Post by TheShadow on Oct 10, 2007 17:58:12 GMT -5
www.star-telegram.com
Pro football 'jolted' Toomay into his writing career
By RICK HERRIN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Pat Toomay's professional football career gave him the perfect writing source.
The former Cowboys defensive end, who played on two Super Bowl teams, used 10 years of playing experience in the NFL with five teams to give him an excellent background for a successful writing career.
Toomay, 59, played for America's Team from 1970-74, had a winless year in Tampa Bay and played with the bad boy Raiders his final three years in the league.
Toomay is the author on On Any Given Sunday and The Crunch and has written essays about several topics including Tom Landry and the Oakland Raiders. Toomay also played a small role in the movie Any Given Sunday. Director Oliver Stone bought the title from Toomay's novel, which is used as source material for the movie.
Toomay said he is "peddling" several new pieces of work.
What made you chronicle your first years in Dallas, which became the book The Crunch? I was raised to think about football a certain way. So then you find that you are now going to be in this world on the inside. You have an image of the game that you have gotten from growing up. The first thing that jolted me was when the veterans came in and they had eight-nine operations. They were taking shots to play the game. You got to see the blood and guts. That was a jolt for me, and I would make a note to hold myself together.
Who are some teammates you will never forget? Cliff Harris and Charlie Waters. We came up together. Cliff was my roommate after Duane Thomas. They were tremendous athletes. Charlie had a tremendous head for the game and was a great safety and good coach. Cliff was intense, driven and he would play 90 miles an hour all the time.
How miserable was the 1976 season, going winless (0-14) in the Buccaneers' first season? It's kind of reverse immortality if you play for a team like that. Everybody remembers those Mets. It was hard and you feel like you survived something. You were getting beat up every week. We had 21 guys on the injured reserve at the end of the season. It became clear we weren't going to beat anybody. (Coach John) McKay stopped talking to us after the first two games.
Did two Super Bowl appearances in your first two years spoil you? It was hard to believe it was happening as it happened. It sort of made you feel like you belonged there. A lot of teams have to go there and lose once before they get there and win. The chances are, every year, though, it's going to be a disappointment. It sort of greased the wheels of the organization. We were banging on the door all the time.
How crazy was it playing for the Raiders' Wild Bunch in the late 1970s? I roomed with [defensive end] John Matuszak. I never had more fun as a player than the 1978 season there, which was [coach John] Madden's last year. This was a team that knew how to enjoy a victory. It was so different from Dallas that it was liberating for me. You would come in for practice and Madden would be sitting at your locker with a cup of coffee and the newspaper open and say, "Did you see this?"
Pat Toomay file
Position: Defensive end
Career: 1970-1974, Cowboys; 1975, Bills; 1976, Buccaneers; 1977-79, Raiders
Age: 59
Residence: Albuquerque
Occupation: Author
Family: Sons Seth (32), John (29)
Notable: Authored On Any Given Sunday and The Crunch.... Played at Vanderbilt.... Was Cowboys' sixth-round draft pick in 1970.... Regular starter for Cowboys 1972-74.... Started opposite Larry Cole with the Cowboys.... Led the team in sacks in 1973 with 10.5.... Contributed essays to ESPN.com.... Both sons work in North Texas.... Had a role as an assistant coach in the movie Any Given Sunday.