A Frightening Off-Field Foe

"The locker-room environment is full of bacteria," said New York Giants center Shaun O'Hara, who suffered a staph infection that wasn't MRSA. "I think now I'm a little more conscious to use anti-bacterial soap and try to be on the lookout. If I see anything even remotely close to something I'm not used to seeing, I'm in the training room and I'm like, 'What's this? Let's take a look at this.' Usually, you think you're invincible. Once you get a dose of this, it brings you back to earth."

O'Hara's illness began with a calf injury suffered during a Sunday game in the 2004 season, he said. He practiced the next day and the following Wednesday. He was getting ready for another practice that Thursday when he noticed his leg was swollen, and a Giants trainer took him to see a doctor. His plan was to be back on the practice field by that afternoon. Instead, he spent five days in the hospital, missed two games and took intravenous antibiotics for about a month.

Noble said that athletic teams in all sports and at all levels need to be vigilant.

"You've got a lot of big guys -- sweaty, with cuts -- outside rubbing on each other," Noble said. "And it just gets passed around. It needs to be addressed, but I don't know how they can do it. The biggest thing, I think, is getting on it right away and getting it taken care of."

Pondering a Comeback

For now, Noble doesn't change his newborn's diapers and rarely holds him because he's worried about his sweat touching him. He worries about his 4-year-old son, Conner, getting cuts when he plays outside. Any time his wife shows a symptom of illness, he thinks about his infection and whether she might have gotten it.

"I couldn't imagine having my children or wife go through it," Noble said. "That would kill me. . . . That Germ-X soap, I've got that everywhere in my house. I spray it on my kids. Every time they walk by, it's like, 'Give me your hands. Wash your hands off.' "

He goes to Redskins Park daily for treatments. He has been experiencing back spasms lately. Yesterday he said he had the 12-inch intravenous catheter removed from his right bicep. With the catheter gone he can now ride an exercise bike and begin getting back in shape. "I'm a free man," Noble said last night.

Noble hasn't completely given up on playing football again. He has one year left on his contract but is well aware that the salary-cap strapped Redskins could save $1.7 million by releasing him.

"My goal right now is to get off those damn crutches, and then after that see how I feel," Noble said. "If I want to come back and play, and if they'll at least give me an opportunity, then I'd probably try to come back. But I'd have to talk to my wife and kids first. I've got a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old and a newborn, and I've been on crutches two of the years my son's been born and pretty much my daughter's whole life. I've been gimped around, so it's taken a toll and my priorities have changed.

"But at the same time, I love the game and I love to play and I love being here, so the next couple of months or weeks or however long it takes me to make a decision will be interesting. I'm sure I'll go back and forth a few times."