European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 5, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday february. 1987 the stars and stripes Page 19 commentary Little Phil Mcconkey beat big Odds you might vote for Tunney against Demp sey in the firs fight do Crail in the 1913 Kentucky Derby or inc Miracle braves in inc 1914 world series. The longest shot i Law in sports was Roger Sou Bach Ai the 1969 Dallas Cowboy training Camp. Staubach was a Heisman trophy Winner but he had not played a competitive game of foot owl in tour Yean. He d been in the Navy and All he had to do to get to be the cowboys quarterback was beat out Don Meredith Craig Morton and Jerry Rhome. I made him 9991 on the morning Linc. The rent longest Shol i Ever saw was Rocky Bleier inc Evi Molenc Damar when he came out of Vietnam with his toot so shot up it looked More like some thing you d Sec caught in an animal trap than a human fool t played Golf with him and he could hardly walk and he was talking optimistically about playing for the Pittsburgh steel cars. I made him with this in mind i went Down to the super bowl to look into the life and times of another returning american Serviceman the honorable Philip Joseph Mcconkey some people think his first name is i tile it s been printed that Way so often Little Phil  Little Phil Mcconkey might have been my third longest Shol in history had known about him when he reported to a giants Ryou Camp in the summer Phil of had been in he military service and had not played a Down or football in five years. He Loo had played his undergraduate football at the naval Academy which no one Ever mixed up Wilh Ohio stale or even Memphis slate. He was sub Heisman. He was Small even for serv ice Academy football. Even though he set records Ai Annapolis for most touchdowns caught most Yards per catch and most punt and Rickolt returns he did t have anybody negotiating to have his Navy duty some place within easy commute of sunday football. Mcconkey did t go to Annapolis because he wanted to be Admiral Halsey. He went there because no one else wanted him he weighed 140 pounds he was Short not slow but not fast but he wanted to play football nobody else wanted to waste a scholarship on me he recalls. Not even Syracuse which was just Down the  a fret agent tryout Camp in pro football comes fur Zily into focus As 8 Bunch of 380-Pound Guys wearing their mothers stewing Kelles for helmets sneakers with holes in them and an old Jersey that says pizza Shack on the Back. No one really cancels to get a football player Oul of one it s just a kind of complicated Amateur hour. It s the football equivalent of a lot of Guys trying la gel into show business playing inc swing Etc or he washboard or inc National Anthem with dinner Forks. Phil Mcconky was not your Basic Day dreaming fat boy when lie showed up. He was an officer and a gentleman a lieutenant in Uncle Sam s Navy a Heli copter and fighter Pilot. You knew his courage had been put to the lest when you Learned he flew off carriers in the Mediterranean sea. To the nil he was just another Seabbie. A Guy who can handle a pitching deck in rough seas is not necessarily a Guy who can catch punts with one Ion of malice in plastic bearing Down on him. Mcconkey however could do that. Incredibly he made the team. He had not played a Down of football in five years and at to and 170 pounds he was undersized and underweight but he would go Down Wilh deck guns blazing. " Gianis coach bilt Parcells gave me a legitimate look is inc Way Mcconky recalls it. Others remember Ilas an Eye opener you had to like the Way he got up he had this Light in his eyes you had the feeling he d be hard to discourage. Before he could ploy in his first regular season game since 1978, inc Navy stepped in again and he was gone for thai season. The nil figured it was anchors aweigh for la. Mcconkey. He was at Long gone a capt. Bligh. But this barnacle Phil was As hard to Stop a a Battle Wagon at Long Range and he kept turning up. When he got out of the Navy after sin years he showed the landlubbers by rolling up 1,001 All Pur pose Yards with the giants Kickoff returns punt returns receptions. He would have blown up the football and picked up the towels if they liked. A Tough kid the son of a Buffalo n.y., police detective Mcconkey was used to being a multiple purpose player. In High school i played offence defense on special team kickoffs Punis. 