I’m sure that Vick was disappointed in not being granted an unconditional chance to play immediately, at this point he has to take what he can get from the commissioner and be as publicly gracious as possible.  What else can he say?

Although I don’t believe that this was the fairest decision the commissioner could have handed down, it was most certainly a calculated one.  It was largely based on the perception of the public mood, and the potential negative impact that allowing Michael Vick to play would have on the image of the vaunted National Football League.   This meant that Goodell had to carefully calibrate his words and actions to mitigate whatever PR damage the NFL might incur.

As for Michael Vick, this sad episode has literally cost him tens of millions of dollars, two years in prison and an unprecedented public flogging.   It was as high a cost as an athlete has ever paid for misdeeds.

How will all of this play out?  The commissioner’s ruling in the Vick case was just the first act.  The curtain is already rising on the second act as NFL teams which may be interested will try to justify a decision to sign Vick, or lacking a sound PR reply, be forced to state publicly that they have no interest.    If the decisions these men are about to make  were purely about football ability, Michael Vick would have a long line of teams willing to give him another chance.   As it stands now, it may be tough for Vick to find any team for which to play.

What I believe we’ve learned from the Michael Vick saga is that dog fighting and animal cruelty now rank at the very top of the transgressions that can be committed by a famous athlete.  We now also know that far too many people have very little capacity for compassion and forgiveness.   And those who can make decisions about Vick will be forced to capitulate to the public mood and the possible loss of sponsors and revenue.

I, for one, believe enough is enough.  Michael Vick doesn’t need to say or do anything more to prove himself to me.  But I fear that sincere apologies, a prison term and lost millions will still not be enough for the self-righteous who care little about second chances.

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After nearly a week of speculation it is now official.   Police have determined that former Tennessee Titans star, Steve McNair, was shot and killed in his sleep by his girlfriend, who then turned the gun on herself.  Murder-suicide.   Why did she kill McNair and herself?  The Nashville police chief said that an investigation into a possible motive suggests 20-year old Sahel Kazemi was distraught over her finances, and what she believed to be the possibility that McNair had another girlfriend.

While police have essentially wrapped up their investigation of the murder-suicide, there will always be questions about McNair’s death that may never have answers.  Such as: Who was this young woman?   Why would McNair spend time with a woman 16 years his junior who was not his wife?  What would cause her to take his life and her own?  We will likely only be able to speculate about the reasons.

This is what we do know.  Steve McNair was one of the toughest quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL.  He often played in tremendous pain.  But he nonetheless played with intelligence and savvy.  He was the most respected player on his team.  He was selected to the Pro Bowl four times and in 2003 was the league’s Most Valuable Player.  McNair retired from football last year after 13 seasons, when his body could no longer take the wear and tear.

We also know McNair had a wife and four children.   Many believe had he not had the girlfriend he would still be alive today.   While we will never know for sure if that is true, the details of his death surely paint a much darker picture of a man many of us respected and some of us revered.   I choose not to make any moral judgments about McNair’s choices.   Steve was a human being.  He made mistakes like all of us.

Still, McNair’s death, even a week later, doesn’t make sense to me. It may never make sense.   Why do I care?  I care because I followed his career for many years.  I was a fan.

Years ago when I was still working at the TV station, I recall my co-worker, Gus Johnson, now a CBS Sports announcer, telling me about this “kid from Alcorn State.”   Gus said, “Dave, you got to see this guy play quarterback.”   When Gus got excited like that, I usually paid attention.   From that point on I watched McNair with great interest.

Just as Gus predicted, McNair went on to set all sorts of passing records at Alcorn State – thus earning the nickname “Air McNair”.  McNair would eventually finish third in the Heisman Trophy voting his senior season and he became the third player picked in the 1995 NFL draft.

Steve McNair was easily one of my favorite players.   McNair helped foster a father/son Madden Football rivalry, as I would always play as Steve McNair and the Titans against my son and his favorite team the Ravens.  David Jr. would usually win as most kids do playing video games against their dads, but it was a fun time.   That’s one way that I remember Steve McNair.   It is also one way that I remember my son growing up.

Steve McNair never passed for lots of yards at Tennessee, because the Titans were a conservative, run-first team.  Still, he threw for 31 thousand yards and more than 170 touchdowns.  But McNair was an exceptional leader on the field and would run effectively when he had to.  McNair scored 37 touchdowns rushing and ran for more than 3500 yards during his career.

