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Stabbing gives OU's Alexander new outlook

 
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
Published: 10/29/2008  2:13 AM
Last Modified: 10/29/2008  2:16 AM

 NORMAN — The timing could not have been better for Frank Alexander to show up Tuesday at Oklahoma's weekly football news conference.

Perhaps his story can provide a dose of reality to those frantic OU fans who are demanding the Sooners' hemorrhaging defense find a way to patch things up before it is too late.

"Stop the bleeding" is an over-used expression in the sports world. But Alexander knows it only takes one time in the real world for those three words to have a life-altering impact.

In the wee morning hours on Aug. 31, a dazed Alexander watched blood flow down his right arm as his friends tried to stop it by making a shirt into a tourniquet. Alexander didn't immediately realize he had been stabbed because he was woozy after someone smashed a bottle across his forehead.

A redshirt defensive end, Alexander was at a private party celebrating the Sooners' 57-2 season-opening win over Tennessee-Chattanooga a few hours earlier. A brawl broke out about 2:30 a.m. when several people tried to crash the party.

When they were refused admittance, according to police reports, they waited outside until the party was over to accost the invited guests.

"He (Alexander) was a victim," OU coach Bob Stoops said Tuesday.

OU freshman basketball player Ray Willis also was stabbed in the fight, which allegedly involved guns, knives and tire irons. A 19-year-old female was struck by a vehicle outside the club.

"We went to a party after the game just to have fun and do the normal things that teenagers do," said the 18-year-old Alexander. "I was shocked that it happened." I don't know the details, but I guess some (intruders) were envious of us because we were doing something positive."

Alexander didn't realized how serious the stab wound was until one his friends "said he saw my muscle flapping.

"I didn't want to look at it, because I knew if I saw it, I would have freaked out."

After his friends rushed him to Norman Regional Hospital, Alexander got an idea of the severity of the wound when a doctor removed the shirt/tourniquet "and blood started gushing out. It was scary."

Emergency surgery repaired the sliced muscle after a doctor showed Alexander X-rays of the damage and told him he "was lucky because the cut was so deep it almost cut my artery and tendon and I could have bled to death."

Alexander was released from the hospital a day later. But he missed the next four games and will play for the first time without a brace on the injured arm Saturday when No. 4 OU (7-1, 3-1 Big 12) hosts Nebraska (5-3, 2-2) at 7 p.m. on Owen Field.

The 6-foot-4, 249-pound Alexander has made steady improvement since his return and worked himself into the rotation. Alexander, capable of playing both defensive end spots, had a big hit on Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman last week that caused a fumble recovered by OU.

"I just want to go out there and make plays for my team because I felt like I let them down by getting in that altercation," Alexander said.

His teammates were not the only ones Alexander said he disappointed. When he came out of the anesthesia after the surgery, the first people he saw were his parents, Frank and Juanita Alexander, who made the trip from Baton Rouge, La., to see their son's first college game.

"They were hurt," Alexander said. "I was just glad it wasn't too serious where it would have taken my life."

Alexander said he would not have been in that hospital bed if he had heeded a warning his mother gave him several times in high school and when he left for college.

"My mom always told me that after 12 (midnight) nothing good happens," Alexander said. "She didn't say it to me in the hospital because she was scared.

"But everything happens for a reason. So I guess that (incident) was the key to let me know I needed to slow down. Now I tell everyone to get in early."

The football field is the one place where slow isn't a part of Alexander's vocabulary.

Now that he has regained his health, Alexander is determined to do his part to improve an OU defense that has been in free fall since the Oct. 11 loss to Texas.

"Oklahoma is known for good defense," Alexander said. "So we know that we've got to get more focused and take everything serious.

"I think we get caught up in the hype sometimes and thinking nothing can happen to us."

Alexander knows better. He is now aware that life can jump up and smack you when you least expect it to happen. And it can be a lot worse than a team with a leaky defense.
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist

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2 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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Rhymeister, Tulsa (10/30/2008 8:58:39 AM)
Good to hear that Alexander's recovered. It is a crazy, violent world we live in, sad, isn't it?
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gbinder, (10/30/2008 11:04:23 AM)
I'm glad to hear Alexander is doing well and back in action! I had to laugh (now that he's okay) at his moms "after midnight" remark. It's something we've often told our kids over the years too. We're just so thankful this young man has learned a valuable lesson and is apparently passing it on to others. We wish him a great future as a college student and athlete at OU. I hope he has an "okay" game against NU and a great rest of the season.... (I think you understand) Go Big Red! And blessings to the Alexander family!!
 

 
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