Walls, Springs to be honored at Cowboys' opener
By BARRY HORN / The Dallas Morning News
bhorn@dallasnews.com
They don't get to see each other quite as much as they did at the start of the year, when they were preparing for the transplant.
Everson Walls pushes close friend and former teammate Ron Springs' wheelchair during a visit to the Cowboys' Valley Ranch headquarters in August. Mr. Springs and Mr. Walls will serve as honorary captains for the Cowboys' nationally televised season opener against the New York Giants Sunday night at Texas Stadium.
Ron Springs' days have been consumed with rehab, while Everson Walls flits around promoting diabetes awareness.
But they have a date Sunday night, six months after Mr. Walls donated a kidney to Mr. Springs, his former Dallas Cowboys teammate.
They will be at Texas Stadium to serve as honorary captains for the Cowboys' nationally televised season opener against the New York Giants.
Mr. Springs has worked hard toward the moment, mercilessly pushing himself with a rigorous exercise program and extended treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. He was intent on being able to strap a prosthesis to what remains of his right leg and bound from the sideline to midfield for the opening coin toss. His diabetes has not been cooperative. Instead, he will be pushed most of the way in a wheelchair by Mr. Walls.
Mr. Springs hopes Mr. Walls will help him out of the wheelchair just before they reach midfield so he might at least walk the final few steps.
"Everson has been helping me for the last three years," Mr. Springs said the other day during an interview at his Plano home. "He'll be helping me until I can walk alone."
The Walls-Springs saga has evolved into the feel-good story in an NFL world drowning in tales of drugs, steroids, guns and dogfighting. "Crap" is what John Madden, the broadcasting face of the NFL, calls "99 percent" of the off-season news.
Mr. Walls and Mr. Springs personify the other 1 percent. "The ultimate story of teammates," said Mr. Madden, who will work the Cowboys-Giants game for NBC and was a vociferous behind-the-scenes advocate that they be honored on national television. "It's easy to talk about being a good teammate, not so easy to show it."
Mr. Walls and Mr. Springs were Cowboys teammates in the early 1980s. They evolved into close friends. Their wives are like sisters. They are godfathers to each other's children.
Years later, when Mr. Springs' diabetes ravaged his kidneys, Mr. Walls stepped forward and donated a healthy kidney. That was on the final day of February.
Mr. Walls underwent a six-month checkup in late August. "If it wasn't for the scars, I wouldn't even know there was a surgery," he said in an interview last week.
That's not quite accurate. Mr. Walls, who never sought publicity and was irate when word about the impending transplant leaked out in December, has been a much-in-demand speaker around the area as well as around the country.
He has received awards at the NFL Players Association annual convention, Jesse Jackson's Operation PUSH convention and on CBS sportscaster James Brown's nationally televised show, honoring selflessness by pro football players.
By his own count, Mr. Walls has received three "Tom Landry humanitarian" awards from various organizations.
"At least nobody wants to talk football with me anymore," said Mr. Walls, 47, a Richardson Berkner graduate who played cornerback for the legendary Eddie Robinson at Grambling State before becoming the Cowboys' career leader in interceptions and later playing a pivotal role in the Giants' winning Super Bowl XXV.
"That's kind of refreshing," he said. "All people want is a recounting of the transplant story."
When Mr. Walls talks back, he makes sure to mention that he and Mr. Springs have been busy laying the groundwork for a foundation – "Gift for Life." They hope to raise enough money initially for a bus that will travel the country and battle diabetes by education and early detection, especially in children.
Mr. Walls also hopes to encourage others to become organ donors, especially kidney donors.
Pam Silvestri, public affairs director of the Southwest Transplant Alliance, credits Mr. Walls and Mr. Springs with already "creating an unprecedented buzz about kidney transplants, particularly in the African-American community."
If Mr. Springs, 50, is disappointed he won't be able to walk across the Texas Stadium field, he remains encouraged that he will soon be able to discard his wheelchair in favor of the prosthesis.
He has talked to doctors about possible surgeries to reverse the withering of his limp hands. They have offered hope.
He plans to increase his travel schedule and help Mr. Walls promote their burgeoning foundation. He has been to New York and Washington. Plans call for trips to Detroit, Chicago and Tampa, Fla.
"This has been a long ordeal, a tough ordeal," Mr. Springs said. "I feel much better than I thought I would six months after the surgery. The kidney is working miracles.
"I have come to the conclusion that I am never going to run a 4.4 [40-yard dash] again. But I thank all the people in Dallas and around the country for their prayers. They don't have to worry about Ron Springs giving up."
bhorn@dallasnews.com
They don't get to see each other quite as much as they did at the start of the year, when they were preparing for the transplant.