What I will remember most about McNair was his modesty, his quiet leadership and his courage.  I knew nothing else about him.

I was not a friend of Steve McNair’s but I was a fan.  Death by murder-suicide is not the way I want to remember McNair.  But tragically that will now accompany my memory of him.  It doesn’t seem fair.

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Ponder these words for a minute: rehabilitate, redeem, remorse, incarceration, guilty, exile, forgiveness.

They are a jumble of powerful words that are not always properly understood and are sometimes used incorrectly.  I think of those words and several others, when I consider the eventual freedom of a famous prisoner now behind bars in Leavenworth, Kansas.   I wonder how we will interpret and use those words when this man is set free.  

28 year-old Michael Vick, a federal prisoner, who was once the highest paid player in the National Football League, will be going home in less than two weeks.   Vick will be released into home confinement for the remaining eight weeks of his prison term.   Ironically, the end of Vick’s sentence will neatly coincide with the start of NFL training camps.

The end of July traditionally marks the beginning of a new season for most NFL players. It could mean a fresh start for Vick who would like to resume his football career after missing two seasons.   But it could also mark the beginning of the coldest reception ever received by an athlete.

Sadly, many athletes have been in trouble.  And some, like Vick, have spent time in prison.  Several have even been connected to crimes where people have died.  Yet a number of them went on to successfully compete and star again.  But none of them I believe at any point faced the utter contempt and widespread anger that has been directed at Michael Vick.

There is no disputing that Vick’s crimes were horrendous.   Vick’s greatest burden will likely be that he will forever be known as a man who not only ran a dog-fighting operation, but was extremely cruel to the dogs he owned.   In some cases the evidence indicates that he apparently participated in the torture and killing of dogs that did not perform well in fights.

Still, I am uncomfortable with how all of this is playing out.  I am troubled by the vitriol that has been heaped on Vick. The response feels wildly out of proportion to the crimes he committed, considering what we have tolerated from other athletes who have also committed criminal acts.

For his crimes, as terrible as they were, Vick pled guilty and will soon have served his time.  I always thought that in this country a man once released has a right to return to society and try to reclaim his life.

How should NFL teams, the commissioner, fellow players, and fans deal with a free Michael Vick.  The criminal justice system will soon indicate that he has paid his debt.   Is there an additional public debt that Vick must now pay?  And if so, for how long?

So I ask:  What is enough? What more do we want from Vick?

Public opinion will play a huge role in what happens to Michael Vick in the future.   There are many people who say they are prepared to protest and even boycott any team that dares to sign Michael Vick to a contract should he be reinstated to play again.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says that Vick must show “genuine remorse” and demonstrate that he is a changed man, if he is to be considered for reinstatement.  I ask though, how high is that bar of remorse?

Perhaps we need to look at this through the eyes and heart of Tony Dungy, one of the most respected and honorable men in the history of professional football.  In what was only described as a private meeting, the former NFL coach met this week with Michael Vick behind the prison bars at Leavenworth, Kansas.

Dungy’s meeting with Vick was extremely important.  Dungy is not just a football coach, he has considerable experience talking with and counseling prisoners.    His prison outreach ministry is one of the reason’s the Super Bowl winning coach decided to retire from the NFL after last season.  The god-fearing Dungy believes in both discipline and redemption.

I hope that one day Dungy will share his thoughts about the imprisoned quarterback.   What Dungy saw and and heard from Michael Vick should go a long way toward shaping how we understand Vick. It may be that only a man like Tony Dungy can lend the much needed perspective to bring common sense, understanding and closure to our feelings about Michael Vick.

I believe how we receive and accept the former Atlanta quarterback upon his release from prison will say more about us, as people, than it may ever say about Michael Vick, the convicted felon.

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Dear Mr. Campbell,

You have taken the high road for weeks, while your boss, Washington Redskins owner, Dan Snyder, has now twice tried to publicly fire you and embarrass you.  I commend you for your decency during what must be an uncomfortable and trying time.   You are truly a southern gentleman.  You are much more decent and dignified about being slapped in the face than most of us might be under similar circumstances.  