1 was Sel Dom of Tho  he did so Many things none of them stood out. Scouts had inc glasses on flashier teammates and to this Day Mcconkey seethes at what he Calls pretty boy  i chose the naval Academy because they played big Lime football and in was my Only Chance he said. Bui when his class graduated. Ensign Mcconkey made no Effort to weigh Anchor or jump ship. He headed for Pensacola and a cockpit not an nil Camp. No one intervened to get him Shore duty near a football team. Ensign Mcconky reported for duty Wajih a Salute nol a football. He made no attempt to go Over the Side but he bears no ill will to those who did. I think Napoleon Mccallum has handled in Wilh dignity and very Well he says. A think Eddie Myers is getting a raw Deal after is Summers with the Al Lanka Falcons he adds simply and drops it. On the giants. Mcconkey is kind of the task Force s destroyer escort. He returns punts and kick offs and catches passes. He is the second leading punt returner in new York Gianis history. Only the Laie great pm ten Tunnel had More Yards and More catches. Mcconkey could catch a punt in a Rock slide a co Ivy a Coachi once said of him. He caught 32 passes for 279 Yards and a touch Down last season. He caught a touchdown pass in the playoff game against san Francisco and lied a record by returning seven punts. He s still having an identity crisis. The giants Cut him this fall but after he went to Green Bay and played four games they realized they made b mistake and reclaimed him. To the reporters gathered for super sunday xxi i Mcconkey still had to win his wings. They pointed to the giants wide receiver corps As the soft Underbelly of the otherwise Rock ribbed brute Force. It was a charge thai turned it. Meconkey into Cape. Blood. In his Best now hear this voice front the Bridge he bellowed the contradiction we have Guys who will go Over the Middle to catch the bail. We Don t have those Glamour wide Outi who run these pretty boy routes Down the sidelines on camera. We get our hair mussed our helmets cracked. We Donl play pretty boy football. We play 10 win. We Don t eare How ii  John Paul Jones could t have said in any belter. The Crew of the . Ugly it. Mcconkey com manding had not yet begun to fight either. The Good ship Lollipop . The Denver Broncos had to Brace for a boarding party. One Flint s for sure. After la. Mcconkey caught two passes Tor so Yards and a touchdown in the giants 39-20 Romp he was right in guaranteeing it would t be pretty. Pistons guard a Reserve All Star Thomas Happy Erving is starting by Bill Barnard a basketball Tirier Isiah Thomas the Only Aba player to Start in an All Star game in each of his first five seasons will have the Streak snapped sunday in Seattle. Thomas lost the starting spot when Julius Erving on the All Star ballot As a guard for the first time after a Long career at Forward and Overall Point Leader Michael Jordan got the most Voles for the Eastern conference Bac coun. The Detroit pistons guard who made the team As a Reserve ibis year said he was More than Happy to lose his starting spot to Erving. Who is in his last season before retirement. Thomas sent a congratulatory Tele Gram to Erving that said you have been an inspiration a Leader and a per feel role Model for me and All the other Aba players you made the path much smoother for us younger plym to Fol Low. Through your efforts the Aba enjoys the Success it does  although he won t be starting. Thom As has a Cnancy to become the third player with three All Star most valuable player award to his credit Bob Petit of the St. Louis Hawks won in 1956, i95b and 1959 and Oscar Robertson of the Cincinnati royals won in1961, 1964 and 1969. By winning another map Thomas who look the award in 1984 and last year when he had 30 Points and 10 assists also would join pc tit As the Only players to win in consecutive years Adrian Smith map of the 1966 All Star game still has the Ford Galaxy he received for winning he award. It s got about 40.000 Miles on it the former Cincinnati Royal said. Every thing on in is original except the tires and the  the e-foot-2 Smith said that a mus ing was the original prize but it was changed to the bigger car because Spon sors expected will Chamberlain or Bill Russell to win it. They would t have been Able to fit inside. There s a Good Chance that at least 250 Points will be scored in sunday s All Star game. In the past 10 games the winning team has averaged 134.4 Points. The last time a team won an All Star game with fewer than 120 Points was i97s, when the East won 108-102. The East won 139-132 last year. Byron Scott of the los Angeles Lak ers missed last season s three Point shooting contest because he got married during the All Star break. The same thing is happening this year to Utah s Bob Hansen rules for the slam Dunk championship this year were changed to prevent competitors from using props foreign objects or other people. Gerald Wilkins also one of this sea son s dunkers created a stir when he dunked Over a Man Silling in a chair last year but the stunt was deemed unsafe by the league. The Milwaukee Bucks do not have an All Star player for Only the second time in franchise history. The other time it happened was 1977, when the game was played in Milwaukee. Julius Erving Larry Bird Domin ique Wilkins and magic Johnson will be playing for Charity As Well As the Eastern and Western conferences in sunday s All Star game. For each Point scored by the four play ers Spalding sports worldwide will do Nate an Aba Ball to an organization of their Choice. In addition Spalding will donate $1,000 in the name of the player with the most Points. The Money will be used to combat teen age alcohol and drug abuse. Detroit s Iilah Tomu. Loses starting spot 10 Julius Erving