Muscle and Mayhem

So far this year, Ferguson estimates that he has "popped 25 arms" or dislocated 25 shoulders. He grabs an opponent's hand, swivels it behind his back and then jerks upward. When that doesn't work, he resorts to simpler methods: Once this year, he picked up a 220-pound opponent and threw him 10 feet into the air.

"I'd be scared to fight against me," Ferguson said. "I'm all muscle and desire."

Question is, could Ferguson be too dedicated? Judo has left some lasting marks on his body -- early signs of arthritis, a finger so swollen his wedding ring won't fit -- that Ferguson seems to ignore.

Last year, doctors told Ferguson to give a torn thigh muscle six weeks to heal. He fought in the Pan Am Games less than two weeks later, finishing third. At the Olympic trials this month, Ferguson won despite a groin injury that kept him from moving side-to-side.

Ferguson's body never screamed louder for rest than it did about a year ago, when he tore his lateral collateral ligament and needed major replacement surgery. Doctors told Ferguson the injury would take nine months to heal. Finally, friends thought, Ferguson would be forced to spend a week in bed.

"That was so tough for him," said Rufus Ferguson, Rhadi's father. "But we thought he would relax and give himself time to heal."

Instead, Ferguson woke up at 5 a.m. after his surgery and hobbled into the weight room on his crutches. He lifted upper-body weights for more than an hour, until a combination of pain and anesthesia made his so nauseous he went to the bathroom to vomit.

"People came up and asked me what I was thinking," said Ferguson, who ended up recovering from the torn LCL in about five months. "I told them I was thinking about going to the Olympics. I was thinking about staying in shape and fulfilling a goal."

"He borders on crazy," said Lloyd Irvin, who teaches Ferguson jujitsu. "But once he decides that he's going to do something, there's no way he's stopping."

And hence the pattern that has sculpted Ferguson's life: Define a goal and aggressively achieve it.

He wanted to play three sports at Howard, so he did. He wanted to amass a bevy of degrees, to become a "lifetime learner," so he got a Master's in education, became a certified strength and conditioning specialist and started working toward his Ph.D.

He even pursued his wife, Traci, the same way. She came to one of his football games at Howard and, that same day, he told her they would get married. She resisted for five years, but he eventually achieved his goal.

"Rhadi was just so persistent," Traci said. "He always gets what he wants."

That's why friends take Ferguson seriously when he talks about his next goal: playing in the NFL. Ferguson had a solid college career as a gritty running back, but a major shoulder injury kept him from going to the NFL coaches combine for prospective players. Plus, judo has left him so broke -- he spent $30,000 traveling to competitions last year alone -- that he wants to make money fast.

"He has the skills," said Rufus, who played for the Atlanta Falcons in the late 1970s. "He could very easily be at that level."

"He'd be in the best pure shape of anybody in the league," said Santana, who works with about 20 NFL players. "And if he says that's what he wants to do, I sure don't have any reason to doubt him."