Brees at ease in his eighth season as NFL quarterback
It's nothing personal, but Ronde Barber wouldn't mind if he never sees Drew Brees again after today. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback and New Orleans Saints quarterback are usually division foes in the NFC South, but for this week they're Pro Bowl teammates.
Brees, an eight-year veteran making his third all-star appearance, led the league this season with 5,069 passing yards. The mark is second only to Dan Marino's NFL record of 5,084 yards in 1984. Brees completed 65 percent of his passes and threw 34 touchdown passes to 17 interceptions.
"He's probably the smartest guy we play against all year," Barber said. "It's like he knows everything you're doing - it's kind of frustrating actually, but I definitely respect what he's been able to accomplish since his years in San Diego."
Brees completed his third season in New Orleans, his best in terms of passing yards and touchdowns in his career. He spent his first five years in the league with the Chargers - four as the starter - before taking over as the trigger man for the Saints' offense.
He threw for 4,418 yards and 26 touchdowns, leading New Orleans into the NFC Championship game in 2006, on his way to his second Pro Bowl appearance.
Brees, who started in that Pro Bowl, dislocated his left (non-throwing) elbow during the first quarter. He did not return and the injury put a damper on an otherwise easy-going, but entertaining game. But Brees didn't let his past misfortune prevent him from coming to what could be the final Pro Bowl in Hawai'i.
"I wouldn't be here if it did," Brees said. "That's part of the game. It didn't scare me off, but hopefully it doesn't happen again - knock on wood."
He did admit the injury in 2006 put a halt to offseason plans.
"That stunk just because it took away a lot of golf for me. My wife and I were going to go on vacation, but I had to go through rehab instead and obviously you'd rather be on vacation," Brees said.
Brees didn't miss any games because of the injury and certainly didn't lose any ability.
He was named Offensive Player of the Year by The Associated Press this season despite being on an 8-8 team. Still his team led the league in passing yards (311), points (28.9) and total offense (410) per game. However, New Orleans ranked 28th in rushing, averaging just under 100 (99.6).
"It was disappointing, but I think that we've got a lot of the right pieces in place, we just gotta make sure we're able to finish football games," Brees said. "A lot of our losses came in the last few minutes of the game, when we had chances to win and we just weren't able to pull it out."
Still, his NFC teammates this week certainly have taken notice of Brees' prowess.
"He's amazing," Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said. "You know, we're just taking it easy during practice this week, but Drew is still threading passes between defenders, hitting guys on deep routes. He's just really talented and extremely focused on the field."
Barber agreed: "I think he has an incredible will, one that he needed to overcome that injury. Drew Brees is a special guy and to me there's very few guys better than him playing the position."
(c)COPYRIGHT 2009 The Honolulu Advertiser
Johnson never gave Warner chance at UNI
LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- As a three-year starting quarterback at the University of Northern Iowa, Jay Johnson led the Panthers to 31 victories, three consecutive Gateway Conference championships and three straight appearances in the Division I-AA playoffs, including the 1992 semifinals.
However, the native of Lakeview, Minn., is probably better-known as the quarterback who kept a strong-armed prospect from Cedar Rapids Regis High named Kurt Warner on the sidelines in a backup role for three consecutive seasons.
"My famous response to that is that Kurt is worth millions, and I'm the answer to a trivia question," jokes Johnson, now an assistant coach on the University of Louisville football staff.
"We had a good, competitive friendship and relationship. We were always able to leave it on the field, and we had fun off the field.
"He was certainly talented. I was fortunate and blessed to be surrounded by a bunch of good players, as UNI has had over the years. They made us as a team look pretty good. I was fortunate to be in that setting at that time.
"But with Kurt right there with his abilities and his talents, it made me a lot better and it made us as a team a lot better."
When Johnson graduated after the 1992 season, Warner finally got his opportunity. He, too, led UNI to a Gateway title and into the postseason while passing for 2,747 yards and 17 touchdowns.
His journey from UNI to the Arena League to NFL Europe and ultimately to NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion has been well-documented. Today, at age 37, Warner will play in his third Super Bowl when he leads the underdog Arizona Cardinals against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"You've got to give him credit," notes Johnson. "He's playing lights-out again this year."
Looking back, Johnson realizes how differently things could have turned out for him had he ever given Warner a chance at the No. 1 job.
"What's so great for him is that he always talks about being in the right place at the right time, and he's taken advantage of those opportunities. It puts him at a different level, and it's shown through the different achievements he's accomplished."
Johnson recalls a visit he and several other former Panther players and coaches made to Macomb, Ill., where the St. Louis Rams were holding their preseason training camp in 1999. Warner was trying to make an impression in a camp where Trent Green was all but penciled into the lineup as the starter.
