Injuries to NFL players point out fireworks dangers

Many years ago I recall writing about a local football player, a kid from Bishop Gorman named Nick Ruggeroli — he’s probably in his 40s now — who was an excellent defensive end at Fresno State. If I remember correctly, he was riding around on a motorcycle on the Fourth of July when a gross of bottle rockets went off in his pocket.

If memory serves again, he was burned quite badly and required skin grafts. But he was able to play football again.

You hear about guys being injured by fireworks just about every year on the Fourth.

This year you may have heard about a 22-year old from Maine who was drinking with friends before threatening to light a reloadable fireworks mortar tube from atop his head. Then he did it, and the Maine man died instantly. As they say, this is not something one should try at home.

Two NFL football players lost three fingers in fireworks mishaps this year.

Cornerback C.J. Wilson of the Tampa Bay Bucs lost two fingers, according to his father. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul of the New York Giants had his right index finger amputated.

Sometimes one is better off with sparklers, and having one’s pals call you a wuss.

It remains to be be seen if Wilson and Pierre-Paul will play football this fall. I’m guessing they will. Pro football players generally are tough and resilient — Jay Cutler in the playoffs notwithstanding — and many have come back from more grievous injuries than losing fingers, although that may make it difficult to play the guitar.

But not impossible. Jerry Garcia lost two-thirds of his right middle finger when he was a kid, and he went on to play lead guitar for the Grateful Dead — and then Ben and Jerry named an ice cream flavor for him.

Sometimes, as the author Dan Jenkins said, you gotta play hurt. Sometimes, you gotta keep truckin’ like the d0-dah man.

Off the top of my head, I can think of a handful of guys who played pro sports without a full complement of fingers.

In football, the man that pops into mind first is Ronnie Lott.

Lott had his left pinky finger smashed while tackling Cowboys running back Timmy Newsome, who, if you recall, was quite a load on third-and-short. The next week, Lott taped the injured finger to the one alongside. Even if the 49ers were playing the Lions, that shows a certain toughness and resiliency.

When the pain persisted, Lott had part of his mangled pinky finger amputated. The next season, he led the NFL in interceptions.

In basketball, Gerald Green, now of the Miami Heat, hoops it up without his right ring finger. Green was injured trying to dunk on a makeshift goal attached to a doorway when he was in sixth grade. In 2007, he won the NBA’s slam dunk contest at the all-star game.

In baseball, there was Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown of the old Chicago Cubs — Mordecai Peter Centennial “Three-Finger” Brown.

The right-hander lost parts of two fingers in a farming accident, which may have been a blessing in disguise: His misshapen hand and grip was said to have made his curveball break like the dickens, and Brown became one of Dead Ball Era’s greatest twirlers, as the old sportswriters used to call the old pitchers.

In auto racing, it seems every other Indy 500 driver during the extremely flammable 1960s and early ‘70s lost something as a result of a fiery crash. Sometimes it was their life, or their nerve behind the wheel.

If they were lucky, it was just fingers.

Jim Hurtubise and Mel Kenyon had doctors reshape what remained of their scorched digits so they could hold the wheel and drive with special gloves. “Miraculous” Mel Kenyon, the “King of the Midgets,” finished fourth in the 1973 Indy 500, his last, and won 111 midget races on his way to the hall of fame.

In hockey, I can’t offhand think of anybody who has skated without 10 fingers. Not even somebody from Saskatoon who plays on the checking line. But I’m sure there is somebody, because hockey players sometimes get stitched up on the bench during the second period, and then skate a regular shift in the third.

And then there was Antonio Alfonseca.

The former relief pitcher for the Marlins, Cubs, Braves, Rangers and Phillies was called “El Pupo” — The Octopus. He was born with six fingers and six toes.

If you are a Bucs or Giants fan, or if you are in fantasy league that somehow incorporates defensive players, and you have C.J. Wilson or Jason Pierre-Paul on your team, I know what you may be thinking: Why couldn’t Wilson or Pierre-Paul have been born with six fingers, like Antonio Alfonseca?

This would prove my point about some people being idiots.

But if you are drinking on the Fourth of July, and you place a reloadable fireworks mortar tube on the top of your head — and it goes off — then you, too, may be called an idiot during the eulogy.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.