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Allen, Stram among five inducted to Football Hall of Fame
August 3, 2003
CANTON, Ohio (AFP) - Calling football "my DNA," running back Marcus Allen was one of five men enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The only player to win a Heisman Trophy, National Football League Most Valuable Player honors and a Super Bowl MVP, Allen was elected in his first year of eligibility.
Joining him in the Class of 2003 were James Lofton, who ranks third all-time with 14,004 receiving yards, Houston Oilers defensive end Elvin Bethea and Buffalo Bills guard Joe DeLamielleure.
Former Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram, the recommended nominee of the Hall's Senior Committee, also was enshrined.
Allen played 11 years with the Raiders from 1982-92 when they were based in Los Angeles and five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs (1993-97). He rushed for 12,243 yards, caught 587 passes for 5,411 yards and scored 145 touchdowns. His 123 rushing TDs were an NFL record when he retired following the 1997 season.
"Every inch, every yard, every hit, every hurt, every pain I did because of you guys, my family," Allen said. "I love football, it's my DNA."
A six-time Pro Bowler, Allen rushed for a career-high 1,759 yards in 1985 and was named MVP of Super Bowl 18 after running for 191 yards and two touchdowns in the Raiders' 38-9 rout of Washington.
Allen also earned a Pro Bowl berth with Kansas City in 1994.
An icon in his hometown, Allen is the third San Diegan to make a Hall of Fame, following Ted Williams in baseball and Bill Walton in basketball. He was presented for enshrinement by his father, Harold "Red" Allen.
"Words do not measure the profound feelings that I have, having my father present me," Allen said. "He vowed to be the father he didn't have. He has been that and more. That is why it was important to me to have him here."
An eight-time Pro Bowler, Lofton spent the first nine years of his 16-year career with the Green Bay Packers , was a teammate of Allen with the Raiders from 1987-88, then spent four seasons with the Buffalo Bills, participating in three Super Bowls. He finished his career in 1993 with the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia.
Lofton was the epitome of a complete receiver. He had the size to go over the middle and the speed to be a deep threat, making him virtually unstoppable. His career receiving yardage total ranked first at the time of his retirement and now places him behind only Jerry Rice and Tim Brown.
Lofton's 764 catches rank 10th all-time. Yet Lofton, the receivers coach of the San Diego Chargers , had to wait until his fifth year of eligibility to make the Hall of Fame. He recorded more than 50 catches in a season nine times and
surpassed 1,000 yards six times.
Bethea had to wait 15 years for his election and DeLamielleure made it in his 13th year of eligibility.
The 6-3, 254-pound DeLamielleure spent the first seven years (1973-79) and the final season (1985) of his 13-year career with the Buffalo Bills. He is known for being the best blocker on the famed "Electric Company" offensive line that paved the way for O.J. Simpson and earned six straight Pro Bowl berths, the last with the Cleveland Browns in 1980.
Stram, 79, led Kansas City to a Super Bowl title, one other Super Bowl appearance and three AFL championships.
Hired as the first coach of the Dallas Texans in 1960 before the franchise moved to Kansas City and was renamed, Stram won AFL titles in 1962, 1966, and 1969. The Chiefs lost Super Bowl 1 to Green Bay and upset Minnesota in Super Bowl 4, helping to give more credibility to the AFL.
Known for developing the "moving pocket" to best utilize the talent of quarterback Len Dawson and devising a two-tight end offense and stack defense, Stram coached 15 years with the franchise before ending his career with the New Orleans Saints (1976-77). He had a career record of 136-100-10.
DE coach Jeffcoat the only link to every Cowboys coach
By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
August 3, 2003
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- He became a starter for Tom Landry, won a Super Bowl playing for Jimmy Johnson and was part of Barry Switzer's first team.
Chan Gailey got him started in coaching. Then Dave Campo promoted him and Bill Parcells kept him.
That makes Jim Jeffcoat the only person to work under all six coaches in Dallas Cowboys history, a label he appreciates but doesn't exactly advertise on his business cards.
``I played here 12 years,'' Jeffcoat said. ``I hope I'm more than a trivia question.''
Still, his resume gives the 42-year-old Jeffcoat a unique niche in team lore. His roots run deeper than Bill Bates, who was involved with the first five coaches, and Darren Woodson, who this season will become the first player under five Cowboys coaches.
``People ask me what it's like,'' Jeffcoat said, ``because I'm the only one who probably knows the difference between Coach Landry and Coach Parcells, the difference between Jimmy Johnson and Chan Gailey or Barry Switzer or Dave Campo, because I've been around all of them.
``The thing that you notice is that they each have their different personalities. Teams are always going to reflect your head coach's personality, how he approaches the team.''
A first-round pick in 1983, Jeffcoat played in 227 games. He made 102 1/2 sacks, behind only Harvey Martin, Randy White and Ed ``Too Tall'' Jones in team history. He and Bob Lilly are the only Cowboys to ever record five in one game.
The Cowboys won the division his rookie year, then went into a steep decline. They bottomed out in 1989, going 1-15 while making the traumatic change from Landry to Johnson. Jeffcoat was a starter on that squad.
Three seasons later, his 10th in the NFL, Jeffcoat finally won a playoff game. Dallas won Super Bowl titles the next two seasons. Having experienced great success and awful failure, Jeffcoat can help players handle either end of the spectrum.
``It's how you come through it,'' he said. ``The biggest difference is the mental attitude.''
Jeffcoat's final season in Dallas was Switzer's first. Then he went to the Buffalo Bills for three season, where he learned from another Hall of Fame coach, Marv Levy.
Jeffcoat began his second career with the Cowboys in 1997, when Gailey hired him as a defensive assistant.
One of his first pupils was Greg Ellis, the team's first-round pick that season. He became the first rookie end to start since Lilly in 1961 and led linemen with 63 tackles, the most by a Dallas lineman since 1990.
Ellis still gets advice from Jeffcoat and said the coach has not run out of things to teach him.
``So that man knows a lot,'' Ellis said. ``He's real impressive. It's good to have a coach like him because he can speak from experience. He's actually been through it and done the things he's trying to teach us to do.''
But Jeffcoat is not the type who pops in old game films and shows the kids how No. 77 used to do it.
``He really keeps it relevant to today's times,'' Ellis said. ``He doesn't say, 'This is what I did.' He says, 'This is what works now. I'm watching you practice and you're good at this move. I didn't do that when I played, but that's a good move for you to use.'''
Jeffcoat hopes to one day become a head coach. Team owner Jerry Jones said Jeffcoat will take with him a wealth of knowledge.
``He's getting a doctorate degree from Harvard in coaching by having been involved with all these guys,'' Jones said.
Jeffcoat enjoys working for Parcells. He said his new boss is similar to Johnson in that both find ways to get the most out of everyone around them.
Jeffcoat thinks he has been up to the test.
``He's forcing me to find things in me that I probably never knew that I have,'' he said. ``He knows how to push the right buttons with me. I like that.''
Which Chiefs are next for Hall of Fame?
IVAN CARTER
The Kansas City Star
The list of former Chiefs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame will grow to eight today when groundbreaking coach Hank Stram and silky-smooth running back Marcus Allen are inducted.
So, who will be next?
The obvious answer might be the late Derrick Thomas, whose spectacular 11-year career ended following the 1999 season. Thomas will be eligible for induction in 2005.
Thomas played in nine straight Pro Bowls, posted 1261/2 sacks, had a 20-sack season in 1990 and set an NFL record for sacks in a game with seven against Seattle in the same season.
Beyond the statistics, Thomas was one of his era's most dominant defensive players. He turned third-and-long situations at Arrowhead into death traps and picked up where the Giants' Lawrence Taylor left off when it came to turning the corner on a helpless offensive tackle before hacking the ball out of the hand of the quarterback with that famous KC Strip.
But will those credentials be enough to get Thomas in -- and if so, how soon?
Former Chiefs linebacker Willie Lanier, who was inducted in 1986, has an opinion.
"Let me put it like this, he'll be in the Hall of Fame based on the statistical record," Lanier said. "He produced the numbers, the Pro Bowls, those types of things to get in. He was one of those unique players who dominated the game from his position. The only question is whether it happens right away or in the future, but I do think you'll see Derrick get in."
One knock on Thomas is that he was never part of a championship team. The Chiefs of the 1990s played some of the NFL's best football, but the closest Thomas came to the Super Bowl was the 1993 season, when Kansas City lost to Buffalo in the AFC championship game.
And, depending on how each voter defines him, Thomas was a player without a true position. He wasn't really a defensive end; nor was he a linebacker.
"That's what makes him unique," Chiefs offensive guard Will Shields said. "He was a hybrid player. He did something that was different from everyone else. ...I know one thing: when it became third and long, teams weren't worried about what he was, they had to worry about where he was."
Also, there is the question of how to quantify Thomas' sack numbers. Sacks are a statistic that weren't officially kept by the NFL until 1982, meaning there is no tangible way to compare Thomas' record with that of a player such as Rams great Deacon Jones, who is credited with coining the term "sack" but never had his own tracked.
Thomas finished with fewer career sacks than Kevin Greene, a good-but-hardly-great player who compiled 160 sacks with four teams in 12 years.
"That will be a major point of discussion when Derrick's name comes up," one voter said. "There is a lot of differing opinion on how much stock to put into the sack. It will be interesting to see how the argument for him goes."
Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson, who was inducted in 1987, would like to be in the room when that discussion takes place because he's convinced Thomas deserves entry.
"There will be some who say, well, he wasn't really a defensive end and he wasn't really a linebacker," Dawson said. "So what? He was a football player. He made plays. As a quarterback, I looked at him the way I looked at Mean Joe Greene or Bob Lilly or Deacon Jones: when an offense lined up to play the Chiefs, Derrick had to be accounted for. That's the sign of a great player and a Hall of Famer."
Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, whose weight in the NFL is not to be underestimated, was more succinct.
"I feel sure that he'll be in," Hunt said.
Besides Thomas, there are some who would like the selection committee to look at former Chiefs greats Otis Taylor, Johnny Robinson, Emmitt Thomas and Jim Tyrer.
And what about Nick Lowery, who broke most of the records set by Jan Stenerud -- the first pure place-kicker inducted into the Hall?
But there's a real chance that one of the next Chiefs inducted will be a guy who is currently playing. Shields has made eight straight Pro Bowl appearances and is considered by some to be the game's best guard -- and, maybe, best offensive linemen period.
He hasn't missed a game since September 1993 and has the NFL's third-longest active starting streak after Green Bay's Brett Favre and Oakland's Tim Brown. In short, Shields seems to personify everything a Hall of Famer is about: great at his position, respected by his peers and durable.
"I don't really care about going to the Pro Bowl myself, my goal is to see Will Shields keep going," Chiefs center Casey Wiegmann said. "I want to be able to say that I played next to a Hall of Famer someday."
History suggests that should Shields continue on his current path, he would be a strong candidate.
There have been 13 offensive guards who have earned Hall of Fame induction. Two recent retirees -- Bruce Matthews and Randall McDaniel -- are sure to gain entry when they are eligible and another, Joe DeLamielleure, will go in this weekend.
Of those who played in the modern era, only Tom Mack (11), John Hannah (nine) and Mike Munchak (nine), played in more Pro Bowls than Shields has already. If the Chiefs can turn the 2003 season into a magical Super Bowl ride, Shields would have even more to put on a Hall of Fame resume.
"Once you get to that point where you've been a nine- or 10-time Pro Bowler you have to be considered," Lanier said. "Take Mike Munchak. I didn't know how good he was, but one of the things mentioned along with his name was how many Pro Bowls he played in. That shows a sign of respect from his peers and that's something that definitely has to be considered."
Shields said he hasn't spent a lot of time thinking about those funky, yellow jackets given to Hall of Famers but there could be a moment of contemplation when he attends Sunday's ceremony in Canton and watches his former teammate, Allen, get inducted.
"It's a great honor for the guys that are going in," Shields said. "That's the special part -- that you got to play with guys who got in, so in a way, a piece of you is going in anyway. ...It's a recognition thing that says you've gone above and beyond what the norm is, and that's what makes it special."
Chiefs: Holmes confident deal will be struck before opener
by Fanball Staff - Fanball.com
Saturday, August 2, 2003
News
Chiefs’ running back Priest Holmes is confident that he will soon reach an accord with the team on a new contract extension. Carl Peterson, the Chiefs' team president, is almost as amiable. "We still need to see where he's at," Peterson told the Topeka Capital-Journal. "He's making great progress, and I'm certainly pleased with it. But, he hasn't played in a game yet, he hasn't been knocked down with a live hit yet, he hasn't made a move on a guy and scored a touchdown yet. We all want to see that, including Priest.”
Views
Show him the money Peterson! Why risk a potential holdout from the NFL’s most productive back? Look for a deal to get done very soon once Holmes' hip holds up after a few preseason games and for everything to return to normalcy.
Camp phenoms making Vermeil happy
ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
RIVER FALLS, Wis. - Dick Vermeil, a legendary champion of the underdog, has more reasons than usual to be happy with this year's Chiefs training camp.
The Chiefs have an abnormally high number of camp phenoms making a push for roster spots. There's Chris Horn, an Arena League veteran, at wide receiver. There's defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson, a sixth-round draft selection but the most impressive of the club's eight picks.
Then there are two former Kansas State players, nose tackle Tank Reese and fullback Joe Hall. All were taken -- in classic Vermeil style -- off the scrap heap.
"I love giving people the opportunity if they have the passion to play the game," Vermeil said. "Sometimes in some people, that passion is overlooked. Look at Tank Reese. He has a passion for the game. You have to find a place for that kind of guy."
Unheralded players making a camp splash is an annual event, and most eventually fizzle. Recent sensations like running back Jesse Haynes, kicker Lawrence Tynes and kick returner J.J. Moses were all the buzz of training camp in their time, yet never played in a regular-season game.
Every so often, the player becomes the real deal. Defensive end Eric Hicks came to the Chiefs as a skinny, undrafted rookie from Maryland in 1998. He quickly proved his ability, made the team and became a starter the next season. He is now part of the foundation of what the Chiefs hope is a Super Bowl contender.
Vermeil has coached several former camp phenoms, from defensive end Carl Hairston and running back Wilbert Montgomery with the Eagles to quarterback Kurt Warner and linebacker London Fletcher with the Rams.
"I've seen them go all the way to the Pro Bowl," Vermeil said.
The Chiefs have no immediate Pro Bowlers among this year's crop. Not all will even make the team.
Hall, in particular, is unlikely to unseat Omar Easy as the No. 2 fullback behind Tony Richardson. Hall played in only 19 games during his career at K-State in 1999 and 2001, dogged by eligibility, legal and weight problems. He signed a contract in 2002 with the Rams but was cut before training camp.
Reese, Horn and Wilkerson have legitimate chances if they play well in preseason games, including Monday night's opener against Green Bay in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.
"I'm looking forward to it," Reese said. "When I get in there, there's going to be a lot of people that know it."
Reese was an incredible long shot when camp began just two weeks ago. He was signed after going undrafted as a fullback, which he played during the off-season.
It was evident Reese couldn't help the Chiefs there, so he was switched to his college position of nose tackle at the start of camp. He has created havoc for the offense ever since, and made a physical tackle in this week's practice against the Vikings that touched off a minor skirmish.
"Sometimes you have to let people know there's a fire there, that everybody can't push you around all the time," Reese said.
Reese, at a squat 5 feet 10, looks like the tag-along kid brother during practice alongside his defensive linemates, but he has a shot to beat some of them out of a job.
"(Kansas State coach) Bill Snyder told me, `Don't be surprised about this guy,' " Vermeil said. "He's called Tank for a reason. He's got a full tank of gas. He likes to play football."
Wilkerson doesn't look like a sixth-round pick but like a player with the potential to help immediately. The Chiefs project him as the first defensive end off the bench.
Wilkerson left Oklahoma after three seasons, which explains why he wasn't drafted in an earlier round. But after watching him play at camp, Vermeil has only one explanation for Wilkerson falling to the sixth round.
"Not all scouts are geniuses," Vermeil said, "including ours."
Wilkerson missed out on the big money received by higher draft picks, but otherwise quickly validates his decision to bolt for the NFL.
"A lot of people told me that if I had stayed in college, I would have been a first-round pick next year," Wilkerson said. "But I look at it like this: If you're good, you're good, and it doesn't matter where you're picked.
"Once I made up my mind, I was happy with my decision."
Unlike top draft picks such as first-round running back Larry Johnson, camp phenoms have no burden of expectations. But they begin camp last in line for playing time, which can make showing skill more difficult.
And all phenoms must fight the feeling that the situation is hopeless no matter how well they play. For these players, there is little margin for error.
An injury or a bad day can snuff a budding career.
"You've just got to go out and do it every day," Hicks said. "No matter how bad you feel or no matter how bad your legs hurt that day, you have to go out and do it.
"Those memories of camp my rookie season drive me even today. Nobody expected you to do anything. They expected you to just get beat up so the veterans wouldn't get hurt. I got cussed out every day. Nobody really cares about you.
"But if you're doing well, you get confidence from the players around you. You see you're having a little bit of success in the drills and the one-on-one pass rush. People start to respect you a little more."
Defensive end R-Kal Truluck quickly earned respect last summer. A veteran of the Canadian and Arena leagues, Truluck was signed by the Chiefs well into camp merely as a body to fill out some drills.