"Kurt and I had lunch at training camp. They'd had a coaching change at St. Louis (Dick Vermeil). Kurt said, 'I'm just trying to suck all this stuff up. Green knows it like the back of his hand.'
"Well, all of a sudden Green gets hurt and the rest, as they say, is history."
(c) 2008, Courier Communications, Waterloo, IA
For Steelers Clark, hits will keep coming
TAMPA - Asking Steelers safety Ryan Clark to rank his best hits is a little like asking Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney to pick his favorite Super Bowl team.
There just are too darn many from which to choose.
"The one on Welker this season ..." Clark knocked New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker into the next week Nov. 30 after a pass across the middle.
"I had one on (Detroit's) Az-Zahir Hakim (in 2004) when I played for Washington. I remember that one because that's the first time I made the 'Jacked Up' segment on ESPN ...
"There was one on (Seattle's) Bobby Engram (in 2005). I broke his ribs. I felt bad about that. But he played the rest of the game, so I didn't feel too bad ...
"But I guess my favorite was the one on Chris Henry (of the Cincinnati Bengals) my first year here. I got him pretty good. The ball deflected off us, and Ike Taylor picked it off. That was my first big play with this team. I remember James Harrison telling me, 'Now, you're a Pittsburgh Steeler."'
That is some list.
"Hands down, Ryan Clark is the hardest-hitting safety in football," teammate Larry Foote said . "That hit on McGahee is the hardest hit I've ever seen."
It takes a rare mentality to deliver that kind of blow to another player, especially one that outweighs you by 30 pounds, as McGahee did Clark. Clark led with his right shoulder - the one that was dislocated twice earlier in the season - which should tell you something about his fearlessness. Their helmets collided when McGahee ducked at the last second.
McGahee didn't get up. He was carted off the field with in a stretcher what the Ravens described as "severe neck pain," although he is expected to make a full recovery and play next season. Clark said he was "woozy" for a few moments before making it to the Steelers' bench.
"I wasn't aware of the seriousness of his injury until I was informed about it on the sideline," Clark said. "It's scary when you see anyone down like that. I asked to go back on the field to check on him, but I was told I was in no condition to check on anyone."
All things considered, McGahee and Clark were lucky.
Paralysis and even death are possible every time there is such a fierce collision.
McGahee and Clark weren't born 30-plus years ago when a hit by Oakland Raiders safety Jack Tatum left New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley paralyzed from the neck down, but both are aware of that frightful play.
"I don't think about it," Clark said. "Once you start thinking about it and you start playing tentatively, that's when those 230-pounders run you over and you don't get up ...
"My whole thing is getting to the ball as fast as I can to make a play. Most times, as soon as I see a quarterback looking at a guy, I'm full speed. Once you decide to go, you go. You can't pull the bullet back. Then, once you get there, it's him or you. I just figure we're going to hit and then we'll both get up ..."
Clark likes being known as the "hardest-hitting safety," at least among his teammates. "It's cool, but you know what? I play with the best safety in the NFL (Troy Polamalu ) which is an even cooler title than hardest-hitter."
What Clark doesn't want to be called is a dirty player.
"I know what it's like not to be able to play and almost have football taken away from me," he said, referring to his life-threatening illness last season that left him without his spleen and gall bladder. "I never want to be a guy who takes it away from someone else."
Clark said he has been fined only twice by the NFL in his seven-year career - $7,500 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Jacksonville's Matt Jones this season and $7,500 for one on the New York Giants' Tim Carter in '04. He thinks he's lucky - not because his hits are cheap, but because the league is inconsistent with the way it looks at the more violent collisions.
"There's a fine line between what's legal and what's not," Clark said. "We know we can't hit a receiver in a defenseless position. But are we supposed to wait for him to catch the ball and start running with it before we hit him? Or do we try to dislodge the ball any way we can? As a DB, you're always going to err on the side of trying to dislodge the ball."
In Sunday's Super Bowl XLIII, Clark will battle gifted Cardinals receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.
"How can he and Fitzgerald not be aware of (Clark) in our secondary? After seeing those hits on McGahee and Welker?" Foote asked.
Clark isn't so sure that will be an advantage for the Steelers.
"Those guys are professionals, and they trust their quarterback(Kurt Warner) not to throw the ball into me. But I'm sure they know I'll be back there. For them to say they don't would be like me saying that, when I line up against a guy who runs a 4.3, I don't take a step back. Of course, I do. You're always aware of who you're lining up against."
The hardest-hitting safety in football ...
