Everson Walls to give former teammate kidney.

[MosesGuthrie]

Great story.

link (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2694968)

Former NFL cornerback Everson Walls is giving an old friend and teammate a gift for life.

The Washington Post reported that Walls has agreed to donate a kidney to former Dallas Cowboys teammate Ron Springs and that surgery is imminent.

Springs' son Shawn Springs, a cornerback with the Washington Redskins, told the newspaper that surgery could take place "any day now."

According to the newspaper, Ron Springs, 50, has diabetes and has been undergoing dialysis to get ready for surgery.

Shawn Springs offered to end his career and donate a kidney, but his father would not allow any of his children to be tested, the newspaper reported.

"Everson Walls is my dad's best friend and somebody who taught me a lot about being a cornerback in the NFL," the younger Springs told the Post.

Walls and Springs were Cowboys teammates between 1981 and 1984.






Props to Everson for this and props to Shawn Springs for putting his family first with the offer of one of his kidneys.

[Taco]

I Heard That On The Radio

Pretty Cool

[mardigan]

Great person, great friend, great story

[Taco]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6519530?MSNHPHMA

Walls donates kidney to ex-teammate Springs
/ Associated Press
Posted: 13 hours ago

DALLAS (AP) - Ron Springs and Everson Walls will always share a bond forged over their years as teammates on the Dallas Cowboys. That's nothing compared to their newest link — the kidney Walls donated to Springs

Springs and Walls were recovering at Medical City Hospital on Thursday, a day after the transplant operation — the first between two former U.S. professional athletes.

"That's brotherly love," Springs told The Associated Press in December. "It's something you can't explain, but something that I will always think about every day for the rest of my life."

The former football stars and their doctors are scheduled to hold a news conference Friday. The players hope they can inspire others to become organ donors by sharing their story.

The only other known transplants involving former pro athletes as donors include Greg Ostertag giving a kidney to his sister in 2002 when he was playing for the Utah Jazz, and basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson donating a kidney to his daughter in 1997. Several pro athletes have received an organ, with basketball players Alonzo Mourning and Sean Elliott returning to play in the NBA following their ordeals.

The 50-year-old Springs has suffered from diabetes for 16 years and has been on the national transplant waiting list since 2004. The disease has led to the amputation of his right foot and the big and middle toes on his left foot, and caused his hands to curl into knots. He also was forced into a wheelchair and needed dialysis three times a week.

Providing his body accepts Walls' kidney, Springs will no longer need dialysis and can expect his hands to regain their normal form. He also should again be able to walk on his own.

"It's like getting a new battery in a car," Springs said in December. "I'll be able to be back to basically almost 100 percent normal."

The 47-year-old Walls volunteered to be tested after things fell through with two of Springs' relatives who were perfect matches.

"I said, 'Well, look, I know my blood type is the same as his. Why not give it a shot and see what happens?"' Walls said in December.

Springs and Walls became fast friends during Walls' first training camp with the Cowboys. They played together only four years (1981-84), but their close relationship continued, enhanced by their wives and children being close with each other, too.

The duo had wanted to keep the transplant quiet until it happened, but word leaked in December through Springs' oldest son, Shawn, who plays cornerback — Walls' old position - for the Washington Redskins.

Ron Springs joined the Cowboys in 1979 and became a starter alongside Tony Dorsett in '81, the year Walls arrived as an undrafted rookie from Grambling. Springs left in 1985, finishing his career with two seasons in Tampa Bay.

Walls led the NFL in interceptions his first two seasons and again in '85, making him the only three-time leader in NFL history. He picked off 57 passes and made the Pro Bowl four times over his 14-year career, which included stints with the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns.

[mardigan]

Shawn Springs flies to Dallas to be with father
Associated Press

Updated: October 16, 2007, 7:26 PM ET
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DALLAS -- Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ron Springs has been hospitalized in a coma, more than seven months after receiving a kidney donated by ex-teammate Everson Walls.

The Washington Redskins said Tuesday that cornerback Shawn Springs, son of the 50-year-old Springs, has left the team to be with his father.

"[Shawn] has flown down there -- it's a very tough time for them because I think it's very, very serious," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused Ron Springs, who has diabetes, to lapse into a coma or when he was hospitalized. Calls to the family weren't returned.

Dallas-Fort Worth television station KTVT first reported Springs' condition.

In February, Walls donated his kidney to the ailing Springs, who had suffered from diabetes for 16 years and had been on the national transplant waiting list since 2004. It was the first transplant between two former U.S. professional athletes.

The disease confined Springs to a wheelchair and led to the amputation of his right foot and the big and middle toes on his left foot.

In an August interview with The Associated Press, Springs said he could feel his health improving each day since the transplant.

"I'm feeling very good," he said at the time. "Every day I get a little bit better."

Springs played eight seasons in the NFL -- six with the Cowboys and two in Tampa Bay -- before retiring after the 1986 season. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Cowboys out of Ohio State.

In the four seasons Springs and Walls played together in Dallas, the two forged a strong friendship. Springs is the godfather of Walls' oldest daughter, and Walls received the same honor for Springs' youngest.

This summer, Ron and Shawn Springs visited several cities in a campaign to increase awareness of diabetes.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3066349