Dream Season Almost Took About-Face

The sight of his face is no longer gruesome.

The swelling has subsided, the stitches--fewer than 150 but not by many--are no longer evident with most of the wounds now scars, although the lingering damage beneath his left eye suggests recent times have not been good for Marcus Robertson.

“I thought everything was over,” he said. “And all because of a mistake.”

And it could not have been any more out of character, either, because Robertson, the Tennessee Titans’ starting free safety by way of John Muir High in Pasadena, has always done the right thing.

When someone with a stronger arm arrived at Muir his senior season to play quarterback, he stepped aside and concentrated on playing defense.

When UCLA and USC ignored him after he earned all-Southern Section honors for teams that went a combined 27-1 in his final two seasons, he accepted a scholarship to Iowa State and proved himself to the pro scouts.

When he suffered a devastating knee injury during his third season with the Houston Oilers, costing him an invitation to the Pro Bowl, he went to work on rehabilitation, a little more than a year later blowing out his other knee, but coming back again to remain a fixture in the starting lineup.

When he began to make money, he started the Marcus Robertson Children’s Foundation, and among his contributions in Texas, Tennessee and California, each year he funded $500 scholarships for a boy and a girl at Muir.

When youngsters in Nashville wanted to attend a “Voices Against Violence” congressional teen conference in Washington in the wake of the Columbine incident, Robertson helped fund their trip.

So imagine how Marcus Robertson felt as he sat in his home sobbing a few weeks ago, a 30-year-old football player angry and disappointed at himself for letting his teammates down.

“I was thankful I was just alive,” he said. “But I had made a mistake and it was going to hurt my teammates. I hadn’t done the right thing.”

On Dec. 27, a few days before the team’s final regular-season game, like any other Monday earlier in the season, Robertson had wheeled his motorcycle out for a ride around the block. He wasn’t going anywhere in particular, so while he put his helmet on, he did not snap the chin strap.

“I was just riding to keep the battery charged,” he said. “Really, just from here to there.”

But he hit something on the road, the motorcycle began to slide, his helmet popped off and he went sliding along the pavement.

“I felt my face on the gravel and I tried to lift it up,” he said. “I honestly can say I didn’t feel any pain, because I was in shock at what was happening and what it was all going to mean.”

He tried to raise his motorcycle, aware that he had seriously hurt himself, but he could not do it. He was only 300 to 400 yards away from his home, but his wife and children were away in Pasadena visiting relatives. So he left the motorcycle behind, walked home to get his car and drove to the hospital.

The team doctor for the Nashville Predators, a plastic surgeon who is experienced at stitching up hockey players, began work on Robertson’s face.

“I was shocked I fell; I couldn’t believe I had fallen,” said Robertson, becoming emotional while recounting the accident. “As a team we were doing something special, and I had gotten on a motorcycle, and now I was taking something away from what we were trying to accomplish.”

His wife returned from California, and Robertson was concerned by how she might react when she saw his mangled face.

“But she immediately told me everything was going to be fine, and that made a ton of difference,” he said. “I had looked in the mirror with all the scars and everything else, and it was terrible. . . .”

A few days later Tennessee Coach Jeff Fisher summoned Robertson to the team’s practice headquarters.

“My reaction? You gotta be kidding me,” Robertson said. “I wasn’t really in the condition to come down there and I didn’t want anybody to see me the way I looked. I thought maybe he wanted me to come down just to show everyone what can happen to you if you ride a motorcycle. But I went, and ultimately I think it played a huge role in my healing. The guys comforted me and made me feel loved, and I thank Coach Fisher for that, or I wouldn’t have come.”

Fisher wanted to ease Robertson’s pain, but he also told his team, “When you see him, if you have a motorcycle, you’ll sell it.”

When Robertson returned to the locker room, he apologized to his teammates for risking their overall success.

“I cannot tell you how I felt when I thought I might not be a part of this team in the end,” he said. “Now with each thing that happens, I get that much more emotional.”

Robertson missed the Titans’ final regular-season game, but the right thing to do was not give up with the playoffs looming, and so he joined his teammates for practice. The day before the team’s wild-card playoff game against Buffalo, he put his pads and helmet on, and began crashing into reserve running back Spencer George to show the coaches he could play.

The Titans had been concerned that contact might open his wounds, but after consultation with doctors, he was cleared to play.

“It wasn’t but a few plays into the Buffalo game and I was running and I saw they were going to run the draw and I slipped, and two helmets came and just smacked me in the facemask,” Robertson said, while rubbing his chin. “I stopped, and everything felt just fine, and I knew I was all right.

“The way I look at it, I’m just glad now to have the chance to be walking around with my kids. It all flashed there before me. I know this, no more motorcycle rides. I’m going to fix it up and sell it.”

He’s still bothered by the thought of what he almost missed as Tennessee prepares for Sunday’s AFC championship game against Jacksonville. For nine years Robertson has been with the Oilers, now the Titans, and it has not always been--if you will excuse the motorcycle reference--a smooth ride. There were injuries to overcome, a 2-14 season, the announcement the team was moving and then dwindling crowds as the team bounced from Houston to Memphis and Vanderbilt Stadium.

Players came and went, but Robertson, the team’s former Ed Block Courage Award winner, held his ground, and is now 10th on the organization’s all-time interception list with 22.

“Knowing what I know now about the NFL, the thing that really separates Marcus from so many people is his intelligence and competitiveness,” said Kevin McCabe, St. Louis Ram scout and a former assistant coach at Muir during Robertson’s time at the school. “I still remember vividly an incident leading up to an all-star game after his senior season. A couple of receivers from other schools, all individually talented but not having the success we had at Muir, were goofing off during conditioning drills.

“Boom, next thing you know Marcus has dropped one of them and is standing over him and saying, ‘That’s not how champions prepare.’ ”

And that is why Robertson’s return to the locker room and to his leadership position on defense is regarded as so important to the Titans’ cause.

“I was blessed to play with so many great players at Muir, and when we went on to college we still competed with each other, comparing stats and being competitive,” he said. “That instilled something in me, and now with these guys here we have the chance to seize the opportunity and do something really special.

“Being a part of that is something I wouldn’t want to miss.”

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Robertson Wrap

Regular-season statistics for Tennessee Titan free safety Marcus Robertson:

Tackles 76

Interceptions 1

Passes defended 9

Fumbles recovered 2

Sacks 0.5