Chris Canty: In his own words
In his own words
Cowboys' Chris Canty is grateful his parents made him play football
By MAC ENGEL
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
But you try not to stare. And forget about asking.
"Some people ask," Cowboys defensive end Chris Canty said. "I'm like, 'It's fine. Whatever.' I don't try to explain it."
The explanation is too complicated. Basically, on Jan., 20, 2005, a fight broke out in a Scottsdale, Ariz., nightclub and the 6-foot-7, 300-pound Canty was hit in the eye by a flying bottle. Canty said he wasn't involved in the fight.
With the Cowboys going to Phoenix for Sunday's game against Arizona, it's a reminder to Canty how quickly the opportunity to play in the NFL -- or maybe even an eye -- was nearly taken from him.
IN his own words:
"I went out with some of the guys I was training with [in Arizona before the draft].
"It was a place I had gone before. A fight broke out, and we tried to get out of there. Next thing I know was -- CRASH! I looked at my hand, and it was bloody.
"I don't know what happened. I never saw the bottle. I wasn't in a fight. It does make me mad. But it happened. Was it something I wanted? No. I did decide to go out, and that was one of the risks you assume when you go out.
"My parents made me play football. It was either that, or get a job. Mom didn't want me to come home from school and do nothing. And I didn't want to get a job; that sounded like work.
"My dad played semi-pro basketball for the New York Wizards. That was back in the day. When he was coming in, they were just starting to let blacks play. He and my mom both played basketball in college, where they met.
"Now, I'm no angel. But I'm not a thug.
"My mom is a preacher, for 25 years now. I remember when I first got to college, I said, I'm never going to church. Growing up, you're at church all the time. I told my mom, we got meetings, we have to watch film; I can't go. I made excuses. By the end of college, I started going every Sunday. I just came back to it.
"I remember watching a game one day, and Randy Moss was playing, and I thought, I can do that. I didn't play football until my junior year. I played receiver and tight end. I wore 88 [like Moss].
"I absolutely wrecked my knee before my senior year. I did think I was done. I second-guessed whether I should have come out early. Coach [Virginia coach Al] Groh was great. They really took care of me.
"I wanted to say after [the nightclub incident] happened, 'Well, maybe it's over. I've got to get a job now.' But then you get drafted. By the Cowboys. In the fourth round. You want to throw in the towel, but you can't. It's an opportunity.
"If I had decided not to play football [in high school] and get a job, you would have never heard of me."
Cowboys' Chris Canty is grateful his parents made him play football
By MAC ENGEL
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
But you try not to stare. And forget about asking.
"Some people ask," Cowboys defensive end Chris Canty said. "I'm like, 'It's fine. Whatever.' I don't try to explain it."
The explanation is too complicated. Basically, on Jan., 20, 2005, a fight broke out in a Scottsdale, Ariz., nightclub and the 6-foot-7, 300-pound Canty was hit in the eye by a flying bottle. Canty said he wasn't involved in the fight.
With the Cowboys going to Phoenix for Sunday's game against Arizona, it's a reminder to Canty how quickly the opportunity to play in the NFL -- or maybe even an eye -- was nearly taken from him.
IN his own words:
"I went out with some of the guys I was training with [in Arizona before the draft].
"It was a place I had gone before. A fight broke out, and we tried to get out of there. Next thing I know was -- CRASH! I looked at my hand, and it was bloody.
"I don't know what happened. I never saw the bottle. I wasn't in a fight. It does make me mad. But it happened. Was it something I wanted? No. I did decide to go out, and that was one of the risks you assume when you go out.
"My parents made me play football. It was either that, or get a job. Mom didn't want me to come home from school and do nothing. And I didn't want to get a job; that sounded like work.
"My dad played semi-pro basketball for the New York Wizards. That was back in the day. When he was coming in, they were just starting to let blacks play. He and my mom both played basketball in college, where they met.
"Now, I'm no angel. But I'm not a thug.
"My mom is a preacher, for 25 years now. I remember when I first got to college, I said, I'm never going to church. Growing up, you're at church all the time. I told my mom, we got meetings, we have to watch film; I can't go. I made excuses. By the end of college, I started going every Sunday. I just came back to it.
"I remember watching a game one day, and Randy Moss was playing, and I thought, I can do that. I didn't play football until my junior year. I played receiver and tight end. I wore 88 [like Moss].
"I absolutely wrecked my knee before my senior year. I did think I was done. I second-guessed whether I should have come out early. Coach [Virginia coach Al] Groh was great. They really took care of me.
"I wanted to say after [the nightclub incident] happened, 'Well, maybe it's over. I've got to get a job now.' But then you get drafted. By the Cowboys. In the fourth round. You want to throw in the towel, but you can't. It's an opportunity.
"If I had decided not to play football [in high school] and get a job, you would have never heard of me."
posted by The Gryphon at 8:13 AM
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