|
Volume 5, No. 8
Shortly after he signed a recent contract with Nike, Dan Campbell decided to venture across the Hudson River and into Manhattan. Campbell, who is pictured next to Hank Williams, Jr. in most definitions of a "country boy," had a little extra time on his hands and a need to purchase some merchandise from Niketown. A shopping spree in the Big Apple may seem like recreational fun to some, but to Campbell, it was more reminiscent to a free-fall into the abyss. "I have this Tahoe, and I drive into Manhattan at 1:30, knowing that I have to get out of there by 3," says Campbell, now a tight end with the New York Giants. "I spend forever looking for places to park, and I finally pull in this place and they say I can't park there, because my car is too big. I said, 'What?' Now, I was mad. By this time it was 2:30, and I had been driving around for an hour. "I finally went to a parking garage, where I have less than an inch of space on either side of my mirrors. Another guy comes running up and says, 'You can't park here.' As calmly as I could, I said, 'I'll pay double, triple, whatever. Just put it in two parking spaces.' I threw him the keys and left. "It basically took me an hour and one-half just to park my stinkin' truck. This place can be a zoo. It sure as hell ain't like Glen Rose. And to think, I used to get frustrated at traffic in College Station. It makes me miss home all the more." Homesickness aside, Campbell says he is slowly adjusting to life in the big city. And he says he is absolutely embracing his new lot in life.
But those who haven't seen him since he was last in an A&M uniform, barreling over Ohio State defenders in the Sugar Bowl, might be surprised to learn that the big brute is now just a softy. At least for 16 hours a day. In July 1999, Campbell watched as his wife, Holly, gave birth to the couple's first child. Cody Campbell has changed Dan's life and his perspective on life more than he could have ever envisioned. "I think what's funny to me is that in addition to everything else they've done for me, my wife and Cody have also made me an even better football player," Campbell said. "For so long, my life revolved around football. It was just football, football, football and that was fine. I enjoyed it, I loved it and I had a great time. "But then I get married and I have Cody and it is just totally different. I feel myself being more focused on football when I'm there, but leaving football at the office, so to speak, when I'm home. Everything just seems so much better, my priorities are right, and I enjoy it and I love it to death right now. And Cody just melts my heart. I just enjoy waking up in the morning and going into his room to see what he is doing and see if he is up yet. He's the kid, but he's brought out the kid in me." Of course, Campbell's kid also has many of his father's traits, including size. Campbell's agent has joked with Holly and Dan that he was contemplating retirement in the not-too-distant future. Until he saw Cody, that is. "(The agent) took a look at Cody and said, 'I think I might hang around for longer than I expected,'" Holly said. "He's a big boy." Said Dan: "People are always coming up to me and asking me if he's two. When I tell them that he's barely one, they are shocked. I must admit that I am one proud papa. And it just keeps getting better." Unfortunately for Campbell, the same can not be said for his health since near the end of his rookie season. Last December, while attempting to catch a low pass, Campbell went down for the ball and couldn't get back up on his own strength. "As I was going down for the ball, my foot slipped," Campbell said. "I did the splits and hit my helmet on my right knee or actually went past my right knee and went inside my legs. I felt the muscle pop. It was like I got shot. It was the weirdest feeling I've ever had. "I've had two injuries when I've never gotten up and one was when I broke my ankle when I was a sophomore at A&M. I knew then I wasn't getting up from that. Same thing with this injury. I just kind of stayed there and realized that I couldn't get up on this thing. Sure enough it was torn." Campbell's torn hamstring ripped apart so violently that teammates said it sounded as if a shotgun had gone off. The injury ended his rookie season and sent him into the offseason with a frustrating realization. Campbell, one of the hardest working players ever to wear an A&M uniform, was advised that the primary way he could heal the muscle was to let time take its course. He could do some rehabilitation work, but mainly, he had to stay off his feet. "I had to just try and let it heal," Campbell said. "I did some rehab on it and then every day (team medical staff) were like 'That's enough.' I was saying that's not enough, let's do some more. So, my biggest battle was trying not to overwork it." Rejuvenated and recovered, Campbell entered two-a-day practices this summer with a renewed enthusiasm. He was moving steadily up the depth chart, and when Giants tight end Pete Mitchell injured his knee, Campbell was in line for plenty of playing time. Then he injured his other hamstring. It wasn't as bad. It wasn't even a tear. But the pulled hamstring did keep him off the field in much of preseason and tested his patience. "I made it through the first two weeks (of two-a-days) and then the next two weeks I pretty much didn't do anything for about a week and then I was limited the following two weeks," Campbell said. "So, I only got to play in the first preseason game. It's real frustrating, but it's part of the nature of the game and this business. "I am excited about this season, and I just hope that I can stay healthy and make some contributions. You can't spend your time worrying about getting hurt or dwelling on past injuries, but things like this do make you realize how fleeting a career in the NFL can be." While he does feel like a fish out of water in the New York/New Jersey area, Campbell says he really enjoys being a part of the New York Giants' organization. The team has been good to him and his family, and his teammates are now becoming friends, not strangers. Still, Campbell says he often longs for the slower-paced, less-congested lifestyle of Texas. And he especially misses his college teammates, news on the Aggies and the A&M campus itself. "Oh yeah, I miss it," he said. "I miss being back home. But I do enjoy running into Aggies in the NFL. Our second game last year we played New England, and I got to block Brandon Mitchell. I was a young pup when Brandon and I were at A&M, and I remembered how hard it was to block him. But once we got into the game, it was really fun. "I gave it all I had, because I knew he was something else. We'd go after each other hard, but then after the play, we'd talk. And then playing Dat, of course. I've never had a chance to play against him in a game. Everybody knows how good Dat is, and I clipped him badly on one special teams play. I just told our guys, 'Hey, I know that guy. If I didn't get him down somehow, he'd probably cause a fumble, pick it up and run it in for a touchdown. So, it was probably a smart penalty, although I'm not so sure the coaches bought that." |
