GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- There's something not quite right about Army Sgt.
Michael Garvin looking over his shoulder at Chad Johnson and saying
he's a hero.
Johnson is an extremely talented football player, and indeed a hero to many, including Garvin.
On Dec. 13, 2003, Garvin and his men were guarding a hole as fellow soldiers pulled Saddam Hussein out.
After his first tour in Iraq, Garvin went to Ft. Knox in Kentucky to
help train soldiers to go to Iraq, and then last year he returned to
Iraq, only to be sent back home because of the lingering effects of an
explosion of an improvised explosive devise that whizzed past his head
and blew up behind him, causing a slipped disc.
Next week Garvin is having surgery at Ft. Hood in Texas, and as soon as
he can recover enough to carry his equipment, he's "headed back to my
guys."
To Garvin, that’s not heroic.
"I raised my right hand," Garvin said. "So that's my job."
His job as a Calvary scout is heroic, whether he thinks so or not.
It's that selflessness and humility of one among the approximately two
million active duty, military civilian personnel and reservists and
National Guard members that makes it work. But on Thursday, Garvin was recognized as a hero by his heroes -- the Cincinnati Bengals.
"Little kids call them heroes, too, and they are," Garvin said. "I'm
not sure how much they understand how kids idolize them and even
soldiers, too. When they come to Iraq, if that's their home team,
they'll cut off an arm to get over there. They're heroes too, to us."
Garvin visited training camp at Georgetown College, met Marvin Lewis
before practice and then after the two-hour workout, was introduced to
the team by Lewis and led the team in breaking its post-practice huddle.
"It was great," Garvin said after ending the team's practice. "I didn't
really have to say anything, because Coach Lewis said it all. I just
broke the huddle with 'Cincy.'"
After that, several players and coaches came over to talk to Garvin and thank him for his service for the country.
With each one, Garvin dismissed it as doing his job.
And then he got to meet one of his heroes, quarterback Carson Palmer.
But Palmer didn't just meet Michael Garvin, he also met Carson Garvin,
Michael's 11-month old son, who was named after the Bengal quarterback.
Palmer talked to Michael and Carson, as well as the two other Garvin
boys -- Gabriel, 9, and Michael, 6 -- and signed autographs.
Michael calls his oldest, Gabriel, "my own little ESPN."
Last football season, every Sunday night (Monday morning in Iraq)
Gabriel would call his father and describe the Bengals game -- win or
lose they’d talk about the game and Gabriel would give him all the
details.
Sometimes, when Garvin was lucky, the Armed Forces Network would show a
Bengals game and Michael would get to watch the game in the Bengals hat
his wife sent him.
"I'd stay up and watch it, get up the next morning and go on a mission," Garvin said. "Win or lose, it's always worth it."
Away from home, away from regular life and away from the off-time that
so many take for granted, sports are a way for those stationed abroad
to connect to home.
The sight of Paul Brown Stadium reminded Garvin, a Glen Estes High School graduate, of his home in Cincinnati and his family.
Sports are so important to the men and women of the armed forces,
Garvin said it's common for soldiers to get a day off on the day after
the Super Bowl, because their commanders know how important it is for
the soldiers to watch and enjoy that piece of home.
No matter how many miles separate Garvin and his sons, no matter how
long it's been since he's seen them and no matter how many of their
games or school players or whatever he's missed, there's always a
common bond between father and sons in sports.
That started early for Michael Garvin, who was an Army brat as well.
His father, Randy, spent 20 years in the Army, and their family was
station in Germany twice, as well as posts across the United States. No
matter where they were stationed, Randy Garvin's love of the Bengals
and Reds was passed down to his son.
It's safe to say that fandom has been passed another generation, as
three generation of Garvins watched Bengal practice from the sidelines
and later got to meet several Bengal players.
"As far as my experiences in Iraq and the teamwork we have is the same thing they have to do on the field," Garvin said.
There is a difference, of course, there may be 340-pound defensive
linemen, linebackers and Raider fans for players to navigate, that’s
not the same as bullets, IEDs and grenades.
That's the world not many of us can imagine, but it's the world Garvin
is hoping to return to soon. As he sees it, that’s what he was trained
to do, and it's best for his men and his country if he's there to do
that job right.
That’s why even the most famous of Bengals, Palmer, spoke the words that so many of his teammates gave to Garvin – "Thank you."
Garvin said the best way for you to help a soldier is to write a
letter or send a package with 'hygiene stuff -- toothpaste,
toothbrushes and deodorant' or powdered drinks such as sports drinks
because the soldiers have plenty of bottled water, but sometimes 'it
gets old.' Garvin, who has called in to 700 WLW from Iraq, has amassed
supplies that have filled his garage, but has not been able to afford
the postage to send it all. He said if you don't have a soldier you
know to send letter or supplies to, contact your local recruiter's
office and they can help you with an address to send to troops.
"A soldier that doesn't get mail doesn't perform as well as a soldier
who has gotten mail," Garvin said. "It helps them out so much."
GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- Practice is underway and the usual suspects are out of practice -- Rudi Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Jeremi Johnson, Dan Howell, Rashad Jeanty, Antwan Odom, Ethan Kilmer, Chinedum Ndukwe and Herana-Daze Jones.