He made the most of an opportunity in the second half of a preseason game against Houston, collecting three sacks. The Chiefs kept Truluck and he is again in camp, trying to keep his job.
"Every day is a great opportunity to show the coaches what you've got," Truluck said. "You've got to take advantage of it. And getting three sacks in a preseason game won't hurt your cause, either."
Parcells prepared to make the calls
Jennifer Floyd Engel, StarTelegram Staff Writer
SAN ANTONIO - Say "play calling" to Cowboys offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon and you'll get a chuckle in return.
"As long as I've been here, I've been hearing, 'Who is going to call the plays?'" Carthon said.
Play-calling queries are second only to, "What is coach Bill Parcells like?" among questions frequently asked of Carthon. He is viewed as an expert on all things Bill because he played for and has coached with Parcells.
When Carthon describes Parcells, he paints a picture of a coach who is likely to call his own plays.
"It doesn't really make much difference," Parcells said. "I'm going to get responsibility for it anyway. I am responsible for what happens."
Parcells might not be ready to say so, but he is going to call the plays. It took him 10 seconds, maybe longer, to remember the last time he did not.
"Giants," Parcells finally said.
He spent eight seasons as New York's coach, the last in 1990. Could he narrow it down?
"Early," he said, unable to pin down a year.
He had an assistant -- Ron Erhardt -- who handled play-calling duties.
"I liked him. He did a good job," Parcells said. "But I was always right there. 'Run it. Pass it.' I was always doing that. 'Run. Play-action. Screen. Do this. Do that.'"
It was play-calling by committee when Parcells wasn't calling the plays. It will be the same way if he does call the plays for the Cowboys. Carthon said Parcells likes to get opinions from everybody, on just about everything. He doesn't always take the advice, but he almost always asks for it.
"Bill has always been that way, even when he did call the plays in New York," Carthon said. "It was like, 'What do you like here, Mo? What do you like here, Ray?' You give him a play and he calls it. It's not going to be him saying, 'I'm calling all of them. Forget about you guys.'"
If Parcells decides to call plays, though, he'll have the final say and final responsibility.
Responsibility was a mercurial thing for the Cowboys in 2002. Like in Week 13, against San Francisco, when the Cowboys decided to kick a 47-yard field goal late in the game rather than go for a first down. Billy Cundiff ended up missing the kick and the Cowboys ended up coughing up the lead. Former coach Dave Campo blamed offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet, who turned and pointed a finger at special teams coach Joe Avezzano.
Not only would calling the plays allow Parcells to avoid that problem, Parcells said it would let him better tailor a game plan that puts quarterbacks Quincy Carter and Chad Hutchinson in position to succeed. Especially in preseason games when he is trying to choose a starter for the season.
"I think we have to be cautious at first with the quarterbacks," Parcells said. "I think I have to be aware that the guys competing for this job might not be alike. There may be some things one does better, and you can't just blanket say, 'OK, here is our game plan, boys. Run it.'"
Calling different plays with different quarterbacks allows the coaches to evaluate each player in what he does best.
"They are different, certainly, in their styles and abilities, but you want somebody who is making good decisions, who you feel comfortable with and you know is not going to turn the ball over," assistant head coach Sean Payton said. "You want someone who is going to be efficient with the football and minimize the mistakes."
It doesn't matter if Carter scrambles better if he throws four interceptions per game. It doesn't matter if Hutchinson is the more accurate passer if he fumbles every time he gets hit.
Which means Parcells is likely to take play calling into his own hands.
"As long as we win football games, I don't care," Carthon said. "Whether he calls them, whether I call them or Sean calls them, hey, we've worked on them together. My whole thing is on Tuesday getting the game plan ready and making sure the stuff we put in the game plan is called and executed on Sunday. That is what it is all about. That is what wins you ball games."
Media get preview of Big 12 football championship contenders
By Jeff Sheldon Daily Nebraskan
(U-WIRE) KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Following the yellow brick road won't lead you to the Big 12 football champion this fall, but it's a safe bet that Interstate 35 will get you close enough.
The north-south thoroughfare will take you to either Norman, Okla., or Austin, Texas -- cities where most think the conference trophy will end up in December.
Oklahoma and Texas are the preseason class of the Big 12, according to the media at the conference's annual football Media Days in Kansas City, Mo., continuing a trend that has seen one of the two representing the South division in the Big 12 Championship game each of the last four seasons.
OU returns nine starters from one of 2002's best defenses, giving Coach Bob Stoops reason to smile when he faced a full room of reporters in Kansas City.
"We're really excited about the opportunities that this season has to offer," Stoops said. "We believe that we have our strongest team coming back in terms of depth."
Oft-injured quarterback Jason White returns behind what Stoops feels will be his most talented offensive line in his four-year tenure in Norman.
Texas coach Mack Brown begins his quest for the Longhorns' first conference title since 1996 with a new quarterback. Junior Chance Mock will try to do what his predecessor Chris Simms could not -- beat Oklahoma.
The rest of the skill positions are loaded with All-American wide receiver Roy Williams returning to UT for his senior year and one more shot at a national title.
"There are a bunch of reasons why I decided to come back," Williams said. "Number one, it's hard to leave my teammates who I've been playing with for the past two, three years. I'm playing with some of the best players in college football."
Kansas State's absence from Media Days didn't detract writers from tabbing Bill Snyder's Wildcats as the team to beat in the North division.
Ell Roberson and Darren Sproles are the league's top returning quarterback-running back duo and despite losing linebacker Terry Pierce to the NFL, the Wildcats should have their traditionally salty defense to give them a chance in road games at Texas and Nebraska.
Colorado has almost no experience at quarterback and replaces four starters on its offensive line, but coach Gary Barnett said his defense could be the best in years at CU, justifying its second-place selection in the North.
"The team that is returning to play for the University of Colorado is a team of great character," Barnett said. "We're built on character and on paper, our defense has a chance to be really good."
There was little buzz surrounding Nebraska in Kansas City. For the first time ever, the Huskers were picked to finish lower than second in their own division and only one player -- offensive lineman Richie Incognito -- made the preseason all-conference team.
NU, picked ahead of Missouri, Iowa State and Kansas, may also be the most unknown team going into 2003. After finishing 7-7 a year ago, six new coaches were hired in the off-season and changes in schemes on both sides of the ball will have opposing coaches guessing.
"Everything will be different when it comes to the offense," said quarterback Jammal Lord, who broke Nebraska's single-season total offense record last year. "Our terms and plays will be different with a lot more wrinkles and an emphasis on using the option more.
"Just watch, this is going to be a different team with a different attitude, everything is going to be different this year."
LOL, Justin. I will say that Ksquared knows her college football and no school football program has a more determined supporter than Ksquared. As to the pom-poms...I'll let Ksquared answer since I already have one woman slapping me upside the old noggin' because of my postings...! <ggg>
Colt
Where does college football go from here?
SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN
sdegnan@herald.com
If only Joe Paterno were in the Big East Conference.
Or so says Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, who believes that one vote during a conference decision 22 summers ago forever altered the landscape of college sports.
"It was the summer of 1981, and the Big East was 2 years old," Tranghese said. "In a very informal meeting, Joe had expressed a desire on behalf of Penn State to become part of the Big East."
The Big East, a basketball-only league, took a vote on whether to admit Penn State, an independent and perennial football power coached by Paterno. Six votes were needed.
The outcome: 5-3.
Tranghese, then the Big East spokesman, was asked after the vote what he thought about the snub.
"We'll rue the day we made this decision," he said.
"In retrospect, that's the biggest mistake I think our league has made," Tranghese recalled last month. "If we had taken Penn State there, the whole face of college football would be changed. Penn State going to the Big Ten [in 1990] is what caused the ripple effect of Miami coming here and Florida State going to the Atlantic Coast Conference [in 1991]. Prior to that, independence worked very successfully."
The rippling continues.
When the 117 Division I-A football teams begin practice this week in preparation for the upcoming season, it will be the first time in months that fans concentrate on the football being played.
The toppling of the Big East, which takes effect next season when the University of Miami and Virginia Tech join the ACC, has flooded sports pages. Most believe more waves will follow.
The vacancies left by the Hurricanes and Hokies create an opportunity for smaller schools with growing athletic programs. Imagine Central Florida rising to the level of Oklahoma, or Louisville challenging Pittsburgh for Big East supremacy.
'It seems to me there are going to be some pretty big shifts,' South Florida coach Jim Leavitt told reporters during the recent Conference USA media days. "But it could be good for Conference USA. You don't know."
Leavitt, whose team will join C-USA this season, has a reason to be optimistic. But C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said such conference shuffling can sometimes be unsettling.
"We're talking about a conference that is 6 years old that has gone through change every other year," he told The Tampa Tribune. "I appreciate the sensitivity to change, but there needs to be some recognition that this conference is one that is regularly experiencing change."
