Sunday, April 18, 1999

Bengals coach: 'We're all going to be in the path of something'

---

BY MARK CURNUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Al Roberts, Bengals assistant coach, removes possessions from his house in Montgomery. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        The tornado of '99 is not the first storm to blow through Al Roberts' life.

        The Cincinnati Bengals special teams coach had to file for bankruptcy in 1976, when he was a high school football coach in Seattle.

        His first marriage broke up in 1977.

        His father, Vernie Roberts, died in 1980.

        Five times he's been fired in football, and he and his wife, Arvella, have moved nine times in the past 14 years.

        No, this storm isn't going to knock him down.

        “We're doing fine,” said Mr. Roberts, 55, who has taken up temporary residence in a Blue Ash hotel. The home he and Arvella rented on Lakewater Drive in Montgomery was destroyed by the April 9 tornado.

        “The thing we're not going to do is "start over.' We're going to go from here,” he said last week, between meetings, in his Bengals office. “We really don't feel like victims. We feel like two of the people on Earth with flesh. We all go through things. We were in the path of a tornado, and we're all going to be in the path of something.

        “If you learn you have cancer and you survive, you feel fortunate to escape. We feel fortunate to escape the tornado. We don't know the reason it happened to the Cooks (neighbors Lee and Jacque Cook were killed) and not us. If I get excited, it's because there is a message: Get your house in order, lest you be blown away.”

       

        Immediately after the storm hit, Mr. Roberts said his insurance company had let their renters coverage lapse. The situation has been corrected, and the Roberts' property losses are covered.

        The misunderstanding was the fault of both parties. “We didn't get notices,” he said, “but when we didn't get the notices, we didn't contact them.”

        The NFL draft began Saturday. The week was a busy one. Mr. Roberts has not seen the house since last Sunday. Arvella Roberts went back to work Monday as a customer service representative.

        The message: Life goes on. They're dealing with the disaster in a professional way.

        “Nobody's life is easy,” Mr. Roberts said. “Just because you're an NFL coach doesn't mean you've got it all together. Tornadoes hit everybody's life, and you have to move on.”

       

---

Tornado rejuvenates family's faith
Tornado survivors: 10 stories of the human spirit
911 call provided human touch
Bengals coach: 'We're all going to be in the path of something'
Blarney the sheepdog will make it, with lots of love
Family finds comfort in outpouring of help
I-71 survivor undergoes spiritual readjustment
Ugly wall saved them, couple says
Florist to reopen at Harper's Crossing
Lost memento? Church in Sycamore may have it
New bonds forged among worshipers
Overwhelmed by the kindness of others
Hooking into Indiana sirens buys time
TV coverage of tornado took different paths
Delkus 'just doing his job'
Weather Service wants meeting with TV meteorologists
How to help, get help

CINCINNATI.COM'S SPECIAL SECTION

• LATEST HEADLINES • TOP STORIES • PHOTO GALLERY • WHAT YOU CAN DO • READER DISCUSSION • STORM BACKGROUND