I wonder though, doesn’t it make you a little angry that Snyder, who just a couple of weeks ago promised that his flirtation with another quarterback, Jay Cutler, was just a passing fancy and that he was really committed to you, lied about that?  His commitment lasted just about a week, and then he turned his attention to a smooth talking college kid to play your position right behind your back.  Isn’t that some BS!!   But you, Mister Classy, simply said only that you were “shocked” that Snyder would do that.  I applaud you for your self-control.

But here is the bottom line.   Mr. Snyder and his team of advisers, despite their best efforts, couldn’t get the men they wanted to play quarterback.   And now they are “stuck” with you.   And its either a pretty messed up position for all of you to be in, or perhaps, irony of ironies, potentially the best situation of all.    Its what you make of it.

No, Jason, I’m not a Redskins fan, I never have been except for the briefest of moments.  Once to cheer for a past-his-prime, Doug Williams, who heroically played one of the greatest Super Bowl games in NFL history.  And one other time to root for Marty Schottenheimer, who is the only coach in the Dan Snyder era to truly mold the Redskins the right way, even though it meant Snyder had to cede power to someone who actually knew how to put together a professional football team.   The ceding control thing; I especially liked that.

But now I’ve decided that even if I don’t completely root for the Redskins,  I will definitely pull for you, Jason Campbell.  And I’m sure I am not alone here.  You have been wronged.  We know it and so do you.   And most folks I know hate to see someone get played, the way Dan Snyder and the Redskins have tried to play you.   Nonetheless, like the upstanding, respectful young man that you are, you have displayed a dignity far beyond anything that should rightfully be expected from anyone.  I like that and respect that.   But right now as a new fan and member of what has to be a growing fan club, I want more from you.

Please seize control of this team.  Even though Dan Synder owns them, circumstances now dictate that the Redskins can become your team now – if you want that responsibility.

The Redskins have done virtually nothing in the Snyder years.  But if you can take over the team with your leadership, your poise and your play, you will have stock in this town and this team that Dan Snyder will never be able to take away from you.

You wear number 17, just like Doug Williams did, so its time for you to act like number 17 and produce with big numbers the way Doug did in the Super Bowl two decades ago, when he played the greatest game any Redskins quarterback has ever played, when everything was on the line.

The biggest complaint against you is that you might be too nice, too soft spoken and accommodating to be a star in the NFL.  But I believe it is not too late to show that nice and decent doesn’t mean weak.  You haven’t nearly reached your prime as a player.   But you have already been tested.  And so far you have aced all the dignity courses.   Now its time to for you to earn your advanced degree in signal calling and team leadership.   You can do it.  I know you can.

Sincerely,

A New Fan

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John Madden transcended football, the sport he coached and later covered.  There has never been a sports announcer quite like him.   He was an American sports original. 

Madden never talked over our heads.  He would hit us at eye level with small, punchy syntax challenged word pictures and  insights.  He said it, we got it.

John Madden talked about football in a way that everyone could understand.   Along with the fine points of team strategy, he also pointed out the silly, inane little things that go on in games that other announcers would never dare mention.  He often said what we were thinking.

While he wasn’t a comedian, he had a comic’s timing.  And we laughed along with him because he never tried to pretend that football was more than just a game.  But at the same time when the miraculous happened on the field, those unbelievable moments that cement us as fans, he knew just how to describe what we saw and more importantly why it happened.

John Madden will leave one of the most unusual and profound legacies in the history of pro football.  Great coach, great broadcaster, video game pioneer and perhaps the all-time sports every man.  He is the one guy who really makes me feel old.  I say that because I can remember very clearly when Madden was young.  Madden first made headlines when he was named coach of the Oakland Raiders in 1969.   At 32 years old he was the youngest coach in pro football.

Madden inexplicably retired from the Raiders after the 1978 season.  He would never coach again.  But during his time on the sidelines, he crafted the best record in NFL history based on winning percentage with 103 wins and only 32 losses.   He coached the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory in 1977.  He was an unexpected success as a coach who after retirement would immediately start to build a resume as football’s most unique and successful voice as a broadcaster.

Madden started broadcasting football games 30 years ago.  Most of the time he worked with another football man turned broadcaster, Pat Summerall.   The two teamed up to become the essential game to listen to for more than 20 years.  When Madden went to Monday Night Football he generated much of the same magic with his new partner Al Michaels, with whom he also worked on NBC’s new Sunday Night Football.  But just like he left the game as a coach, Madden is leaving the announce booth on his own terms and in his own time.