MORE CHANGES COMING?
Should Big East basketball-only schools Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Seton Hall and Villanova break away from the football schools to form a new league, C-USA is expected to lose basketball members St. Louis, DePaul, Marquette and St. Louis.
Army announced last month it was leaving C-USA to become an independent.
The immediate effect for Big East leftovers isn't quite as dreamy as it is for prospective Big East replacement Louisville. Teams such as Boston College, West Virginia and Syracuse dread their place in the Bowl Championship Series will be in jeopardy after the contract ends with the January 2006 bowls.
And schools like Pittsburgh, among the preseason top 10 in most polls, are left to contemplate their futures without a traditional power such as Miami, which commands top dollar when it comes to conference TV contracts. But Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris said he refuses to point the finger at his top-notch competitors.
"I'm not angry at [UM coach] Larry Coker -- he didn't do it," Harris said. "I'm not angry at the UM players -- they didn't do it."
Despite the public perception that the conference shuffling was a last-second decision, insiders weren't surprised.
"This thing was always percolating down in Miami," said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, a former UM defensive backs coach. "Even when I was there in '99 and 2000, there were rumblings about it."
Coker has his own regrets. He knows the five-time national champion Hurricanes would be better off in a league without a conference title game. The soon-to-be 11-team ACC has petitioned the NCAA to be granted permission to have a title game. The current rule says there must be at least 12 teams in a conference.
"I think a league championship is coming," he said. "The financial part is obvious. But as a coach, do you want to extend yourself another week?
"There are several reasons our president and athletic director made the decision. Some were financial, some academic, some [addressed] the future of our school. But from a pure football standpoint, I never really felt like it was a great move to help us."
Florida State athletic director Dave Hart, a strong proponent of adding Miami to the ACC, said in a statement after the expansion that the Hurricanes and Hokies "afford us instant natural conference rivals, which has been absent for us and is so very meaningful to our student-athletes, alumni, our fans and the college sports fan in general."
But for every "natural conference rival" being created, another is tossed like a triviality. Coker, who ultimately backed UM's decision, conceded he is in an awkward position. He might have a new "natural rival," but it's his old rivals for whom he sympathizes.
"My part of this is emotional," he said. "I've gotten to know these coaches. I've gotten to know these schools, and I have a lot of respect for who they are and their programs. I really do believe this conference is as good as it's been since I've been at Miami. It is odd it's breaking up."
EMBRACING EXPANSION
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is an old-timer who accepts change as a way of NCAA football life. He said he was in favor of ACC expansion "all the way.
"I was hoping we'd take Miami because we have to play them anyway," he said. "That was a must as far as I was concerned. Then I wanted Syracuse and Boston College, and the reason was because of the media. And when [Virginia Tech] got in there, that was fine because of the type of program they have."
Bowden pointed to the Southeastern Conference's expansion in bringing in South Carolina and Arkansas in the early 1990s. He talked about the Big Ten luring Penn State. He explained that the ACC is just setting the tone for even more upheaval.
"It's the way it's heading," Bowden said. "We're entering the era of superconferences, which means later on, when I'm dead and gone, I think they're going to start taking the winner of this conference against the winner of that conference and have a playoff. I don't think it will happen in my time, but it will eventually."
At the SEC media days in Hoover, Ala., commissioner Mike Slive repeatedly was asked about the future of expansion.
"I think I would be very careful before I would extrapolate a single event into a trend," he said. "I can't look into a crystal ball and tell you what might happen."
When it comes to the SEC, Slive is a bit more bold. He has insisted on different occasions that the SEC will not lose any teams to defection. The SEC members are open and communicative with each other, he said. They are close-knit and loyal.
"There are just relationships and traditions that make this league extremely stable," he said.
In an almost humorous twist of realignment fallout, however, some SEC followers -- specifically, Vanderbilt fans -- want to know why their team, the annual SEC doormat, doesn't do its own bolting to a conference in which they could win.
"I think Vanderbilt can compete in many other leagues right now, but we just happen to be in the best one," coach Bobby Johnson said.
For now, the SEC is content, and the ACC remains at 11 teams. But it's a matter of time before the Big East, on its haunches, strikes.
"We've all sort of found our places, but this is not the end," Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said.
UM athletic director Paul Dee said he believes the changes will be occasional and that he doubts there is an organized effort to realign conferences. Changes are made to suit each school's or conference's priorities, such as geographic, academic, or financial. But are they good for college football?
"I guess the answer is you hope that all changes are good, that they are made thoughtfully and are all made for the right reasons," Dee said. "The second part of that question is: Is it good for everybody that it affects?
"How it might indirectly affect somebody outside of that group, I can't tell you. That just presents a different set of circumstances people have to work through. They have to find what's right for them."
The ripples keep rolling.
Herald sports writers Stephen F. Holder, Mike Phillips and Marissa Silvera contributed to this report.
Penn State football gets verbal commitments from close-knit seniors
By Jenny Vrentas
Daily Collegian
(U-WIRE) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Greg Harrison makes it seem so ordinary.
The offensive lineman and rising Shenandoah Valley Senior High School senior has already verbally committed to Penn State. While he is talking about his love for the Blue and White and how comfortable he feels in Happy Valley, he will casually slip in the names of other Nittany Lion football recruits he has been chatting with all summer.
But in college football, where recruits often do not meet until they report for their first day of training, Harrison's relationship with fellow Penn State commitments in his 2004 recruiting class is anything but ordinary.
"We talk at least twice a week," Harrison said. "The coaches said they have never had a class this close already in their entire years of recruiting."
But it does not stop there.
Harrison has been breaking precedent by not only forming early relationships with his future teammates, but by acting as a crucial recruiting force for Penn State as he helps coaches bring in top players in his class who have shown interest in signing with the Lions.
"Once I commit, this is going to be my team," Harrison said. "You're only as good as the [people] you surround yourself with, so I wanted to surround myself with the best athletes possible."
And he has been doing a pretty good job of that. Ranked the No. 4 offensive lineman in the nation by theinsiders.com, Harrison has been in contact with fellow Penn State commitments A.Q. Shipley, the No. 11 defensive tackle, Wyatt Bowman, the No. 37 offensive lineman, linebacker Dontey Brown and running back Matt Hahn, among others.
Shipley and Harrison go further back than their commitment to Penn State, as they have encountered each other at football camps for the past two years. At the Michigan State camp, the two linemen got their first go at each other. The result?
"I was getting the best of him there," laughed Shipley.
Bowman is excited to be entering with such a close-knit group and knows that his class' cohesiveness will be evident on the field.
"I think it's great," Bowman said. "The closer we are now, the closer we'll be up there and that's key in a winning football team."
But the class's bond goes beyond a common love for the pigskin.
"A lot of times we don't even talk about football, we talk about whatever," Bowman said.
And that goes for conversations with Penn State prospects as well.
"I just got off the phone with Chad Henne," Harrison said. "I'm really good friends with him. The last time we talked about recruiting was a month-and-a-half ago."
Henne, one of the nation's top quarterbacks and Wilson High School standout, is scheduled to make his decision next week at a press conference.
Harrison is also close with Penn State prospects Dan Connor and Tyrell Sales, the class's No. 1 and No. 19 ranked linebackers in the nation.
"I don't look at it like [trying to prove why Penn State is right for them]," Harrison said. "I try to be there as a friend and another recruit who has gone through the process."
Hahn just tells it like it is and is confident that it will be enough.
"It's easy [to sell Penn State], just tell them the truth" he said. "You don't have to sugarcoat it or anything."
And for Shipley, seeing is believing.
"Just having them come visit [is the key]," Shipley said. "Once you come visit Penn State, it's kind of hard not to choose it."
But sometimes, the recruits can not help but give their prospective teammates a friendly nudge toward Happy Valley, especially when they are needed to help fill out the roster.
"I said, 'Chad, I need a quarterback, we need a quarterback,' " Harrison said. "He just laughed and said, 'I know.'"
Football tournament honors memory of Penn State's Hennigar
By Jenny Vrentas
Daily Collegian
(U-WIRE) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In the early morning hours of May 31, Penn State backup quarterback Greg Hennigar was killed in an automobile accident near his northeast Philadelphia home.
Two months later, family, friends, teammates and neighbors gathered to remember Hennigar in the best way they knew. Football.
Hennigar's girlfriend, Emily Culp, and his high school teammate, Ryan Nase, served as tournament directors for the Greg Hennigar Memorial Tournament, a rough touch football tournament held Saturday, the day after what would have been Hennigar's 19th birthday. The tournament, held across the street from Father Judge High School, was organized to honor Hennigar's memory and also served as a fundraiser for the Judge football program.
"We just wanted to keep his spirit alive," Culp said. "And the only way we knew how to do it was getting people together to play the sport that he loved and have it benefit the school that he loved."