"Hey, both those guys outweigh me by about 25 pounds," said Clark, who can't weigh 200.
"I'm pretty sure they're not afraid of little ol' me."
(c)2009 The Republic
Troy Polamalu Finishes Off Steelers' Latest Super Bowl Berth
The Pittsburgh Steelers are particularly needed by the Super Bowl this year, to bring some balance to a pretty unbalanced Super equation. The Arizona Cardinals, long regarded as the NFL's worst franchise, are actually in the Super Bowl. The only way to balance that out - and provide a bit more of an appetizing matchup - is to have the much more prestigious, and history chasing Steelers, there to meet them. Thanks to Troy Polamalu, the Steelers did just that in finally finishing the hated Ravens.
Troy Polamalu is one of the NFL's most feared safety, and the one with the longest hair. But Polamalu led the way with his play in the AFC championship game. First Polamalu stopped Ravens' quarterback Joe Flacco on a fourth-and-1 sneak in the first quarter, then returned a game clinching interception to finish the Steelers' 23-14 win.
Polamalu established himself as a star when he helped led the Steelers to their last Super Bowl ring three years ago. Back then, the Steelers were an underdog sixth seed that went all the way, but this time, the Steelers were expected to get here when the playoffs started.
Polamalu and the Steelers defense helped them live up to that promise by slaughtering Flacco and forcing three fourth-quarter turnovers. But even with Polamalu at his best, the Steelers couldn't get enough firepower to put the Ravens away until Polamalu's touchdown.
Polamalu's standing as one of the big defensive playmakers in football was solidified on Sunday night. The Ravens' Ed Reed had been catching up to Polamalu in that department this season and in the playoffs, as had most of the Ravens' defense. But it was the Steelers and Polamalu who showed that the Ravens still have a way to go.
Polamalu put an exclamation point on his first fully healthy season since the 2005 Super Bowl year. He had racked up a career-high seven interceptions in 2008, and would have had a touchdown if his last second return against the Chargers was not controversially overturned.
Polamalu's second Super Bowl will have even more of a challenge for him than the first. The Arizona Cardinals are obviously the big Super Bowl underdogs, but Polamalu will be severely tested by the CaTroy Polamalu Finishes Off Steelers' Latest Super Bowl Berthrdinals' receiving core.
Larry Fitzgerald, in particular, will be Polamalu's big target, as he tries to stop Fitzgerald where the entire NFC failed.
Polamalu will have his second Super Bowl ring, at the age of 27, if he succeeds, while the Steelers will have a record sixth championship.
(c)2009 Associated Content, Inc
NFL Rumor Mill: Nolans, Ryans, Tebows
If at first, your hire of a defensive coordinator from a successful franchise as your head coach fails, try, try again. On that note, the Newark Star-Ledger reports that Ravens DC Rex Ryan has emerged as the front runner to be the Jets head coach.
One of the more interesting tidbits I've heard is that Raiders DC Rob Ryan was already in play there to become the defensive coordinator for the Jets. Rob and Rex are brothers, sons of former Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan. Rob, if you'll remember, was already poised to become the Jets DC last year when then Raiders coach Lane Kiffin wanted to get rid of him and bring in his father, Monte Kiffin, to coach the defense. Raiders Owner Al Davis opted not to chase Monte, who was under contract with Tampa Bay. Now, Monte Kiffin is coaching the defense at the University of Tennessee under head coach...Lane Kiffin, and Rob Ryan may be a Jet after all, on the staff of...Rex Ryan.
The Raiders beat the Jets 16-13 in overtime this year. I'm not going to begin to tell you who was still around in that game.
Adam Schefter of NFL.com confirms a report that the Broncos have hired former Patriots OC Josh McDaniels as head coach, and adds that former 49ers HC Mike Nolan is headed for the Rockies as well. He will fill the position of defensive coordinator.
I will dispute the notion that there is a significant difference in the roles of a head coach and a coordinator. They both take nearly the same skill set. A person who lacks coaching skills to handle the head role probably isn't a good coordinator either. With that said, I think Mike Nolan is a good coach. I'm not sure the 49ers were wrong to get rid of him, with Mike Singletary being a rising star and all, but Nolan to Denver is the first step to get the Denver defense playing like it should be.
Talks between Scott Pioli and the Kansas City Chiefs "have intensified," reports the Boston Globe. Pioli's contract with New England has expired, and though he has been instrumental in building that dynasty, he appears to want a fresh start elsewhere, a new franchise to further build his legacy.
