Day I will never forget....1985

SoCalSkinFan · Post by **SoCalSkinFan** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:13 pm

Back in 1985, I was working as a security officer at Arlington Hospital in Arlington, VA. If you didn't know or forgot, Arlington Hospital is where the Redskins Doctor worked and thats where all of the Redskins went for any medical treatment. On Monday, November 18, I was watching the Skins play the Giants on MNF when all of a sudden LT sacked Theisman and everyone knows what happen. It was the most horrific sight I have seen in a long time. I know then that Joe would be transported to the Hospital. Sure enough, about an hour later he showed up and went straight to the OR. Now, I was assigned to the ER area to process any afterhour visitors. About two hours after the game, which Skins won 23-21 in OT, LT showed up at the ER. He was the most polite person at this time. He just wanted to check on the status of Joe. The next day, LT came back to the Hospital to visit Joe in his room. All of the contact I had with him, he was a very pleasant man. We were also assigned to guard his room during his stay there. His wife, I can't remember her name for the life of me, was such a total B**ch. She would make Joe stay in the room and basically treated the guards like slaves. But the following week, the Skins were playing the Steelers and his wife was out of towm. Joe invited me and the other guard in his room and we watched most of the game in his room. It was great listen to Joe talk about the game. He would call players from his bed and sure enough the Skins would run that play. His gave us so much in-site to the game that day. Joe was a very down to earth guy when his wife wasn't there. He would hobble around the floor in his crutches and visit other patient and just have a good time. I met so many Skins and Giant players during that time. ie Mann, Monk, Bostic, Jacoby, Green, Manley, Clark and the Giants: LT, Carson, Bavaro, Simms, and Marshall. Actually, I throroughly enjoyed that time.

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:23 pm

wow, really cool, but sad story at the same time. thats good stuff.
people have compared lavar to LT, but he's a ways away. LT is the best LB to ever play the game, and lavar could be, but hasn't lived up to the hype as of yet. it's cool that LT showed up to check on joey t.... thats pure class.

skin_to_the_bone · Post by **skin_to_the_bone** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 1:44 am

Awesome story man, I was in the 3rd grade when that happened man. My big brother was a huge LT and Giants Fan and I was the Skins lover. I ended up sneaking downstairs to watch the game, and my brother kept saying "he's done!, he's done! Holy Crap he's gotta be done!" I of course still in shock started crying as the harsh reality set in that we were in trouble and what was a nine year old to do watching his hero laying there helpless on national TV. My mother came downstairs and was actually cool about the whole thing, she comforted me and watched the rest of the game even though I knew she had no clue as to what the game was really about, but she saw I was torn. My brother still talks about it to this day and mentions how LT mentioned in an interview a few years back that if he could change anything about how he played on or off the feild and he said, " I know the logical answer is my drug addiction, but even though I was doing my job that night at RFK when Theisman went down, I felt like I had done something terribly wrong. " He later went on to say, " If I could have still got the job done without taking Joe out of the game I wouldn't have even thaught twice about it".

I can only think of two other injuries that I was actually watching the games that were of that magnitude ...the first being Byrd from the Jets when he landed on his head and was parolized and when Ed McCaffery had his leg basically snapped a couple years back in the Monday night opener against New England. Thank God we don't have to see that stuff that often. It truely sucks for all parties.

As for LT, he certainly was a different breed of Talent. He was Elite in his position and may never be surpassed in that aspect(Hopefully LA will be in that same category before he's done). For yeeeeeeeears I dispised the man til I finally was a man and realized its part of the game and the thing that I really disliked about the guy wasn't what he did to Joe, but the fact that he wore the wrong uniform.

ANT7088 · Post by **ANT7088** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 2:26 am

You can't take anything away from his game & that's great he went to go see Joe, but I have an L.T. story - I was in Atlantic City with my family and my older sisters boyfriend (Mike), we were standing in the lobby of Bally's Hotel, when all of a sudden Mike starting nervously asking for a pen, of course we ask "why"? He spotted L.T. standing about 15 feet away from us in a suit talking to someone. We all very quietly approached him and asked him to sign whatever we had on us (I have his signature on the back of a business card). He signed Mike's first, then he signed my older brother's, then when my father asked him to sign for me, he said with a nasty attitude "Ya know, I'm not getting paid for this". I couldn't believe it, we could have caused a scene and he would've got bum-rushed by people. I was I think 10 years old and everything I liked about L.T. was ruined.

skin_to_the_bone · Post by **skin_to_the_bone** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 2:34 am

Just goes to show that there is two sides to every coin.

redskins56 · Post by **redskins56** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 8:49 am

It's allright Ant he probably wasn't sober at the time, and he had a few "new found friends" that he was paying by the hour, waiting in his room...

-Geepz

skinsfan44 · Post by **skinsfan44** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 9:35 am

story, SoCalSkinsFan.

Remenber that night like it was yesterday.

That was the first Monday Night Football game I ever went to at RFK. After Joey T broke his leg, that was the quitest I ever heard RFK too.

silent1903 · Post by **silent1903** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 2:03 pm

skin_to_the_bone wrote:I can only think of two other injuries that I was actually watching the games that were of that magnitude ...the first being Byrd from the Jets when he landed on his head and was parolized and when Ed McCaffery had his leg basically snapped a couple years back in the Monday night opener against New England. Thank God we don't have to see that stuff that often. It truely sucks for all parties.

Talking of that kind of injury, does anyone remember a RB called Napoleon McCullum? He went from Navy service to the Raiders, and after only a couple of years he suffered the most horrific injury I have seen, even worse than Joe T. I can't remember who it was against, but he went up the middle and got hit head on into the knee. His leg was bent at literally 90 degrees at the knee....the wrong way. He was only mid-twenties but there was no doubt his career was over. Does anyone know what became of him?

LetsRollBurgundyNGold · Tue Mar 16, 2004 2:39 pm

Hey SoCal, I think Joey T was married to the blond haired Wonder Woman at one time, Cathy Lee Crosby I think...don't know if that's who you were lookin for, but it would make sense if she was acting like a, uh 'female mongrel'...

Sad moment when LT took Joe out, I didn't cry, but I didn't sleep too well that night either...

EDIT: Having too much time on my hands, I actually found some links:

http://www.starsofhollywood.com/cathy_lee_crosby.html

http://biography.americanmpeg.com/cathy_lee_crosby

I think that was her So Cal....

CrazyLikeAFox87 · Post by **CrazyLikeAFox87** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 5:07 pm

I too remember that incident, although I wasn't able to watch it. The NFL had only just reached the UK, being shown on a new channel once a week. Apart from a few highlights, our only other contact was through the American Forces Network radio, with reception fading in and out. I was at Uni and got a call from my brother who described the action for me as he was listening to it (2am MNF kicked off - there's dedication!). Joe was, and probably still is, my favourite Redskin and I was gutted, like you all. Of course, Jay Schroeder came on to throw a bomb on his first snap and we won the game, but I'll always remember that call.