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Dunlap: Throlfing? What In The World Is Throlfing?

Josh Miller is a saint.

And it doesn't have anything to do with him having to rise long before the sun and deal with Jim Colony and me each day for more than four hours on The Fan Morning Show.

No, the former NFL punter who is my co-host on that aforementioned show told a tale on Monday morning about a time he went to a golf course in Tennessee alone to play golf.

He got paired with another man who was also there alone.

And the two played golf --- kind of.

Ever heard of Throlf? Me neither.

That was until Monday morning when Miller started spinning a yarn --- that he swears on everything is true --- about the time he had some down time when he was punting for the Tennessee Titans in 2007.

The way Miller tells it, the two men stood on the tee box of the first hole and after Miller fired his tee shot down the fairway, the man --- who had only a putter in his bag --- advanced to tell him that he doesn't play golf in the traditional form. Instead, he plays Throlf, an exercise wherein he throws the golf ball from tee to green and only uses a club (that solitary putter in his bag) once he reaches the putting surface.

And to Miller's astonishment, his playing partner did precisely as much --- winding up and tossing the golf ball down the first fairway with all his capacity.

"I thought I was getting set up," Miller said. "Like on [the TV show] Punk'd or something."

But he wasn't. This guy was serious.

This continued on the second hole. And third. And fourth.

And all the way through nine holes until Miller decided he had enough of the laborious nature of navigating through a golf course.

"This is the most disturbing thing I ever witnessed on a golf course," Miller said as he recalled the story. "But I didn't really have anything else to do that day."

After nine holes Miller picked up, shook hands with the man, went to his car and headed home still unsure if what had just happened was a big joke or something that really happened to him. Miller explained that he has treated it like a UFO sighting, understanding that he saw what he saw, but unsure if anyone would really believe him.

When he went to the Titans' facility soon thereafter, no one copped to setting him up and he came to find out that none of his teammates were in on any sort of joke.

Long story short, this fellow who Miller had been paired with on the course really was some sort of Throlfer; really was a person who heads to the golf course with the intent --- and not as a joke --- of steering through the 18 holes by throwing the ball.

What a lunatic.

What a madman.

What a candidate for Tommy John surgery.

Like just about everyone who heard the story probably did, one of the first things that happened with me was that I tried to figure out if I could do the same, if I could Throlf through a golf course.

It would be interesting, that's for sure.

After that, I tried to put myself in Miller's shoes on that 2007 day.

What if this zany screwball walked up, introduced himself and explained that he was going to chuck the golf ball around the course while I was going to play in a traditional manner.

I'd like to say that I would have been open to seeing it, if at least for the novelty and comedic element of it.

But after thinking about it, there is no way in the world I would have lasted past the first fairway.

I would have left.

Or told the guy to go ahead of me.

Or gone ahead of him.

Or jumped in the nearest body of water.

Something, anything except participated in me knocking the golf ball around in the manner that you're supposed to --- with a set of clubs --- while this knucklehead threw the ball from tee to green and then used a putter once he reached the green.

Josh Miller, however, is a saint.

And on a 2007 day witnessed --- for nine holes at least --- one of the greatest feats in sports history.

I'm just glad he's finally opened up about it.

Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.

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