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Pair of Texans reminds us the NFL has plenty of good guys
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
At the mandatory Rookie Symposium this week, Baltimore Ravens draft pick Troy Smith grilled NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, asking, "When and where is the positive stuff from you going to come out?"
He could have been asking the media the same question.
It's past time to quit keeping up with the Joneses. Pacman's 15 minutes of infamy are up, as are Tank Johnson's and Chris Henry's.
The NFL has had more than 60 players arrested in the past 17 months. The bad will and bad publicity the bad boys have brought to the league has overshadowed all the good many NFL players do.
"We do need to hear more good stuff about what guys are doing," San Diego Chargers running back http://www.star-telegram.com/329/story/150488.html#, a co-recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, said this week. "...We're going to continue to push the good stuff in people's faces. Eventually, I hope you have to forget about the bad stuff guys are doing."
Here's a good one for you:
Running back Ahman Green joined the as a free agent in March, signing a four-year, $23 million deal. He wanted his old jersey number 30, which he wore even before his Nebraska days and during his nine NFL seasons. But Texans veteran safety Jason Simmons had his number.
Simmons, a fifth-round pick of Pittsburgh in 1998, wore 23 for four seasons with the Steelers before being handed No. 30 when he arrived in Houston in 2002.
For some 20 years, it has been common practice for players to sell jersey numbers. What's in a number?
Roger Clemens once bought Carlos Delgado a Rolex for No. 21, which Delgado was wearing in honor of Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. As a http://www.star-telegram.com/329/story/150488.html# rookie, Kellen Winslow Jr. paid Aaron Shea a package of suits, meals and a vacation for No. 80.
Punter Jeff Feagles has made a career of selling his jersey number, giving up No. 10 to Eli Manning for a family vacation to Florida and No. 17 to Plaxico Burress for an outdoor kitchen in his home.
Not long ago, Commanders defensive back Ifeanyi Ohalete even sued running back Clinton Portis for failure to pay the $40,000 that Portis agreed to pay for No. 26.
Therefore, Green, even though he didn't know Simmons, knew his pursuit of No. 30 was going to cost him. The only question was: How much?
"A watch, a car, a check, I was ready for anything," Green said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
But not this: Simmons asked Green to make a down payment on a house for a single-parent family.
Simmons grew up in a two-parent family in Los Angeles. He borrowed the idea from http://www.star-telegram.com/329/story/150488.html# running back Warrick Dunn, whose Homes for the Holidays program has helped move 67 single mothers and 171 children into new homes.
"It's just something I wanted to do," Simmons said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "It was something that was put on my heart. This is not something I want to end, either. It's something I want to be an annual thing."
Green, whose family couldn't afford their first home until they moved from Los Angeles to Omaha, Neb., couldn't say yes fast enough. "I said: 'Sign me up; I'm ready,'" Green said. "It's been a good-weather storm of press ever since."
Texans owner Bob McNair has promised to match Green's down payment, which could be between $40,000 and $50,000. HEB has offered to fill the pantry. Gallery Furniture wants to furnish the home. Other companies, including a home builder and an electric company, have agreed to help.
"Initially, it was supposed to just be between me and Ahman," Simmons said. "I really didn't want it to be out, but we've received so much help that we're going to be able to do even more than we were equipped to do."
Regina Woolfolk, the Texans director of community relations, has worked with bankers, lenders and attorneys to establish criteria for finding the new homeowner. It's not a home giveaway. They want a single mom with at least three children who can put down $1,500 to $2,000.
"Our mind-set is if people pay into something that they pay a little bit more attention to that commitment and are more committed to it," said Woolfolk, who is married to former NFL running back Butch Woolfolk.
Simmons and Green will be involved in the process every step of the way, they say.
So maybe, even if just for a minute, we can forget the NFL's attempts to clean up its house and remember the house that Jason Simmons and
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760
cjwilliams@star-telegram.com
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
At the mandatory Rookie Symposium this week, Baltimore Ravens draft pick Troy Smith grilled NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, asking, "When and where is the positive stuff from you going to come out?"
He could have been asking the media the same question.
It's past time to quit keeping up with the Joneses. Pacman's 15 minutes of infamy are up, as are Tank Johnson's and Chris Henry's.
The NFL has had more than 60 players arrested in the past 17 months. The bad will and bad publicity the bad boys have brought to the league has overshadowed all the good many NFL players do.
"We do need to hear more good stuff about what guys are doing," San Diego Chargers running back http://www.star-telegram.com/329/story/150488.html#, a co-recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, said this week. "...We're going to continue to push the good stuff in people's faces. Eventually, I hope you have to forget about the bad stuff guys are doing."
Here's a good one for you:
Running back Ahman Green joined the as a free agent in March, signing a four-year, $23 million deal. He wanted his old jersey number 30, which he wore even before his Nebraska days and during his nine NFL seasons. But Texans veteran safety Jason Simmons had his number.
Simmons, a fifth-round pick of Pittsburgh in 1998, wore 23 for four seasons with the Steelers before being handed No. 30 when he arrived in Houston in 2002.
For some 20 years, it has been common practice for players to sell jersey numbers. What's in a number?
Roger Clemens once bought Carlos Delgado a Rolex for No. 21, which Delgado was wearing in honor of Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. As a http://www.star-telegram.com/329/story/150488.html# rookie, Kellen Winslow Jr. paid Aaron Shea a package of suits, meals and a vacation for No. 80.
Punter Jeff Feagles has made a career of selling his jersey number, giving up No. 10 to Eli Manning for a family vacation to Florida and No. 17 to Plaxico Burress for an outdoor kitchen in his home.
Not long ago, Commanders defensive back Ifeanyi Ohalete even sued running back Clinton Portis for failure to pay the $40,000 that Portis agreed to pay for No. 26.
Therefore, Green, even though he didn't know Simmons, knew his pursuit of No. 30 was going to cost him. The only question was: How much?
"A watch, a car, a check, I was ready for anything," Green said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
But not this: Simmons asked Green to make a down payment on a house for a single-parent family.
Simmons grew up in a two-parent family in Los Angeles. He borrowed the idea from http://www.star-telegram.com/329/story/150488.html# running back Warrick Dunn, whose Homes for the Holidays program has helped move 67 single mothers and 171 children into new homes.
"It's just something I wanted to do," Simmons said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "It was something that was put on my heart. This is not something I want to end, either. It's something I want to be an annual thing."
Green, whose family couldn't afford their first home until they moved from Los Angeles to Omaha, Neb., couldn't say yes fast enough. "I said: 'Sign me up; I'm ready,'" Green said. "It's been a good-weather storm of press ever since."
Texans owner Bob McNair has promised to match Green's down payment, which could be between $40,000 and $50,000. HEB has offered to fill the pantry. Gallery Furniture wants to furnish the home. Other companies, including a home builder and an electric company, have agreed to help.
"Initially, it was supposed to just be between me and Ahman," Simmons said. "I really didn't want it to be out, but we've received so much help that we're going to be able to do even more than we were equipped to do."
Regina Woolfolk, the Texans director of community relations, has worked with bankers, lenders and attorneys to establish criteria for finding the new homeowner. It's not a home giveaway. They want a single mom with at least three children who can put down $1,500 to $2,000.
"Our mind-set is if people pay into something that they pay a little bit more attention to that commitment and are more committed to it," said Woolfolk, who is married to former NFL running back Butch Woolfolk.
Simmons and Green will be involved in the process every step of the way, they say.
So maybe, even if just for a minute, we can forget the NFL's attempts to clean up its house and remember the house that Jason Simmons and
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760
cjwilliams@star-telegram.com