The tournament raised $8,000 for the Judge football program, with part of the proceeds coming from the sale of event T-shirts. In just four hours, 300 shirts were sold, and the demand was so great that 50 more were placed on backorder.
Hennigar's mother, Marie, was overwhelmed by the response.
"It was unbelievable," Marie said. "For one day, for one kid, they made $8,000."
While the money will be going to the Judge football program, it is earmarked for a specific purpose. According to Marie, one of Hennigar's wishes was to be able to come back from college and complete his workouts in Judge High School with the current athletes. Because of Judge's limited facilities this was not possible, but with the money raised from the memorial tournament, another of Hennigar's dreams will come closer to becoming realized.
"Greg always wanted a gym, the right equipment, so the kids who come home from college can go there for inspiration for the young kids," Marie said.
But more important than the funds raised was simply the gathering of people -- a tribute to Hennigar in itself.
"Every time I talk to people about Greg, I say that one of his things was just having everybody together," Nase said. "Our whole neighborhood was there, everyone who knows him was there."
Getting people together was not a difficult task.
Judge football coach Tom Coyle described Hennigar as "a favorite son of this neighborhood," and that became evident by the number of people who attended to take part in the remembrance of the redhead they had known.
The final turnout was close to 1,000 people, with 16 men's teams and two women's teams registered in the competition.
And everybody got involved in the game, including Marie, who quarterbacked one of the powder puff teams, "Henny's Honeys," and also provided one of the highlights of the tournament.
Pressured while under center, Marie looked downfield and threw to the only person she could see, Culp. The only problem was, Culp played for the other team.
"I couldn't see anybody else," Marie said. "How do you see anybody when they are all coming at you? I said, 'Greg, I don't know how you did it.' "
Marie found justification for her interception in the memory of her son.
"Greg [threw an interception] in the Blue-White game, and he was trained better than I was," Marie laughed.
The memories of Hennigar kept coming, far beyond interceptions.
"People were remembering him throughout the day," Nase said. "There were lots of times when we said, 'Oh, Greg would have laughed at that.'"
For Marie, that was the best part of the memorial.
"Saturday was nice because all his friends were laughing," Marie said. "I hadn't seen that in so long. I miss that upbeat spirit."
The tournament directors hope to make the Greg Hennigar Memorial Tournament an annual event and are considering increasing the tournament length to two days to help accommodate the overwhelming number of entries.
But for now, the success of this year's event will keep them smiling for a while.
"It was amazing," Culp said. "Everyone just wanted to give back to him, [to show] that they cared."
And Culp is confident that Greg got the message.
"I know he was there, maybe not physically, but in spirit," she said. "He was looking down from heaven, laughing."
Michigan DB Jackson charged with assault
August 1, 2003
DETROIT (AP) -- Michigan's Marlin Jackson, the Big Ten preseason defensive player of the year, was charged with felony assault.
A warrant on charges of felonious assault and aggravated assault was filed Thursday in Washtenaw County Court, first assistant prosecutor Konrad Siller said Friday.
Siller wouldn't discuss what led to the charges.
``The allegations against Marlin Jackson are serious,'' Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr said through a spokesman.
Ann Arbor Police Detective David Monroe said the department would not comment until the arraignment next week.
A message was left with Jackson's attorney, Christopher Easthope.
Each of the felonies carry a penalty of up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.
The junior from Sharon, Pa., had 98 tackles and six interceptions in his first two years with the Wolverines and was a second-team All-American last year.
He has started in 20 games, more than any current Michigan defensive player.
Oklahoma picked as No. 1 in USA Today/ESPN Preseason Top 25 Poll
July 31, 2003
Oklahoma nudged out defending national champion Ohio State for No. 1 in the preseason USA Today-ESPN coaches college football poll released Thursday.
The Sooners, who beat Washington State 34-14 in the Rose Bowl to finish 12-2 and ranked No. 5 last season, received 29 first-place votes and 1,514 points.
Ohio State got 28 first-place votes and had 1,495 points. The Buckeyes beat Miami 31-24 in double overtime in the Fiesta Bowl to cap a 14-0 season.
Miami was ranked third in the preseason poll with five No. 1 votes and 1,448 points, followed by Texas and Kansas State. Auburn received the only other first-place vote and was sixth, with Michigan, Southern California, Georgia and Virginia Tech rounding out the top 10.
The preseason Associated Press media poll will be released Aug. 16.
Oklahoma tops preseason USA Today/ESPN coaches poll
July 31, 2003
ARLINGTON, Virginia (Ticker) - Let the cries of disrespect begin in Columbus, Ohio.
Defending national champion Ohio State was edged out reigning Big 12 Conference champion Oklahoma in the preseason USA Today/ESPN football coaches poll released Thursday.
The Sooners (12-2), who finished fifth in last year's final poll after beating Washington State in the Rose Bowl, received 29 of 63 first-place votes and 1,514 points in a nationwide poll of Division I-A coaches.
Chasing its second national championship in four years, Oklahoma has only four starters back on offense but returns nine starters from a defensive unit that ranked among the best in the country last season.
There is no consensus preseason No. 1 as the first three teams - Oklahoma, Ohio State and 2001 national champion Miami - were separated by just 66 points.
Ohio State (14-0), which captured its first national title since 1968 with an epic 31-24 double overtime victory over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, received 28 first-place votes and 1,495 points.
The Buckeyes open defense of their national championship August 30 against Washington. They begin preseason practice without star running back Maurice Clarett, who is being kept out until questions regarding his eligibility are concerned.
Miami (12-1), whose 34-game winning streak was snapped in the loss to Ohio State, claimed five first-place ballots and 1,448 points.
While the Hurricanes lost star running back Willie McGahee and three-year starting quarterback Ken Dorsey, they once again appear loaded, with 13 starters back.
The other first-place vote went to No. 6 Auburn (9-4), which is expected to win the Southeastern Conference.
Completing the top five are Texas (11-2), which begins life without quarterback Chris Simms, and Kansas State (11-2).
Southern California (11-2), which must fill the void left by the departure of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Carson Palmer, opens the year eighth, behind Michigan (10-3) and ahead of defending SEC champion Georgia (13-1) and Virginia Tech (10-4).
The second 10 features three rising Atlantic Coast Conference programs - No. 13 Maryland (11-3), No. 14 North Carolina State (11-3) and No. 17 Virginia (9-5).
Ralph Friedgen has guided Maryland to a pair of 10-win campaigns in his first two years as coach, while North Carolina State is coming off its best season ever, capped by a win over Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl. Virginia hopes to build on its first bowl win in eight years.
Pittsburgh (9-4), another rising program in the Big East Conference, starts the second 10, followed by Florida State (9-5), which is coming off its worst season since 1981.
Louisiana State (8-5) and Tennessee (8-5), who were not ranked at the end of last season, are 16th and 17th, respectively.
Notre Dame (10-3), which won 10 games in Tyrone Willingham's first season at the helm, is 18th, followed by Washington (7-6) and Wisconsin (8-6). The Huskies begin the season with a new coach as former offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson takes over for Rick Neuheisel, who was fired in the wake of a betting controversy.
Completing the poll are Florida (8-5), Purdue (7-6), Arizona State (8-6), Oklahoma State (8-5), Colorado State (10-4) and Penn State (9-4). Colorado State and Penn State tied for 25th.
Too funny, Ksquared. Multi use sprinklers and hoses are always good to have around. Nothing like getting two uses for the price of one. :>)
Colt
Once in a while, Justin, we're allowed to splurge...I think now is that time. A little cake and some Blue Bell ice cream never hurt anyone...............too much..............unless they over-indulged. I always stop eating when full. <g>
Colt
Well Justin, I had Italian food, so I too, will only jog 1-2/3rd miles tomorrow. Thanks for reminding me. LOL
Colt
Ksquared...from that article Dave Berry said......
"I have one concern. You may have noticed that women are wearing their pants lower and lower. At least they are here in Miami. I am seeing women -- including older women -- walking around in pants that are so low that they verge on not being pants at all, but are more like two independent, unconnected pants legs, also known as ``chaps.''
My concern is that, if female pants continue to descend at their current rate -- currently estimated by government scientists at about a quarter-inch a month -- and at the same time the Biniki becomes popular, resulting in a raising of the general female buttocks population . . . well, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to predict what's going to happen."
If the young girls down here get the hip hugger jeans any lower or their flat tummy exposing, low neckline, t-shirts any higher and/or lower, nothing, and I mean nothing will be left to the imagination. That's the only comment I'll make...LOL
Colt, not a dirty old man all the time.
You sure about this, TH.....?
"Nobody eats guts and bones, K2."
I hear tell, that ol' Hillary did after Slick Willy came clean and fessed up to her about Monica. LOL
Colt
Oh man, Justin...I'm eating a bowl of Blue Bell Rocky Road right now. Blue Bell is hard to beat. Looks like tomorrow will be a 6 mile jog.
