Sports
Nebraskan
Thursday, July 29,1993
Bullet doesn’t deter
Muhammad’s NU career
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Senior Editor
Nebraska Wingback Abdul
Muhammad has started working
out again to prepare for the Ne
braska football season.
He is carrying with him a re
minder of his mortality: a bullet
lodged in his left buttock.
Muhammad has refused inter
views, but Assistant Sports Infor
mation Director Nick Joos said
Muhammad was shot during a July
2 drivc-by shooting near his home
in Compton, Calif.
Associate Head Trainer Jerry
Weber said Muhammad was lean
ing over when he was shot. Weber
said the bullet traveled under the
skin of Muhammad’s back and then
became lodge in his left bullock.
The bullet was not removed, We
ber said, because doing so could
have caused more harm than good.
“It’s not causing him any prob
lems now,” he said. “And if you
have a foreign object lodged deep
in a muscle, the odds arc you arc
going to do quite a bit of damage to
the muscle to go and get it out.”
Muhammad has been cleared
by physicians to work out and
should be ready for the first day of
practice Aug. 11, Weber said.
“Basically wc just have him
gelling back into a conditioning
program for the summer and sec
how he handles that and if he de
velops any symptoms,” he said.
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne
said Muhammad has been back in
Lincoln for about lOdays. Osborne
said Muhammad’s medical status
was good, but could change if the
bullet moved.
“As of right now it will be OK,”
he said. “If there is any traveling or
progression (of the bullet) it might
require surgery, but wc arc keep
ing our fingers crossed that won’t
happen.”
Osborne said he saw
Muhammad almost every day and
that he was deal ing with the shoot
ing well.
“Abdul is a pretty tough guy —
he’s OK,” he said. “Obviously it
was probably unpleasant for him,
but again this is reality.
“This is what people deal with
in their neighborhoods.”
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Keith Jones stands in front of his familiar surroundings of Memorial Stadium. After five years
in the National Football League, Jones has returned to UNL to finish his degree in human
development.
Former Husker Jones returns
By Derek Samson
Staff Reporter
Former Nebraska I-back Keith
“End Zone” Jones is hitting the books.
This summer, instead of reporting
to camp for a National Football League
team, Jones has returned to the Uni
versity of Ncbraska-Lincoln to finish
his degree.
Jones’ NFL career ended before
the 1992 season because of injuries.
He had played in the NFL since he left
UNL in 1987.
“I tore my ACL (knee) and had to
have a total reconstructive surgery of
my knee,” Jones said. “In the process
of rehabilitating my knee, I hurt a disc
in my back and had to have surgery on
it.
“Three months into the process of
rehabilitating my back the (Dallas)
Cowboys decided they couldn’t use
me anymore/’
Jones said he thought about trying
to make a comeback in the NFL after
his injury, but encountered resistance
from teams that were unwilling to
take on a player who had been injured.
“I thought it was lime for me to go
on to my other goals in life,” he said.
Jones, who won an arbitration suit
against Dallas for releasing him after
his injury, said he had prepared him
self for the news that his career could
be over.
“1 was working hard loeome back,
but I knew that there was the possibil
ity of not coming back,” he said. “By
being honest with myself, it made it
easier to handle.”
But Jones said his life did not end
when his NFL career did.
“I had to pul things in perspective
and know how to respond to negative
things in my life,” he said. “As far as
being a success, a lot of people might
say I was because I played in the NFL,
but I still have a lot of things left I want
to accomplish.”
One of his goals is earning a degree
in human development, which he
should complete in a year.
“I still want to finish school and be
involved with the youth in my com
munity,” he said. “I switched my major
to (human development) because af
tercoming back and talking to differ
ent people and learning about differ
ent backgrounds it was interesting to;
me.”
Jones said he valued working with
people and helping them as much as
his football career.
“I want to be active and involved in
the community because I enjoy help
ing people out,” he said. “My goal is
to teach others by what I’ve learned.
“It’s even a better feeling to know
what you have said or done has helped
someone out than it is to score a
touchdown.”
Despite the fact that his career
ended early, Jones said his experience
in the NFL was a positive one.
“The NFL experience as a whole
was great," he said, “Because it gave
me the enthusiasm to set higher goals.
In anything you do, the sky is the
limit/*
Still, Jones said it has been tough
for him to watch players report to
training camp this summer.
“I knew it was going to be a feeling
of emptiness seeing the training camps,
but knowing the direction my life is
going helps fill that emptiness,” he
said.
“I feci I was ai the lop of my game
when I got hurt, bul I hale looking al
things and saying ‘what if,” he said.
“You have to roll with negative things,
as well as positive, and I think I've
been fortunate to be given the oppor
tunities I was."
Jones finished his career at Ne
braska as the fifth-leading rusher in
Comhusker history with 2,488 yards.
“1 knew I could come in here and
be successful,** he said, “but I am
grateful for the coaches here because
they supported me and gave me a
great opportunity.
“I'm just excited now to help other
people in the way I’ve been helped."
Jones Returns
Former Nebraska running
back Keith Jones is
returning to UNL to finish
his degree. Jones' career
rushing numbers at
Nebraska inc e:
Attempts 398
Yards* 2,488
Average 6.25
Touchdowns 32
JZ.
* Ranks fifth h
Nebraska history
' - ' Scott Monroe/DN
