Ax Mishap Costs Jaguars Their Punter

AP/Yahoo ^ | 10/9/03 | Eddie Pells

[martin_fierro]

Ax Mishap Costs Jaguars Their Punter

By EDDIE PELLS, AP Sports Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Chris Hanson swung and missed. No, not at a ball he was trying to kick, but at the wood he was trying to chop.

The Jaguars punter needed surgery to close up a gash on his right, non-kicking, leg Thursday after he miscalibrated while using an ax to hack at the massive tree stump that coach Jack Del Rio placed in the locker room a few weeks ago.

Del Rio used the stump as a symbol for the mantra he has adopted for the Jaguars (1-4) this season: "Keep chopping wood."

Hanson took the message literally, and wound up being rushed to the hospital, where he received several stitches, team spokesman Dan Edwards said. Hanson's leg will be in a boot for four to six weeks, and the team hasn't decided whether to place him on injured reserve, Edwards said.

Beginning with Sunday's game against Miami, Jacksonville's only Pro Bowl player from last season will be replaced by Mark Royals, who was cut earlier this year by the Dolphins.

The accident happened while position players were in meetings.

"Specialists have more free time on their hands," Del Rio explained.

After the team fell to 0-3, Del Rio had the tree stump placed in the middle of the locker room, set atop a plastic tarp, and equipped with an ax planted in the base of the log. The stump and ax remained in the room over the last two weeks, and every now and then, players would hack away, spraying wood chips all about the teal carpeting.

On Thursday, when the media was allowed into the locker room, the stump was still there, albeit much worse for wear. The ax, meanwhile, was gone. Asked what happened to the ax, several players just shook their heads and smiled.

Del Rio opened his daily news conference by saying Hanson suffered an accident. Asked what kind of accident, he said it was "a locker room accident." Pressed further, Del Rio acknowledged it was with the ax.

Thus marked a bad ending to a pretty decent motivational idea. After Jacksonville's bad start, the first-year coach insisted to the team to "keep chopping wood," telling the players that hard work was the only way to solve their problems.

"The message was understood," he said. The log, he said, "was symbolic more than anything else. The thing was on its way out, but just not soon enough."

This isn't the first time Hanson has been injured in an unconventional manner.

In June 2002, Hanson, his wife and former Jaguars kicker Jaret Holmes were severely burned while they were making fondue at Hanson's house, and the fondue pot overturned.

[martin_fierro]

It was an axident.

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[billhilly]

Del Rio, when professional athletes talk about woodies, they most often are not talking about stumps.

[martin_fierro]

	Industrial Strength Humor
No amateurs, please. Send FReepmail if you want on/off ISHP list

Mmmmmmm, cheeeese.

[xsmommy]

really put his foot in it this time, didn't he?

[Viva Le Dissention]

Wow, I really hate to laugh here, but it's just too amazing.

Keep chopping wood? What? Dumb all around.

[martin_fierro]

Chris "Grace" Hanson

[martin_fierro]

MUST you axe a rhetorical question.

[xsmommy]

no need to chop my head off !!

[dennisw]

What they should have used was a whiffle ball axe and a plastic tree stump. ***SAFE PLAYGROUNDS APPROVED***

[xsmommy]

dang, he's a cutie : )

[martin_fierro]

I did knot.

[strela]

I can't even throw in the obligatory joke on this topic - I came within an inch of severing my hand with a chainsaw today. It slipped as I was cutting a tree limb, and the chain brake was the only thing that kept me from having to get help opening my catsup bottles for the rest of my life.

The cuts from the chain will remind me of how stupid I was for the next few weeks.

[martin_fierro]

dang, he's a cutie : )

You go for those "burl"-y types, huh.

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

Do you think he will be "axed" from the team?

[martin_fierro]

Like all businesses, I imagine the Jags have a hatchet-man. <|:P~

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

He was a cut above the rest of his teammates.

[pitinkie]

I am sorry to say they are my team!

