THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 24, 1994 TAG: 9407240215
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Charles Barkley may not want kids to look to him as their role model, but that is exactly what former All-Pro linebacker Mike Singletary wants to be.
Singletary was in town Saturday to speak to Norfolk football coaches and players as part of the new Coach's Corner program.
The program is designed to emulate programs in Chicago and Atlanta that try to impact inner-city youths through sports and their coaches.
Barkley said, ``I'm no role model,'' in a Nike commercial last year. He said parents needed to take on that job.
Singletary, a former Chicago Bear, agreed that family is where it all should begin, but he said it doesn't always work that way.
``We love for it to come from home,'' Singletary said. ``But it can be the coaches, too, as long as somewhere, somehow, these kids have someone who shows that they care and they have a relationship with someone.
``I've looked around, and it's frightening. The scariest thing to see is a young man with no hope. A young man who doesn't believe in discipline. A young man who doesn't believe in respect.''
Singletary, who came from a single-parent home, said he went to Chicago thinking he knew everything there was to know about being a linebacker. After all, he had won numerous collegiate awards. He was an All-American. Then he met Buddy Ryan, then defensive coordinator for the Bears.
``Buddy Ryan didn't call me by my name. I was a number to him,'' Singletary said. ``It was `Hey, number 50, get in there.' Sometimes he even forgot that. I kept thinking, `What is with this guy? Doesn't he know who I am?' ''
Running was, of course, part of the Bears' training regime, and running was something Singletary always had gone to great extremes to avoid.
In Ryan's camp Singletary became a runner, and he said that when he ran the drills under the time Ryan had set, ``all of a sudden, there were no limits.''
Singletary admits that at times he couldn't stand Ryan.
``But he taught me to understand discipline and commitment,'' Singletary said.
To this day Singletary keeps in contact with Ryan, Mike Ditka and all of the coaches in his life. He said he knows that anytime he needs anything, his coaches are there for him, and vice versa.
``Let your players know you care,'' Singletary said to the coaches in attendance. ``Let them know that they are your kids. Get to know what they need and any special circumstances they might have in their lives. Take the time to know them and be there for them.'' by CNB