Football fire still burns for Jones
| • | Taking risks has rewards |
By Ferd Lewis and Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writers
In the months following the Feb. 22 car accident that nearly cost University of Hawai'i football coach June Jones his life, his young son was shielded from the what-if possibilities.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
But during a recent private moment, Jones decided it was time to finally discuss the incident with his 6-year-old son.
"You know, dad almost died," Jones said he told his son.
"What?"
"And if I died, you would have to run things."
"But dad," June Jones IV said, "I don't know how to coach football."
Jones smiles when he recalls that conversation, yet another reason he is grateful for his second chance.
He has received thousands of telephone calls and letters from across the country. One carried the return address of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C.
"Yeah, I was real surprised," Jones said of the letter from President Bush. "He said something like, 'I'm sorry to hear about your accident. I'm glad you got out of the hospital OK.' ... I put it in a file."
Another call came from former NFL running back Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, who retired after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.
"He called the hospital ... he called a million times, and I finally talked to him the other day," Jones said, pausing to choke back emotion. "When we talked and before he hung up the phone, he said, 'Coach, just know I love you.' I ... that's kind of why you coach."
The single-car accident on the H-1 Freeway near Honolulu International Airport left Jones with head and internal injuries. Later, he was told that a torn aorta, undetected until after was admitted into the hospital, could have caused him to bleed to death. His internist says he was the lucky 1 percent.
"When you are sitting there, you're almost dead, and in the hospital, and you kinda think back about different things, I had an opportunity to kind of relive a lot of my whole life," said Jones, who believes he fell asleep at the wheel. "And I don't think I have changed, but I have become more focused again. I know the good Lord saved me for a reason, and I think I know why that is. I really am anxious to get started with football this year."
Was the reason he was saved football-related? He pauses, then says: "Yes, I feel it is."
Still not cleared to fly
It is apparent Jones, no longer as gaunt as when he emerged from the 20-day hospital stay, is still in pain. He settles carefully into a chair and grimaces when he learns he has to climb a flight of stairs to reach the Dixie Grill restroom.
He didn't attend last week's Western Athletic Conference meetings because he said doctors won't clear him to fly for another month, though he will attend a July meeting in Reno, Nev.
Seeing car was therapuetic
Jones said he will be on the field for the start of training camp in August and doesn't anticipate any problems standing for long periods.
He has played three rounds of golf since the accident, but each swing sent a jolt through his slim body.
"But, I finished," he said.
And he recently rode one of his Harleys on an around-the-island trip, going up to 70 mph on some stretches. "It probably isn't the smartest thing to do...," he said.
To bring closure to the incident, he said, he recently viewed the wrecked black Lincoln Town Car. It was said the accident's impact fractured the car's front, making it too wide to fit into a storage container that has space for a mini-van.
Jones said viewing the car was chilling, but therapeutic.
These days, in daily rehabilitation sessions and workouts, "I just feel I have to push myself really hard," he said. "That mental toughness ... is also getting me focused on what I need to get focused on as far as football."
Getting refocused
He said he never lost his competitive edge, not even during last season's rebuilding, but "this whole thing is kinda just a re-grab, refocus me."
"In the last two months, I've talked about everything that I've ever done in my career football-wise with somebody," he said. "I know that basically hard work and determination is why I made it (in football). Right now, because, physically, I'm really hurting still, I feel like I am a player again. I'm in the weight room again at 6 a.m. till 7:30 and it frickin' kills me. It is hard to walk. It is frickin' hard to do anything and I'm trying to ignore it and push myself as hard as I can because, like I said, I'm kind of reliving how it was for me.
"That mental toughness is what does it for me and is also getting me focused on what I need to get focused on as far as football. We've got to do the best to be the best we can be."
