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Tuesday, October 19,1993
Houston Oilers'
brass loses off
the field, as well
S ome mem
bers of the
Houston
Oilers coaching
staff are a bit
confused.
Maybe no one
ever told them
about the sub
stantial things
in life, maybe
they never lis
tened, maybe
they have little
sense, or maybe
they just have a
football stuck
somewhere it
shouldn't be.
Their prob
lem this week: a baby.
Scot Cooper Williams never imag
ined in his lengthy, two-day-old life
that he could evoke so much contro
versy. Without saying a word, the
nine-pound infant was able to ruffle
the feathers of his father's employers.
When "daddy," Oilers' offensive
tackle David Williams, missed Sun
day's game against the New England
Patriots to be with his wife when she
was giving birth to Scot Cooper,
some coaches unnecessarily went off
the deep end. They harshly criticized
his decision and threatened to penal
ize him with severe fines.
The coaches had reason to be frus
trated. After a disappointing season
with a failing offense, the five-year
starting lineman was essential, and
there is nothing wrong with the
coaches expressing that fact.
However, what the coaches said
was not that they were upset about
Williams' missing a single game.
Their message was that football
should be the number-one priority in
the player's life - not his wife, not his
See Chelkowski/Page 6
JULIE
CHELKOWSKI
Assistant
Sports Editor
Sports
The Battalion Page 5
Harrison plays strong, steady in senior season
A&M offensive guard remains injury-free
and anchors line as he prepares to graduate
with his 'fumblerooskie 7 days behind him
By Michael Plumer
The Battalion
Once the A&M offensive huddle
breaks, Texas A&M senior left guard
Tyler Harrison's thought process begins.
He focuses on the play that is called,
when the ball will be snapped and what
he has to do to make the play a success
for the Aggies.
It is his responsibility to make sure the
A&M running backs have a clear lane to
run through and sophomore quarterback
Corey Pullig has ample time to throw.
He does all the grunt work while other
players get the credit and press clippings.
But Harrison has no problems stand
ing on the outskirts of the spotlight with
the rest of his offensive line mates.
"It is easy to overlook people when
names are not in the paper all the time,"
Harrison said. "The people that it mat
ters to, like my teammates, coaches and
opponents, are aware of us."
Last season, Harrison became known
to more than just the careful observers of
football. In a nationally televised contest
against Houston, he scored a touchdown
on a 25-yard fumblerooskie in A&M's 38-
30 victory, and in the process, sealed his
place in A&M lore.
"I guess there are worse things to be
known for," Harrison said with a smile.
In the second quarter, A&M quarter
back Corey Pullig hiked the ball, set it on
the turf and rolled to his left as Harrison
played off of his block. Harrison then
swiped the football, ran to the right side
of the field away from the defense which
was pursuing Pullig, and lumbered all
the way into the end zone.
A&M offensive line coach Mike Sher
man said the score was literally a long
time coming.
"Well, he didn't show any speed,"
Sherman said. "It is such an unglorified
position that it got everybody excited."
This season, the Arlington High School
product has another reason to bring his
teammates to cheers.
Harrison, a three-year starter, will be
making his 32nd consecutive start on Sat
urday against the Rice Owls - an amazing
streak considering the injury problems
that he has encountered the past two sea
sons.
In 1992, Harrison had a separated
shoulder and suffered from a broken
wrist in 1991 and had to wear a huge cast
on his hand for most of the season that re
stricted his movement.
Sherman said Harrison's overcoming
the pain speaks for itself.
"He is a tough kid and he plays like
A&M players are expected to," he said.
"He gives you everything he has got as
evidenced by him playing hurt. Tyler is
one of the guys that I want others to fol
low in regard to being tough."
But so far, 1993 has been relatively
pain-free for Harrison due partly to his
efforts to obtain a very important piece of
paper.
"Tyler only comes to practice on Mon
day and Wednesday due to the fact he is
trying to graduate in December," Sher
man said. "He is taking 17 hours right
now, so he is in class on Tuesday and
Thursday.
"That makes it pretty difficult for him
to get prepared because there are things
in practice that you need to see and feel,
so it could be a negative.
"But on the positive side, he is healthi
er than he has ever been because he has
not been getting banged around as
much."
Harrison said the missed practice time
could hurt him, but he pointed to his ex
perience within the system.
"I have been doing this for a number
of years so I am comfortable with what is
going on and I don't think I am falling be
hind," Harrison said. "I am pleased with
the way the season is going and I think
my staying injury-free has been a key.
"This season has been a physically
challenging, of course, but I think not be
ing banged-up has helped me mentally
prepare for the things thaMrappen."
Mary Macmanus/THE Battalion
Texas A&M left guard Tyler Harrison (55) blocks backup offensive tackle James
Brooks (78) during practice. Harrison has played in 32 straight games for A&M.
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