To a lot of kids Madden is a video game.  In fact the game that bears his name is the most successful sports video game in history.

But John Madden is clearly more than a game.  In fact he was more than a coach or broadcaster.    In the purest sense John Madden was really a great communicator.   In the easiest to understand language possible, Madden told us what is really going on during a football game.  His take on football and his easy folksy manner in explaining it made the game more accessible.  Football will not be the same without him.

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I was reminded this morning that this is the 25th anniversary of my becoming a Colts fan.  On this day two and a half decades ago the Colts left Baltimore under the cover of darkness and moved to my hometown,  Indianapolis.  The move enhanced the transformation of one city and devastated another.  All these years later, thousands of people in Baltimore are still not over the loss of their original NFL team.   In Indianapolis, where I grew up, the city continues to enjoy the downtown renaissance, civic pride and nationwide respect, that the Colts helped to inspire.

These days I live 45 miles from downtown Baltimore.   And over the years I have come to appreciate how strongly the people in Baltimore feel about their teams and their heroes, particularly the Colts.   But as an Indianapolis native who grew up without the NFL, I was happy when my hometown moved closer to big time respectability when it “acquired”  the Colts in 1984.  I feel for Baltimore but I’m happy for Indianapolis.  (But as much as I like Baltimore, when I’m there, I rarely tell anyone that I’m from Indianapolis.)

For more than a decade the Indianapolis Colts have been one of the NFL’s marquee franchises.  They just moved into their second downtown facility, a retractable roof marvel known as Lucas Oil Stadium.  The new stadium is being used not just for Colts football, but also for NCAA tournament basketball.  This weekend it hosted a Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight regional and the Final Four will be played there next year.  Three years from now Lucas Oil will play host to the Super Bowl.   This is today’s Indianapolis.  Spurred on by the Colts.

In Baltimore, it took 12 years before the NFL returned.  In 1996 the original Cleveland Browns, became the new Baltimore Ravens.  Ironically Baltimore, “acquired” the Browns/Ravens with a better offer than the city of Cleveland made.  Just the way Indianapolis made a better deal for the Colts than did the city of Baltimore.   But this time Baltimore stepped up.  The facility they built for the Ravens, M &T Bank Stadium, is another ornament in an exciting downtown, one that was forced to remake itself after the Colts moved away.  But this remains a bitter sweet tale.  Even though the Ravens would win a Super Bowl just five years after moving to Baltimore, they remain the city’s second favorite football team.   The number one team remains, the Baltimore Colts.

Colts fans from Baltimore years ago fell in love with the legendary number 19, Johnny Unitas, and a team that proudly symbolized their working class city.  They feel their team was stolen by another city and their pain has lasted a quarter century.

600 miles away and many years later, another great quarterback, number 18, Peyton Manning is creating his own legend in a uniform that looks just like the one Johnny Unitas wore.   But Manning, the NFL’s highest paid commercial endorser, symbolizes the changes that time often brings about.   Manning embodies the new Indianapolis and the new NFL.

Where sports are concerned a connection can be made that lasts a lifetime.  That’s the way it was with the Baltimore Colts, that’s the way it is with the Indianapolis Colts – a tale of two cities and one team.

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The sports world lost a true giant this week with the death of Gene Upshaw. The 63 year old Upshaw died suddenly from pancreatic cancer. He only learned he had one of the most devastating forms of cancer this past Sunday. Gene Upshaw helped shape the current NFL both as a Hall of Fame offensive guard for the Oakland Raiders and later as the long time executive director of the NFL Players Association.

Under Upshaw’s leadership NFL players salaries skyrocketed and the league became more successful and profitable than ever. His dignified manner and tough negotiating posture made him formidable at the bargaining table but also allowed him the perspective to understand that the players and the owners were indeed partners in the success of the NFL.

Upshaw will be hard to replace, he helmed the NFLPA for 25 years. He was hailed during his life as a trailblazer for players and the league in general. Was he universally popular? Not always. But he was respected across the board.

Gene Upshaw, the Hall of Fame player, was every bit a Hall of Fame executive. He made a difference. He will be missed.

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David Burnett Character, Death, NFL, NFL Player's Union, Unions Cancer, Gene Upshaw, NFL, NFL Player's Union