Section B·Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, December 12, 2000
Aikman may have to retire
The Associated Press
IRVING, Texas — Troy Alkman's agent has been through this before, with another certain Hall of Fame quarterback facing serious questions about his future after a series of concussions.
Leigh Steinberg, the agent for Alkman and Steve Young, said yesterday that it was too early to say if Alkman — who went to six straight Pro Bowls and won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s — soon will join Young in retirement.
Now, Aikman has suffered four concussions in his past 20 starts. His 12th NFL season is almost definitely finished, and his career may be as well.
The already uncertain future was clouded even more Sunday when Aikman suffered his second concussion of the season, and 10th of his career, after being tackled in the first quarter by Washington linebacker LaVar Arrington.
Steinberg said the concussion was diagnosed as mild, similar to the one Aikman suffered in the season opener three months earlier. Aikman sat out two games after that concussion.
He said it was unlikely that Alkman would play Sunday's final home game against the New
York Giants. His status for the season finale Christmas night at Tennessee also is in question.
"We certainly want to err on the side of caution," Steinberg said. "Obviously, that many concussions give rise to concern."
What's beyond that will be discussed soon after the season.
Steinberg said his role in the discussions "is to attempt to safeguard his long-term health and gather all of the relevant facts."
Alkman didn't talk to reporters after the game Sunday or at the Valley Ranch practice yesterday. He has given no indication that he is ready to retire. Cowboys officials said he was undergoing further medical examinations.
Coach Dave Campo listed the quarterback's status as day-today and said he had given no thought that Sunday might have been Alkman's last game in a Dallas uniform.
"Troy has never indicated anything to me other than he wants to play football," Campo said. "His health is the most important thing. If he's ready to play, Troy wants to play. That is his mentality."
Hal Unwin, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center in Dallas, said some studies had shown that concussions could have a cumulative impact, but individual effects varied.
Unwin said Aikman had likely had an MRI or CAT scan to check for permanent damage, but regardless of the outcome, a neurologist would likely leave the decision up to the 34-year-old quarterback.
"If he were my patient, I would ask him to stick to the guidelines, but whether he should continue playing, the final decision is his." Unwin said.
Even if Aikman wants to come back, Dallas owner Jerry Jones faces a March 8 deadline on whether to pay Aikman a $7 million bonus.
Alkman, the first player Jones ever drafted, can be released before the deadline without being given any money.
Regardless of what happens, he will count at least $10 million against Dallas' salary cap next season.
The 32-13 victory against Washington on Sunday was the sixth game that Alkman missed at least part of this season.
He suffered a concussion in the first half of the opener against Philadelphia and sat out two games, then reaggravated a back injury. Oct. 29 against Jacksonville and missed another game.
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Kurt Warner is picking up the tab if St. Louis gets fined, as expected, for doing the "Bob 'N Weave" touchdown celebration dance during their victory against Minnesota.
Rams face fine for touchdown dance
"I don't care if it was $50,000 or if it was $250,000," Warner said after the Rams ended a three-game losing streak with a 40-29 victory Sunday. "It was well worth it."
"If this team gets back on track, and these guys play like they're capable of playing — that's exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to spark this team into playing with emotion and having fun again."
Rams coach Mike Martz tried to be politically correct about the situation.
Martz, who said he missed the first celebration because he was looking at game charts, had mixed feelings about the situation.
"That's Kurt's business; I don't have any feeling about it," Martz said yesterday. "It's a nice gesture on his part."
"I want it because of the enthusiasm and energy that it brings back to this team and how we were, and I know how it was meant," Martz said. "That was the sole purpose, to get some of that feeling back that we had
going earlier in the year.
"So, I like that about it. (But) the league doesn't want it, so obviously we don't want it."
Anheuser-Busch Cos, also offered to pay the fines after August Busch IV ran into wide receiver Ricky Proehl at a restaurant on Saturday. The Rams were unclear about the status of that offer.
"I don't know." Martz said. "He hasn't called me."
Fines would be announced later in the week.
The Rams used the "Bob 'N Weave," a group dance invented by then-rookie wide receiver Torry Holt, often during their Super Bowl season. It was banned before this season by the NFL's competition committee, co-chaired by Vikings coach Dennis Green.
The Rams tried inventing a new
dance for this season, the "Duck Down," in which players squatted wherever they were on the field after a touchdown. That, too, was banned.
Five players forgot about the ban and did the "Bob 'N Weave" after a touchdown at San Francisco in Game 3, and all were fined $5,000.
But a few days before the Vikings game, Martz said he wouldn't mind some "bobbing and weaving." Seven Rams did the "Bob 'N Weave" after the first touchdown, and six more participated after the second, both of them 1-yard runs by Marshall Faulk.
"That's basically our team saying. 'Whatever the NFL's got to do, it's got to do,'" said cornerback Todd Llyght.
Wide receiver Isaac Bruce called off the dance after the Rams' third touchdown.
Players are planning to keep it up the last two games. They're at Tampa Bay next Monday and finish the regular season at New Orleans on Christmas Eve.
"I think we're going to keep doing it," Holt said. "If we win these last couple games, we'll go into the playoffs and make some of that money back."
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