08/18/99 - "I came back to the game because when you get to be in your 30s you want a ring," said Calloway. "You've accomplished personal things and you've made a good living, now you're back for the stuff that sticks with you a lifetime."
He's reminded of Irving Fryar, the former Patriots receiver Bill Parcells traded to Miami in 1993. Fryar was 31 at the time. Seven years and four Pro Bowls later, Fryar is still playing, now as a third receiver for Washington. "He's my inspiration," said Calloway. "I won't play that long and I don't want to hang around for the money. But I love to play and it's still in me and I feel I have something left." (Boston Globe)
01/10/99 - Neil Smith: Stars of the Stats: One fumble recovery, one touchdown, no sacks, no tackles ... and, oh yeah, 14 seconds.
For Neil Smith, stardom was a long time coming Sunday. Not only were the Denver Broncos already two touchdowns into their rout of the Miami Dolphins before he finally got into the game for the first time in three outings, but when he finally got his big moment in the game, he wasn't sure there would time enough or energy enough to make it to the end zone. "I hope nobody timed me," Smith said in recounting his 79-yard run for a touchdown to close out the scoring in a 38-3 Broncos victory. "You don't want to time defensive linemen." Somebody did. It took him 14 seconds, about two for every 10 yards. Still recovering from an abdominal muscle strain, Smith saw limited action in the game, but when cornerback Darrius Johnson knocked the ball loose from Dolphins wide receiver Orande Gadsden late in the fourth quarter, Smith swept it up like a shortstop and took off down the left sideline. "I was tired after about 20 yards and the center was about 5 yards ahead of me," Smith said. "I started to lateral to Tyrone Braxton when he came up to block the guy, but then I just said, "go ahead and get that guy' and kept on running, so I slowed down so he could block him. "I wouldn't have made it without that block, and I knew if I let that guy catch me, I couldn't go back to the bench." But if Smith's 14-second run to the end zone didn't impress anybody, his last move did. "He was hurting, know that," Terrell Davis said. "But he got the job done. He even set up his block and cut back." (Joseph Sanchez, Denver Post)