File photo
P a n I h a r
running
back
Stephen
Davit it
b 0 i n g
p a t i 0 n t
about got
ting back
on tho
practice
Hold.
Patience is the key for
Panthers' Stephen Davis
BY BRETT BORDEN
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Hurry up and wait. Anyone
who has been stuck in traffic
can relate to the emotion that
Panthers running back
Stephen Davis is dealing with
right now.
With healthy wheels, Davis
would be off and running with
the rest of his teammates as
they get acclimated to the heat
and the hitting in Spartanburg.
But as his right knee continues
the slow but steady climb back
from microfracture surgery,
Davis must watch from the
sideline.
"I've been patient thus
far," said Davis, who rushed
for 1 ,444 yards and eight
touchdowns in leading the
Panthers to Super Bowl
XXXVIII two seasons ago but
only 92 yards in two games
last season before being
placed on injured reserve. "I
want to do whatever is best for
me and the team. I wpnt to be
out there at 100 percent.
"If we had a Super Bowl
game or important playoff
game, I could go out there and
play, but we don't want to do
anything stupid and go out
there and have something hap
pen and say, 'What if we had
waited?' The best thing to do
right now is just wait and get
better. Hopefully in the near
future I'll be out there."
It can be done. For inspira
tion, Davis only needs to look
out on the field and watch
teammate DeShaun Foster.
Following microTracture knee
surgery that ended his rookie
season in 2003, Foster heard
the same whispers Davis has
heard the last 10 months, that
his career might be over. But
with patience and persistence,
Foster came back successfully,
rushing for 421 yards in 2003
and then adding 196 more
yards and two touchdowns in
the postseason.
"Every time 1 go out there
and see him on the field, I
know what he went through,"
said Davis. "My thing is to
just be patient and get myself
ready. My motivation to come
back is that a lot of people say
I can't come back. I know
what kind of team we could
have had last season if a lot of
guys didn't get hurt, and that's
a motivation.
"Motivation is just wanting
to be out there and be compet
itive and be one of those guys
out there playing his heart out,
bleeding, sweating and every
thing else on the, field."
* Davis, now 31, passed the
"30 barrier" since his wonder
ful 2003 season. It's an imagi
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nary barrier to be sure, but one
that critics like to use for
injured players on the plus
side of that age.
"Age doesn't matter," said
Davis. "Yes, I'm older than 1
was last year. I'm older than I
was three years ago, but that
doesn't matter. The determina
tion I have to play this game is
no different than it was five or
six years ago. Don't talk to me
about age when you should be
asking me if 1 still desire to
play this game. That's what
you need to ask me."
Hampton
from page B1
"The outpouring of support by
the Aggie family was just tremen
dous." Small said. "The sense of
unity everyone had at that time
puts this thought in nay head
We're going to take that same pas
sion, that same sense of unity, that
same desire, and we're going to
translate it onto the field My
mother would want it that way.
and I've never let Momma
down."
Two Aggies are expected to
be the best at their respective posi
tions. Senior Rickie Lewis, a 2004
first-team All-MEAC defensive
end, was selected preseason first
team All-MEAC aJong with sen
ior middle linebacker Chamar
Milton. Senior left guard Chris
Gates was selected to the second
team.
The Aggies are coming off of
an injury-plagued 3-8 season
However. N.C. A&T is healthy,
and returns eight starters on
defense and seven starters on
offense.
"We're not going to make
excuses about last year," Lewis
said during a media session with
just players last Friday. "We lost a
lot of close games we should have
won despite the injuries. We are
encouraged about this year
because we've had 100 percent
participation in the weight room
during the off-season. Guys are
determined not to have a repeat of
last year."
The Aggies will start their sea
son in Raleigh for the 12th
straight season when they face
N.C. Central in the annual Aggie
Eagle Classic at Carter-Finley
Stadium on Monday, Sept. 5, at
1:30 p.m. Tickets can be pur
chased through the Aggies ticket
office by calling (336) 334^7749.
The Aggies' first home game is
Sept. 10 at 1 :30 p.m. against Nor
Rk photo
Hampton's Alonxo Coleman w as ono of two Piratms to
receivm top prmsoason honors.
folk State.
Hampton University's Alonzo
Coleman and Justin Durant
earned the Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference's top football presea
son awards, as announced by the
league. Coleman was selected the
preseason Offensive Player of the
Year and Durant was chosen the
Defensive Player of the Year by
the MEAC head football coaches
and sports information directors.
Coleman (5-11, 190, Jr., RB,
South Boston, Va.) led the Pirates
in total rushing yards with 1,133.
He led the MEAC in carries last
year (225) and finished second in
yards and touchdowns (13). Cole
man. the MEAC Rookie of the
Year in 2003, has been a first
team AU-MEAC performer the
last two seasons.
Durant (6-2, 235, Jr., LB, Flo
rence, S.C.) earned Defensive
Player of the Year honors in 2004
after posting 14.5 tackles for loss
(second in MEAC), 99 total tack
les (fifth), and three interceptions.
Hampton led all teams with
nine players on the preseason AU
MEAC first team. The Pirates
also had three second-team play
ers for a total of 1 2. Morgan State
was second with four first-team
All-MEAC players. Bethune
Cookman. despite not having any
players on the first team, tied S.C.
State with eight All-MEAC play
ers. S.C. State placed three play
ers on the, first team.
The MEAC Press Luncheon
concluded with the unveiling of
MEACKIE, the leagues' first-ever
mascot. The mascot is colored in
MEAC purple with an MEAC
gold jersey. The jersey features
the logos of each of the 1 1 MEAC
institutions. Perhaps the most
striking aspect of the new mascot
is his head, which is shaped into
the MEAC logo. MEACKIE can
reach a height of 5 feet 7 inches.
"We are excited about having
our own mascot," Commissioner
Dennis Thomas said. "We will
use MEACKIE in our local com
munities, at special events and all
promotional activities."
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