The Chiefs are the perfect franchise to do so with. When Herm Edwards took over as head coach in 2005, they had just missed the playoffs with ten wins in one of the tougher divisions in NFL history. They were also the oldest team in the league, and declined severely each of the next two seasons. Now, three years removed, they've won six games in two seasons, and have already committed to a youth movement.
Pioli would come in with a chance to pick his quarterback in an offense that features a bunch of young talent. Tyler Thigpen is the young incumbent, but likely best suited to a backup roll. The secondary was much-maligned in 2008, but featured two rookies who the Chiefs really like: Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr.
Meanwhile, the division was just won by a team that lost 8 of its first 12 games. So yeah, I'd say Pioli would be a nice fit here.
Tim Tebow announced he was returning to Florida for his Senior season on Sunday.
Good decision by the kid, but really the only decision. The NFL is not yet ready to accept a Tebow-type of quarterback, but things move so fast in this league, that by next year things might be different.
Pro Football Talk reports that the Titans fully expect DC Jim Schwartz to take a head coaching job this off-season. The Lions appear to be honing in on him, and will bring him back for a second interview.
For the Lions, naming Jim Schwartz as head coach would be a step in the right direction, not to mention the start of the Jeff Fisher coaching tree. Schwartz may be the most brilliant defensive mind in the game today, and for a Lions defense that was worst than any other in history, Schwartz is a guy who can come right in and diagnose the issues, and get the team started on the right track.
Seems simple enough, but keep in mind that save for one year of Steve Mariucci, the Lions have been totally averse to that kind of thinking in the post-Sanders era. This would be a big step in the right direction for the Lions.
Copyright 2008 Most Valuable Network, LLC
Rutgers WR Britt will skip senior season
PISCATAWAY - Kenny Britt of Bayonne is taking his considerable talents to the next level.
Rutgers' junior wide receiver made his intentions official Saturday, announcing his decision to forgo his senior season and declare himself eligible for the NFL Draft.
The 20-year-old Britt had 87 receptions for 1,371 yards and seven touchdowns in 2008, including the eventual game-winner for the Scarlet Knights in a 29-23 victory over North Carolina State in the PapaJohns.com Bowl on Dec. 29.
"To tell you the truth, I was sitting on the fence," said Britt, who said he made the decision Friday following a two-hour meeting with family members and Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano. "It's always been a dream to go to the NFL and the gateway is open, so I feel I want to take my chances and leave early."
Projected as high as a second-round selection by some scouts, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Britt wrapped up his three-year Rutgers career with 178 catches for 3,043 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Britt, who attended Bayonne High, also was the nations second-leading receiver with an average of 114.2 yards per game, and is the all-time Big East leader in receiving yards.
Britt's 14 career 100-yard games are tied for the most in conference history with Arizona Cardinals Pro Bowl wideout Larry Fitzgerald, who played at the University of Pittsburgh.
"I know every year I have gotten better, and if I had another year I could raise my level even higher," Britt said. "I did my best to help this team and they did their best to help me. This is real emotional because this is a special place with special people."
Former Rutgers running backs Brian Leonard (St. Louis Rams/52nd overall) and Ray Rice (Baltimore Ravens/55th overall) each were drafted in the second round the past two years.
Rice was the first player under Schiano to leave Rutgers after his junior season.
"I have a lot of friends in the National Football League, plus my experience coaching in that league, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what this guy can do," said Schiano, who was an assistant coach with the Chicago Bears from 1996-98.
"He is one of the elite of the elite," Schiano said. "It is with mixed emotions. I'm excited for Kenny and I'm excited for what he is going to do. Although we would have loved to have him back next year, and what he would have done is scary, by the same token he is going to do great things at the next level and he will always be part of our family."
Rutgers (8-5) won its final seven games in 2008 after a 1-5 start, culminating in a fourth consecutive bowl appearance.
(c)2008 New Jersey On-Line LLC
Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid praises Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier
Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, a candidate for the Miami Dolphins' head coaching vacancy that went to Tony Sparano, got quite an endorsement from another of his former bosses.
Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid spoke highly of Frazier, who worked with Eagles defensive backs from 1999 to 2002. That was Frazier's first stint as an NFL assistant.
"He's a great football coach but probably an even better person," Reid said Monday at his press conference. "(He is a) great individual and a great family man. He has a very strong work ethic. When he was here, he was very quiet but he wanted to know everything. And the players, and this wasn't just because he was a good corner in the National Football League, but you could see that the players respected him for what he was as a person and coach.
"He deserves a head coaching shot," Reid said, "and if he got one, an owner is going to get a very solid, solid person and good football coach."
The Detroit Lions, New York Jets and Cleveland Browns currently are looking for new head coaches.
twincities.com
|
