Iyamwidjew!
RTR!
Joe
...there is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't
mind who gets the credit.
- Ronald Reagan

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick McMahan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "RollTideFan-The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2004 10:44 PM
Subject: RE: [RollTideFan] Britt: I will be at full-speed for fall practice


> This is great news. Bama will certainly need a healthy Britt to increase
> their chances of winning. I can't wait for the season to start. A lot of
> folks have already written this season off, but not me. I have high hopes
> that this team will find ways to win and in the end challenge Lswho for
the
> top spot in the west. After two years of wondering in the wilderness, this
> team might be hungry enough to make this a much better year than most are
> predicting. I'll cheer loud and long no matter what. I LOVE THE CRIMSON
TIDE
> BABY!!
>
> ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!
> Rick
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]  On
> Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2004 11:19 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [RollTideFan] Britt: I will be at full-speed for fall practice
>
>
http://www.tidesports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040617/NEWS/406170333
> /1011
>
> Britt: I will be at full-speed for fall practice
>
> By Cecil Hurt
> Sports Editor
> June 17, 2004
>
> Email this story.
>
> TUSCALOOSA | It was a moment no Alabama football fan can forget.
>
> Thousands saw it at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Hundreds of thousands more
watched
> it on television. The injury that Crimson Tide offensive lineman Wesley
> Britt sustained in the Tennessee game and his courageous departure from
the
> field have assured him a place in Alabama football history, even though he
> still has a year of eligibility remaining.
>
> But, as Britt has learned, while all Tide fans recall those dramatic
moments
> last October, they don't all remember it in the same way. The bare
> details -- Britt's badly fractured left leg, his exhortation of his
> teammates, his skyward pointing as he was taken from the field -- remain
> constant, but the effect varies from person to person.
>
> "I can't even count the times that people have asked me about it," Britt
> said Tuesday in an interview at the UA athletic complex. "It has to be
> thousands of times, literally.
>
> "But just about every person has something different to say about it.
> There's a different point that almost everyone gets out of it.
>
> "Some people talk about fighting through pain, and some have told me that
it
> has helped them or helped a friend who was sick. Some people talk about
how
> I kept my helmet on through the whole thing or how I talked to my
teammates,
> and they say it was about teamwork. Some people talk about how I pointed
up
> to God, and they say it reminds them that we should be thankful to Him at
> all times.
>
> "Obviously, I wasn't thinking about all that at the time. I was just doing
> what was in my heart, but it is interesting to hear all the different
> responses that people have."
>
> One other interesting reaction belongs to Britt himself, since he has seen
> it, too.
>
> "I've definitely watched it," he said. "I've got the Tennessee game on
DVD.
> Watching that part hurts a little, but what hurts worse is the overtimes.
We
> had so many chances in that game where literally one more play would have
> made the difference. That hurts worse than the injury."
>
> One thing that is apparent from Britt's injury is this: He is determined
to
> make the best of any situation. That includes his injury, the
five-overtime
> loss to Tennessee, and the Tide's 4-9 season.
>
> First, Britt discussed his current health as he recovers from the compound
> fracture of his left tibia.
>
> "They went in just below the knee and inserted a titanium rod all the way
> down the [tibia] bone," Britt said. "Then they to put two screws at the
> bottom to secure the rod. I've had surgery to remove the two screws, but
we
> left the rod in there. I could have had it taken out if it was bothering
me,
> but it really isn't. Now, it serves as a support mechanism. It's like
having
> a titanium brace in there."
>
> At 6-foot-8 and 320 pounds, Britt can probably use the extra support,
> although he says that he's regained full strength in the leg.
>
> "In the weight room, it is definitely 100 per cent," he said. "I put up
some
> big numbers in the squats and leg curls today. I did more weight than
anyone
> on the team, so I am back up to where I was in that respect.
>
> "My right leg is still a little stronger, because I have been working them
> out in exactly the same way. I'll do curls with both, or standing jumps on
> each leg. Now, I just have to test it on the mobility stuff."
>
> Britt is adamant that he will be on the practice field when the Tide
starts
> work in the first week in August.
>
> "If the first day of practice was today, I would be practicing," he said.
> "If the first game was tomorrow, I would be playing."
>
> Since Britt can neither play nor practice at this point, like the rest of
> his teammates, he is doing what he can -- studying.
>
> "We're teaching ourselves in the film room," he said. "I've gotten
together
> some things for the other OL's [offensive linemen] to watch. We
concentrate
> on runs one day and passes the next. It's tough because mostly we look at
> what we did wrong. We're going to learn from our mistakes.
>
> "We'll be better on offense. We've had a full season with it, and a
spring.
> People ask if it was difficult to learn three offenses last year, and I
say
> 'Sure, it was difficult.' Football is not an easy sport. But we won't have
> to deal with that this year."
>
> In fact, Britt says that he and fellow fifth-year lineman Evan Mathis are
> taking a "no excuses" approach to the upcoming year.
>
> "The way we look at it, we are fifth-year guys so we are the team
leaders,"
> Britt said. "Not just the O-line leaders, not just the offensive leaders,
> but the team leaders. We want to lead on the field, and in other ways that
> are necessary."
>
> Britt said that he never really gave strong consideration to passing on a
> fifth year of eligibility and entering the NFL draft as 2003 teammate
Justin
> Smiley did. Instead, he has remained focused on the possibilities for
2004.
>
> "First, just playing for the most tradition-rich team in the country is
> always special," Britt said. "Playing in a bowl game would be huge. Any
bowl
> would be great, but I would like to be a part of getting Alabama back to
the
> Orange or the Sugar. I think we can do that if some of our young guys step
> up the way they can. And after everything we've been through, it would be
> great to be a part of a championship."
>
> There is also a more personal incentive for Britt this year. For the first
> time ever, all three Britt brothers -- Wesley, Taylor and incoming
freshman
> Justin -- will be on the same team.
>
> "When I was a senior at Cullman, Justin was just in the eighth grade, so
> we've never all been teammates before, except in some no-blood, no-foul
> basketball in the back yard," Britt said. "This will be the first time in
> any organized sport.
>
> "All three of us are very close, so I'm really excited about it. It looks
> like me and Taylor will be on the O-line and Justin will be on defense.
> That's not set in stone yet, but I'm pretty positive that's where Justin
> will be."
>
> That means that at some point in an intense August drill, Britt will find
> himself staring across the line of scrimmage at his younger brother.
>
> "That's football," he said with a laugh. "I'm used to running over people,
> so it'll be no different running over my little brother. I've gone against
> Taylor before, so I'll be ready for it."
>
> Britt admits that there might be some added pressure in those situations.
>
> "I'm expected to win when that happens," Britt said. "If I don't, I'll
hear
> about it from my teammates, and then I'll go home and I'll definitely hear
> about it from my brothers."
>
> Even if that happens, though, Britt will find a way to make the most of
the
> situation. He has already proven that, with every Alabama fan watching.
>
> Reach Cecil Hurt at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 205-722-0225.
>
>
>
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