But they seemingly have been unaffected by that whirlwind. The balance is intact between the guy who laughed when he was released by the New England Patriots last October and the girl who cried when she was named All-American 10 years ago. Go ahead, ask Stacy about filling the shoes of an immensely successful coach named Yvonne Kauffman at Elizabethtown College. She assumed that position in March, having previously served as an assistant at her alma mater, and at Duke, Stanford and a private high school in New England. And go ahead, ask Todd about the disappointment of seeing his eight-year stay with the Patriots, four of which he spent as a starting guard, brought to an end by a degenerative condition in his left knee so severe he will one day require replacement surgery.
Money is the ultimate decision maker.
He says this without a hint of self pity. He knew the deal from the moment the Pats made him a second-round draft pick in '93. How there was always pressure to perform, and how if you didn't, you were gone. He beat the curve - eight years with one team is well beyond the NFL norm. But his knee, which he originally hurt in his junior year at PSU and on which seven surgical procedures have been performed, wouldn't allow him to go out there anymore.