HALEY HELPS THE ROOKIES ADAPT QUICKER, PRINCE TO MISS 2-MONTHS & THE FIRST COLEGE FOOTBALL POLL
Don Banks of SI.com did a piece on his visit to Chiefs training camp & in it he detailed an innovation of Todd Haley's that should allow K.C.'s draft picks to adapt to life in the NFL quicker. In the old days, rookies were hazed, ridiculed & pretty much on their own, veteran players made sure of that. But with no post-draft workouts or classroom & very little camp time before the Chiefs play their first preseason game, Haley wants to speed up everything pertaining to life in the NFL for his rookies. Haley paired each of his draft picks with veteran players who do not play the same position. He had their lockers moved next to each other, they will room together at camp as well as on the road & they will sit next to each other on buses & airplanes. Here are the matchups Haley created:
WR Jonathan Baldwin with safety Eric Berry
C Rodney Hudson with nose tackle Kelly Gregg
OLB Justin Houston with TE Leonard Pope
QB Ricky Stanzi with safety Kendrick Lewis
The plan breaks with decades-long traditions of torturing rookies at camp, but it sounds like a good idea to me.
Also out of training camp came the first report of Justin Houston doing anything other than refusing to sign his rookie contract. He's finally signed & got his first chance to pin his ears back & rush the passer during Saturday's practice. Twice he blew past RT Barry Richardson & tapped the quarterback. But it wasn't long before defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel poured cold water on Houston's promising start. "He's lost out there right now" was his description of Houston's learning curve. Yesterday was Chiefs' Family Fun Day & The crowd was down about 3,000 fans from last season. It is too damn hot? What about the $12 per ticket price for what is essentially a glorified scrimmage? Could it be many fans are still turned off by the lockout? I think it's a combination of the heat & the $12 ticket price. You ask people to drive up from the Kansas City area with high gas prices & then clip them for $12 to watch a practice?
I'm picking up reports of a high number of injuries & practices missed from poor conditioning. Everything from strained muscles to lack of stamina to vomiting & most of these point to a lot of players who aren't in good enough shape to go to camp, much less football shape. This preseason is going to be brutal. By the way, the Tampa Bay-Chiefs game at Arrowhead on Friday will be televised nationally on FOX. Please leave Joe Buck & Troy Aikman at home, please?
Cornerback Prince Amukamara just signed his rookie contract on Thursday & on Saturday he broke a bone in his foot that will require surgery tomorrow. The former Nebraska All-American will miss about two months rehabbing. Maybe he can get his sisters, Precious, Peace, Passion, Promise & Princess, to take care of him. Seriously, those are his sisters.
After visiting 5 other teams, including the Chiefs, Falcons running back Jason Snelling resigned with Atlanta on a one-year deal.
Shaun Ellis signed a 1-year contract with the New England Patriots on Saturday. The former New York Jets made his old boss, Rex Ryan mighty unhappy by signing with the Pats. "The fact that chose them, there's no way I'm going to wish him well. No chance at all" Ryan said on Sunday. Bottom line? The jets threw the veteran minimum at Ellis, figuring he wouldn't leave the only team he played for in his 11-year career. The Pats offered Ellis a signing bonus to go with that league minimum & he decided to take his 72 sacks & go north to Massachusetts.
The best line of the night at the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies was from Shannon Sharpe "I'm the only person in the Hall of Fame who could say he was the 2nd best player in his family." True, as great as Shannon was, he was 2nd to brother Sterling, whose career was cut short after just 7 seasons by a severe neck injury. In his 6 1/2 seasons, Sterling caught 595 passes & 65 touchdowns(Shannon caught only 62 TD's in 14 seasons). Plus Sterling played the last 2 1/2 seasons with Bret Favre as his quarterback, think of what his stats would have been with another 6-8 years playing with Favre in his prime? Shannon was a very deserving Hall of Fame inductee, but Sterling would have been there as well had it not been for his career-ending injury.
