Lucas comfortable with role of sacrificial lambBy Michael Silver, Yahoo! Sports
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-morningrush111008&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
OAKLAND, Calif. – It is the mark of a good football team that it can win when looking like an aging Hollywood starlet without her makeup. The Carolina Panthers took that notion to an extreme on Sunday.
On a day in which they managed only 10 first downs and had trouble tackling their opponents – and quarterback Jake Delhomme had the ugliest game of his 10-year career – the Panthers recorded a relatively stress free, 17-6 victory over the Oakland Raiders to improve to 7-2.
Yes, they were playing a truly atrocious team, one that hasn’t scored a touchdown in more than nine quarters and which is averaging seven points a game during the illustrious Tom Cable era. But the bottom line is that NFC South-leading Carolina, despite little fanfare, has already matched its 2007 victory total and owns the NFL’s third-best record in ‘08.
“We’re under the radar,” says veteran cornerback Ken Lucas. “We’re soooo happy we’re not one of those big-market teams where everybody’s paying attention to every move we make. Sure, there’s a part of us that wants to be noticed for what we’re accomplishing. But we hope people don’t really notice us until we’re playing for a championship.”
Despite being one of the league’s better cornerbacks for much of this decade, Lucas was a relatively anonymous performer until this past August, when he got punched in the nose by Carolina’s star wideout, Steve Smith, during a training-camp practice in Spartanburg, S.C. Since that bloody incident, which caused him to undergo corrective surgery, Lucas has been lampooned by some thoughtless antagonists as a real-life Rocky Balboa.
Stunningly, some of them resided in the “Black Hole” Sunday. With the Raiders (2-7) backed up toward the Oakland Coliseum’s south end zone early in the fourth quarter, Lucas was surprised to hear screams of “How’s your nose?” and other unflattering taunts. “It kind of shocked me,” said Lucas, who simply pointed to the scoreboard in response, “because that incident is ancient history.”
It may be something that Panthers have put behind them, but you can’t tell the story of Carolina’s ascent without referencing the confrontation’s significance. Smith’s contrition helped instigate the healing, but it was the class, restraint and big-picture selflessness that Lucas displayed in the wake of the wideout’s sucker punch that brought this team together.
“It was an unfortunate situation, and a lesser man wouldn’t have reacted so constructively,” Panthers coach John Fox said after Sunday’s game. “Our team would not be where it is today if he hadn’t handled it the way he did.”
Lucas makes an INT in front of Marques Colston. (US Presswire/Paul Abell)
Smith and Lucas, who had a history of ill will, had clashed during a passing drill in Spartanburg and were jawing back and forth before the two men removed their helmets and retreated to the sidelines. With Lucas on one knee, Smith stood up and cold-cocked him, setting off a massive breakup effort that involved numerous other players and team officials. Lucas was led away to a medical tent – he ended up missing two weeks of practice – while Smith was sent home to Charlotte (the team ultimately suspended him for the season’s first two regular-season games).
Yet three days after the incident, Lucas told reporters, “I feel like what happened was a blessing in disguise. It’s something that has brought this team closer together. You all may say I’m crazy for saying that. But I really think it’s bigger than me and Steve.”
Many people, myself included, were indeed skeptical of Lucas’ positive spin. Apparently, the Panthers weren’t – which, of course, is all that matters. For one thing, Delhomme says the players-only meeting that ensued facilitated the airing of numerous other grievances between teammates and produced a collective resolve to move past them.
“It was something that could’ve divided a team,” Delhomme says. “Some people would’ve held a grudge, but it’s a testament to what kind of man Ken is that he didn’t. With him leading the way, we as a team made sure that nobody was hiding anything and that we all knew there was something bigger that we were trying to accomplish together. We took an extreme negative and turned it into a positive.”
To star defensive end Julius Peppers, Lucas’ decision to accept Smith’s conciliatory gestures and grow closer to his antagonist was not an unexpected development.
“We always knew Ken was a stand-up guy, and it really doesn’t surprise anybody that he took the high road,” Peppers says of Lucas, who joined the Panthers in March of ‘05 after four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. “But for the young guys to see that kind of love for a teammate, even though he broke your nose and split open your face, that’s huge. It’s a big reason we have the camaraderie we do at this point.”
Lucas concedes that in the immediate aftermath of the incident, showing Smith love wasn’t his first instinct. Thoughts of retaliation flashed through his mind. “Initially, of course the human flesh says that,” Lucas says. “But once I had a chance to calm down and think about it, I realized that wouldn’t be the best response.
“We’re not barbarians. I like to think we have some type of class about us. What are we going to do – fight each other over and over until one of us dies?”
Smith remains one of the league’s most explosive receivers in more ways than one. On Sunday, he abruptly ended an interview session when the San Francisco Chronicle’s Nancy Gay asked a question about Carolina’s choppy offensive performance, snapping, “I’m not even going to go there, sweetie.” They ultimately talked through their differences, though it’s unlikely Gay will soon be receiving a football after one of Smith’s touchdown catches, as Lucas did in September against the Falcons after Smith’s first score of the season.
“It made my trophy case look a little better,” Lucas says. “But he didn’t have to give me that football. We had already decided to put it all behind us, that what this team is trying to accomplish is bigger than us.”
On Sunday, Lucas did his part, though it wasn’t obvious to the naked eye. For all the numbers that stood out on the stat sheet – Delhomme’s four interceptions (part of a 7-for-27, 72-yard stinker of a day); DeAngelo Williams’ 140 rushing yards; Peppers’ three sacks – Lucas barely made it into the box score, with only a single tackle and no passes defensed.
That’s life as a non-marquee corner, especially one who prides himself on playing steady and sometimes suffocating coverage that causes opposing quarterbacks to look elsewhere. On Sunday, he also contributed to the cause by sealing off inside running lanes and helping to limit a couple of solid gains by Raiders backs that could’ve turned into breakaways.
“Even though corners are flamboyant by nature, and all players like to get the flashy plays, sometimes you’ve just got to do the dirty work that doesn’t get noticed,” Lucas said. “[Sunday], that was my role.”
If the Panthers fulfill their lofty goals, Lucas’ role will have been an enormously important one. That’s not something he’s necessarily comfortable with, but he understands that it’s not for him to decide.
“I just look at myself as a sacrificial lamb,” he says. “I don’t want to take the glory; (God) is the one who should get the glory. And it’s not just me – Steve did everything he was supposed to do to make amends. A lot of times it takes adversity to bring people together for a common cause. The incident could’ve easily broken this team, but we wouldn’t allow that.”
As a result, even when the Panthers play unsightly football, broken teams like the Raiders are destined to be their victims.
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