Colt
How to enjoy German, Mexican and Italian foods.....
Jog 5 miles a day over and above 2 days worth of hard labor each day! Otherwise I'd be weighing about 1973 pounds right now because I love all three. <g>
Colt
LOL, Justin. Good ol' President Ford. e/
Down here in Texas, Ksquared McDonalds sells McRattlesnakeNuggets, but Hooters sells Fried Rattlesnake Drumsticks, Bar-B-Q'd Rattlesnake Wings, Baked Rattlesnake Thighs, and Smoked Rattlesnake Breasts. Guys down here love em, the Hooters Girls, that is. LOL
Colt
Yeah, Justin...you're welcome over there anytime. It's kinda fun watching NLionGuy and Ksquared go at it (good naturedly, of course) over Penn State and Michigan. LOL Us Longhorns can gang up on them. <GGG>
Colt
Greg, Re: Rattlesnake season...
In Texas and Arizona it is always in season, except on those rare days when it snows or drops down into the teens, or as you say in your statement "meant unless it specifies the time when their snake wrangler got drunk enough to actually go out and catch snakes" is most likely correct. LOL
Colt
Ksquared, it really depends on how much Venom you use to spice it up. I prefer mine mild so I only use half of the snake's venom. Using all of it makes a rattlesnake taste like horse meat. <GGG> In all honesty I only eat it anymore when it is part of a wild game dinner at a Texas Wildlife Assn., Ducks Unlimited, or Safari Club International, function. We've killed so many over the years and if/when something isn't done to/with the dead snake the smell makes you glad you don't do autopsy's for a living.
Colt
And you are Welcome! e/
Yes, Ksquared and so do I. <GGG> e/
Hey, don't go giving her encouragement. To my knowledge she has never changed a flat tire. Not saying she couldn't but, so far I don't think she has.
Colt
Sounds nice, Ksquared. Say hello to Gov. Dean, for me...LOL
Colt
Agree, TH...! e/
Let's play seven questions
by Dan Wetzel
Yahoo! Sports
July 30, 2003
The Jets and Buccaneers have landed in Tokyo. The 2003 American Bowl is Saturday and no doubt there will be some Americans looking for a football fix who will rise at 5 a.m. ET to watch the first exhibition game of the year.
Five weeks later the season will kick off with the Jets visiting the Redskins (more on that later). Everything culminates with a Super Bowl trip to Houston on Feb. 1. The NFL season is close. But not close enough.
In the meantime, as we slowly work through August, here are a touchdown (and extra point) worth of key questions to ponder for in the upcoming season.
1. Can Tampa Bay repeat?
Denver did it. Dallas and San Francisco, of course. Pittsburgh got it done twice in the '70s. Both Miami and, way back at the start, Green Bay managed the task also.
Repeating as Super Bowl champion is difficult, but not impossible. It is now the chief goal of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise few thought would ever win the thing in the first place. Now the Bucs, who famously lost the first 26 games they ever played, are going for two.
The hurdles are obvious. The schedule is tougher. The opponents are more motivated. And capturing that unique combination of karma and chemistry you need to win a Super Bowl is difficult enough once. Last year defending champion New England not only failed to repeat, it didn't even make the playoffs.
But Tampa has a few advantages. The most intriguing is that because they were playing for a new coach last season, the Bucs sort of arrived a year early. Common sense says that the team should be more at ease in Jon Gruden system this season.
And not only are team members more comfortable but also they are closer to each other and their coach according to quarterback Brad Johnson.
"We've got a better chemistry," Johnson, who was the NFC's top-ranked passer last season, told NFL.com. "Jon has got a better feel for us as players. We just kind of grew up and it just has taken off for us.
"We're light years ahead of where we were last year," Johnson continued. "Last year I was just trying to call a play in the huddle with the (new) terminology. Like, 'U Shift to Green Left West F Short Fire Two U Banana Z Over.' I'd have to ask Jon again what that particular play was and everything, but now we feel we're flowing, understanding what the personnel groupings are."
A key negative is the loss of defensive standout Dexter Jackson, the Super Bowl MVP, who signed as a free agent with the Cardinals. But Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp and most everyone else from the aggressive defense with a knack for scoring touchdowns is back.
So the talent is there. The question for the Bucs, who play in the brutal NFC South, is going to be mental. Stay focused and hungry, as Gruden promises they will, and anything is possible.
2. Can Bill Parcells turn the Cowboys around?
How about can he simply coexist with Dallas owner Jerry Jones? Parcells has always been the boss during stops with the Giants, Patriots and Jets. Now the question is whether Texas is big enough for both the Tuna and Jones, who has never seen a camera he didn't like.
Both are predicting nothing but smooth sailing, but we'll see. New England owner Bob Kraft is a pretty popular, easygoing guy but he was too hands on for Parcells.
Wait until Jones suggests Dallas pick up receiver Terry Glenn. Oh, that's right -- the Cowboys already got him, and Parcells is claiming he's eager to coach the former Patriot he once called a "she."
This should be interesting because Dallas promises to get very good, very quickly. Parcells is the best coach in football, and he is known for making quick work with tough situations. The teams he inherited in New York (both Giants and Jets) and New England were all losers that made the playoffs in his second season.
Dallas has won just 15 games over the last three seasons. Parcells has already gone Junction Boys on the Cowboys, scheduling two-a-days for 11 of the first 12 days of training camp. The other day there is a scrimmage.
It may not happen this year, but America's team is going to be back. At least as long as owner and coach can coexist.
3. Can Peyton Manning get over the hump?
He has started every game of his entire six-year NFL career. Last season was another brilliant, if easy to call boring, campaign: 4,200 yards passing, 66.3 completion percentage and 27 touchdowns. Plus, the Colts won 10 games and reached the playoffs. Again.
But once in the postseason it was also Indy as usual -- a humbling, horrible 41-0 loss at the hands of the Jets. Manning has tossed for a ton of yardage over his six-year career, but he has yet to win in the postseason (0-3). He has a shown a penchant for throwing interceptions -- not just a lot of them (42 over the past two years), but a lot of ill-timed ones (two against the Jets).
So is this one of the best QBs in the league? Or a guy who racks up some incredible numbers -- in part because he has Marvin Harrison -- but can't win the big ones? Or is it just too early to tell?
The beauty of Manning is that no one takes the setbacks harder than he. He doesn't play defense; not all of the postseason failures can be pinned to him. But still he spent the off-season like every other one, working on his mechanics, improving his skill level and watching more video than Roger Ebert.
With Edgerrin James back to full health, Harrison looking for another 100-plus receptions and the defense seemingly better, the Colts should again contend in the AFC South and push for the playoffs. Manning is too good to not eventually get it done in January. But until he does, there is still something to prove.
4. How much better can Michael Vick get?
He is officially the most exciting player in the NFL -- witness the already six guaranteed national television games on the Falcon schedule. He rushed for 777 yards and eight touchdowns, including some truly memorable scampers. His performance in Atlanta's dramatic 27-7 playoff victory at Green Bay was the stuff of legend.
Michael Vick became a big-time star in his second year (and first seeing action) in the NFL. So will he get better? He almost has to.
As great as the Virginia Tech product was last season, it was almost entirely because of his running ability. In the air, he was erratic. He threw for 2,972 yards, completed 54.9 percent of his passes, connected on 16 TDs against 8 interceptions. In his final five games Vick failed to complete half his attempts. He wound up with a QB rating of 81.6, barely ranking in the top 20 of the NFL.
But who cares? Vick spent the off-season working on improving his mechanics, footwork and reading defenses. Meanwhile the Falcons, who realize there is something special about the just-turned-23-year-old, filled in some pieces. The addition of wideout Peerless Price, who caught 94 passes last year for the Bills, should help Vick the most.
Vick is a difference maker of a player, not just for the Falcons but for the league. He did that last year despite struggling at times in the air. There is no doubt his arm is plenty strong enough. Once he learns how to air it out effectively in the NFL, his scrambling ability is that much more potent.
He not only can get better, he can get much, much better. A scary thought for the rest of the league.
5. How great is the opener going to be?
The NFL's new tradition of kicking off the season with a kickoff event -- Thursday prime time -- is a winner. So is this year's game. Not only will Britney Spears perform (can we get her in those football pants again?) before the game, but the Jets-Redskins matchup should feature plenty of bad blood.
Steve Spurrier, who never had trouble rankling opponents in college, signed four Jets -- WR Laveranues Coles, G Randy Thompson, K John Hall and WR Chad Morton -- as free agents this offseason. In the end, Washington added 13 free agents before the NFL draft even took place, so 2003 promises to be a whole new ball game in Washington.
Patrick Ramsey remains a question mark at quarterback, but Spurrier has expressed confidence in his second-year leader. With lots more firepower to work with, Washington should be interesting.
