DC ExtraTime: Sir Chuck, Two Footballers, and That Ty Guy

From during The Challenge Invasion

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

February is a busy month for sports fans: of course two weeks ago the New England Patriots pulled off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, by a mile, in stunning the Atlanta Falcons in Houston. This weekend is the NBA All-Star Game, taking place in New Orleans this year on short notice after a controversial state law forced the events out of Charlotte. NASCAR's Daytona 500 is not that far away, and we've also had college basketball, Australian Open tennis, All-Star Games and much more. And the 2018 Olympics begin in 51 weeks from now - evidence being Bob Costas passing his NBC host duties to Mike Tirico, the World Alpine Championships, and an Olympic hopeful, snowboarder Maddie Mastro, giving me an Instagram follow while in Korea for test events ahead of next year's Games. Along with the launch of this Challenge, this offers the backdrop for this piece of ExtraTime, where the person in focus has met a few well-known athletic luminaries.

When we met Ty Ruff on Real World D.C. back in 2010, he came to the District straight out of college. Having being abandoned by his biological parents, Ty was moved around all over Baltimore in foster homes before being adopted at age 5, eventually growing up in a neighborhood he compares to one seen on HBO's The Wire. Being one who relies on just himself, Ty considers himself smart, handsome, athletic, opinionated, funny, and tempered sometimes.

In the house in DuPont Circle, he became close to Emily shortly after moving in and they had an attraction that stayed throughout the season, which challenged the both of them emotionally and physically. He also pushed a Denver cartoonist famous for wearing panda hats in the house, Andrew, off the balcony by the side of their house, and sending him to the hospital. Then, Ty emerged onto The Challenge on Cutthroat where, not surprisingly, he got into words with Gulag master Brandon, which saw them get paired up on Rivals I. There, Ty was also the target of a fight that took place on the first night where Back to Vegas' Adam R. threw a punch at him which sent the bad boy (and now, new dad) home. Then on the first Exes, he got close to Challenge stalwart Paula causing a riff with Emily, but he overcame that to win 3 eliminations en route to a 3rd place finish. And on Rivals III, Ty & Leroy were recipients of a win by a DQ, then lost a close battle to Jordan & J-Deezy Marlon.

Since Ty moved out from the cold of Connecticut to the sunny climate of SoCal, he has had the opportunity to meet three notable people, all having played on the biggest stage in their various sports and also having done broadcast work as well. And you can't ask for a better first subject in offering these photos from his rarely-used Twitter, @The_Ty_Ruff.

● First, the aforementioned NBA All-Star Weekend is taking place this weekend, which again was planned for Charlotte until North Carolina's HB2 law intervened. In 1991 in that city, Charles Barkley had one of his best days of his NBA career when he received the Most Valuable Player award. Sir Charles enjoyed a stellar career as a member of the renowned 1984 draft class along with Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton and Hakeem Olajuwon, all of whom (along with Brazilian basketball legend Oscar Schmidt) would join him in the Basketball Hall of Fame and wore the USA colors at the Olympics - the first three as part of the '92 Dream Team. And though he's never tasted an NBA title, Barkley's shining moment has been of spending over 15 years with Kenny Smith and host Ernie Johnson on Inside the NBA on TNT. And few years ago, Ty met with Chuck at one of those events when the legend wasn't in Atlanta alongside them and Shaquille O'Neal.

● Second, another Hall of Famer who's transitioned to television is Michael Strahan. The NFL player was drafted by the New York Giants in 1993 and in the salary-cap era was one of a handful of players to spend his entire career with one team. Few defensive ends in the league had the kind of dominance Strahan had during his career, being named Defensive Player of the Year three times either in the entire league or in the NFC, and considered by many the gold standard at his defensive end position. Strahan would stick around long enough to receive a Super Bowl ring when the Giants upset the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII in 2008 where had a sack and two tackles in what turned out to be his last game, with having the all-time career and single season sack records. And shortly after, he would join the FOX NFL Sunday pregame show, followed by a stint as co-host on Live with Kelly Ripa and on Good Morning America. Ty also met with Michael too.

● Finally, as Strahan was a constant for Big Blue, a quarterback from Syracuse was emerging to become the face of their bitter NFC East rivals. Donovan McNabb played in the NFL for 13 seasons, and was picked by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1999 NFL Draft, becoming their starting quarterback. Under his wing, the Birds won five NFC East titles, went to five NFC title games, and stood strong in Super Bowl XXXIX in stretching the defending champion Patriots to the limit. McNabb became the club's all-time leader in all major passing categories and his career total rushing of just under 3,500 total yards is sixth all-time among QB's when being forced to rush rather than pass. After stints with in Washington and Minnesota after injuries derailed his career, McNabb turned to broadcasting, first with NFL Network, then with FOX, and now with beIN Sports' and ESPN Radio. And like Sir Charles and Michael, Donovan has also met Ty, also.

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG