THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE, Sept. 21, 2014
It's been a depressing stretch, what with local/regional NFL teams losing, and the NFL making news seemingly every day for all the wrong reasons.
There's gotta be some good news out there.
Fortunately, there is.
* Perhaps you've heard the story of Devon Still, a defensive tackle cut by the Cincinnati Bengals just prior to the start of the season.
His 4-year-old daughter is fighting stage 4 cancer, and the fight will require roughly $1 million to cover medical expenses.
Days after they cut Still, the Bengals signed him to their practice squad, which allows him to keep his health insurance through the team. And that insurance should cover the $1 million in medical expenses.
Six days later, the Bengals did even better - promoting him to the active roster.
Then the Bengals decided to donate proceeds from the sale of Still's jersey - at $100 apiece - to Children's Hospital in Cincinnati and pediatric cancer care and research.
Enter Sean Payton, head coach of the New Orleans Saints. He last made the news when he was suspended for the season for his role in the Saints' "Bountygate" scandal. This week, he made the news for good reasons - once he heard of Still's story, he ordered 100 of Still's jerseys; total cost, $1,000.
They wound up on the radio together this week. Still thanked Payton for supporting his cause; Payton, jokingly, said this means he couldn't sack quarterback Drew Brees when the teams played later this season.
* Watching Shadle Park and Boise State-bound quarterback Brett Rypien play against Lake City the other night, I got to thinking about some of the other famous visiting players to play on North Idaho fields.
The last one I remember at Lake City was Cody Pickett, who came up with Caldwell High for a state first-round playoff game in 1998.
As it turned out, Caldwell didn't have much besides Pickett, and Lake City won easily, but I remember one throw he made, off his back foot, up the right sideline for about a 50-yard completion.
You don't see that throw every day around here.
Pickett went on to play for the Washington Huskies, and spent some time in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers.
Taylor Kelly, the former Eagle High QB who now starts for Arizona State, was up here in 2009 to play Coeur d'Alene in the state semifinals. However, a snowstorm the afternoon of the game pretty much eliminated the chance for him to show off his running ability - not that the Viking fans minded.
In fact, the biggest play of the game took place when a snap from center skidded in the snow past Kelly. The Eagle running back alertly picked it up and scampered some 50 yards to set up the go-ahead score.
If not, Coeur d'Alene probably would have a streak of five straight trips to the state title game, instead of four.
Way back in 1986, before Twitter and other social media made some of these athletes larger than life, Mountain Home came to Sandpoint for a state playoff football game. Mountain Home had a quarterback who was headed to Stanford, and a running back, Maury Toy, who was bound for UCLA. They were pretty much Mountain Home's offense in a 26-3 victory over the Bulldogs. I don't remember what happened to the quarterback after that, but I remember seeing Toy getting limited playing time at UCLA - enough to say, "Hey, I remember him when ... "
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.