|
PRINT
THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE
Sunday, November 22, 1998
His records will fall, but Tony D. got his
groove back
By CLARENCE E. HILL Jr.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
IRVING -- Tony Dorsett is grooving now.
Cruising down Texas 114, heading toward Texas Stadium in his
sparkling black Lincoln Navigator, Dorsett negotiates calls on
two cellular phones while singing along with the radio.
'Reasons' by Earth Wind and Fire is playing and Dorsett is
doing his best imitation of lead singer Philip Bailey.
'The reasons. The reasons that we are here. The reasons that
we fear won't disappear.' Impeccably dressed as usual in a black
suit and black suede shoes highlighted by a gold shirt, Dorsett
is all smiles as he pulls into the parking lot of his old stamping
grounds.
The man known as T.D. certainly doesn't look the part of somebody
whose football records have been under assault on two fronts.
Emmitt Smith this season has passed Dorsett as the Cowboys'
all-time leading rusher. Dorsett amassed 12,036 yards in his 11
seasons with the Cowboys.
And 22 years after Dorsett set the NCAA career rushing record
with 6,082 yards during his glorious run at Pittsburgh (1973-1976),
Texas running back Ricky Williams is close to breaking that mark.
Williams is only 63 yards behind.
Yet, Dorsett, known for his sweet moves and blazing speed,
said he could not be happier for Smith and Williams.
Besides, just as the years have failed to rob him of his youthful
countenance -- he's 44 and looks to be around his playing weight
of 185 pounds -- Dorsett realizes there are reasons that he is
here. No matter what happens in the next three weeks, he has no
fear his achievements will disappear.
"Here I am a little skinny kid from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania,"
Dorsett said. "I wouldn't ever dream I'd have the kind of
success I had in college and as a pro. People keep asking me,
how do I feel about the records. I don't feel anything. You realize
that records are made to be broken. It's nice to have a record.
That says something about the career itself.
"But what I appreciate is the guys doing their thing.
Ricky and Emmitt are quality guys. You can't help but wish for
the best for them. If that means breaking records of Tony Dorsett,
so be it."
Dorsett actually is flattered by the attention the record chases
have brought him 10 years after he retired from football.
Although Dorsett made a smooth transition into life after football,
he enjoys remembering his football career. He also says all the
talk about the records has brought "visibility and publicity
back to me."
"There's a lot of people who didn't know about Tony Dorsett,"
he said. "I'm sure there are kids playing at Texas and other
schools who are wondering who is this Dorsett guy and what kind
of career did he have. It brings visibility to my career and the
things I was able to accomplish."
The hype has brought hordes of interview requests, adding to
Dorsett's busy schedule. In addition to running a successful specialty
marketing business, he does promotional work for Sprint every
weekend at NFL stadiums. He also does a weekly football preview
show for Player's Inc., and he's a co-chairman of the Texas Black
Hall of Fame.
Former Cowboys receiver Drew Pearson, who introduced Dorsett
at a recent reception in his honor, said the attention is good
for the ego in addition to Dorsett's business career.
"It's good any time you can keep your name out there after
football," Pearson said. "As a former athlete, you appreciate
anything that keeps people talking about you."
The renewed attention also is giving Dorsett and his friends
a chance to look back.
"We were talking about it the other day going to Kansas
City," said former Cowboys fullback Ron Springs, who in addition
to being Dorsett's business partner is also his "best friend
and drinking buddy."
"It's amazing to think about some of the things he did
as small as he was. That's what people don't understand. I just
enjoyed being in the same backfield with him."
Dorsett, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1976 and was inducted
into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994, said he sat down the
other day and watched a tape of himself and couldn't believe what
he saw.
"Somebody back in Pittsburgh did a video, 'Hail To Dorsett,'
" he said. "They started off with the pro career, showing
clips of that, then went to the Hall of Fame ceremony and then
to college. After seeing some of the runs, me and a buddy of mine
pulled up closer to the television."
"I said, 'Damn,' " continued Dorsett, now laughing.
"It was exciting to see some of the things I could do back
in the day. I was cold."
Dorsett has been bombarded with questions about Williams and
Smith.
He says there are no comparisons. As Dorsett describes it,
Williams and Smith are "thick." The 6-foot Williams
weighs 225 pounds and the 5-9 Smith weighs 209.
"We are completely different runners," Dorsett said.
