Pubdate: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 Source: Enid News & Eagle (OK) Copyright: Enid News & Eagle 2002 Contact: http://www.enidnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2012 Author: Jeff Mullin Note: Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) STRANGE TALE OF A FALLING STAR Dexter Manley recorded 97 quarterback sacks during his 11-year NFL career. He is a member of the Washington Redskins' Ring of Fame. He made more money than most of us will ever see. He had everything. Now, once again, he has nothing, nothing but his addiction ... The year must have been 1979. Jimmy Johnson, newly named football coach at Oklahoma State, and members of his coaching staff visited Enid to try and fire up the local fans in advance of the upcoming season. "We've got this guy named Dexter Manley," said one of the assistant coaches. "He's a big old fella from Houston. He's a good pass rusher, but he's not the smartest guy in the world." The coach then preceded to tell a story, no doubt an apocryphal tale, about Manley being set up with a blind date, a less than svelte young woman, as it turned out. Before he went out on the date, said the coach, Dexter was cautioned that he should be nice to the young woman, and should say only nice things to her. At the end of the evening, upon walking the woman home, Dexter was struggling for something nice to say, according to the coach. Finally he hit upon something, and he blurted "Gee, you sure don't sweat much for a fat girl." The story prompted laughter from the assembled Cowboy fans, as well as the storyteller. Dexter Manley, the word was, was a quintessential "dumb jock." He was big, fast, agile and tough, but just wasn't very smart. Dexter Manley played four years of football at Oklahoma State. He was a nice guy, always polite and patient with the media. He stood in the glare of the TV lights, a crescent scar gleaming. The scar, it turned out, was the result of an altercation in his native Houston. Dexter always made good copy. The only problem was, Dexter couldn't read anything being written about him. Dexter Manley apparently suffers from both attention deficit disorder and manic depression. When he left Oklahoma State, he still couldn't read. The Washington Redskins drafted him in the fifth round of the 1981 National Football League draft. He moved to Reston, Va., a Washington suburb, and made friends with some of the neighborhood children. One of those children was David Swanson. "He occasionally would talk to me and my friends about football," Swanson once wrote in a letter to the editor that appeared in the Washington Post. "I remember him as kind and without arrogance. I also remember him flipping his big TV to static on channel 72 and asking if we knew whose number that was. I did not then realize that he could not read and might be proud that he could recognize that number." During an appearance before Congress in 1990, Manley testified about being pushed through school without learning to read. "I have to overcome all the negative things I heard because now I can feel good about who I am," he said. By 1990, Dexter Manley already had established himself as a top-flight NFL player. He also had been suspended once by the NFL after failing a drug test. Drug abuse ended his career with the Washington Redskins, with whom he won two Super Bowl rings, in 1989. In 1991, he was banned for life by the NFL after having failed another drug test. Now, drugs have laid Dexter Manley low again. He was recently sentenced to two years in jail for evidence tampering. In January 2001, police saw Manley leaving a motel room they were about to search. Officers said he tried to swallow some cocaine he was carrying as they tried to arrest him. Between November 1994 and July 1995, Dexter Manley was arrested four times for possessing small quantities of crack cocaine. He was convicted in 1995 and served 15 months of a four-year sentence. He was paroled in 1996. Upon his release, he planned to become a lobbyist for anti-drug causes. "The only thing I can say," he said upon his release, "is don't judge me by what I say, judge me by my actions." Dexter Manley recorded 97 quarterback sacks during his 11-year NFL career. He is a member of the Washington Redskins' Ring of Fame. He made more money than most of us will ever see. He had everything. Now, once again, he has nothing, nothing but his addiction, and that ever-present smile. Dexter Manley. Big, dumb, Dexter. Nobody really knew the demons swirling in his head, or if they did know, they didn't really care. Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle. Copyright Enid News & Eagle 2002 Dexter Manley recorded 97 quarterback sacks during his 11-year NFL career. He is a member of the Washington Redskins' Ring of Fame. He made more money than most of us will ever see. He had everything. Now, once again, he has nothing, nothing but his addiction ... The year must have been 1979. Jimmy Johnson, newly named football coach at Oklahoma State, and members of his coaching staff visited Enid to try and fire up the local fans in advance of the upcoming season. "We've got this guy named Dexter Manley," said one of the assistant coaches. "He's a big old fella from Houston. He's a good pass rusher, but he's not the smartest guy in the world." The coach then preceded to tell a story, no doubt an apocryphal tale, about Manley being set up with a blind date, a less than svelte young woman, as it turned out. Before he went out on the date, said the coach, Dexter was cautioned that he should be nice to the young woman, and should say only nice things to her. At the end of the evening, upon walking the woman home, Dexter was struggling for something nice to say, according to the coach. Finally he hit upon something, and he blurted "Gee, you sure don't sweat much for a fat girl." The story prompted laughter from the assembled Cowboy fans, as well as the storyteller. Dexter Manley, the word was, was a quintessential "dumb jock." He was big, fast, agile and tough, but just wasn't very smart. Dexter Manley played four years of football at Oklahoma State. He was a nice guy, always polite and patient with the media. He stood in the glare of the TV lights, a crescent scar gleaming. The scar, it turned out, was the result of an altercation in his native Houston. Dexter always made good copy. The only problem was, Dexter couldn't read anything being written about him. Dexter Manley apparently suffers from both attention deficit disorder and manic depression. When he left Oklahoma State, he still couldn't read. The Washington Redskins drafted him in the fifth round of the 1981 National Football League draft. He moved to Reston, Va., a Washington suburb, and made friends with some of the neighborhood children. One of those children was David Swanson. "He occasionally would talk to me and my friends about football," Swanson once wrote in a letter to the editor that appeared in the Washington Post. "I remember him as kind and without arrogance. I also remember him flipping his big TV to static on channel 72 and asking if we knew whose number that was. I did not then realize that he could not read and might be proud that he could recognize that number." During an appearance before Congress in 1990, Manley testified about being pushed through school without learning to read. "I have to overcome all the negative things I heard because now I can feel good about who I am," he said. By 1990, Dexter Manley already had established himself as a top-flight NFL player. He also had been suspended once by the NFL after failing a drug test. Drug abuse ended his career with the Washington Redskins, with whom he won two Super Bowl rings, in 1989. In 1991, he was banned for life by the NFL after having failed another drug test. Now, drugs have laid Dexter Manley low again. He was recently sentenced to two years in jail for evidence tampering. In January 2001, police saw Manley leaving a motel room they were about to search. Officers said he tried to swallow some cocaine he was carrying as they tried to arrest him. Between November 1994 and July 1995, Dexter Manley was arrested four times for possessing small quantities of crack cocaine. He was convicted in 1995 and served 15 months of a four-year sentence. He was paroled in 1996. Upon his release, he planned to become a lobbyist for anti-drug causes. "The only thing I can say," he said upon his release, "is don't judge me by what I say, judge me by my actions." Dexter Manley recorded 97 quarterback sacks during his 11-year NFL career. He is a member of the Washington Redskins' Ring of Fame. He made more money than most of us will ever see. He had everything. Now, once again, he has nothing, nothing but his addiction, and that ever-present smile. Dexter Manley. Big, dumb, Dexter. Nobody really knew the demons swirling in his head, or if they did know, they didn't really care. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager