connoisseur series500 Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 There's a sad story about Earl Campbell on espn.nfl. (sorry I don't know how to post links.) Earl will be in Houston for the Super Bowl and will be involved in one of the ceremonies. Once a feared running back in the NFL, Earl can barely walk today. He is able to take a few steps but is incapable of walking up stairs and often retreats back to his wheelchair. He has had major back surgery recently and suffers pain in his legs, back and shoulders. It all came from a bruising rushing style which made him the greatest running back that I have ever seen. (I didn't watch Jim Brown as I wasn't into football at the time.) Originally a linebacker in highschool, Campbell switched to running back and emulated Jim Brown's style of running over people. He couldn't dance or do fancy steps; Earl realized his style was to run over people. He played for only 8 or 9 seasons, but those seasons were cometlike. The great man can now barely move. I have tears in my eyes for Earl... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 Earl "The Tyler Rose" Campbell, the only living Texas Legend--he's one of my favorite running backs too. I have an incredible highlight reel of some of Earl's best runs and collisions, I love to watch the whole thing in slow motion. I especially love the highlight of him against the Rams, where he plants his helmet in the chest of a defensive back who immediately crumbles, then completes the run by having his jersey get ripped from his shoulder pads by linebackers before going down. Unbelievable strength. Sad to hear about his current condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted January 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 I especially love the highlight of him against the Rams, where he plants his helmet in the chest of a defensive back who immediately crumbles, then completes the run by having his jersey get ripped from his shoulder pads by linebackers before going down. I think that defensive back was Isaiah Robertson. I got that from ESPN. I remember that too. My fondest memory of Earl was a Thanksgiving Day game against the fearsome Cowboys. Earl ripped through the Doomsday Defense again and again. I think he finished with 200 yards even though Dallas was stacking the line to stop him. I was breathless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kulu se mama Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 i remember earl used to kick the bengals' asses on a regular basis back in the late 70's. he had the biggest thighs i've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 Earl's making hot links now, probably the best I've ever had, and the only brand I'll buy at the grocery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 I was a Bob Griese fan as a kid and hence a Dolphins' fan. One of the greatest Monday night football games I ever watched was a Miami-Houston game that turned into a Campbell-Griese duel, with the Oilers taking the game in the end. If I recall correctly, Campbell got off an 80-yard touchdown run in that game and ended up with about 200 yards rushing. My little brother, who was a Campbell fan, was greatly pleased; I was not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted January 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 Earl's making hot links now, probably the best I've ever had, and the only brand I'll buy at the grocery. Earl owns a meatpacking business. Hope it's doing well. Way to to Jim! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris olivarez Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 I saw him on tv recently and it was shocking to see how much he had aged. Football at that level is as rough as it gets and as outrageous as their salaries can get the punishment they receive largely justifies the money they make. Man that is sad about Earl he was truly one of the greats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 Earl's making hot links now, probably the best I've ever had, and the only brand I'll buy at the grocery. Earl owns a meatpacking business. Hope it's doing well. Pretty sure it is. Those Earl Campbell Hot Links have developed a reputation as THE best, outside of some of the things you find homemade in barbecue joints, and I put them up there with those. Eal's links have been available in all the grocery stores around here for at least 5-6 years now, maybe longer, and he's got a line of sauces to go with them. I think he's doing fine, businesswise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILLYQ Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 There was a story done on Earl Campbell on HBO's 'Real Sports' with Bryant Gumbel about a year ago. To see a guy who used to pound people for a living being barely able to walk up two or three steps was very sad. He's a little younger than me, I believe, and he pretty much sacrificied his body for the game of football. So when someone complains about football player's salaries, I think of him and some of the players I read about in Sports Illustrated who are virtual cripples because of football and I think, if anything they were underpaid. Think about being 40-45 years old and unable to walk up your front stairs! In the Sports Illustrated article they also mentioned a guy who was a defensive back for Washington(can't recall his name) who has had so much nerve damage that he can't hold his baby girl for fear of dropping her, and he's under 40. What a price some of these guys pay to play football... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted February 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Wow, Philly. Seems like every football player comes out of the sport with busted knees and legs: linemen and running backs in particular. Ironically, the positions with the greatest vulnerability are punters and quarterbacks and they seem to leave the game intact. I think quarterbacks get lots of concussions, though. I do believe that football players deserve the high dollars they do earn. It's strange: I quit watching boxing years ago owing to what I viewed as excessive brutality. This feeling hasn't yet transferred over to the gridiron. I might feel the same way eventually and be repulsed by the sport. Hard to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 It's strange: I quit watching boxing years ago owing to what I viewed as excessive brutality. This feeling hasn't yet transferred over to the gridiron. I might feel the same way eventually and be repulsed by the sport. Hard to say. I must admit, I've reached this stage where I feel football is just too brutal to watch. It seems as if the "Big Hit" is what it's all about; and if you happen to put a player out of the game -- great! I've gotten to know a couple ex-football players in the last couple of years, and their physical shape is unbelievable! One person has fingers that are all twisted around and knees that are completely gone. Like Campbell, he can hardly climb stairs, and when he does, he can't bend his knees, so he climbs them sideways. But, if you ask him, and the other I know, if they'd do it again, the answer is always: YES! There's something about that physical contact that is, and this is the only way to discribe it, addictive. I don't understand it, and I just shake my head in amazement. Football is a hard sport on the body, and I've read articles where it is claimed that average age of death for ex-NFL players is now in their fifties(!!). The human body wasn't meant to take that kind of punishment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted February 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Well let me wait until the NE Patriots have a sucky team before deciding to quit watching football brutality! