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Both of them
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,225
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It's a hard-hitting assignment
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/188706.html
Quote:
The battered helmet finally found a resting place on the top shelf of fullback Cory Schlesinger's locker. Another practice over. Another beating ended.
It's a sad story, really. If a facemask had feelings, this one would be silently sulking, drained from the unglamorous heroism it had just endured. It's staring down at Schlesinger now, decrepit but loyal, tired but relentless.
''This one isn't too bad yet,'' the Dolphins fullback says, flipping the hard hat off the shelf and into his hand. ``But you see how this is all flat over here? And this is starting to stick out a little? Pretty soon, this bar will be bent down. And this thing will be into that.''
It's a strong bond, this relationship between a player and his helmet. But it won't last long. It has only been four days, and the end is almost near. Soon enough, the trainers will replace it with a shiny new one.
TOUGH COMPETITOR
Unbent. Unhazed. And unknowing that it just got screwed (literally) onto the helmet of the most facemask-abusing player in the Dolphins locker room -- and maybe even the NFL.
''I'm going to go through at least one a game,'' Schlesinger said. ``Sometimes, I go through two a game. They'll switch them out at halftime. They just have to do it pretty fast because those get smashed pretty good. They even carry extra helmets for me.''
No joke, Schlesinger figures he has run through more than 200 facemasks during the past 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions. After the Dolphins signed Schlesinger as a free agent this offseason, an equipment manager from the Lions actually called with a warning.
As a result, Miami equipment manager Joe Cimino ordered more than double the normal amount of facemasks (the same style used by defensive tackle Keith Traylor).
Yet amazingly, for as often as Schlesinger's facemasks are forced out of commission, it will be far less likely to see the fullback himself looking worn down. For someone who regularly bends steel, Schlesinger's durability as a player fits him perfectly.
He says proudly that he never has sustained an injury that required surgery during his career. Time to knock on wood?
''No,'' he says. ``I don't need it.''
Forget luck. It might be more about his toughness, considering he talks about a laundry list of injuries as if he only broke a few nails.
''I broke my leg, I broke my fibula, cracked a vertebrae in my back,'' Schlesinger said. ``I separated my collar bone from my sternum. Um, high ankle sprain. A few hamstrings. That's about it.''
Schlesinger even says bent facemasks actually might not be a bad thing, considering the alternative of plowing through a battle at the line of scrimmage. Reason being, the best blockers keep their heads up at impact.
''When you start having marks on the top of your helmet, that's not a good thing,'' he says. ``If you see what you're hitting, and you're bending your facemask, that's perfect.''
Perfect for his neck. And potentially perfect for running back Ronnie Brown. Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Schlesinger's hard-nosed mentality, Brown will have a weapon in front of him that he hasn't had in his first two years in Miami.
Schlesinger is one of the league's most respected blocking fullbacks. And some have said he could provide Brown with the same asset that Pro Bowl fullback Lorenzo Neal provided running back LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego when coach Cam Cameron ran the Chargers' offense.
PHYSICAL BLOCKER
''That's the thing, the fullback brings a mind-set, he brings a physicality to what you're doing,'' Cameron said. ``He's critical in short yardage, he's critical in goal line, he's critical in the format of the offense late in the game those guys really make their money because they're always involved in critical situations in the game, more so than anything else.''
Still, Schlesinger would prefer if the comparisons to Neal would stop, noting he has grown tired of such comparisons, hoping to instead leave his own mark.
''When we're out there scoring touchdowns, getting yards on the ground, I'd rather have people compare other players to us,'' Schlesinger said. ``People have always been trying to compare me with other people. Don't compare me. I'm not that person.
``Just let me do my job. Let Ronnie do his job.''
As Schlesinger prepares to launch the latter part of his career in Miami, he is prepared to bring the type of grit and aggression this offense needs. Just like the facemasks that he so often bends, Schlesinger is an undoubtedly selfless, loyal player.
But this fullback doesn't plan to be replaced soon.
''Let me do the blocking,'' Schlesinger said. ``I enjoy it. I get a lot of satisfaction of getting my block and letting Ronnie get some yards. I don't need the glory by getting touchdowns or catching the ball.
``I'd rather get my fix getting a great block that no one even sees than scoring the touchdown. Then, I'll know that I did my job.''
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The man is a warrior. 
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It's a hard-hitting assignment
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