'A precious time for the team'
Kentucky dealing with loss of teammate
Posted: Monday November 16, 1998 07:10 PM
LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) -- The excitement of a game Saturday against
No. 1 Tennessee and a pending bowl invitation faded to gray Monday
at Kentucky, as the team mourned a truck crash that killed one
player and severely injured another.
"Being a football player, you think you've been through a lot
of tough things, losing games in the last seconds, taking big
hits," said quarterback Tim Couch, who broke down in tears as he
talked about lifelong friend Scott Brock in the crash Sunday. "You
think you're a tough person until you have to deal with going in
and seeing your best friend's parents after he's just passed
away."
Brock, a student at Eastern Kentucky University, was killed
along with Kentucky transfer defensive lineman Arthur "Artie"
Steinmetz when starting center Jason Watts' pickup truck went out
of control and flipped over on U.S. 27, about 10 miles north of
Somerset.
Watts, who was driving, was thrown from the vehicle with the
other two; he suffered a severe laceration of his right forearm but
survived. The three were headed to a farm near Somerset to go deer
hunting when the accident happened just before 7 a.m. EST Sunday.
None was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
The cause of the crash is being investigated, but Pulaski County
sheriff Sam Catron has said speed may have been involved. Routine
blood samples taken from Watts at the hospital are being tested for
alcohol by the state police.
Watts was in fair condition Monday at Lexington's University of
Kentucky Medical Center, where he underwent a preliminary operation
to clean the wound, which stretched 12 inches from his elbow to his
wrist. The hospital said Dr. James Lovett, a plastic surgeon,
removed glass, rocks, dirt and dead tissue from the laceration,
repaired some tendons and closed the wound.
The crash occurred hours after Kentucky (7-3) celebrated Senior
Day at Commonwealth Stadium with a 55-17 win over Vanderbilt. Watts
was among the seniors honored in a ceremony on the field before the
game.
Couch said he had been to see the injured Watts.
"I just told him I'm not I'm not blaming him," Couch said. "I
think he listened to me."
Coach Hal Mumme canceled Monday's practice. He and Mike Breaux,
a minister at Southland Christian Church, one of Lexington's
largest congregations, met with players in what they described as
an emotional meeting.
"It was a precious time for the team," said punter Jimmy
Carter, a spiritual leader on the team. "Some of the guys were
crying. We all got down as a team and prayed."
Before the meeting, Mumme said he planned to tell the players
"that God has a plan for everybody's life, and some plans are
shorter than others."
"I think it only serves to point out for all of us that we're
only one brief heartbeat away from eternity ourselves, and nobody
really can say when that time is." Mumme said.
Safety Jeff Zurcher said players sat in total silence, waiting
for the meeting to start.
"I've never been in there with 100 other guys, especially
football players, and had it be that quiet," Zurcher said.
Brock's funeral was scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. at
Thousandsticks United Methodist Church, near his hometown of Hyden
in eastern Kentucky. A funeral mass for Steinmetz was scheduled for
10:30 a.m. Thursday at the St. Pius Church in Edgewood, in northern
Kentucky.
Mumme said some players would attend Brock's funeral, while
plans were being made for the entire team to travel to the service
for Steinmetz, a defensive lineman who transferred from Michigan
State in August and was practicing with the scout team while he sat
out the season.
Steinmetz was expected to take the place of senior defensive
tackle Mark Jacobs on the Wildcats' line next year.
"Artie was a guy who was just a delight," Mumme said. "He
never failed to have a humorous comment to me when I passed him in
the hall."
Brock grew up with Couch in Hyden and was a running back and
receiver at Leslie County High School when Couch set national high
school passing records there.
"He was someone I spent every waking hour with," Couch said.
"Me and Scott were as close as brothers."
Couch said Brock lobbied him to go to Kentucky and not Tennessee
when Couch was being recruited out of high school. The quarterback
said that even though 'football seems the furthest thing from my
mind right now' he would play Saturday against the Volunteers.
"Scott would want me to beat Tennessee more than anything," he
said.
Brock and Watts had become friends and hunting buddies through
Couch, who said he was invited to go Sunday, but declined so he
could spend time with his family.
In addition to losing one of his best friends, Couch will be
without his regular center as the Wildcats go against undefeated
Tennessee. In Mumme's offense, the center is responsible for
calling the blocking scheme at the line of scrimmage, making the
position a pivotal one.
Mumme said Aaron Daniel, a sophomore who spelled Watts when he
suffered a concussion in the Arkansas game, probably would start
against Tennessee, and redshirt freshman Nolan DeVaughn would back
him up.
Couch said players plan to wear a patch honoring Steinmetz,
Brock and Watts on their jerseys during the game.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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