Chris Spielman: the week after Mike Utley suffered a paralyzing neck injury, the linebacker and his Lions teammates made an inspirational statement against the Vikings - The Game I'll Never Forget

I REMEMBER WHEN I MET MIKE Utley: I saw him walking out of the weight room. He wasn't all that strong for an offensive lineman. I don't even know if he could bench 300 pounds, which is a bit surprising. But the Detroit lions obviously saw something in him, picking him in the third round of the 1989 draft. I said, "Well, hopefully he'll be a starting player for us."

Then I remember going up against Utley in practice, and I found out why we we had drafted him: He was nasty and country-strong. When he got hold of you, it was like a big bear had you. He played with great effort. Mike was tough, the type of player I loved. He would do anything to get his block.

Most Popular Articles in Sports: The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...; The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...; Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...; Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association; The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking; More »

Everyone on our team came to like and respect Mike. In fact, he became a leader. I remember a preseason game in 1991 in which the offense was out on the field for about a 20-play drive. You know, no one really cares about the preseason. It was toward the end of the game, and Mike was getting tired. Wide receiver Herman Moore had a chance to knock it into the endzone, but he was a rookie who was learning the ropes, and he ended up being tackled on the one-inch line. Then I saw 6'7" Mike Utley running down the field, screaming at Herman, "Why didn't you get it in? You gotta get it in! I need a break!"

So when he suffered a paralyzing neck injury in 1991 in our game against the Los Angeles Rams, the whole team was affected. We were devastated. Despite being paralyzed, he remained selfless throughout the whole ordeal. The way he handled the whole situation ... well, I don't know if I could do that. I don't know if anyone could do that. As he was being wheeled off the field, he gave us the thumbs-up sign, which told us to keep playing hard and that he would be all right. That helped a lot.

We dealt with a lot of adversity that year. But everything we went through made it the closest team I've ever been part of.

For whatever reason, everything clicked for us after we lost to the Washington Redskins, 45-0, in the opener. When you start the season like that, there isn't much hope for the future. I remember coming home that night and getting physically ill over how we played. I was throwing up on the ride home, saying, "Am I that bad? Am I that bad of a football player? Is our team that bad?"

Then we lost our starting quarterback, Rodney Peete, and had to turn to a free agent we had signed, Erik Kramer. One of the things that helped us--and this is true with all championship teams--was our close bond on and off the field.

And when the situation happened to Mike in the 11th game of the season, our team was faced with more dire straits, something much more adverse than a 45-0 loss. When one of your buddies goes down, how are you going to respond? We could have packed it in and said, "We don't have a right to finish strong because of the tragedy." The other option was to honor Mike and honor ourselves by going out and playing hard. That's what. we did.

People ask me whether it was difficult for us to remember blocking schemes and coverage schemes and such the week after Mike was paralyzed. Some parts of that week were tough, no doubt about it But we were focused on honoring Mike. The best way to do that was to do our jobs and not throw the season away. If anything, we were more focused and playing with more enthusiasm.

The game after Mike's injury, we played file Minnesota Vikings, our big rivals in the NFC Central. We were on the road at the Metrodome, and nobody was sure how we would respond to having seen our teammate go down. In your mind, either consciously or subconsciously, you're saying, "OK, I have to go out and do this again," knowing the consequences of what can happen out there.

But you know what? We came to play. I wanted to get the first hit over with and make that hit as hard as I could, as if to say, "OK, OK--it's like any other game." I even made a conscious effort to lead with my head--something I did a lot--just to show that my neck would hold up. I think everybody wanted to get that first hit out of the way.

I don't remember much about the game, but I do recall that the Vikings threw the ball to their tight end, Steve Jordan, and I hit him pretty hard with my head. I also remember that we played pretty well on both sides of the ball and won the ballgmne, 34-14.

That was the statement we needed to make. I think that was the key to the whole season, because no one had known how we were going to react. We then beat the Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, and Buffalo Bills to finish 12-4 and capture the division title. In Buffalo, our kicker, Eddie Murray, missed what would have been the game-winning field goal. But the Bills were offsides, so he got another chance. This time, he made it. We then beat the Dallas Cowboys in the first game of the playoffs before being eliminated by the Redskins.

The way Mike dealt with his injury was the turning point for our football team. We would get together on the 50-yard line before every game and say a prayer, ask God to lift Mike up and let us play to the best of our abilities. It wasn't so much, "OK, Mike, we're going to go on without you." Instead, it was, "Mike, we're taking you with us. You're the force behind us."

Featured Download

Speak Like a CEO

Chris Spielman: the week after Mike Utley suffered a paralyzing neck injury, the linebacker and his Lions teammates made an inspirational statement against the Vikings - The Game I'll Never Forget

Football Digest, April, 2003

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Autos

Most Popular Articles in Sports

Most Popular Publications in Sports