Orlando Scandrick: Game only 'fun'

IRVING, Texas -- Cornerback Orlando Scandrick didn't turn off his competitive spirit when the Dallas Cowboys made their annual visits to children's hospitals to spread the holiday spirit.

Scandrick's tactics while playing a young patient in the "Madden" video game Tuesday earned playful grief from several teammates, including injured linebacker Justin Durant, whose tweets about the matchup at Medical City Children's Hospital in Dallas went viral.

Do not hold your breath in anticipation of an apology from Scandrick; he is not sorry.

"Nothing is going to be given to you, so I don't think I should have gave him anything," Scandrick told ESPN.com on Thursday. "I made him better if anything.

"I wasn't teaching any lessons, but when you play a competitive game, you've got to expect to be competitive. If they didn't want you to go for two and to kick onside kicks, it wouldn't be on the game."

Scandrick, a seven-year veteran who has earned a reputation as being one of the Cowboys' most intense competitors and blunt personalities, considered the game against his approximately 9-year-old opponent to be friendly competition.

"I didn't talk trash to the kid," said Scandrick, who was told that the patient would be released from the hospital later in the day. "It was all in fun."

However, Scandrick was certainly playing to win. He attempted to justify the surprise onside kick by pointing out that Cowboys fullback Tyler Clutts walked in front of the screen on the child's first touchdown of the game, so Scandrick felt like he needed an extra possession to make things even. Plus, Scandrick felt like he needed the practice.

"You've got to work your craft," Scandrick said. "You've got to work your stuff. I might need it in a different 'Madden' game. I need to know how to do it. Sometimes you might be playing an intense 'Madden' game and you might need to steal a possession. Sometimes you might not be able to stop the other team or it might be hard for you to score points, so I had to see if I still had my onside kick.

"I wanted to see if my two-point plays were good enough in a heated game. You've got to try them sometime. You don't have a practice for 'Madden,' so you have to practice when you get up.

"It was all in fun, though."