OT: Have I got a story for you...

[Smooth]

This was a pretty good read and a very interesting story... I'd thought this would be a good read for some of you guys...

Have I got a story for you ...
Observations and lessons from 40 years in the game

The following column by Dr. Z is a compendium of insights and experieces gleaned from 40 years of covering the NFL. While the story's main character is a composite, he is a representation of a real NFL offensive lineman and the real on- and off-the-field experiences of playing in the NFL.

I guess most of you know who I am, so I don't have to do any long biographical number. I'm black, I'm 31, which is old for a running back but just hitting your prime for my position, which is offensive line. Unless, that is, you've been injured. Then everything changes.

Even if it was a freak injury, an accident, like a guy falling over the back of your leg, it puts a curse on you. Get two of those and you get one of those "injury prone," marks that's like a kiss of death. Or, as the scouts like to say, "We just can't keep him on the field."

I talked to a scout about it once.

"Very few injuries are accidents," he said. "Someone fell on the back of a guy's leg because he wasn't agile enough to get it out of the way. Or he wasn't smart enough to keep the searchlights going at all times. Or he wasn't in good enough shape, so he got tired and that made him careless."

Scouts. When's the last time one of them was on the field? They look at you like you're a grocery product. They deal in negatives. Keep the stiffs away, save the owner money, then they feel they're pulling their weight. And if they miss out on someone real good, well, most of the other scouts did, too.

They ever figure out why bad teams get more guys hurt than good teams do? It's because you're surrounded by worse talent. It's because you're trying to cover for someone, maybe a buddy of yours or a guy you just feel sorry for. And that puts you in an unnatural position and you get hurt.

Call me lucky because I've never had a major injury, knock wood. Oh, lots of minor ones, or at least they were minor to the club. "Nicked up," is that awful phrase they use to describe something that keeps you in pain all week, but not in enough pain to sit you down on Sunday. You learn how to adjust, how to deal with it, especially if you started out as a low draft choice, like I did. Then you're careful not to draw attention to yourself or give them any reason to get your ass out of there. So you swallow the injuries and keep on.

Injuries are old family dogs. They'll follow you everywhere. When I was being scouted in college, some guy wanted to know about the sprained knee I had my freshman year. I've always been careful to be polite to those guys. One thing you never want to do, unless you're some kind of super star hotshot who doesn't give a damn, is show any kind of attitude to anyone who might affect your draft status in any way.

It's a strange thing about how high you're drafted. It sets the price for at least half your NFL career. With some coaches, it means the kind of treatment you're going to get. The first lie a coach will tell you when he gets everyone together is "Everyone's gonna be treated the same. There will be competition at every position." Then they put their first lineup on the field and that's the way it'll stay for the season, with only a few changes, usually due to injury.

What the hell, it was the same way in college, even in high school. That's just the way coaches are. Make you believe one thing, do another. Maybe that's the only way they can keep a bunch of wild ass kids in line.

As an offensive lineman, it's funny, though. The low draft rookie or the free agent...well, you're expected to learn two, three positions, so you can fill in anywhere. Or if you're not exactly told that, you pick it up on your own, if you have any sense. But say a guy has been drafted in the first round and they've penciled him in as a left tackle. Well, the idea of him filling in on the right side if he has to, oh my God, we can't have him do that. It might get him upset, or mess up his footwork or something. And to learn the guard position, too? No no, for God's sake, no. You want to screw him up completely?

So I signed on as kind of a utility lineman for a bad team and my agent got me a nice big contract, big as in terms of long and long as in terms of years. The money part was little, as I found out when I started comparing notes. And then some of the guys on the team, the brothers mostly, told me about this guy. A double agent. Sacrifices his low round players so the club can get them done early and brag to the media about what a great job they're doing, and then expects consideration for his one big high-number guy.

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