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Improbable return

Spartans' CB Campbell to play against Oregon

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Posted: Wednesday September 01, 1999 08:55 PM

By Mark Ambrogi, Special to CNN/SI

Michigan State cornerback Amp Campbell is on a spot he never thought he'd be in again -- on the field.

The sixth-year senior's lost year will come full circle Thursday night when he starts against visting Oregon, the same team he suffered a serious neck injury against early last season.

He was forced to wear a neck brace which extrended from his stomach to above his neck. He couldn't stand still or sit down for very long. Doctors doubted if he would play again and so did Campbell.

"I never thought I would put a uniform back on," he said. "I felt that football was done for me and that I wouldn't play anymore. Things changed once I came back here [East Lansing] and started going to the games and watching the guys out there play."

Campbell made an impressive recovery after extensive physical therapy. He also worked hard in the classroom to get his undergraduate degree, which is a requirment for requesting a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.

Campbell admitted he has given thought to it happening again.

"But if happens I'm going to have to deal with it," Campbell said. "I can't fault anybody but myself. I'm the guy that chose to come back out here play football. It's not something that I'm going to think about every day."

Brees' top five

Brees lists Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne as his favorite. His other four picks are Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick, Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington, Louisville quarterback Chris Redman and Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington.

When prodded, Brees admitted the Heisman is a goal, but knows his success is tied to the team.

"If we win 10 games this season, then all those personal honors are going to come," Brees said. "They're going to come for everyone on the offense and everyone on the defense."

Brees' attitude makes him a hit with his teammates, who voted him a co-captain.

"He's not a guy that flaunts any of his success so as a result he wears extremely well with his teammates," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said.

Gag order on Fells

Purdue senior linebacker Willie Fells didn't get the memo that the head coach is the only comedian.

Fells, who was suspended the entire spring practice period after an arrest for battery and resisting law enforcement in a domestic dispute, missed the first few days of training camp while he finished academic work and community service Tiller imposed on him. When he returned, he made light of the situation by telling a reporter, "We were in a contract negotiation. There were some things I wanted in my contract that I didn't get so I just said, 'Hey, I'll sit out a week until I get what I want.'"

The normally good-humored Tiller was not amused. For the first time in his coaching career, he has told a player he can not talk to the media for the entire season.

Valuable half-inch

Last March, Curtis Randle El was stabbed in the stomach during an altercation between football players and members of an IU fraternity outside a Bloomington apartment.

A doctor later told him that if the 6-inch blade had penetrated just a half-inch farther, he wouldn't have survived. The near-death experience brought him closer to his family and more appreciative of what he has. "He used to act like he didn't have a care in the world, almost to a fault," said IU quarterback Antwaan Randle El, Curtis' younger brother. "Now he just takes things more seriously. You see it in his workouts and the way he handles himself in public. We were close before, but this has brought us even closer together."

The elder Randle El was not disciplined for the incident because he was just ruled to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had dropped by to visit a teammate when he saw the standoff and went to see what was happening.

Worth noting

Mark Ambrogi covers the Big Ten for The Indianapolis Star News. Check back each Wednesday for his latest CNN/SI Insider.