Dillon got first chance at Garden City

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Feb 5, 2005 by Tony Jimenez Capital-Journal

By Tony Jimenez

SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Just more than a decade ago, the Garden City Community College coaching staff got word about a kid in the Seattle, Wash., area that, they were told, they just had to check out.

That player, one Corey Dillon, had sat out for a year after leaving high school, but he was looking to restart his football career.

"I got a grainy tape, one of those where the players look like ants," said then Garden City assistant coach Jim Gush, who was ultimately responsible for recruiting Dillon to Garden City. "It was terrible."

But Gush, now the defensive coordinator at Southern Methodist University, got the picture. He saw that Dillon was a talented and powerful running back. With the football tucked under his left arm, he shed would-be tacklers left and right. He played with confidence. His effort had a purpose to it. He seemed to be a gifted athlete.

Sunday, Dillon will get a chance to showcase those skills in the ultimate football game --- the Super Bowl.

"I talked to Corey just before the (NFL) playoffs started, and I sensed his excitement," Gush said. "He told me that this is the first time since he played at Garden City that he has felt good about his role on a team."

Dillon, however, took a rocky road to the Super Bowl.

He spent 1994 at Garden City, rushing for 1,300 yards as Garden City won 10 consecutive games before losing to Dixie State (Utah) in the Rotary Bowl. But more often than not Dillon, was a walking headache for the coaching staff, according to Gush and then head coach Jeff Leiker.

According to Leiker, Dillon had seemingly endless problems. He was late for practices. He missed team meetings. He missed bed checks. And he did his share of pouting.

"Back then," Leiker said, "he stood for me, me, me. No one was going to tell him what to do."

Leiker said the last straw with Dillon came when he was late to a scrimmage and got into an altercation in his dorm in the preseason of his sophomore season. Leiker finally booted his star player off the team.

"It wasn't as bad as it sounded," Gush said. "We didn't just put him on a Greyhound and send him home. We were sad to see him go. Tears were shed there."

Gush and Leiker felt Dillon deserved another chance and helped get him enrolled at Dixie State. He later went to Washington University and then spent seven turbulent years with the Cincinnati Bengals --- where he was labeled a malcontent for various reasons --- before hooking up with New England for the 2004 season.

"I haven't talked to him since he left, but I think it's awesome that he's in the Super Bowl," Leiker said.

DECEMBER 2004 FILE PHOTO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

New England Patriots running back Corey Dillon carries the ball in a game against the New York Jets. Dillon first played college football in Kansas at Garden City Community College.