Trent Green: One Pipp Of A QB
Chiefs' New Signal Caller Looks To Reclaim Missed Opportunity
Pat Sangimino, Staff Writer
May 4, 2001, 12:15 p.m. EDT
Do an Internet search of the name Wally Pipp and two names -- beside Pipp's, of course -- account for most of the hits: Lou Gehrig and Trent Green.
Pipp, a fine first baseman with the New York Yankees many years ago, is more well-known for one day taking a fastball to the melon during batting practice, which led to a headache and a doctor-prescribed day off.
A grand total of 2,130 games later, Gehrig, who replaced Pipp on that July day in 1925, retired from baseball having never missed a game.
Pipp's day off left him out of a job. For every storybook ending in sports, another book ends up in tatters. For every sports figure whose legend we can't forget, there is another who always seems to elude our consciousness.
Pipp is the proverbial other side of the coin. Gehrig has come to symbolize the ultimate work ethic. He never missed a day of work in 13 years. It took more than 60 years for someone to break that standard.
Meanwhile, Pipp is looked upon as the quintessential slacker. As unfair as it is, Wally Pipp, who died in 1965, has come to epitomize the ills of what can happen if you do the unthinkable by giving someone else a chance
That said, it should come as no surprise that Trent Green is well aware of the Wally Pipp story. All athletes have heard it because there isn't a coach in America worth his whistle and clipboard who hasn't uttered some reference to Wally Pipp.
"I had a coach in college who told his offensive line, 'Are you hurt or are you injured?'" Green said, remembering his days at the Indiana University. "And guys would decide one way or the other, and he'd say, 'Have you ever heard of Wally Pipp?' That was his pressure tactic."
Little did he realize back then that he would become Wally Pipp incarnate.
* * * * *
It was a meaningless exhibition game. Green, the free-agent quarterback, returning to his hometown of St. Louis, had brought hope to a franchise badly in need of something warm and fuzzy to latch onto.
The Rams had all the tools on offense. Two speedy receivers, a franchise running back they had basically stolen from the Indianapolis Colts for a pair of draft choices, and Green, who, seven years after entering the NFL, was getting his first chance at an offense to call his own.
It all ended in a matter of seconds. San Diego safety Rodney Harrison blitzed around the right side just before halftime of the Rams' final meaningless game and lunged toward the knees of Green, who had his back to the oncoming rusher.
Did we mention it was an exhibition game? Starters don't play hard in exhibition games. They play their series or two and then put on a baseball cap and mug for the cameras. Harrison had no business going after Green on that play and certainly -- under any circumstances -- had no business going after Green's knees.
On impact, Green's left knee buckled.
As the quarterback lay on the ground, writhing in pain, the TransWorld Dome became silent. The quarterback who had thrown just two passes that didn't find their target during the four games of the exhibition season would need major reconstructive surgery on the knee.
What was supposed to be his final series of the night turned into his final series of the year. His season was over one week before it was scheduled to officially begin.
Dick Vermeil cried that night unashamedly. He is an old-school coach. He's prone to tears, but his hurt had little to do with the impact that losing Green would have on his Rams. He hurt for Green, the quarterback he had brought home, the quarterback who had overcome so much to finally be an NFL starter.
The Rams, he said, would survive, but that fact did little to dull the coach's ache. He hurt for Green.
* * * * *
The Rams did survive just fine, thanks. With Green on crutches, Vermeil was forced to call on a former arena league quarterback and offseason grocery shelf stocker to quarterback his team.
Like Gehrig, Kurt Warner made the most of his opportunity.
Warner has been called the greatest story in the history of the National Football League and it's hard to argue with that proclamation. Undrafted and unheard of, Warner came out of nowhere to throw for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns in his first season, was named the league's offensive most valuable player and then led the Rams to a 23-16 Super Bowl victory over the Tennessee Titans.
Just like Pipp, Green had become the guy who made this remarkable story possible. Green had become Wally Pipp. Sports Illustrated went on to dub Green "The Unluckiest Guy in America."
