NFL veterans from Miami speak of area's dangers
Max Jean-Gilles never goes back home. He was born and raised in Miami but owns two houses, one in New Jersey, another in suburban Atlanta.
Miami?
"Pretty much, I just don't get back," the Eagles second-year guard said.
Many of us associate Miami with neon lights, crystal ocean water and the eclectic sounds emanating from South Beach's nightclubs and posh restaurants. Nothing like pristine, sunny skies and tropical temperatures to help us forget the harsh winter about to settle in.
But that's a surreal world for Jean-Gilles, along with countless NFL players from the Miami area.
The Miami recalled by Buck Ortega is where drugs, gangs and gun violence lurked around every corner. Those fortunate enough to rise above it wear the target.
Ortega, a tight end on the New Orleans Saints practice squad, attended Miami's Gulliver Prep and later the University of Miami with Redskins safety Sean Taylor, who died early Tuesday of a gunshot wound suffered when intruders broke into his Miami home a day earlier.
"He didn't have any trouble. Trouble followed him," Ortega said of Taylor. "Miami is a rough place. A lot of people have been in trouble in Miami. It's not the greatest environment."
Said Jean-Gilles: "Guys down there have nothing to live for. There's no jobs down there. Nothing's out there, so they feel like they got to rob and steal to make something of themselves. It's like that everywhere, but it's more glorified there."
Jean-Gilles' mother, Sorisena, relocated to North Carolina before the Eagles drafted her son in the fourth round in 2006. Jean-Gilles said the family's Miami home was burglarized during his junior year at the University of Georgia.
"They tried to steal my car and everything," he said.
Eagles center Jamaal Jackson, from Miami's rough Overtown section, often speaks about the difference between the Miami people perceive and the mean streets across the causeway.
The numbers game
•No team had returned three interceptions for a touchdown in one game against the Giants until last Sunday, when the Vikings scored 21 points off three Eli Manning interceptions.
Amazingly, Minnesota fell one TD return short of the NFL record. Seattle returned four Kansas City interceptions for a touchdown on Nov. 4, 1984.
•Jacksonville's David Garrard has thrown 209 passes without being intercepted, the NFL's only quarterback with at least 159 passes to not be picked off this season.
•The Saints leapfrogged New England into the top spot for the NFL's most efficient red-zone offense by scoring a TD on all four trips inside the 20-yard line last Sunday against Carolina. New Orleans has scored 26 TDs on 35 red-zone possessions this season, a success rate of 74.3 percent.
Quote of the Week I
"I did not, in my worst moment, ever think I would be standing here talking about history repeating itself, but it did. As I said, I would have liked to have seen how ... this game would have played out had we not provided them with a gift-wrapped win." -- Giants coach Tom Coughlin, on Minnesota's three touchdowns off interceptions in its 41-17 win over New York. The Vikings picked off Eli Manning four times for the second time in two games since 2005.
Quote of the Week II
"It was announced as a foot? Then we'll leave it with that announcement. Was that what [we] announced? If that's what [we] announced, then we'll stand by that announcement." -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick, discussing the mysterious injury that put linebacker Rosevelt Colvin on injured reserve.
Good call
To former University of Delaware tight end Ben Patrick, who outjumped cornerback Nate Clements to reel in his first NFL touchdown pass in Arizona's 37-31 overtime loss to San Francisco last Sunday. Patrick's TD came on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, with Arizona down 24-21.
Bad call
To Miami Dolphins coach Cam Cameron, who wasted no time getting running back Ricky Williams back into action on a rain-slogged field at Pittsburgh last Monday. Williams, returning from a 11¼2-year suspension for violating the league's drug policy, tore his right pectoral muscle on his sixth carry and was placed on injured reserve.
Contact Geoff Mosher at gemosher@delawareonline.com.Originally Published on Delaware Online
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