The fat man who started off as a novelty is a ballplayer. ![]() “All the years, all the jokes, all the damn hard work I put into this finally paid off. “We may get to the Big Deal,” Newton said in reference to the Super Bowl. He helps keep Troy Aikman’s uniform sanitized and also blows open space for NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith. The result: He made the Pro Bowl for the first time at his current weight – 313.Īt the least, Newton is a key component to one of the most productive offensive lines in the NFL. Newton went to training camp at 301 pounds, less than Erik Williams and Kevin Gogan. But nothing worked until Newton complied this season merely to improve his performance, to limit the pain in his aching knees and, perhaps, to be taken as a serious, dedicated football player. Newton was fined for being overweight and lost his starting position in 1990. Tex Schramm and Tom Landry put $80,000 worth of incentive clauses in his contract if he kept his weight down. But the usually jocular Newton, the round face that fills all those big-screen televisions with subtle humor and zany personality, was in a somber mood. Newton, who is from Orlando and used to tilt the scales, has tipped them to his advantage in what shapes up as possibly his top season with the Cowboys. If you stopped and looked at a whole game of mine, you’d say there’s something to me. “If you knew football, you’d know Nate Newton is getting the job done. You’ll see something special,” he said recently. Forget ‘Sunday Night Showtime.’ Forget what you hear me say on TV. “Let me say this, brother, and be for real with you: Watch me play ball, man. His tone was solemn, shaky as he leaned forward. His hands were knotted into fists and contained in his pockets. Both sons made their daddy proud.Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Nate Newton, his gray sweatshirt damp and darkened with perspiration, cleared his throat, then his reputation. Nate’s younger brother, Tim, ended up playing for the NFL Buccaneers. Burt Reynolds was one of the owners and one of Nate’s everlasting memories is of Burt on “Meet the Bandits Night” riding into the arena on a stagecoach. He was not good enough to avoid being dumped by the Redskins on the final cut.īack to Florida he went to play for the USFL Tampa Bay Bandits. ![]() He was good enough that the Washington Redskins signed him up. Nathaniel Newton, Jr., who went off to Florida A&M and was made captain and played both offense and defense. “It was right after that that the coach told me, ‘Nate, I figure that’s the end of your fullback career.’ ” And that’s when the referee tried to break it up, so I picked him up and shook him up. I just grabbed this little kid by the collar and picked him up and shook him up. So anyway, we come out for the second half, and some same little kid who’s been after me in the first half comes around and he spears me again. Don’t have to worry about old Nate’s feelings. “And the referee, he’d say, ‘Oh, it’s all right, big fella. ![]() I don’t much care how hard these boys hit. They say, ‘Man, Nate, you’re the scapegoat.’ ” Or others come over to our house and they pick up the scrapbook and they say, ‘Man, for a good man, you got all this negative stuff written here about you!’ Instead of, you know, stories about how I made the Pro Bowl, or how I was one of the top people on the Cowboys. And periodically we take it out and read it together, just to remind ourselves of who’s been sayin’ what. We keep all the articles that say Nate Fat This and say Nate Fat That. ![]() It’s the ‘90s.’ How would you know that it was all a big joke? How would you know that I didn’t mean nothing personal by it?” How about if I said: ‘This boy here stepped right out of the 1960s. “How would you like it if I said: ‘This boy here’s losin’ his hair.’ Or, you. They say, ‘What you weigh today, Nate?’ They say, ‘Oh, look, there’s Nate, hitchin’ up his pants to keep ‘em up.’ Nate has a bad game and they say Nate’s gettin’ too fat to play.” They say, ‘Here he is, the answer to the Fridge.’ They don’t say how Nate did in practice. “Big joke,” the 325-pound Dallas Cowboy said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |