He Proves Mom Will Take One for Team

University of Miami linebacker D.J. Williams recently told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that when he was a sophomore at Concord De La Salle High, he had to complete a questionnaire that included the query: “What would you do if your mother was returning a kickoff?”

Williams talked his mother, Sherri Gonzalez, into putting on his uniform, kicked the ball to her and then “hit her pretty good” as a video camera rolled.

Williams then showed the tape to his coaches and earned a spot on special teams.

More on moms: That story reminds us of what former Washington Redskin lineman Joe Jacoby and Los Angeles Raider linebacker Matt Millen said before the Super Bowl in 1984:

Jacoby: “I’d run over my mother to win the Super Bowl.”

Millen: “To win, I’d run over Joe’s mom too.”

Trivia time: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Oakland Raiders by 27 points, 48-21, in last season’s Super Bowl. What was the most lopsided score in a Super Bowl?

A big jump: Randy Hill of foxsports.com, on the Denver Nuggets’ 5-foot-5 Earl Boykins: “Sources temporarily close to the speedy Boykins insist that Earl is unable to even get into a Hummer without a running start.”

And this: Clipper announcer Ralph Lawler on Boykins: “I’ve had wives bigger than him.”

A good agent: Brad Miller of the Sacramento Kings, after USA Today’s rating of NBA centers ranked him ahead of Shaquille O’Neal, told the newspaper: “That sounds like something my agent would come up with.”

Subliminal message: Dallas receiver Joey Galloway, talking to ESPN about Bill Parcells, said, “If you can eliminate the yelling and listen to the message, there’s a great message there.”

Possible improvement: Reader David Macaray e-mailed one of his all-time favorite quotes, from Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon, while touring England and witnessing a polo match: “It’d be a great game without the horses.”

Wishful thinking: The New York Post’s Peter Vecsey is known for his biting comments, but he recently had some nice things to say about Mark Jackson, a candidate for the ABC commentating job that went to Doc Rivers last week.

Characterizing Jackson as a smooth talker, Vecsey wrote, “Many of us already have asked him to do our eulogy.”

Responded one wag, “Wonder how many NBA coaches are hoping that is sooner rather than later?”

Trivia answer: The San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos, 55-10, in 1990.

And finally: Charles Barkley, again a voice of reason, said on TNT: “You can’t smoke pot. Everyone makes mistakes, but doing drugs is one thing I can’t accept. I think the first time you get caught, they should put you in rehab for a month without pay. The next time, they should suspend you for the season. Period.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.