The Jets will get the first look. New York was one of the league's hottest teams late last season, whipping off blowouts of New England and Green Bay to make the playoffs and then humiliating Indy 41-0 in the first round. But rather than build, the Jets got raided by the 'Skins.
It got so bad that at the NFL draft, a fan held a sign imploring, "Make a good pick Jets. He'll soon be a Redskin."
New York doesn't like getting outspent and out hustled by anyone, let alone by a 7-win team. For the Jets to make the playoffs for the third consecutive year, they will have to rally what's left and step up and deliver. At Washington on Sept. 4, with the entire nation watching, could be a telling first statement.
6. Will the Raiders continue to age well?
Oakland's training camp is, perhaps ironically, in Napa Valley, Calif., the heart of wine country where fine, aged things are valued.
If it makes the skill position set of Rich Gannon (turns 38 this season), Jerry Rice (41) and Tim Brown (37) feel better about themselves, then there isn't a more appropriate place to prepare for the season. Throw in running back Charlie Garner (31 this year) and the Raiders are an average of 36.8 years old at the main offensive positions.
Obviously the Raiders were old last year too, but also good enough to reach the Super Bowl. But how long can it last, especially after everyone watched a speedy Buccaneer team run away from the silver and black? The offensive line, hardly spry itself, was particularly exposed in the Super Bowl, and no one can accurately predict what kind of season Barret Robbins is going to have.
Oakland is still a fearsome team, and age is often what you make of it. If the Raiders win, it will be because of experience. But if injuries and a lack of speed do them in, this will be viewed as the end of the run.
7. Can St. Louis and New England regain their mojo?
The Super Bowl champion Patriots finished 9-7 and didn't even make the playoffs. St. Louis, the team the Pats beat for the title and who set the league on fire in 1999, was even worse, winning just seven games. How the mighty fell.
In Missouri they have even started questioning Kurt Warner, who just two years ago was the league's MVP and considered the gold standard for quarterbacks. But a slow start and a busted finger caused fans to lose faith in him. He actually has to deal with Marc Bulger, who is primed to take his job.
Oh yeah, and Marshall Faulk is 30 and has plenty of miles on those legs. The time is now for the Rams to rebound, or their exceptional breakout season in 1999 will be a distant memory.
Meanwhile in New England, things aren't quite as bleak. The Patriots nearly made the playoffs last year and played well at times. Tom Brady actually improved the offense, but it was the defense, Bill Belichick's specialty, that led the team down on occasion.
The Pats improved their speed in the draft, don't have to deal with a first-place schedule and are completely healthy. They also still have kicker Adam Vinatieri, as good a clutch kicker as the league has. But the pressure will build if New England stumbles.
Miss the playoffs this year, and the Super Bowl season will begin to look more like an aberration than a crowning achievement for a strong franchise.
Chiefs have 2nd Rated Tight End...Rotisserie By The Numbers: The Top 25 Tight Ends
July 31, 2003
By Craig Rondinone
SportsTicker Staff Writer
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Ticker) - When drafting a tight end for your fantasy team, you should ask yourself three simple questions.
Does this guy see the ball in the red zone? Does he actually run patterns longer than five yards? And is this guy on the field all the time, or does he get substituted for because he is a bad blocker or his team loves five-receiver sets?
Most tight ends have no chance of having 100-yard games or catching 70-yard passes. But you do not want to be stuck with a guy who consistently has two-catch, 18-yard, zero-touchdown performances week in and week out.
If you can draft a tight end that catches a fair share of touchdown passes, fine. If you can draft a tight end that has the skills of a wide receiver and can rack up 50 yards a week, fine. If you can draft a tight end that does both, have fun laughing at the sap stuck with Zeron Flemister.
So here are the top 25 tight ends in fantasy football entering the 2003 campaign, starting with a recent weekly sports magazine subject who enjoys partying hard, taunting opponents, throwing ice at fans, flipping people the bird - and being one of the best players to have if you are a fantasy owner.
1. Jeremy Shockey, Giants: Shockey led all tight ends with 74 receptions and 894 yards during his inaugural NFL season, which was shocking because tight ends normally do little in their rookie year. And Shockey did this while missing one game and hobbling around on a bad toe for many more. He could flirt with the 1,000-yard plateau and will definitely score more TDs than the two he had last season.
2. Tony Gonzalez, Chiefs: Without having the allure of the NBA or contract problems distract him as they did last season, Gonzalez will be much more focused. Kansas City did not go out and get a quality wideout, so Gonzalez will still be Trent Green's top target.
3. Todd Heap, Ravens: I made the crucial mistake of dropping this guy in one league last year after he did little in the first two weeks. Dumb, dumb, dumb. He catches the ball in the end zone and can get downfield for 20-yard catches. Baltimore's passing offense revolves around him and Travis Taylor.
4. Marcus Pollard, Colts: Here is the first slight dropoff in talent. Pollard had a disappointing 2002 season, but through no fault of his own. Indianapolis had him blocking more and running fewer routes. If they run more plays for him, he will have an outstanding season.
5. Bubba Franks, Packers: Franks is Brett Favre's favorite when the Pack is inside the 10-yard line, and why shouldn't he be? Covering him is like covering a continent. His career yards-per-catch is under 10.0, though.
6. Shannon Sharpe, Broncos: He might be 1,000 years old, but Mr. Mouth is still talking and catching passes. If Sharpe hated Brian Griese, he might kill Jake Plummer.
7. Billy Miller, Texans: Miller was the biggest surprise at the position last year, catching 51 balls for 613 yards. Houston will be trailing in most of its games again this year, so Miller should see plenty of action.
8. Alge Crumpler, Falcons: Crumpler has the ability to become a top-notch tight end in his junior season. Michael Vick will have no trouble finding him downfield, and newly acquired Peerless Price should open up some room for him.
9. Randy McMichael, Dolphins: McMichael has the body and the speed of a wide receiver and is one of the few tight ends that can outrun cornerbacks. He faded badly during the second half of last season. Did defenses catch up to him, or was it because Ray Lucas was throwing most of the passes?
10. Chad Lewis, Eagles: Talent dropoff No. 2. Lewis is dependable for 35 yards per game and an occasional TD, but he is not the player he was two years ago.
11. Stephen Alexander, Chargers: Drew Brees seems to like throwing to Alexander when times are tough. But Alexander has a problem staying on the field. He is always banged up.
12. Doug Jolley, Raiders: You have to love the name, don't you? Jolley gets lost in the Raiders' shuffle with Tim Brown, Jerry Porter, Charlie Garner and Jerry Rice, but he is more valuable than you think.
13. Daniel Graham, Patriots: Here might be the Todd Heap of 2003. Just as Heap did very little his rookie season before breaking out in big way in his second season, the same could happen for this talented sophomore.
14. Frank Wycheck, Titans: McNair's main man has the speed of a fossil these days. His stats declined badly last season.
15. Anthony Becht, Jets: Becht is a humongous target to find in the end zone, and Chad Pennington could find a dwarf if he was open. Becht very rarely makes any meaningful plays between the 20s, however.
The rest of the top 25:
16. Eric Johnson, 49ers: He is the king of the eight-yard catch.
17. Jerramy Stevens, Seahawks: Should play more and see more passes this year.
18. Byron Chamberlain, Vikings: Will miss first four games for violating the NFL substance abuse policy.
19. Freddie Jones, Cardinals: Who else is Jeff Blake going to throw to? All of his wide receivers are inexperienced.
20. Ernie Conwell, Saints: His value goes down now that he is no longer with the Rams. The Saints don't not use their tight ends much.
21. Kyle Brady, Jaguars: Always known as a super blocker, Brady has quietly improved as a pass catcher since coming to Jacksonville.
22. Jay Riemersma, Steelers: It will be weird seeing him in a Steelers uniform.
23. Cam Cleeland, Rams: Twice tearing his Achilles tendon has ruined his career. Maybe joining the Rams will help.
24. Mikhael Ricks, Lions: He was a failure as a wideout. He does not set the world on fire as a tight end, either.
25. Christian Fauria, Patriots: His role will be reduced because of the emergence of Daniel Graham.
Next week: Wide receivers.
I was just a kid but, I can remember watching them. I remember all the Hall of Famers. Those games and teams were back when the announcers were really good at their job. Most also did college radio games and they knew how to make it exciting. Now they just hire a jock the day after he retires and sticks him in the booth. Many times we'll turn the radio on for the audio while watching the big screen. I was sorry to see Pat and John break up though. Ol' Jack Buck was one of the great announcers.
