MMQB Mailbag: An outpouring of support for Parkersburg, Iowa

A tornado destroyed 222 homes in Parkersburg Iowa. AP Peter King's Mailbag Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Peter King on Twitter

You guys are bringing your e-mail A-game the past few weeks. You're really on target. I love writing the George Martin/Aaron Kampman type of Monday Morning Quarterbacks because they illustrate the kind of people we cover in this business. For as much as we have to cover the Pacman Jones stuff, believe me when I tell you there are lots of guys in this game who are good citizens and not nut jobs who have to be babysat off the field.

On the phone with me the other day, Kampman, the Pro Bowl Packers defensive end, was incredibly enlightening, I thought. He'd just seen his high school in Parkersburg, Iowa, and a good portion of the area in which he grew up destroyed by a tornado. And he had the presence of mind, and the intelligence, to say he couldn't tell me that if people had $20 to contribute to some cause, they should certainly contribute it to tornado relief efforts in Iowa over giving it to the victims of the earthquake in China or the cyclone in Burma -- catastrophes that killed thousands. But this Iowan with a world view felt strong about what we all should do.

"Just do something,'' he said.

A Tuesday morning update: Kampman's fellow Aplington-Parkersburg High alum, Jacksonville center Brad Meester, said the NFL has agreed to match all players' donations to tornado relief, up to $5,000 per player. And beginning Thursday, fans can log onto nfl.com or jaguars.com and buy Aplington-Parkersburg High/2008 Tornado Relief baseball caps for $20 apiece.

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One other thing, totally unrelated. Two weeks ago I ran an e-mail from Ryan Eads of Champaign, Ill., on his skepticism about the security of the new wireless technology in the coach-to-player communication during NFL games. "Given the need to keep the technology in the helmet light," he wrote, "I doubt that encryption is used because that would add to the hardware that would need to go in the helmet.''

I said I would look into it, and this is what I found out. The league has an outside firm operating the system, with a different consulting firm monitoring security for the system. The systems are encrypted, and each team has its own code, so unless you're on the same frequency as the team, there's no way you can hear the unscrambled discussion. There have been plenty of rumors that spies have invaded the communication system, but to this point the league has never found evidence of tampering. You're going to see more and more spot checks of the communication systems in the coming years.

Now onto your e-mail:

• WE ALL NEED TO DO OUR PART, BRIAN. From Brian, of Austin: "I cried after reading your MMQB today. I am a hard-working, just-getting-by American guy who is a sports junkie, and appreciative of what good sports means to many. Unfortunately, I read far too much bad news these days, and to be perfectly honest, it occasionally makes me reconsider hopes of being a father some day. I've always been an avid reader of your column, a perfect integration of sports with humanity, and today, you reminded me that there is still hope to make this world a better place. Thanks so much for doing what you do.''

Thanks, Brian. I remember in high school, 33 years ago, reading an assigned story in an English class about the idiocy of bringing more children into a screwed-up world. I'm sure you could have read something similar a century ago. It's still messed up, but it's our world. I'm a big fan of fatherhood. It completes your life.

• IOWANS ARE A GRATEFUL PEOPLE. From Christopher, of Denver, Iowa: "I wanted to thank you for the great coverage and article on the tornado that hit Parkersburg. I ended up driving near the town yesterday on my way home to see a friend. I had been thinking of driving through town to get a better sense of the damage. As a student in high school, I had played football against A-P and run there a few times for track meets. After I passed through Aplington, I was faced with a detour (local traffic only). I decided that out of respect for those affected, that I would just take the detour. As I drove, I kept looking towards town, wondering what I could see. At the point where I could actually see damage, it took my breath away and brought a tear to my eye. It warms my soul to see former football players from A-P in the NFL helping. I wish the best to all there and hope all turns out well.''

It will. It's Iowa.

• NICE JOB, JAMES. From James Starrett, of Belfast, Maine: "I just read your story on Aaron Kampman's hometown, and the devastating tornado, and it brought tears to my eyes. You talked of the how the townspeople, and people all over Iowa were helping their neighbors, and it brought me back to 1998 in Belfast, Maine, where as a 25-year-old kid with a one-bedroom apartment, I suddenly was in a position where I needed to step up. That year we had one of the worst ice storms in the history of the United States, and all over Maine people were without power. Some 700,000 out of 1.2 million had no power whatsoever, and families were in danger of freezing to death everywhere.

"I happened to live in a town on the hospital grid, but a lot of my friends lived in surrounding country towns. I remember that at the peak, I had 17 of my friends and members of their family coming to my house for sleep, shower, heat, food, and basic necessities. A friend of mine had a 2-year-old boy with his wife, and a newborn baby girl. They had a house out in the country, and they were without power for 37 days. During that time, they became the main occupants of my bedroom, and my single friends and I became accustomed to sleeping on the floor, or taking turns in chairs.

"People donated wood to people in need, strangers became family, enemies became best friends, and as a whole, people came out OK. Here I am, a 6-4, 250-pound tattooed man crying his eyes out because I lived something similar to your story and it touched a nerve deep inside. I thank you for the story, and I will be sending a check, along with my thoughts and prayers to those people who are suffering so much right now.''

You're a good man. That's a great story.

• THE OWNERS ARE DETERMINED TO DO WHAT THEY CAN TO STOP THE NEGATIVE HEADLINES. From Steve, of Wilmington, Del.: "My question regards the rule passed at the last owners meeting allowing teams to be fined for a players conduct off the field. I'm having a hard time imagining (because I do not work in the NFL) a majority of NFL owners voting in favor of such a rule. Exactly how close was the vote? It's probably just me, but I'm of the opinion that these NFL teams are paying players millions upon millions of dollars to play in the NFL and act like professionals. If the players can't live up to their end of the bargain they should be banned from football, period. It just doesn't seem fair to now hold the team responsible for the conduct of these players when they're away from the field. Shouldn't the commissioner again step up to the plate on this instead of dumping the player conduct issue on the teams?''

There was no vote. The commissioner imposed the policy using his ability to mete out discipline, and Steve, it's not that Roger Goodell is trying to pawn off everything onto the teams. The league office is still going to be judge and jury on disciplinary issues, but they're trying to add an extra layer of protection here.

If a team drafts a player -- Cincinnati with Chris Henry, for instance -- who had disciplinary issues in college, the team is drafting him with the understanding that if he continues to be a troublemaker in the NFL, the team will be sanctioned for it. So maybe instead of taking a guy with a rap sheet and slightly more talent, a team now will take a clean guy who's a slightly lesser player.

Let's go back to the 2005 draft, when Henry and Pacman Jones were picked. The Titans had major needs at corner, wide receiver and tackle. They chose Jones with the sixth overall pick in the draft. What they could have done is pick a safer tackle (like Jammal Brown, who went 13th overall to New Orleans). And instead of taking the risky Henry with the 83rd pick, the Bengals could have picked a less explosive but more reliable receiver like Roydell Williams, who went at the end of the fourth round to Tennessee and has become one of Vince Young's favorite targets.