Five-time All-Pro Sterling Sharpe & Brett Favre
Former Raven WR Derrick Mason did in fact sign with the New York Jets Saturday. Now Jerricho Cotchery, formerly of the Jets, will meet with Steelers' officials on Monday.
The first college football poll of the 2011 season came out on Saturday, no real surprises except Ohio State being ranked at all & I can't for the life of me understand Texas' spot in this poll, they're easily the 6th or 7th best team in the BIG-12.
1. Oklahoma (until Bob Stoops beats an SEC team in a BCS bowl, this is too high)
2. Alabama (lotta turmoil in this program right now but Saban will have 'em ready)
3. Oregon (this could all be for naught after NCAA investigation)
4. LSU (playing Oregon opening day & Miss. State & Virginia in weeks 3 & 4)
5. Florida State (replacing Ponder is about all they have to do)
6. Stanford (home of the Heisman frontrunner Andrew Luck)
7. Boise State (BSU lost WR corps but they still have Kellen Moore at QB
8. Oklahoma State (could be the offensive juggernaut in the BIG-12)
9. Texas A&M (Taneyhill at QB gives the Aggies real hope to win BIG-12)
10. Wisconsin (lots of graduations, but lots of depth at Madison)
11. Nebraska (moving on to the BIG-10, QB depth could be a real problem)
12. South Carolina (Spurrier has had a lot of off-season turmoil, but SC will be tough)
13. Virginia Tech (thought this was about 7 spots too high)
14. Arkansas (thought this was maybe 5 spots too low)
15. TCU (Patterson must replace QB Andy Dalton, but defense should remain solid)
16. Ohio State (sorry, just don't see it, way too much bad karma)
17. Michigan State (will challenge for conf. championship again)
18. Notre Dame (Really?)
19. Auburn (No Newton, no Fairly, no respect)
20. Mississippi State (Dan Mullen's program gaining respect)
21. Mizzou (if Gary Pinkel's right about QB James Franklin, 21 won't be high enough)
22. Georgia (perennial disappointments will get Mark Richt fired soon)
23. Florida (the Will Muschamp era begins)
24. Texas (sorry Longhorn fans, I don't see it)
25. Penn State (they lose their top 2 QB's in the last three weeks & they're ranked?)
A while back I was invited to be a guest speaker for the Rotary Club. I agreed to the August 10th luncheon but I have no earthly idea what I will say to these people. Got to think, got to think. Any brilliant ideas?
WR Jonathan Baldwin with safety Eric Berry
C Rodney Hudson with nose tackle Kelly Gregg
OLB Justin Houston with TE Leonard Pope
QB Ricky Stanzi with safety Kendrick Lewis
The plan breaks with decades-long traditions of torturing rookies at camp, but it sounds like a good idea to me.
Also out of training camp came the first report of Justin Houston doing anything other than refusing to sign his rookie contract. He's finally signed & got his first chance to pin his ears back & rush the passer during Saturday's practice. Twice he blew past RT Barry Richardson & tapped the quarterback. But it wasn't long before defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel poured cold water on Houston's promising start. "He's lost out there right now" was his description of Houston's learning curve. Yesterday was Chiefs' Family Fun Day & The crowd was down about 3,000 fans from last season. It is too damn hot? What about the $12 per ticket price for what is essentially a glorified scrimmage? Could it be many fans are still turned off by the lockout? I think it's a combination of the heat & the $12 ticket price. You ask people to drive up from the Kansas City area with high gas prices & then clip them for $12 to watch a practice?
I'm picking up reports of a high number of injuries & practices missed from poor conditioning. Everything from strained muscles to lack of stamina to vomiting & most of these point to a lot of players who aren't in good enough shape to go to camp, much less football shape. This preseason is going to be brutal. By the way, the Tampa Bay-Chiefs game at Arrowhead on Friday will be televised nationally on FOX. Please leave Joe Buck & Troy Aikman at home, please?
