Gibson greets spotlight Monday, September 14, 1998
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PONTIAC, Mich. -- Damon Gibson finally got drafted Sunday.
Damon Gibson talks with backup QB Paul Justin after his 65-yard punt return for a TD.
(AP photo)
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ESPN Radio chose him to go on the air after he did his Barry Sanders impersonation to the Lions with a vicious cutback on a 65-yard punt return for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
"Thanks for having me on," Gibson told the nation. But it's the Bengals who are thankful they have the rookie free agent from Iowa who has wriggled out of obscurity to become their most exciting punt returner of the not-so-special 1990s.
The 5-foot-9, 184-pound Gibson shocked the Silverdome crowd by taking John Jett's punt at his own 35, backing out of traffic at the 40 on the right sideline, racing to the left sideline before turning it loose at about the Detroit 45 and riding blindside blocks from Tremain Mack on safety Ron Rice and linebacker Reinard Wilson on the poor Jett.
"He'd been kicking it to the middle, so we set up a return to (the right)," Gibson said. "But he kicked it that way and there was too many people over there, so I took it back the other way. I saw Tremain getting ready to block that guy, so I knew I was getting past him."
It's not like Gibson hasn't done this before. He figures he returned about six punts for scores as a Houston schoolboy. But until this summer, he hadn't returned punts since roughly the last time the Bengals broke a punt for a touchdown.
That happened nearly four years ago, by a then-rookie named Corey Sawyer.
At Iowa, Gibson took a back seat to fellow wide receiver Tim Dwight, who turned his return feats into a fourth-round draft selection by Atlanta. Dwight already has one NFL touchdown reception, but the undrafted Gibson beat him to the first punt-return TD.
"We're good friends, we talked last week," Gibson said. "Who knows? He might get one (Sunday). I saw him do a lot of returns and he was real good. I looked at him and I thought I could do it. People might be surprised I'm here and I feel blessed. But when you go in with your head up knowing what you can do, it's no big deal because I've always had confidence I could do it."
Someone asked if he would call Dwight to tell him about the play. "No," Gibson said. "He'll probably see it on the highlights and call me."
BENGALS 34, LIONS 28
