Mike Alstott's Head

THE HEAD of an ordinary person consists of a brain, a skull, hair, ears, some facial features, and, in the abstract, some thoughts, feelings, memories, and ideas. That is quite enough for auto mechanics and for bus drivers, for stock clerks and for secretaries of agriculture. It is not enough for a football player. A football player's head also consists of his neck--in fact, head and neck are often indistinguishable from each other--and his shoulders. And finally; in the abstract, a football player's head consists of the willingness and the desire to lower the whole interlocking mechanism and knock someone over with it. This is the primal football moment, and the head is the primal football weapon.

In a game against the Detroit Lions last season, Mike Alstott of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was hit so hard that his helmet went flying off his head. In the Fox broadcast booth, John Madden noted that Alstott's eyes stayed open during the whole episode, that Alstott did not dose his eyes the way players will when they sense that a big hit is coming. This was enough for Madden to put Alstott on his personal all-star team, a ... // 92% Remaining