USC’s Emanuel Can’t Sidestep Criticism : Tailback Has Missed 3 Games With ‘Sprained Toe’ and Hasn’t Heard End of It

Football is a macho sport and athletes take a certain amount of pride in playing while enduring injuries.

It’s not uncommon for an athlete to play with a partially separated shoulder, a badly sprained ankle, or a broken hand.

So when USC tailback Aaron Emanuel was listed as inactive with a sprained big toe on his right foot, some eyebrows were raised.

Hey, man, why aren’t you out there, people would ask Emanuel, who is otherwise physically fit with a body that seems to be chiseled out of granite.

Emanuel hasn’t played since he injured his toe Nov. 1 against Arizona. He explained that his injury is more complicated and painful than an ordinary sprain.

“It’s a combination of turf toe and strained ligaments and tendons,” he said. “I also broke the sesamoid bone, which is the floating bone in the ball of the toe,” he said. “I’m sure I could perform whether I’m hurting a little bit or not. But I just can’t push off on it. If there was a way I could have played, I would have. But I couldn’t.”

Emanuel said there was a possibility he could have played against UCLA Nov. 22, even though his toe was still bothering him. He was ready to go the next week against Notre Dame, but Coach Ted Tollner kept him on the sideline because Ryan Knight was playing so effectively.

Tollner was also concerned that Emanuel might not be sharp after a long layoff and would be more prone to fumble, a negative factor for him in earlier games.

Knight and Emanuel shared the tailback position the first four games. Then, Emanuel emerged as the starter the next four as Knight’s activity was limited.

But Knight is now No. 1 again and will start against Auburn in the Florida Citrus Bowl game New Year’s Day. Emanuel is expected to play. Maybe.

He reinjured his toe in practice last Tuesday at USC and his availability is on a day-to-day basis.

Emanuel said people just can’t understand why a so-called sprained toe would keep a 6-foot, 2- inch, 220-pound running back out of a game.

“It’s irritating when people say, ‘Why you just have a sprained toe.’ At first, I really got upset, then I had to adjust to it,” he said. “People look at me like they’re downgrading me because I couldn’t play with a hurt toe.”

It has been a frustrating two years for Emanuel, who came out of Quartz Hill High School near Palmdale in 1985 as one of the nation’s most sought-after running backs.

Here was a freshman, it was said, who could carry on the USC tailback tradition in the same manner as Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Anthony Davis, Ricky Bell, Charles White and Marcus Allen.

Emanuel showed flashes of his potential as a freshman last year, but he was hampered by injuries while playing in only seven games. Nonetheless, he still averaged 4.9 yards a carry.

He has now been sidelined for the past three games and he’s doing his best to maintain a positive outlook, but it’s hard.

“It’s been a tough two years,” he said. “It’s not what I expected, or what I wanted. It sounds old-fashioned, but I’m just trying to keep my head up through this whole thing. There isn’t much else I can do about it.”

There are other concerns. USC’s running game has been mediocre this season. The Trojans are averaging only 145.5 yards rushing a game, a figure that was easily achieved by one tailback in other years. Emanuel’s average is only 3.9 yards a carry. Knight is averaging 3.8 yards.

Emanuel has heard the criticism that he and Knight, another highly regarded prep star, are not fulfilling the promise expected of them. “I think the running game all works together from the standpoint of the backs and the line,” Emanuel said. “There’s not a whole lot that we can do when we’re running as hard as we can, but it seems that the finger is always pointed at the running back.

“When the rushing game isn’t going good, people say that running backs aren’t good any more, that USC doesn’t have the running backs it had in the past, that sort of thing. I think Ryan and I deal with with that sort of thing pretty good.

“Ryan is a very good back and I have confidence in myself and we know we’re running hard. A lot of times things (holes) just aren’t there. All we can do is to continue to run hard. We just have to take the criticism in stride.

“People are used to seeing 200 yards a game from a USC running back. They’re saying that these running backs can’t do that now. There hasn’t been a time when I didn’t run as hard as I can, or fight, or make the moves I think I can. That’s all I can ask for myself, and I hope that people can accept it. I think I can speak for Ryan, too.”

The Trojans are practicing knowing that they will be playing their last game for Tollner, who was fired Dec. 8. Like his injury, that’s another reality that Emanuel has to accept.

“It (firing) really shocked me,” Emanuel said. “There was a lot of talk about it through the whole year, but I really didn’t think it would happen. I was stunned when I heard the news.

“I think we’re going to have a heckuva team next year. We had a good team this year, but we didn’t put it all together. We had a lot of young guys playing this season.”

Emanuel says the players are preoccupied with the future, who will be their next coach? “No matter how much you try to block it out and be mature through this thing, it’s there,” he said. “What will his personality be like, will he adjust to us? You work with coaches for two years and know their different personalities. It takes time to build relationships with a coach. Coach Tollner was building that with a lot of players.”

Emanuel said the team is working hard in practice, but the unsettling state of the coaching situation is pervasive.

“The players talk about it one way or another,” he said. “You hear rumors that so and so is going to be here. Although I can’t speak for anyone else, I feel something is missing in practice.”

Emanuel, of course, has his own problems, the injuries that have slowed the natural progression of his career.

“It’s a tough deal (injuries),” he said. “I’m past the point of frustration. I don’t feel sorry for myself. All I can do is accept this thing. The Lord might have something for me in later years. I just pray and hope for the best and try to get better as a player. It can’t go on forever.”