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Dayne carries on after tough start to life
By Thomas George
Denver Post Staff Columnist
He was told it happened two or three years before he was born in 1978, a wretched fire in his grandparents' Lynchburg, Va., home that killed both, plus an aunt and an uncle.
In later years, Ron Dayne, his sister Onya and their cousins would see pictures and hear stories about those relatives and were amazed at the similarities in appearances and beyond. Onya had long hair like the aunt. A cousin sang like their grandmother. Another cousin had bowed legs like the uncle. And Dayne looked so much like his grandfather. A boxer.
Fitting for Dayne, who felt on the ropes while watching the physical abuse between his parents before they divorced when he was 10. Who endured his mother's eventual drug addiction. He has been on the ropes for nearly all five of his NFL seasons.
He is a Bronco now after five fairly unfulfilled, invisible seasons with the Giants.
Even he does not have an answer for THE question: How does a Heisman Trophy-winning running back become nearly nonexistent in the glitter and fuss of New York City?
"Well, I didn't do a lot wrong," Dayne said. "I wasn't late to meetings. I wasn't fined. I knew the plays. I stayed and worked after practice. I just didn't get much of a shot. I had a game once where I rushed for 100 yards and the next game I got two carries."
After winning the 1999 Heisman Trophy at Wisconsin and rushing for a major college-record 6,397 yards, Dayne was known as "Thunder" and Tiki Barber as "Lightning" when in Dayne's rookie season the Giants reached the Super Bowl. Each year following, his carries and yards decreased as Barber ascended to Pro Bowl status.
Dayne was the only Giant to skip offseason workouts before the 2003 season. He said he did so because he had gained weight in the previous ones and overall found them non-productive. He acknowledges the mistake. Then Giants coach Jim Fassel was unforgiving; Dayne would not suit up for a single game the entire 2003 season.
How can the 11th pick of any draft, healthy, not suit up for a season only four years into his career?
He was criticized for not being productive in short yardage. With Barber flourishing, that was supposed to be his role. But Dayne did not buy it, just like he did not believe it was right when he was ruled ineligible to play football at age 11 because he weighed 175 pounds and the limit was 130. Just like when he joined the freshman team in high school, weighed 230 pounds (bigger than his linemen) but was still the fastest man on the team. He would rush for 20-plus touchdowns and average 15.9 yards per carry.
Just like before his senior prep season in 1996 when he was forced to take a test for steroids that proved negative because few officials believed he could carry 273 pounds without them.
Just like when he went to Wisconsin still weighing 273 pounds, was told he had to prove he could play running back at that size and on the first day of practice ran a 4.5-second 40-yard sprint en route to college grandeur.
Dayne is a tailback, pure and simple, and his history says that the more he gets work, on the edges as much as inside, the more he succeeds.
His story with the Giants sounds so odd that it is fishy. Until you talk to the Giants.
"I feel bad about his time here because he did not have the best chance to succeed," said Ernie Accorsi, the Giants' general manager. "He was never a problem here. A great young man. A team guy. We really never gave him justice. It bothers me when Giants fans say he was a bust, because he wasn't. It's a great pickup by Denver. I think he will do well."
If he gets steady work.
This is not a spot player. He needs consecutive carries, a few series a game, at least. He is a back who early wears teams down and in the third and fourth quarters wears them out.
He weighs 245 pounds now, stands 5-feet-10 - a big frame that works best in zone blocking, which Wisconsin featured and Denver employs. The Broncos recently have added several maligned players looking for second chances.
Dayne, 27, could step up front.
Off the ropes.
"I feel like I haven't played football in four or five years," Dayne said. "I feel fresh. I think I'm going to get the chance to compete."
Staff writer Thomas Georgecan be reached at 303-820-1994 or tgeorge@denverpost.com.
Dayne carries on after tough start to life
By Thomas George
Denver Post Staff Columnist
He was told it happened two or three years before he was born in 1978, a wretched fire in his grandparents' Lynchburg, Va., home that killed both, plus an aunt and an uncle.
In later years, Ron Dayne, his sister Onya and their cousins would see pictures and hear stories about those relatives and were amazed at the similarities in appearances and beyond. Onya had long hair like the aunt. A cousin sang like their grandmother. Another cousin had bowed legs like the uncle. And Dayne looked so much like his grandfather. A boxer.
Fitting for Dayne, who felt on the ropes while watching the physical abuse between his parents before they divorced when he was 10. Who endured his mother's eventual drug addiction. He has been on the ropes for nearly all five of his NFL seasons.
He is a Bronco now after five fairly unfulfilled, invisible seasons with the Giants.
Even he does not have an answer for THE question: How does a Heisman Trophy-winning running back become nearly nonexistent in the glitter and fuss of New York City?
"Well, I didn't do a lot wrong," Dayne said. "I wasn't late to meetings. I wasn't fined. I knew the plays. I stayed and worked after practice. I just didn't get much of a shot. I had a game once where I rushed for 100 yards and the next game I got two carries."
After winning the 1999 Heisman Trophy at Wisconsin and rushing for a major college-record 6,397 yards, Dayne was known as "Thunder" and Tiki Barber as "Lightning" when in Dayne's rookie season the Giants reached the Super Bowl. Each year following, his carries and yards decreased as Barber ascended to Pro Bowl status.
Dayne was the only Giant to skip offseason workouts before the 2003 season. He said he did so because he had gained weight in the previous ones and overall found them non-productive. He acknowledges the mistake. Then Giants coach Jim Fassel was unforgiving; Dayne would not suit up for a single game the entire 2003 season.
How can the 11th pick of any draft, healthy, not suit up for a season only four years into his career?
He was criticized for not being productive in short yardage. With Barber flourishing, that was supposed to be his role. But Dayne did not buy it, just like he did not believe it was right when he was ruled ineligible to play football at age 11 because he weighed 175 pounds and the limit was 130. Just like when he joined the freshman team in high school, weighed 230 pounds (bigger than his linemen) but was still the fastest man on the team. He would rush for 20-plus touchdowns and average 15.9 yards per carry.
Just like before his senior prep season in 1996 when he was forced to take a test for steroids that proved negative because few officials believed he could carry 273 pounds without them.
Just like when he went to Wisconsin still weighing 273 pounds, was told he had to prove he could play running back at that size and on the first day of practice ran a 4.5-second 40-yard sprint en route to college grandeur.
Dayne is a tailback, pure and simple, and his history says that the more he gets work, on the edges as much as inside, the more he succeeds.
His story with the Giants sounds so odd that it is fishy. Until you talk to the Giants.
"I feel bad about his time here because he did not have the best chance to succeed," said Ernie Accorsi, the Giants' general manager. "He was never a problem here. A great young man. A team guy. We really never gave him justice. It bothers me when Giants fans say he was a bust, because he wasn't. It's a great pickup by Denver. I think he will do well."
If he gets steady work.
This is not a spot player. He needs consecutive carries, a few series a game, at least. He is a back who early wears teams down and in the third and fourth quarters wears them out.
He weighs 245 pounds now, stands 5-feet-10 - a big frame that works best in zone blocking, which Wisconsin featured and Denver employs. The Broncos recently have added several maligned players looking for second chances.
Dayne, 27, could step up front.
Off the ropes.
"I feel like I haven't played football in four or five years," Dayne said. "I feel fresh. I think I'm going to get the chance to compete."
Staff writer Thomas Georgecan be reached at 303-820-1994 or tgeorge@denverpost.com.
I'm not ready to entirely write him off, but you can't blame most for being skeptical.
