GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Eight-year-old Luke Del Rio could not hide the shiner from his father, Jack, then the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
During an innocent game of catch with rookie placekicker Josh Scobee at Alltel Field, Del Rio misjudged the football, caught it with his face and suffered a black eye.
Moments earlier, a panicked Scobee ran to the coach’s son and begged, “Don’t tell your Dad. Don’t tell your Dad. I’ll get cut!,” Del Rio recalled with a laugh Monday. “Yeah, fun times.”
More than a dozen years later, Del Rio returns to the scene of the crime.