Colt
Naw, the Chiefs can whip them panzy asses. <ggg>
Colt
Yep!!! He was a favorite down here in High School and in College. I'd love to see him get an MVP in a Super Bowl win...preferably this season, since this is still a rebuilding year for the Cowboys. LOL
Colt
Carter hoping new coach, freedom enables him to regain QB job
By JAIME ARON
AP Sports Writer
July 31, 2003
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Quincy Carter drops back, scans his receivers, then takes off running. He's looking ahead for yardage, not over his shoulder to see if coaches are barking at him for leaving the pocket.
Carter is once again free to flee. And by showing off the mobility that once made Jerry Jones consider him the heir to Troy Aikman, Carter hopes to once again become the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.
New coach Bill Parcells has thrown open the competition between Carter and Chad Hutchinson. Although their styles are different, each is being allowed to play to their strengths.
Parcells acknowledges it's more difficult to pick when the candidates are doing different things. But he also stressed that what matters most is sustaining drives and scoring points.
``All things being equal, the more versatile you are the better,'' Parcells said Thursday. ``But if Hutchinson moves the team better, or anybody else moves the team better, I'd go with that guy and forgo the other.''
All Carter wants is a fair chance, something he's not sure he always got last season under offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet,
Coslet considered Hutchinson a better fit in his version of the West Coast offense. But because Hutchinson was returning to football after playing baseball for four years, Carter opened the season as the starter.
He struggled in the new system, partly because running was discouraged. He was benched after a 3-4 start and never played another game.
While Carter prefers not to discuss last season, his praise of the new staff indicates how happy he is with the change. He said he doesn't mind competing for the job as long as everyone knows it's an open competition.
``That in itself makes you feel more comfortable,'' Carter said. ``We can go out and just play football and not have to worry about anything else. Then you get into a comfort zone where you feel like everybody is supporting you. ... Your play is going to speak for itself.''
Parcells is so adamant about letting each do their own thing that both practice differently.
During a simple drop-back drill, Carter almost always takes off running. He runs at the end of many phantom plays, too.
In a play-action drill Thursday morning, Carter faked a pitch, rolled out and threw; Hutchinson faked a handoff, stepped back and threw deep.
Carter said it's all part of being put in position to succeed.
``As long as I make sound decisions, and quick decisions, they don't have a problem,'' he said.
Quarterback has been a major weakness for Dallas since Aikman left after the 2000 season. The Cowboys were ranked last in passing two years ago, when Carter was a rookie, and were second-worst last season.
Carter has completed 54.2 percent of his passes, with more interceptions (15) than touchdowns (12). He's also been sacked 41 times in 15 games. Yet he's 6-9 as a starter, which isn't bad considering Dallas has gone 4-13 in games he hasn't started the past two years.
Carter hasn't had it easy since turning pro after his junior season at Georgia.
Jones was ripped for drafting Carter in the second round when he might've been available later. Almost as if to justify the choice, Carter became the starter right away as Tony Banks, who was signed to ease the Aikman-to-Carter transition, was cut in training camp.
The following offseason, Jones signed Hutchinson to a deal featuring a signing bonus worth nearly as much as Carter's entire contract.
``I went through a lot last year. This year, what more can you bring myway?'' Carter said, laughing. ``Now, I'm ready for anything.''
Stram chief reason behind Kansas City success
By ANDY RESNIK
Associated Press Writer
July 31, 2003
The Kansas City Chiefs dominated the AFL and won a Super Bowl with Hall of Fame talent on offense, defense and special teams.
Now it's time to add their coach to the list.
``We had great people, and you just can't win if you don't have great people,'' said Hank Stram, who will be inducted Sunday into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
``You can't win if you don't have a great attitude, great discipline. I always thought that attitude was more important than intellect. That's the way our team was.''
The franchise's first coach, Stram took over the expansion Dallas Texans of the upstart AFL in 1960 and guided them through 1974 -- 11 years after the team moved to Kansas City and was renamed the Chiefs.
The gregarious, stocky and blazer-wearing Stram -- carrying a rolled up game plan in his hand -- led the Chiefs to AFL titles in '62, '66 and '69 and appearances in Super Bowls I and IV.
Stram later coached two seasons in New Orleans and enjoyed a successful second career on CBS and Monday Night Football radio booths as a color commentator.
But it was Stram's success in Kansas City -- and his ability to find and develop talent -- that led him to the hall in Canton, Ohio.
``I don't think people know what a great quarterback coach he was,'' said Hall of Famer Len Dawson, once a Stram waiver pickup. ``He knew more about the quarterback position than any coach I ever had.''
Five players on Stram's Chiefs teams -- Bobby Bell, Buck Buchanan, Dawson, Willie Lanier and Jan Stenerud -- became Hall of Famers, and countless others were stars.
Stram designed a moving pocket to utilize Dawson's ability to throw on the move and deceive defenses with play-action passes; he devised the two tight end offense that provided an extra blocker; and his stack defense packed so many bodies near the line of scrimmage that other teams couldn't run the ball.
Dawson believes Stram, who coached his final NFL game 26 years ago, should've been made a Hall of Famer years ago.
``I think it was long overdue, but I'm prejudiced,'' said Dawson, one of Stram's closest friends and his Hall of Fame presenter.
The 80-year-old Stram is this year's senior enshrinee. Also being inducted: Marcus Allen, Elvin Bethea, Joe DeLamielleure and James Lofton.
Stram was a University of Miami assistant in 1959 when Lamar Hunt, now the Chiefs' owner, offered him a head coaching job that had been rejected by Bud Wilkinson and Tom Landry.
``It was a very lucky selection on my part,'' said Hunt, also a Hall of Famer. He added: ``I would like to think the best record in the AFL, the most championships, would have been rewarded earlier.''
No other player has formed a tighter bond with Stram than Dawson, the MVP of the Chiefs' 23-7 win over Minnesota in Super Bowl IV.
Dawson wallowed on the bench in Pittsburgh and Cleveland for five seasons before asking Browns coach Paul Brown for his release. The Texans won the AFL title in the quarterback's first season in 1962.
``I look at my career, if it hadn't been for Hank I wouldn't have had one,'' Dawson said. ``I had gotten very rusty in five years. ... Hank stayed with me. He thought he knew something about me.''
Stram had a 124-76-10 regular-season record -- plus 5-3 in the playoffs -- in 15 seasons at Dallas-Kansas City, but he refuses to feel slighted about his long Hall of Fame wait.
``I don't look at it that way,'' he said. ``I think I was very, very fortunate to be able to coach in so many great places with so many great people. It's a great opportunity and I look forward to it with great anticipation.''
AFC East is the NFL's toughest division
by Cris Carter
July 31, 2003
Predicted order of finish:
1. Miami
2. New England
3. New York
4. Buffalo
Miami may win too many division games for this to happen, but it's possible that all four AFC East teams could finish better than .500. This is the toughest division in football; any of these teams could make the playoffs.
Only the defending champion Jets failed to improve themselves in the off-season, and Miami may have the most talented team in all of football.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins added some terrific players, but as always, the Dolphins need to prove to the rest of the league -- and themselves -- that they can keep it up for the long haul. A fast start isn't enough. But I think they could finish with the best record in the AFC.
Don't underestimate the addition of Charlie Rogers. The Dolphins have never been known for special teams, but Rogers not only gives Miami a solid return game but also takes one away from a division rival, Buffalo.
New England Patriots
The Patriots are good enough to return to the postseason after a one-year absence. New England needs to get a running game. Antowain Smith might be the key to determining if the Pats can be a wild-card team.
Even though they are one year removed from their Super Bowl victory, teams still will get up to play the Patriots.
New York Jets
The Jets lost a lot of key players. Santana Moss is no Laveranues Coles. Chad Pennington and Coles had just begun to develop a lot of chemistry. I'd be surprised if New York has enough to finish in the top half of the division.
Buffalo Bills
Buffalo -- which finished in last place in 2002 with an 8-8 record -- might do the same thing again. Outside of losing Peerless Price, the Bills have done everything they needed to do.
You have to be able to run the football in December in Buffalo, and if Willis McGahee is ready to play by then, the Bills could have a dynamic backfield duo of McGahee and Travis Henry, who may have piled up 1,000 yards on the ground by then.
Cowboys: Committee won't suit Hambrick
by Fanball Staff - Fanball.com
Thursday, July 31, 2003
News
Head coach Bill Parcells reiterated on Wednesday that he would not have any problems using a "backfield by committee" approach this season, the Dallas Morning News reported. When asked about the comments, running back Troy Hambrick played the diplomat at first. Then, the often vocal back said, "It will change. I came here to do it. I don’t take second to anyone...People know I can get five or six yards, but there are a lot of other things I can do as well."
Views
If Hambrick runs well the bulk of the carries will end up in his hands, but Parcells also wants to utilize the speed of Michael Wiley and the pass-catching abilities of Aveion Cason and Richie Anderson. Hambrick probably won't end up with as many carries and catches as the stud backs in the NFL, and that's why fantasy owners should only be eyeing him as a third or fourth back for their team.