Sui generis

I like thinking about categories, but I'm also struck by things that defy categorization. When presented with something that defies categorization in the typical ways, the right course of action may be to analyze, but it's sometimes irresistible to simply gawk. The irresistible latter cases are what I'm interested in here. In this series, Sui generis, (latin for, roughly, "one of a kind"), I'll pass along things that strike me as better off unanalyzed. I'm inspired by the series "Moment of Zen" at the end of The Daily Show, and in just about every video on the Everything is Terrible website. Many times in this genre, subtle (or not so subtle) mockery is the point. That's not necessarily the case here. It may be that something needs to be mocked, but it also just may be a desire to bask in the many kinds of feelings that can be called "surreal". In entry one, I'm struck by the surreal feeling of how things used to be:



That's Earl Campbell, the large-thighed running back and Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Texas. After college, Campbell played in the NFL for several years, most notably with the then Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans). I grew up hearing his name, as my uncles would speak of his running ability (I was raised on the sports-religion of the Arkansas Razorbacks, who at the time were in the same conference as the University of Texas). The thing about Earl Campbell is you couldn't bring him down; he would run right over you. Back in the early 1980's football coaches implemented training regimes that are viewed, by today's lights, as inefficient. For example, players had to run relatively long distances in training, up to 800 meters or a mile, in spite of the fact that this kind of training doesn't resemble the physical demands of American football. Oilers coach Bum Phillips caught onto this early in the case of Earl Campbell, as he remarked on the fact that Campbell couldn't finish a mile run in training camp, "When it's first and a mile, I won't give it to him."

Unfortunately, Campbell paid the price for his years in football, and is plagued by long term physical problems, at times requiring the use of a wheelchair. One wonders if his bruising style is what ultimately proved too much for his body, and there's debate over whether Bum Phillips' chosen use of Campbell caused or contributed to Campbell's physical deterioration.

One thing's for sure, he was one of the most bruising running backs in football history. Earl Campbell was a figure that was once on top of the football world but precipitously declined. In the video, he was in his glory days, pitching Skoal to the public. And well, that's video gold right there. I'll leave most of subtleties to the viewer, but I can't help but remark that hearing Earl Campbell's transformation of "soulbrother," on behalf of a tobacco company, into "Skoalbrother" is extremely catchy, and I'm not sure whether that's cute, or pernicious, or both.