Everson Walls pushes close friend and former teammate Ron Springs' wheelchair during a visit to the Cowboys' Valley Ranch headquarters in August. Mr. Springs and Mr. Walls will serve as honorary captains for the Cowboys' nationally televised season opener against the New York Giants Sunday night at Texas Stadium.
Ron Springs' days have been consumed with rehab, while Everson Walls flits around promoting diabetes awareness.
But they have a date Sunday night, six months after Mr. Walls donated a kidney to Mr. Springs, his former Dallas Cowboys teammate.
They will be at Texas Stadium to serve as honorary captains for the Cowboys' nationally televised season opener against the New York Giants.
Mr. Springs has worked hard toward the moment, mercilessly pushing himself with a rigorous exercise program and extended treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. He was intent on being able to strap a prosthesis to what remains of his right leg and bound from the sideline to midfield for the opening coin toss. His diabetes has not been cooperative. Instead, he will be pushed most of the way in a wheelchair by Mr. Walls.
Mr. Springs hopes Mr. Walls will help him out of the wheelchair just before they reach midfield so he might at least walk the final few steps.
"Everson has been helping me for the last three years," Mr. Springs said the other day during an interview at his Plano home. "He'll be helping me until I can walk alone."
The Walls-Springs saga has evolved into the feel-good story in an NFL world drowning in tales of drugs, steroids, guns and dogfighting. "Crap" is what John Madden, the broadcasting face of the NFL, calls "99 percent" of the off-season news.
Mr. Walls and Mr. Springs personify the other 1 percent. "The ultimate story of teammates," said Mr. Madden, who will work the Cowboys-Giants game for NBC and was a vociferous behind-the-scenes advocate that they be honored on national television. "It's easy to talk about being a good teammate, not so easy to show it."
Mr. Walls and Mr. Springs were Cowboys teammates in the early 1980s. They evolved into close friends. Their wives are like sisters. They are godfathers to each other's children.
Years later, when Mr. Springs' diabetes ravaged his kidneys, Mr. Walls stepped forward and donated a healthy kidney. That was on the final day of February.
Mr. Walls underwent a six-month checkup in late August. "If it wasn't for the scars, I wouldn't even know there was a surgery," he said in an interview last week.
That's not quite accurate. Mr. Walls, who never sought publicity and was irate when word about the impending transplant leaked out in December, has been a much-in-demand speaker around the area as well as around the country.
He has received awards at the NFL Players Association annual convention, Jesse Jackson's Operation PUSH convention and on CBS sportscaster James Brown's nationally televised show, honoring selflessness by pro football players.
By his own count, Mr. Walls has received three "Tom Landry humanitarian" awards from various organizations.
"At least nobody wants to talk football with me anymore," said Mr. Walls, 47, a Richardson Berkner graduate who played cornerback for the legendary Eddie Robinson at Grambling State before becoming the Cowboys' career leader in interceptions and later playing a pivotal role in the Giants' winning Super Bowl XXV.
"That's kind of refreshing," he said. "All people want is a recounting of the transplant story."
When Mr. Walls talks back, he makes sure to mention that he and Mr. Springs have been busy laying the groundwork for a foundation – "Gift for Life." They hope to raise enough money initially for a bus that will travel the country and battle diabetes by education and early detection, especially in children.
Mr. Walls also hopes to encourage others to become organ donors, especially kidney donors.
Pam Silvestri, public affairs director of the Southwest Transplant Alliance, credits Mr. Walls and Mr. Springs with already "creating an unprecedented buzz about kidney transplants, particularly in the African-American community."
If Mr. Springs, 50, is disappointed he won't be able to walk across the Texas Stadium field, he remains encouraged that he will soon be able to discard his wheelchair in favor of the prosthesis.
He has talked to doctors about possible surgeries to reverse the withering of his limp hands. They have offered hope.
He plans to increase his travel schedule and help Mr. Walls promote their burgeoning foundation. He has been to New York and Washington. Plans call for trips to Detroit, Chicago and Tampa, Fla.
"This has been a long ordeal, a tough ordeal," Mr. Springs said. "I feel much better than I thought I would six months after the surgery. The kidney is working miracles.
"I have come to the conclusion that I am never going to run a 4.4 [40-yard dash] again. But I thank all the people in Dallas and around the country for their prayers. They don't have to worry about Ron Springs giving up."
posted by The Gryphon at 9:16 AM
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