Month: July 2007

Most of you know that my son Donald was treated for a bone marrow disease called Aplastic Anemia. His last medical treatment was in early July 2006 at NIH in Bethesda, MD. He had a six month follow-up visit with his doctors in January of 2007 with another six month follow this week (7/10/2007). Aside from his bone marrow biopsy aspiration (the procedure took more than an hour to complete), I am extremely happy to let everyone know that Donald is doing incredibly well. His doctors at the National Institutes of Health are very pleased with his recovery. He is now due for his next follow-up in 1 year.

Donald is entering his second year of Graduate School in the Medical Master’s Program at Hampton University in Virginia. He hopes to attend medical school in the fall of 2008. For all of you in the Aplastic Anemia community being treated for the condition if you have an opportunity to be treated at NIH please jump on the opportunity, the hospital has wonderful doctors and a very professional and caring staff

Had the opportunity to speak before Congress on the disability issues of the retired players. The Congressmen/women were very receptive to the plight of the NFL Retirees. Some radio interviewers have asked why am I so “low keyed” on the issue? Well, while I feel very strongly about the issue, I refuse to get into name calling or personal attacks because the bigger picture is to help all of the players who are in dire need as oppose to giving the media something scandalous to write about. I was honored to have been invited to testify and also honored to be an advocate on behalf of all former players.

My golf game has always and still sucks……! But I continue to play in various golf tournaments to support causes. My motto when it comes to golf is “I humble myself for worthy causes!” I wish there was an over 50, two hand touch, half speed football league I could play in instead to raise money for great causes!

There are few things better than a nice 80 degree low humidity spring or summer day!

Spent 9 weeks on Grand Jury duty in my county, if any of you have an opportunity to do the same don’t pass it up! I know that one day of jury duty for 9 weeks might be a lot for some but I felt a sense of doing my civic duty and it was a great lesson in understanding law. The big question I asked myself from all of the cases I heard or handled was…. why do dumb people who commit crimes think they won’t get caught?

This time of the year so many people ask me how I think the Giants will do this year. The team still has a good core group of players in key positions on all three sides of the ball but the fate of this team rests squarely on the shoulders of Giants Quarterback Eli Manning. At some point in the development of every player he has to step up and take ownership of his position. The quarterback has to be the leader (The Man!) who steps up and carries his teammates on his shoulders not just with his arm but with his attitude. If Manning is not ready in this his fourth season he will probably never be ready. Don’t get me wrong…. I am a huge fan of #10 and I hope this is finally his breakout season!