Knights coach draws strength from dad

Derek Stingley isn’t getting his dad anything for Father’s Day. Nothing of material value, at least.

Darryl Stingley, the former New England Patriot, doesn’t need a new TV or stereo. Doesn’t need much of anything, really, besides the sound of his son’s loving voice.

So that’s what Derek, the Macon coach, will give the old pro — a Sunday morning phone call, liable to last all afternoon.

“What do you get a man who has everything?” said Derek Stingley, who leads the Knights against Florida tonight in Germain Arena. “The talk is more precious to us than anything. He always tells me how proud he is of me, but I just hope I can be half the father he is.”

It’s no walk in the park. Derek was raised by only one man in Chicago, but the one man felt like two.

The first was Mr. Invincible, the professional football player who threw the kid around like a tackling dummy.

The second was the paraplegic, the wounded wide receiver who needed assistance to get through the day.

Jack Tatum introduced the second figure. In one of the NFL’s most horrific moments, Tatum, the Oakland Raiders headhunter, threw his body into Derek’s dad, leaving the player paralyzed forever.

It’s a story that still garners national attention 28 years later — Tatum hasn’t apologized — but the hit opened a new door for Derek, showing him a side of his father he otherwise wouldn’t have seen.

“He’s not sad or depressed,” said the Macon coach, who was 7 when his father took his final steps. “We don’t think about it unless someone brings it up. That’s been his life for the majority of my life. It’s just second nature to think of him that way. I almost have to take care of him like he’s my son.”

And there’s no bitterness.

Derek became a professional football player himself one day — hanging up his baseball dreams after three seasons in the minors, then diving headlong into the arena circuit — and Darryl didn’t budge when he learned of his son’s plans.

In fact, he was thrilled.

When Derek found himself playing defensive back in the AFL, he turned to the former receiver for advice. Darryl told him to play the game the right way, but he never mentioned anything about letting up.

So Derek stuck at Tatum’s old position for nine years, providing Dad with a new brand of football to follow.

“I still wanted to be just like my father,” said Derek, who retired after the 2004 season. “I wanted to be a professional football player. I wanted to follow in his footsteps.”