INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Dominic Rhodes thought a starting job and more money would make him happy in Oakland.
Turns out, he’d rather be winning.
So after publicly lobbying for a release from the Raiders and returning to Indianapolis this spring, Rhodes has adopted a new attitude and a familiar approach.
“I started growing it (the beard) the last time we lost,” he said. “I’m going to keep this thing going. My daughter said ‘Daddy, when are you going to cut that thing?’ The way I see it, it’s not going to get cut until February.”
What Rhodes has done this season is nothing short of remarkable.
He’s resuscitated a once promising career at an age most running backs are writing their final chapters. He turns 30 next month.
omething he knew wouldn’t happen in Oakland.
This wasn’t the roadmap Rhodes intended to follow.
After running for 1,104 yards in 2001 and setting an NFL record for undrafted rookies, the expectations rose and his dreams expanded. Rhodes continually called himself a starting back in waiting.
But he tore his ACL and missed the entire 2002 season, and when he returned in 2003, Rhodes was relegated again to backup duty. He thought he finally had the Colts starting job when Edgerrin James left town for Arizona in March 2006, but the Colts drafted Joseph Addai in the first round.
Even his greatest accomplishment, winning a Super Bowl ring two years ago, was tainted. Rhodes was arrested in Indy shortly after the Super Bowl for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He eventually pleaded guilty to reckless driving but still drew a league-imposed four-game suspension that ushered him out of his adopted hometown and followed him to Oakland, where he thought he hit the jackpot with a two-year deal worth up to $7.5 million.
He figured that was enough to assure him a starting job.
He figured wrong.
olts’ tag-team tandem from their Super Bowl season.
Indianapolis (9-4) couldn’t be more pleased with the results.
“It has worked out well,” coach Tony Dungy said. “Dom has given us a spark on a number of occasions, and he’s made big plays when we’ve needed them, like that touchdown run last week. It’s really like having a second starter, so it’s been very good for us.”
Rhodes’ impact, however, cannot be measured in numbers alone.
He was a stabilizing presence in the locker room when Indy started 3-4, recounting stories of his one dismal season on the dark side and shedding perspective on how much worse things could be.
“Most of the time people talk about winning, but it’s really more about doing it,” he said. “You look around here and we don’t talk a lot about it. We just go out and produce.”
On the field, Rhodes has been increasingly valuable, taking advantage of opportunities that were both scripted and unscripted because of Addai’s series of nagging injuries.
Rhodes has rushed for 425 yards and four touchdowns, caught two more TD passes, and his powerful straight-ahead running style has been effective enough to give Indy a semblance of a ground game.
Now, he could be the feature attraction again.
impson is likely out with a sprained ankle. That would leave Rhodes and Najeh Davenport, who was signed Wednesday, as the only available backs on Indy’s active roster.
“You know, some people might say I’m a role player, but I’ve just got to come out and do what I can when I get the ball,” Rhodes said.
If he keeps playing this effectively, who knows? Rhodes’ life could come full circle.
“I’m enjoying the work, and I’m enjoying the success,” he said. “You know, it does feel a little bit like 2006 again. We’re getting hot at the right time, just like the Super Bowl year, and we’re on a good roll. It’s not who you play as much as it is how you play.”
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