Nearly a decade later, Joe DeCamillis chuckles at the memory of wearing a neck brace and screaming into a bullhorn at practice.
"It's called stupidity," he said.
With Jacksonville playing at Dallas today, the veteran special-teams coordinator reflected on his time with the Cowboys. It was one of Joe DeCamillis' eight coaching stops -- and most painful -- during a 30-year NFL career.
DeCamillis was inside Dallas' 86-foot-tall practice facility that collapsed during a thunderstorm in May 2009. About 70 people were inside. Twelve were injured.
Scouting assistant Rich Behm was paralyzed from the waist down when his spine was severed. DeCamillis broke his neck but returned to work a little more than a week later wearing a neck brace. He still has physical issues, including occasional numbness in his hands, and gets a little nervous at the sound of lightning and thunder.
"Still feel the effects from it," he said. "I'm going to deal with it every day of my life. It's just part of my life and hopefully I came out of it a better person. Sometimes you have adversity that happens and hopefully you find a way to deal with it."
DeCamillis got a $9.5 million settlement, which included cash and benefits, after the accident from companies responsible for building the tentlike structure.
DeCamillis stayed three more years in Dallas after the accident, then spent two seasons in Chicago and two in Denver before returning to Jacksonville for a second stint in 2017. He won the Super Bowl with the Broncos in 2016.
"What are you going to do? Feel sorry for yourself? Just keep going," DeCamillis said. "Obviously, I was told at that time I might not be able to coach, and eight years later, I'm still coaching. It turned out great."
He hasn't been back to Dallas since he left after the 2012 season. He doesn't expect the trip to be anything special, either.
"As many places as I've been right now, you can't get nostalgic of too many places, that's for sure," he said. "I just want to get in, get out and hopefully get a win.
"There's a lot of good people at that place. I'm looking forward to going back and seeing them."
Not Mac's fault
The New York Giants fell to 1-5 on Thursday night after a 34-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and the chorus of criticism for longtime Giants quarterback Eli Manning is growing louder.
The play of the 37-year-old Manning has fallen sharply, and at least one former New York player says it's time to stop pointing fingers at everyone else.
On Friday, Geno Smith, who spent last year as one of Manning's backups and is now Philip Rivers' backup with the Chargers, came to the defense of former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo.
"Y'all owe my boy Mac an apology!!" Smith tweeted Friday.
McAdoo came under fire last season for benching Manning, who had started every game since Week 10 of his rookie season in 2004 for the franchise, and also winning two Super Bowl rings. In Week 12, McAdoo sat Manning, and Smith started and played the entire game against Oakland.
Much criticism came for benching Manning and ending his streak of consecutive starts when he wasn't injured. Some came because Smith was looked at as a known entity after his time with the Jets (then-rookie Davis Webb, who had been a third-round pick, did not get a chance to start or even take any snaps).
Smith made only one start. McAdoo was fired the next day. And after the firestorm, Manning was back as the starter a week later.
SPORTS TRIVIA
Eli Manning has been selected to how many Pro Bowls?
ANSWER
Four (2008, 2011, 2012, 2015)
Sports on 10/14/2018