Contra Costa Times: Cal's hero for a day

TEPPER, HIT BY CAR, HOPES TO RETURN TO FIELD SOON

By Jay Heater

The little wince of pain on the face of Cal tackle Mike Tepper isn't directly related to his harrowing experience along Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley on June 26. It has been almost four months since Tepper was run over by a car twice after some men pulled over to harass Cal volleyball player Camille Leffall as she and Tepper walked to a party. Tepper's rebuilt foot and ankle still are sore on occasion, but it's the playful taunts he gets from his teammates that really cause him pain.

`` `Here comes the hero,' is one of the things they will say,'' Tepper said. ``Or `Let's ask the hero for some advice.' '' He smiles at the quips, but it is a forced smile. He wants to move on, though he was heroic in the incident. Tepper knocked Leffall out of the way before a car backed over his foot and then pulled forward to run over him again. ``It's a good thing he pushed me out of the way, because my body couldn't have handled it,'' Leffall said. Several organizations sent Tepper applications for their heroism awards. He never filled them out. ``I don't think of what I did as heroic,'' he said. Cal's sports information department did enter Tepper into consideration for the Disney Wide World of Sports Spirit Award and a Football Writers Association award that recognizes courage in the face of adversity.

He said he doesn't care about the outcome. Physically, he is progressing quite nicely. His goal is to play against USC on Nov. 12, and if he can't make that game, he is hoping for some snaps the following week against Stanford. Doctors originally had contemplated amputating his right foot and later told him he would be lucky to walk. But he has progressed so well that he expects to return to practice the first week of November. That's quite a feat considering it took doctors 1 1/2 hours to stop his ankle and foot from bleeding after the accident. ``My tibia punctured an artery in my foot,'' he said. ``I ended up with a broken fibula, a dislocated tibia and nerve damage. I have six screws and a metal plate in there. And I'm just starting to get feeling back.'' In a perfect world, Tepper would be playing tackle Saturday against Washington State at Memorial Stadium. He came out of spring ball as the Bears' top backup tackle. A 6-foot-6, 325-pound freshman, Tepper appeared to be on the fast track to success. Then came the incident. Since then, left tackle Andrew Cameron tore a knee ligament, an injury that has ended his season. And right tackle Ryan O'Callaghan has suffered a broken wrist and a concussion. Naturally, Coach Jeff Tedford can't wait to get Tepper back. ``He definitely was in the rotation,'' Tedford said. ``He would have brought more competition to the position.'' Tepper said he realized a return to football will be another sign that the incident is behind him. He has to testify in the criminal trial of Berkeley's John Ray Smith, who is accused of driving the car that ran over Tepper, on Nov. 25 in Alameda County Superior Court. Tepper doesn't want other reminders.