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Earl's hot links on the Web: http://www.sportingnews.com/features/wherearethey/campbell/ http://www.earlcampbell.com/life_after_foo...lifeafter2.html http://www.davidestrada.com/campbell/faqs.html http://www.davidestrada.com/campbell/news.html http://www.davidestrada.com/campbell/index.html These are great too: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BERIGAN Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 It's strange: I quit watching boxing years ago owing to what I viewed as excessive brutality. This feeling hasn't yet transferred over to the gridiron. I might feel the same way eventually and be repulsed by the sport. Hard to say. I must admit, I've reached this stage where I feel football is just too brutal to watch. It seems as if the "Big Hit" is what it's all about; and if you happen to put a player out of the game -- great! I've gotten to know a couple ex-football players in the last couple of years, and their physical shape is unbelievable! One person has fingers that are all twisted around and knees that are completely gone. Like Campbell, he can hardly climb stairs, and when he does, he can't bend his knees, so he climbs them sideways. But, if you ask him, and the other I know, if they'd do it again, the answer is always: YES! There's something about that physical contact that is, and this is the only way to discribe it, addictive. I don't understand it, and I just shake my head in amazement. Football is a hard sport on the body, and I've read articles where it is claimed that average age of death for ex-NFL players is now in their fifties(!!). The human body wasn't meant to take that kind of punishment. I to have given up on boxing, and football is close behind. Of course, it's easy to give up Football, since I never was a huge fan the way I am with baseball. I recall seeing some "Old" Oakland Raider player on an HBO show who was an iron man, perhaps a center, who played for 10+ years. The camera showed him trying to get out of bed, and go on his daily routine. It was painful to watch. He was truly maimed by the game, he couldn't work, always in pain. Look at Bo Jackson, probably the best pure athlete in the last 50 years. People have gotten too strong, too fast, perhaps they need some sort of restrictions like NASCAR! No, that won't happen. If you are a supremely talented athlete, who is faster, stronger, than the rest of us mere mortals, how can anyone convince you to give it up, before you are PERMANENTLY disabled? I still say no one thinks it will be them. I mentioned the sad shape Earl was in last year when ESPN showed footage of him to Jerome Bettis. Bettis was shocked, but still went for on getting in shape for this last season. Of course, he can barely walk the day after a game. Teams will squeeze a player dry, then drop him like yesterday's news..... If I had a son or daughter(I saw just today there is some professional football league for women) who had athletic ability, I would push them to play Baseball, Tennis, basketball, almost anything but football.....Nolan Ryan has thrown twice as many baseballs as anyone else ever has, and except for a slightly lower shoulder, he is doing just fine. Pete Rose isn't in a wheelchair either.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 I to have given up on boxing, and football is close behind. Of course, it's easy to give up Football, since I never was a huge fan the way I am with baseball. 13 days till the camps open, buddy! I just picked up a very cool book--BASEBALL'S PIVOTAL ERA 1945-1951, by William Marshall. It should prime me for spring, glorious spring. Of course, baseball has its moments of brutal contact as well--beanings and the home-plate collisions (one of the first things I ever remember seeing on TV--and I was quite a youngin', maybe 4 at the time--was Pete Rose's collision with an American League catcher--Ray Fosse? The catcher in question never quite recovered from it). But brutal contact does seem to be much less at the heart of baseball than it is with football and boxing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted February 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Hey Ghostie, What's with sneaking in a baseball post here? Baseball is boooooring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Hey Ghostie, What's with sneaking in a baseball post here? Baseball is boooooring! And you call yourself a patriotic American. Blame your fellow conservative Berigan--he's the one who brought it up! Sorry--I suppose I could make it up to you by starting a "Pro Bowl" thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 uh, well... i couldn't care less about football, LOATHE the super bowl (& i'm all for secular holidays but could there be a worse possible one than this?), etc. etc. clem (will definitely NOT be "watching the game") Hear, hear! I'm not much of an NBA fan, but what do you think of the Nets moving to Brooklyn, Clem? If only the Dodgers would come too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 Hey Ghostie, What's with sneaking in a baseball post here? Baseball is boooooring! But baseball promotes family values! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 1, 2004 Report Share Posted February 1, 2004 ...seeing as ya'll ain't likely to have seen this: www.nysportsexpress.com/2/5/departments/openmic.cfm enjoy, clem (will definitely NOT be "watching the game") Earl's mention of the Country Tavern in Kilgore (outside of Kilgore, actually) is right on. Those folks do ribs that are to die for. Onion rings too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Man, I love baseball ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILLYQ Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 Berigan, That was Jim Otto, who played center for about 15 years for the Raiders. It takes him about 30 minutes just to get his pants on! They had a picture of his knee in that Sports Illustrated article, and by looking at it you would never know that it was a human knee. It was so twisted it looked like something from a horror movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonFindley Posted September 20, 2010 Report Share Posted September 20, 2010 I especially love the highlight of him against the Rams, where he plants his helmet in the chest of a defensive back who immediately crumbles, then completes the run by having his jersey get ripped from his shoulder pads by linebackers before going down. I think that defensive back was Isaiah Robertson. I got that from ESPN. I remember that too. My fondest memory of Earl was a Thanksgiving Day game against the fearsome Cowboys. Earl ripped through the Doomsday Defense again and again. I think he finished with 200 yards even though Dallas was stacking the line to stop him. I was breathless. I was thinking about that highlight you mentioned where Earl put his helmet into the sternum of the Los Angeles Rams Db or safety and it is one of my favorites of course, but I thought it was #40, Bill Simpson. It was funny, (memory) Simpson was having his 15 minutes of fame for a white Db and Earl kind of stopped all that like Bo Jackson put a rest to the Brian Bosworth mystique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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