[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Sunday, November 30, 1997

Charles Haley trying to come to grips with daughter's illness

By Ron Reid / Knight-Ridder Newspapers

PHILADELPHIA -- As a defensive end with San Francisco and Dallas, Charles Haley was one of the meanest, most menacing players ever to compete in the NFL, as well as a decidedly unpleasant individual off the field.

Today, Haley is just another vulnerable and humbled human being trying to cope with the fact that his 3-year-old daughter, Brianna, is suffering from a rare form of leukemia.

Doctors made that diagnosis in May, and Haley, the only player to win five Super Bowl rings, has yet to come to terms with it.

"It was the worst thing that you could ever hear," Haley said. "I still haven't gotten used to it. She doesn't smile. She doesn't play. She only wants to be held, or she sits there holding her blanket. There's no life in her, no joy. It seems like something is draining the life out of her."

Haley, whose back problems forced him to retire before this season, is so troubled by Brianna's condition that he has not been able to accompany her to the hospital for her chemotherapy treatments. Sadness overwhelms him upon entering the place.

"He's more into denial, that he's going to wake up and everything is going to be OK," said Haley's wife, Karen. "I keep thinking, ÔCharles, this isn't the flu. This isn't just going to disappear.' "

Haley concedes that there are times when he finds it impossible to even think about the situation.

"Talking about it drains the energy out of me," said Haley, a Cowboys coaching assistant, "because then I've got to go think about it. The players don't even ask me about it, because that makes me go into a depression-type thing, and then I'll be moping around all day."

Seeking a cure, the Haleys recently launched a bone-marrow transplant drive that drew nearly 2,000 potential donors in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It will be several more days, however, before the Haleys know if any one of them is a suitable match for Brianna. Nor is there any certainty that a transplant will be successful.

All this struck Haley when he was in the midst of a deep depression over having to quit football two years earlier than he thought he would.

If Haley had the option, he said, he would give up everything for his daughter: his money, the five Super Bowl rings, his very life.

"I would take her illness right now," Haley said. "I'm 33 and I've lived a good life and done a lot of things, but my daughter hasn't done anything yet. She hasn't lived yet, and to be stricken with this disease is terrible. The only thing I keep telling her is, ÔIf you make it through this, you're going to have the world in your hands, because you're going to be tough.' "

In the meantime, Haley holds his little girl and prays.

"All I do when I come home," he said, "is grab hold of her, squeeze her, and let her know that her daddy loves her. I just pray she gets her life back."

Anyone interested in helping the Haleys' bone-marrow drive can call 972-498-8867 or 800-MARROW-2.

----

Great expectations. The NFL salary cap, which stands at $41.5 million, should increase significantly next year, thanks to a more lucrative television contract.

Most NFL owners have projected a $5 million to $6 million increase, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who usually thinks big, is betting on much more. Jones is on the committee negotiating the new contract with the TV networks, and he expects revenues to double and create a cap increase of more than $10 million.

"If we're doubling the TV, it's a bad read to think there's only going to be a $5 million adjustment in the salary cap." Jones said. "If you have a 60 percent increase in TV, you still would get" only a $5 million adjustment.

Perhaps Jones protests too much.

The networks have paid the NFL $4.39 billion over the last four years under the current contract, but Jones needs all the cap help he can get for his 6-7 team. The Cowboys have salary-cap commitments of $59.2 million next season. A $10 million increase would leave Jones more than $7 million over the cap.

(c) 1997, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Visit Philadelphia Online, the Inquirer's World Wide Web site, at http://www.phillynews.com/

Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.