Corey Dillon gone from malcontent to just contented
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The first game said everything would be different. Charley Dillon saw it on his television from 3,000 miles away: the sparkle in his youngest brother's eyes, the way his feet skipped across the grass.
"It was night and day," Charley Dillon said.
This was all new to Patriots running back Corey Dillon. Seven years in the NFL and they never played at night in Cincinnati, never played on their own evening with the nation watching. Nobody cares when you're a Bengal, even if you're considered the most powerful running back in the NFL. And the losing in obscurity was the worst thing for a player who had never seemed content.
A few years back, Dillon broke the record for most rushing yards in a game. For a time, his name was in the record books, on the first line with 278 yards against the Denver Broncos on Oct. 22, 2000. But rushing records don't mean much when your stands are empty and your games aren't on TV. To most of the NFL, the Cincinnati Dillon didn't even exist.
"It was the first game, on national TV, the opener and then you win your opener, that was different for him," Charley Dillon said. "It was just a big stage, and you could see the happiness coming out of him."
Maybe all he needed was a home where everybody cared about the same thing. The Dillon who seemed so sullen in his one season at the University of Washington never appeared to enjoy the NFL, either. Cincinnati seemed the perfect opportunity for him then, it was a losing team without a star or an identity, and right from the start it was clear Corey Dillon could be a huge star with the Bengals.
It turned out to be the worst situation. The better Dillon got, the worse Cincinnati was. And instead of being the great star who could heal a frayed football soul, he was blamed for all the franchise's failures.
So when the trade came, sending the petulant superstar to the one team devoid of any true ego, everybody held their breath and waited for the explosion. Instead, a smile spread wide across Dillon's face. Winning cures a lot of hate.
"You'd be mad, too, losing all the time and playing your heart out while all the other players were saying they don't want to block for you," Dillon's mother Jerline said. "Now he says it feels a whole lot better, like being released from jail.
"In New England, he knows everybody has got his back and he has theirs."
They have a party scheduled tomorrow at the house Corey bought for his mother when he got his first football contract. It's a dream house, in the Rainier Valley, just two blocks from Lake Washington, a place so perfect to Jerline she says she could have drawn the plans herself. They will gather around the big-screen television Corey gave them.
There will be a crowd at Jerline Dillon's house. Her two oldest sons will be there, as will many of Corey's old teammates from Franklin High School who seem to stop by when his games are on TV. There will be neighbors, too, and maybe some friends. Like on most Sundays, Jerline will have to scramble to find enough chairs.
But it doesn't matter how many chairs they have to dig up or how much more spaghetti Jerline will have to cook in the kitchen, her son is in the Super Bowl and she knows this has made him very happy.
"I want him to get that ring so bad," she said. "Oh, you can't put it into words. For one thing it will make him forget all the pains and all the licks he got in Cincinnati where he had nothing to show for it. It will make him feel like he accomplished something."
Those in Seattle who thought they had Dillon figured out as a surly malcontent would be shocked to see him now. He barely stopped smiling this week at the Super Bowl. He was asked if he thinks there is pressure, and he laughed.
For the first time in his career, he said he feels no pressure.
"When I signed with the Pats I knew we were going to win some football games," he said. "I also knew the pressure wasn't going to be on me to strap a franchise on my back and take them to the Super Bowl. Just look at it. Without me, they won two out of the last three. With me coming in, I was more relaxed in knowing we had guys who could get things done.
"All I had to do was focus on doing my part."
He has had his best season, finishing with 1,635 yards, third-best in the NFL. The experiment that was supposed to make everybody cringe has turned out to be the move that made Corey Dillon happy. Who knew?
The other day Charley Dillon thought back to last winter, to a time when it was clear the Bengals were going to trade his brother. At the time, Dallas and Oakland were considered the top candidates. Charley Dillon sighed. Imagine if one of those teams had traded for Corey, he said. It would have been the same as Cincinnati.
Sometimes luck does shine.
"He's having fun," Charley Dillon said. "He said it's just fun being around people who have the winning spirit in them. It's like they're a family."
He is happy at last.
Les Carpenter: 206-464-2280 or lcarpenter@seattletimes.com