Storm’s Hero, and Hopes, Hauled Away on a Stretcher
Andrew Mason
Monday June 17, 2002
But the memories of the 1-5 start now stand as mere blips of unhappiness, compared to the pall cast when Melvin Cunningham made his final journey off the field for at least this season, a trip on a stretcher that foretold the team’s sixth loss of the year.
Cunningham’s final ride ended in an ambulance and a trip to the hospital. Metaphorically, the Storm’s season sits in the same spot – in need of resuscitation and help after the team dropped to 3-6 and one full game back of a host of teams grappling for the final playoff spots.
The good news? Four of the coming five games take place against opponents among those clogged in the morass of mediocrity, at 5-4 and 4-5. That’s it.
The bad news is that Cunningham’s injury was the latest in a litany that began when John Kaleo’s season ended in Week 1 and saw its worst moments against the Gladiators… that the Storm’s defensive backfield faces another period of adjustment… that its two games against the Georgia Force come just as the relocated club is rounding into form… and that Cunningham’s departure wasn’t the only one to befall Tampa Bay.
He was preceded out of the game by defensive specialist Corey Sawyer, a May signee who had just developed into a solid Arena corner before feeling something sickening in his knee late in the first quarter while tackling Gladiators OS Mike Horacek.
“He said it popped on the field,” fellow defensive back Keita Crespina said.
With Cunningham and Sawyer, the team’s two DSes, gone, the Storm was left to ward off Mike Horacek and the Gladiators’ receivers with reliable Keita Crespina and two recent signees – May 24 pickup David Saunders and June 13 signee T.T. Toliver.
Toliver’s most recent experience came as a member of the St. Louis Rams’ practice squad – as a wideout. Saunders, an Arena veteran, had defensive experience – at jack linebacker. Both represented themselves well, but experienced understandable difficulties considering their lack of experience at corner.
“That was my first time playing back there,” Saunders said. “I was playing fatigued, plus I was playing a position that I’d never played that much before. I did my best.”
Their best wasn’t enough for a win on a night that ended in the worst possible manner for their fallen teammates.
Cunningham, who already crossed through a valley of two years of rehabilitation to play this year, had just found his 1999 form in the most recent two weeks, having turned momentum in the win over the Orlando Predators with his kickoff returns.
He was doing the same against New Jersey, helping Tampa Bay lurch to a 20-17 second-quarter lead, before disaster struck on a short Jay McDonagh pass play.
Yet even through the intense pain of a dislocated knee, Cunningham’s character revealed itself. Responding to the standing ovation from the Ice Palace fans, he removed his gloves as he was wheeled away and tossed them to a fan in the east stands. It was a toss that was half-appreciation, but half-frustration
Then those once-gloved hands cradled his head as he disappeared into the tunnel. What was likely the last image of Cunningham in a Storm uniform for this season, at the very least, was one of the team` s most gallant soldier being helplessly wheeled away on a gurney.
A sad sight for a man who rallied so far just to play, and one that may end up mirroring the fate of the Storm’s season.
Andrew Mason was at the Tampa Bay Storm`s first home game on June 1, 1991 and has followed the game ever since. While in college, he served as content editor and co-founder of The Storm Shelter, a Web site which covered the Tampa Bay Storm on the Internet from 1996-99. He also volunteered with the team`s media relations department in 1998 and currently contributes to ColoradoCrush.com. He's covered the NFL for various on-line outlets since 1999.
