The Slant

There are a few stories that I want to discuss that happened this weekend, the first being the 60 Minutes interview of Bill Romonowski. I have seen some intense people in my life but the look in that man's eyes was something else. After watching that interview my opinion changed in favor of him, because for once I could really relate to what an athlete was saying. I knew what he was talking about when discribed hurting people on the bottom of the pile and the intense nature in which he played the game. While listening to his interview I was reminded of interviews with former NFL stars, that are now hailed as great players but played with same intensity, such as Chuck Bednarick and Deacon Jones. Except for the issues with steriods I have to say that Romo was a true throwback player. Compare his antics with what Chuck Bednarick did to Frank Gifford or LT did to Joe Thiesman, there really isn't much differecnce except time. These guys are now seen as heroes of the hall whereas Romo is seen as a dirty player who took steriods.

The other important note to take away from the interview is the damage that Romo has had to his cognitive functioning. He should be the poster child for Post Concussion Syndrome. If you really payed attention you would have noticed his slurred speech and response time to the answers of the questions. The sad thing is that during his career he paid an enormous amount attention to his body and what went into it but he neglected the one thing that he would need after his career: His brain. He will be an interesting case to watch as he ages, to see if he developes Parkinson's like Ali has.

I have to give recognition to one of the nation's less heralded players, that being DeAngelo Williams. This weekend he surpassed Archie Griffin on the all time leading rusher list. This year Deangelo has had one game in which he didn't rush for nearly 200 yards, that being against Ole Miss in which he rushed for 85 yards. In the last five games he is averaging over 200 yards a game.