Article: NOTEBOOK; Utley Progresses With Thumbs Up, Toes Wiggling

It's been almost a year since that Sunday afternoon in the Silverdome when a freakish pass-blocking accident left Detroit Lions right guard Mike Utley paralyzed from the chest down. Still vivid is the scene of Utley giving his teammates the thumbs-up sign as he was being wheeled off the field.

The action galvanized his teammates, who won seven straight games before losing the NFC championship game to the Washington Redskins. And it again sensitized the public to the frailties of the human body, even one as big as Utley's, at 6 feet 6, 295 pounds.

For Utley, 26, it's still thumbs up in more ways than one. He remains a long way from walking - but he has proven wrong the doctors at ...

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