"I knew of Wally before my situation," Green said. "When I got hurt and Kurt started playing well, I informed my wife who Wally Pipp was because she didn't know and, sure enough, a couple of weeks later, it was mentioned for the first time."
There's an unwritten rule in sports that a player doesn't lose his job because of an injury. We now know why that rule isn't written. Simply put, there are no absolutes in sports -- or anything, for that matter.
If it were etched in stone, Green would have regained his job while the league's MVP returned to the bench. Football coaches, despite possessing the fierce loyalty of Doberman pinschers, are not stupid.
What it meant was that Green, who has made waiting his turn an art form, would have to wait some more.
* * * * *
Green was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs on draft day last month. He is a walking, breathing and smiling example that patience truly is a virtue. He reminds us that hard work and perseverance can overcome even a bad break or two.
And most important, he gives us hope -- a shining example -- that a hard-on-his-luck fellow can turn things around if he is so inclined.
It would have been easy for him to walk away from football -- come to the conclusion that it wasn't meant to be -- after the knee injury, which was just the latest in a long line of setbacks. "He's an example of what we'd all like to be," Vermeil said. "He's a great example of persistence." This is a guy who was the second-to-last pick in the 1993 NFL Draft, a young quarterback who did everything ever asked of him in San Diego only to be cut after his rookie season.
He went north of the border for a couple of years and plied his trade in the financially failing Canadian Football League. That earned him another shot in the NFL -- this time with the Washington Redskins, where he spent four mostly inactive years watching a host of others try to lead the team.
It wasn't until 1998 when he got his chance. He started 14 games for the Redskins, threw for 3,441 yards and 23 touchdowns, but the braintrust there didn't think he fit very well into their future. Not to worry; in the NFL, a quarterback with a few stats can parlay them into a lucrative free-agent contract, which he did with the Rams.
And then Harrison went after his knee.
We could have chalked up his saga as miserable -- the other side of the coin to Warner's miracle -- but Green would have none of that.
* * * * *
He bided his time. He waited his turn -- again.
And all the while, he was the consummate professional. He returned to the role of understudy last year and never griped once, no matter how much he wanted to. He handled Warner's rise to stardom with all the class we often expect but so seldom see from our sports heroes.
"I was so happy for Kurt," he said. "I tell people that and they say, 'Oh, that's OK for the newspapers, but how do you really feel?'" Well, that's how I really feel. I know what Kurt went through. I know because I went through it myself."
Still, if Green had his druthers, Harrison would have never rolled on his left knee and it would have been Green who was hoisting the Lombardi Trophy above his head after guiding the Rams to a Super Bowl victory.
"I wish I would have never gotten hurt," he said. "I wish I could have led that offense. I've always believed I could have taken that team to the Super Bowl."
* * * * *
Vermeil believes it, too, which is why he gave up the No. 12 pick in the draft to bring Green to Kansas City with him.
It's funny how some things work out. The man who shed so many hot, painful tears for Green that night did what it took to give him that ever-elusive first opportunity to be The Man.
Green has learned that opportunities are fleeting and that making the most of them is essential. He won't waste this one, he said.
If Trent Green is destined to carry the Wally Pipp comparisons -- the Wally Pipp anchor -- it should be noted that most history books fail to point out there was a happy ending for Pipp.
After losing his job to Gehrig, he was traded to Cincinnati. The year following the most famous headache in sports history, Pipp hit .291 and drove in 99 runs for the Reds -- not Gehrig-type numbers by any means, but not too shabby, either.
Like Pipp, Green intends to write his own happy ending to his story. Let the historians put their own spin on it. That's something beyond his control. Sometimes, in this cynical, complicated world, simple fragile dreams do come true.
Sangimino Archive:
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Pat Sangimino is a veteran sports reporter and currently is a senior news editor at thekansascitychannel.com. Feel free to send him an e-mail with your thoughts on his weekly topics.
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