The Miami Dolphins made their toughest road trip of the year last week -- to a hospital room.
After a practice at the Orange Bowl, 23 of them made the one-mile trip to Jackson Memorial Hospital where former teammate Randy Wheeler is paralyzed as the result of an auto accident on his way to camp.
Wheeler, who can move only his right shoulder, was touched by the visit.
"It just made him a different person," Wheeler's mother, Joyce, said. "He was already happy and this just lifted him higher."
His offensive line coach, Larry Beightol, arrived first and tried a light touch. He blew a whistle and told Wheeler it was time to practice.
"I had a bad night, with a lot of trouble breathing, and didn't really want to wake up early for anybody. But when Coach came in with that whistle, I was happy. It takes effort to talk. I get real tired, but I've enjoyed talking," Wheeler said.
Coach Jimmy Johnson was the first to arrive after practice. He brought his longtime girlfriend.
Wheeler was sleeping when Johnson, who tries to avoid difficult situations and says he's never been to a funeral, arrived.
Wheeler woke up and smiled when Johnson began chatting quietly with his grandfather, Lee.
The players then arrived and crowded in Room 0725 amid the flowers, cards and balloons. They had previously made a video for him.
The players wished him well and Wheeler told him he'd be fine and would walk again.
"I've been watching the news, checking you boys out," Wheeler said.
The players left after about a half-hour visit and one by one stopped by his bed for a personal goodbye.
In an interview with a Miami reporter, a tear formed in Wheeler's eye as he talked about the visit.
"Toward the end, my eyes started getting a little watery," he said. "They made me feel real warm."
Religious dispute
With Chicago Bears running back Curtis Enis still holding out, the controversy over his affiliation with the group Champions For Christ continued to swirl last week. He switched to an agent, Greg Feste, who has never done an NFL contract but supposedly is affiliated with the group.
The league denied a report that it is investigating the group. Some teams reportedly suspect CFC is taking advantage of players financially by persuading them to give the group large sums of money.
Harold Henderson, a league vice president, said, "People have been tithing their money for 2,000 years and people think it's OK. So I just think the league doesn't have any business getting involved in telling players how to spend their money or how to donate their money."
The Jacksonville Jaguars also denied they had asked the league to investigate the group and a league spokesman said its security department provides background checks only when they are requested.
Meanwhile, several members of the group on various teams have come to its defense.
Said Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green: "I've been in this organization for years and I've never been asked for a dime. I like them because they preach the gospel."
Green said agents criticizing the group are "living the lifestyle of the rich and famous."
Tony Boselli of the Jaguars complained about allegations the group recruits players.
"In the locker room, you hear people talking about the women they're getting together with at parties. That's OK, but it's not OK to talk about the way I live my life? I have a problem with that," he said.
But another Jaguar, John Jurkovic, said, "I'm for separation of church and state. And I'm for separation of church and football. Whatever guys choose to do should remain private."
But the bottom line still is that Enis isn't in camp even though the Bears are counting on him big time this year.
Negotiating games
It continues to be popular for agents to announce contracts for figures that they'll never see in their W-2 forms by including incentives they may never get.
Linebacker Takeo Spikes of Cincinnati signed a deal that the NFL Players Association counted as worth $6.03 million even though his agent counted it as worth $7.5 million.
Duane Starks of the Ravens signed a four-year, $6.482 million deal that his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, counted as worth $7 million. He counted $150,000 in incentives each year even though Starks may not earn the $50,000 each for leading the team in interceptions, making the Pro Bowl and leading the team in kick returns.
The strange thing about these talks is that Rosenhaus took less money than the Ravens originally offered in a four-year deal. They offered a $3 million signing bonus with a $640,000 first-year base.
With the maximum 25 percent increase each year, that deal would have been worth $6.520 million. Rosenhaus took almost $38,000 less over four years in the $6.482 million deal to get more upfront money.
Rosenhaus wanted $3.1 million in the bonus and dropped the first-year base to $615,000, which also lowered the base for the next three years, but kept the same first-year $1.39 million rookie salary cap number. The Ravens also agreed to give him $350,000 of his $768,500 second-year base salary this January.
It's hard to believe it was worth Starks missing 2 1/2 weeks of training camp just to move the money around.
But Rosenhaus brushed off the time Starks missed.
"He'll make it up in a matter of days," Rosenhaus said. "He'll be starting in no time."
How Starks plays this year will determine how costly the missed time will be to the rookie cornerback.
Stadium games
As the controversy continues over the public funding of the new football stadium at Camden Yards, it's getting more difficult to get taxpayers to fund public stadiums around the country.
Birmingham officials came up with the idea of a tax proposal to fund a domed stadium to lure an NFL team and 14 other projects. Voters rejected it 57 to 43 percent.
Meanwhile, in New England, the state house rejected a proposal for $72 million in infrastructure to help owner Bob Kraft build his own stadium for the Patriots. It proposed a $57 million proposal that Kraft rejected and he's now talking about moving the team )) to Hartford.
Names in the news
Everett McIver of the Dallas Cowboys missed camp for several days after suffering a deep cut in his neck near his carotid artery. The team would only say it was the result of "horseplay" but reports out of Dallas implicate Michael Irvin in the incident.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who suggested after Baltimore got stiffed in expansion that the city should use its stadium money to build a plant or museum and didn't see the Ravens play in their first two years, apparently likes parties better than games in Baltimore. He hustled back from the Hall of Fame
ceremonies in Canton last Saturday night to attend a black-tie bash for the city's movers and shakers at the new stadium.
Punter Sean Landeta (Loch Raven/Towson State) played with former Giants tight end Don Hasselbeck in 1985 and is now playing with Hasselbeck's son, Matt, a quarterback, in Green Bay.
Quotable
"Getting a championship, bringing the Lombardi Trophy to Indianapolis, that is the single focus of our franchise."
-- Colts owner Jim Irsay in the team's highlight film, even though ++ the Colts have won just two playoff games and have yet to make the Super Bowl since his late father bought the team in 1972.
Pub Date: 8/09/98