"Those guys rely on power. They don't have the speed that
I had. When I went to college, I weighed 150 pounds. I was always
on the move. I realized for me to survive, I had to make people
miss."
Dorsett's speed created a memorable 99-yard touchdown run in
the regular-season finale in January 1983 and led him to four
Pro Bowls. Smith has made six Pro Bowls, has won an NFL MVP award
and has more 100-yard rushing games than Dorsett.
Dorsett admires the play of both Smith and Williams. He said
Smith's accomplishments are more than earned and that Williams
"has it all."
The admiration runs both ways.
"It's an honor I share very proudly with the individual
I consider a friend, model for the NFL, model for youth, a person
I admired growing up and a person I enjoyed watching as a kid,"
said Smith, who has surpassed nearly all of Dorsett's team records
since entering the NFL in 1990.
"Now I am here nine years later having the opportunity
to be mentioned in the same breath as him. It's a great honor."
Williams, who met Dorsett last year in Dallas at the Doak Walker
Award ceremonies, remembers watching Dorsett as a kid.
"I remember he was fast and scored a lot of touchdowns,"
Williams said. "Now, to be mentioned in the same breath as
him is quite an honor."
The differences between the players don't end on the field.
Unlike Smith and Williams, who are being widely recognized
for their achievements and abilities while they are still playing,
Dorsett was never completely appreciated for his greatness during
his career.
In college, he played like he had to continually prove himself
to critics who questioned his slight build and durability.
"I remember the Notre Dame coaches saying the little skinny
kid will never make it on the college level," Dorsett said.
"That drove me every time I played Notre Dame. It was sweet
to get that 303 (yards against Notre Dame as junior)."
The questions only grew stronger when he joined the Cowboys
in 1977. Even Cowboys coach Tom Landry used Dorsett's size as
a reason to limit his playing time. As a result, Dorsett never
won an NFL rushing title and thus was often overlooked when talk
turned to "the top backs of my time."
Of course, "when the dust settled I retired as the second
all-time leading rusher in NFL history," said Dorsett, who
now ranks fifth in league history.
Dorsett's confident demeanor led to his success on the field,
but his independent spirit didn't play well in conservative Fort
Worth-Dallas. He was once called the "love-hate" back
because he heard boos as frequently as the cheers. Cowboys fans
didn't quite know how to embrace this brash young black man, who
brought flash and style to the franchise well before Michael Irvin
and Deion Sanders and had the nerve to question Landry's decisions.
"I wasn't the norm when I came to Dallas," Dorsett
said. "A young black kid from the Northeast coming to the
South. I could talk intelligently. I had my own personality, my
own individuality. I knew what I brought to the table."
As Pearson put it, "Dallas wasn't ready for Dorsett."
"Dallas was ready for 'yes sir' and 'no sir,' " Pearson
said. "Tony deterred away from that. He wasn't trying to
make a statement. He was just being himself. What was perceived
as arrogance was just Tony. He is the same today."
Though still his own man, Dorsett has regrets about the way
he handled some things with the Cowboys -- especially the manner
in which he strong-armed Landry into trading him to Denver after
the coach replaced him with Herschel Walker.
"I felt I should have stayed here," Dorsett said.
"I shouldn't have demanded a trade. But I felt so cheated.
All the blood and sweat I brought to the team, playing hurt and
through injuries. I came to play every day for them. That was
my only regret -- that I made the decision to leave.
"Now that I'm more mature and can look at it from a different
vantage point, I think I should have sat there on the bench and
taken it."
Dorsett credits his outlook to age and a happy home life. He
has a 3-month-old daughter, Madison Drew, and a live-in girl friend.
Pearson -- pointing to the hardships Dorsett has endured --
including the deaths of a brother, his father and a fiance, plus
a failed marriage -- said his former teammate has survived a lot
in life.
"The best thing you can say about Tony right now is that
he's at peace with himself," Pearson said. "He doesn't
have to prove anything to anybody. He's satisfied with what he's
accomplished."
Dorsett, who also has a son (Tennessee Oilers defensive back
Anthony Dorsett), went a step further.
"If life got any better, they would have to make me a
twin," he quipped. "The little girl is one of the best
things that ever happened to me. It's quite an experience after
25 years. It's interesting to see me changing diapers. I'm very
happy in all aspects. My business is good. My home life is wonderful.
I'm just a happy man."
That, above all, is the reason that he is here, the reason
he won't disappear.
Send a Letter to the Editor about This
Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address)
of This Story to A Friend:
|