* I know I floated this on Mo's show this morning and several other folks, including Kevin Goheen and Mark Curnutte, floated the idea of Chad Pennington here. Well, the Bengals do have 79 men on their 80-man roster (not including international practice squad player Carl-Johan Bjork), so they have room. However, I think Pennington makes more sense for the Bengals than the Bengals make for Pennington. There are several places where Pennington will get a chance to step in and battle for the starting spot (basically, the NFC North teams besides Green Bay).
* Here at practice is Army Sgt. Michael Garvin, an Iraq veteran, who is on leave from duty at Ft. Hood in Texas before surgery on his back. After succesful surgery, he hopes to return to Iraq for a second tour. His first tour was cut short when an IED exploded behind him and caused a slipped disc in his back.
Garvin, who was visiting camp with his father Randy, a 20-year Army veteran and veteran of Vietnam, his brother-in-law and his three sons, Gabriel 9, Michael 6 and Carson, 11 months. Carson is named after his favorite football player.
Garvin met with Marvin Lewis before the practice and will talk to the team afterward, He said his main subject will be teamwork, because it's what the Army and the Bengals have in common. He'll also get a chance to meet Carson Palmer.
* Rudi Johnson is getting the Jeremi Johnson workout on the main field right now.
Brett Favre has a home, and I can finally sleep at night.
You know, it was so difficult for me the last couple of weeks wondering just what would happen with Brett Favre. I haven't been able to sleep, I haven't been able to eat, I've just sat with a blank stare wondering just what would happen with the most important figure in the world today. Not since Brittany had her court issues have I been so worried.
I'm appaled the Green Bay Favres didn't just allow Favre to come back and play center and quarterback so he could lead the team to another Favre Bowl trophy.
Luckily, the New Favre Jets had enough sense to grasp Favre from Green Bay and finally give Favre the big stage he deserves after toiling in anonymity for so long.
Now, instead of having to travel all the way to Green Bay, which is way out past Canada and braving the 385 days a year of 12-foot snow, the national media types can just jump in their Favremobiles and see Favre in Old Favre (which, although the team name is New Favre, the team is based across the Favre River in Old Favre) and drool on him daily as opposed to a measley once a week.
We, as a nation, celebrate this event with a new national holiday -- Favremas, which, unlike traditional holidays, will be an entire week before the first Jets preseason game (or whatever team Favre decides to honor with his presence). So, don't go to work the next week, because even though Favre could play tonight, what would the fun of Favre playing be without the week-long build up?
GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- Like clockwork, it seems Corey Lynch is always the first guy on the field for any practice. Unreal.
He's out there tonight. 6:30.
Out: (a running list, and keep in mind many of these are resting); Michael Myers, Johnathan Joseph, Deltha O'Neal, Ethan Kilmer, Angelo Craig, Rudi Johnson, Levi Jones
Still no Ndukwe sighting. He told Chick Ludwig he was getting an MRI on his knee.
Whitworth and Williams doing more snapping with the Qbs.
Still no Ndukwe sighting.
* Looks like Antonio Chatman went down with some sort of injury. but he was treated and he's back up and his helmet is on. Guess it was minor, prbably not even worth leaving up here. But hey, I typed it, so there you go. He just return.
Forgot to mention with all the other stuff today. But IRL drive Jamie Camara was at practice. He's Brazilian, so he had some stuff explained to him. However, he had a more interested audience in kicker Shayne Graham and linebackers coach Jeff FitzGerald.
I'll tell you what, since coming back, I don't think I've seen a ball thrown near Chad Johnson that's been dropped. The guy has looked incredible. Just incredible. That's got to be good for the Bengals this season.
What's not good is the absence of Chinedum Ndukwe.
We've got 1s v. 1s with piped in crowd noise. Looks like some short yaradage situations.
And just as I wrote that thing about Chad, he and Palmer are on different pages and don't hook up. Never fails.
Maybe I should write that the Bengals are going to win the Super Bowl.
Jonathan Fanene just blew up a play. Looked untouched.
Marvin White coming off in the nickel and Simeon Castille.
Carson Palmer. He good. Wow. He just made an unbelievable throw to Glenn Holt rolling to his right.
We have hte second D. Chad Johnson just threw on the breaks and Castille can't catch up and, well, Palmer is unreal. That throw was incredible, right as Johnson came out of his break, on the money.
Nice play by Pat Sims blowing up a play.
Chad Johnson was just looked at by a trainer, who was focused on his right ankle, he limped back to the ranks. We'll see if he's back. And he is.
Back to 11-on-11, they g deep and Leon Hall was on Johnson step for step.
Goalline work -- Bobbie Willamson the secnd-team line. Carson Palmer, can do quite a bit, I wouldn't run him out there on the naked boot. But that's just me.
Nice coverage by Ahmad Brooks on a pass to Utecht, I think he got hit harder by Jeff FitzGerald than he has by anyone else in camp this year.
More "emergency" work with Williams at center. With Stacy out, Whitowrth is at left tackle, Kooistra at left guard, then Andrews at RG and Anderoson at tackle. With that line, a really nice play to Utecht.
Ryan Fitzpatrick has moxie.
Shotgun snap by Williams looks more like a punt snap. The next one he gets on target.
Willie ate up Geathers. Some talking between the two.
