AUSTIN — Earl Campbell, one of the most celebrated football heroes in Texas, leaned on a metal walker and shuffled to the front of his office last week to greet visitors.
He said he has had both knees replaced and had four back surgeries and battled substance abuse since his playing career ended three decades ago. Among the most punishing runners in NFL history, Campbell, 61, wants people who consider him a living legend to know he is, indeed, still living.
“I haven’t gone nowhere yet,” said Campbell, who starred for the Houston Oilers, earned induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991 and about a decade ago spent 45 days in a rehab facility for abuse of painkillers and alcohol.
He is proud of his recovery — sober for almost nine years, he reported — and for helping Houston secure the right to host Super Bowl LI on Sunday at NRG Stadium. But he expressed little enthusiasm for watching the New England Patriots play the Atlanta Falcons.
In fact, Campbell compared current play in the NFL to professional wrestling.
