Many people have been described as having ants in their pants, but Cowboys fullback Lawrence Vickers knows the reality of the situation.
Vickers hurried off the field during Cowboys practice on Wednesday with what Brent Shirley of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram thought was a groin injury. It didn’t turn out to be a muscular problem that caused Vickers to leave practice, however. It turns out that his pants were infested by ants, which is problematic since Vickers is allergic to the critters.
“I was doing the play,” Vickers said. “I was running, and I was blocking someone. Then I walk off, and I’m like ‘oh snap.’ And I pulled my pants down to see, and I saw ants. As soon as I got bit, I was like ‘no,’ because I didn’t want to freak out. I wanted to pull my pants down and run inside, but I couldn’t do that.”
Vickers showered and took some Benadryl, precautions he learned from an incident earlier this year when ant bites cause him to start wheezing while his neck swelled up. Vickers, who carries an Epipen in the event of allergy emergencies, was able to return to practice after scrubbing down.
We’ll be watching this season to see if any defensive coordinators use an ant-based strategy to thwart Dallas’ attempt to convert a short yardage play by running behind Vickers.