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
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Subject:[RollTideFan] Britt: I will be at full-speed for fall practice
http://www.tidesports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040617/NEWS/406170333
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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 sp