[martin_fierro]

TALK ABOUT A JAG-OFF!

[Willie Green]

Del Rio used the stump as a symbol for the mantra he has adopted for the Jaguars (1-4) this season: "Keep chopping wood."

Somewhere in football heaven, Vince Lombardi is ROTFLHAO.
"WTF kind of inspirational mantra is that?" he wonders.

[mountaineer]

This guy's an accident waiting to happen. I mean really, when a lockerroom log and a fondue pot have you whipped, there's not much hope for you.

[CindyDawg]

Actually wood chopping is a sport. Haven't you ever watched them split logs and climb poles and axe um? Most interesting :')

[martin_fierro]

I've seen that. Those guys are AWESOME.

Some hack through a big log in under 20 strokes.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[As i mentioned, the B/C & JD! lists are going to float into and out of whack over the forseeable future, while I try to cobble a rig back together for myself. My apologies for any incovenience or misunderstandings in this time frame. New signups/removals may be flaky in this time-frame as well; please bear with me, and keep in mind you may have to FReepmail me more than once for me to get it done. Thanks again!]

[vollmond]

How long until this gets blamed on Matt Hatchette (WR-Jax)?

[Slings and Arrows]

He was having a philosophical crisis. He started to question his ax-ioms.

[dennisw]

You just reminded me why I hate using chainsaws. Though I don't mind the tinker toy electric ones. Do roofing long enough and eventually you'll fall off a roof.

[strela]

Do roofing long enough and eventually you'll fall off a roof.

Or installing TV antennas. I've fallen off twice (one was a 2-story) - I don't recommend it for an afternoon's entertainment.

[martin_fierro]

Easy for hew to say.

[Hammerhead]

Where's that Fire Marshall Bill photo?????

[F.J. Mitchell]

Who axed for your opinion?

[F.J. Mitchell]

"Some hack through a big log in under 20 strokes."

Takes longer for those who have to hack through their foot too.

[Slings and Arrows]

That's what Shakespeare called chop-logic.

[solitas]

Just wait'll OSHA gets a-hold of that coach.

[The_Media_never_lie]

I think Hanson should contract out all work involving power tools.

[dennisw]

Same for skydiving stunts like that guy who boinked his head against a bridge as he came down then sp-latted 300 feet down.

[Northern Yankee]

Wonder if he'll get cut from the team?

[Charles Henrickson]

He's a lumberjack and he's OK.

[strela]

Yeah, I remember that one. I always cringe watching diving competitions on TV, remembering one poor schmuck who hit the platform on the way down years ago. Blood all over the board and in the water - ick.

[JoeSixPack1]

Well, Coach, send him to ballet class while he's healing.

He's obviously got the finesse of a boarhog with two noses.

[ErnBatavia]

they most often are not talking about stumps.

Well, that "steroid thing" story could be true, so maybe they are.

[Steely Glint]

Back when I was playing ball (back in the days when buffalo romaed the plains) our starting halfback amputated most of his right calf with a chainsaw. It was ugly.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I wonder if he'll get cut from the team now...

[js1138]

Sfomething in the air in Jacksonville. My son did the same thing. There's a problem with folks using instruments they didn't grow up with.

[Dog Gone]

Jack Del Rio was a dang good linebacker.

But he might get axed as a coach.

[mwfsu84]

Jaguars season ticket holder here. Considering how many bad (and bizzare) things have happened to us over the last three seasons, this latest event seems perfectly normal.

Have some sympathy for Chris Hanson - as our punter, he's probably the most overworked man in the NFL.

[ccmay]

In June 2002, Hanson, his wife and former Jaguars kicker Jaret Holmes were severely burned while they were making fondue at Hanson's house, and the fondue pot overturned.

I'll bet. Didn't Richard Pryor say something like that too?

-ccm

[Captainpaintball]

Fondue is VERY dangerous. I make it a habit of staying at least 20 yards away from a fondue pot, and at least 10 feet from any snack/chip/bowl/fork set-up. It's just not worth it, man.