| Anyone who knows me will tell you that I can bore them for hours with tales of the athletes who came from my hometown and it’s environs. I was born in Newport News, VA. It’s part of a sprawling seven city area called Hampton Roads, which we called Tidewater growing up. Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Hampton and Chesapeake are some of the other cities. They also call it the “757″, which is it’s area code. For some reason that area produces more than it’s share of top flight professional athletes. Great ones, too. Hall of Famers Dwight Stevenson, Bruce Smith and Henry Jordan. Alonzo Mourning, DeAngelo Hall, Chris Hanburger, Plaxico Burris, Percy Harvin, Aaron Brooks, Dre Bly. Can’t forget the Terps, either…Lefty Dreisell and Joe Smith are Norfolk guys.
Sports Illustrated did a piece a couple years back about a famed youth league baseball team from the area back in the ’90′s that included, get this, David Wright, BJ Upton, his brother Justin, Micheal Cuddyer, Ryan Zimmerman and Mark Reynolds. Six all-star caliber players on one team. Incredible. There are three more I need to mention, too. |
| Three of the most famous athletes in the land who also share my hometown. Three that I used to brag about more than any of the others. Three that have now become notorious. Allen Iverson, Michael Vick, and yes, Lawrence Taylor. Iverson and Vick’s problems are all too familiar. We need not recount them here. Now comes word that Taylor has been charged with third degree rape on a 16 year old. Good lord.
I actually played against Taylor in high school. He played for Lafayette High in Williamsburg. I played for Tabb High, which was made up, in the immortal words of Don DeVoe, “slow white midgets”. You could tell Taylor was going to be a great player, but he wasn’t exactly “LT” yet. I even knocked him on his fanny my senior year. Boy, do I wish I had that game film! As a result, I followed his pro career more closely than I might have otherwise. One of the great linebackers to ever played the game, but also a very troubled soul off the field. There were numerous cocaine busts, rehab stays, DUI’s, assaults, domestic problems, you name it. But still, I boasted. After all, I played against that guy. Funny thing. After this latest bust, I don’t feel much like boasting |
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