Cornerback Prince Amukamara just signed his rookie contract on Thursday & on Saturday he broke a bone in his foot that will require surgery tomorrow. The former Nebraska All-American will miss about two months rehabbing. Maybe he can get his sisters, Precious, Peace, Passion, Promise & Princess, to take care of him. Seriously, those are his sisters.
After visiting 5 other teams, including the Chiefs, Falcons running back Jason Snelling resigned with Atlanta on a one-year deal.
Shaun Ellis signed a 1-year contract with the New England Patriots on Saturday. The former New York Jets made his old boss, Rex Ryan mighty unhappy by signing with the Pats. "The fact that chose them, there's no way I'm going to wish him well. No chance at all" Ryan said on Sunday. Bottom line? The jets threw the veteran minimum at Ellis, figuring he wouldn't leave the only team he played for in his 11-year career. The Pats offered Ellis a signing bonus to go with that league minimum & he decided to take his 72 sacks & go north to Massachusetts.
The best line of the night at the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies was from Shannon Sharpe "I'm the only person in the Hall of Fame who could say he was the 2nd best player in his family." True, as great as Shannon was, he was 2nd to brother Sterling, whose career was cut short after just 7 seasons by a severe neck injury. In his 6 1/2 seasons, Sterling caught 595 passes & 65 touchdowns(Shannon caught only 62 TD's in 14 seasons). Plus Sterling played the last 2 1/2 seasons with Bret Favre as his quarterback, think of what his stats would have been with another 6-8 years playing with Favre in his prime? Shannon was a very deserving Hall of Fame inductee, but Sterling would have been there as well had it not been for his career-ending injury.
Five-time All-Pro Sterling Sharpe & Brett Favre
Former Raven WR Derrick Mason did in fact sign with the New York Jets Saturday. Now Jerricho Cotchery, formerly of the Jets, will meet with Steelers' officials on Monday.
The first college football poll of the 2011 season came out on Saturday, no real surprises except Ohio State being ranked at all & I can't for the life of me understand Texas' spot in this poll, they're easily the 6th or 7th best team in the BIG-12.
1. Oklahoma (until Bob Stoops beats an SEC team in a BCS bowl, this is too high)
2. Alabama (lotta turmoil in this program right now but Saban will have 'em ready)
3. Oregon (this could all be for naught after NCAA investigation)
4. LSU (playing Oregon opening day & Miss. State & Virginia in weeks 3 & 4)
5. Florida State (replacing Ponder is about all they have to do)
6. Stanford (home of the Heisman frontrunner Andrew Luck)
7. Boise State (BSU lost WR corps but they still have Kellen Moore at QB
8. Oklahoma State (could be the offensive juggernaut in the BIG-12)
9. Texas A&M (Taneyhill at QB gives the Aggies real hope to win BIG-12)
10. Wisconsin (lots of graduations, but lots of depth at Madison)
11. Nebraska (moving on to the BIG-10, QB depth could be a real problem)
12. South Carolina (Spurrier has had a lot of off-season turmoil, but SC will be tough)
13. Virginia Tech (thought this was about 7 spots too high)
14. Arkansas (thought this was maybe 5 spots too low)
15. TCU (Patterson must replace QB Andy Dalton, but defense should remain solid)
16. Ohio State (sorry, just don't see it, way too much bad karma)
17. Michigan State (will challenge for conf. championship again)
18. Notre Dame (Really?)
19. Auburn (No Newton, no Fairly, no respect)
20. Mississippi State (Dan Mullen's program gaining respect)
21. Mizzou (if Gary Pinkel's right about QB James Franklin, 21 won't be high enough)
22. Georgia (perennial disappointments will get Mark Richt fired soon)
23. Florida (the Will Muschamp era begins)
24. Texas (sorry Longhorn fans, I don't see it)
25. Penn State (they lose their top 2 QB's in the last three weeks & they're ranked?)
A while back I was invited to be a guest speaker for the Rotary Club. I agreed to the August 10th luncheon but I have no earthly idea what I will say to these people. Got to think, got to think. Any brilliant ideas?
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