Post by TheShadow on Dec 6, 2003 15:17:47 GMT -5
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By Gregg Bell -- Bee Staff Writer
ALAMEDA -- He got hitched, then he got ditched.
Lorenzo Bromell, the Raiders' new left defensive end, said he can explain why Minnesota cut him in August and left him idle at home as the season started.
"I missed a camp and got married or whatever, then came back, and they took my job away. Things were never the same," the 28-year-old lineman said while sitting in front of his still-new locker.
Wait a second. "Got married or whatever?" Not exactly the express route to "until death do us part."
Bromell then said -- somewhat defensively, somewhat sheepishly -- that his wife's name is Shontell and is swell in married life.
Now, what about that camp he missed? What was it, all of Vikings training camp? Why else would the NFL's 26th-ranked defense shun a proven sack man (26 1/2 in his 71 career games)?
"It was a (spring) developmental camp (before the 2002 season). I'm a five-year guy, and it's voluntary," Bromell said. "That's not a mandatory camp. I wouldn't have missed a mandatory camp. It never meshed again after that.
"I came back, and it was empty excuses, telling me this and telling me that: 'We were adding a lot of defenses in. We'll rotate you back in.' One lie compounded another lie, and it ended up being Week 13 (last season).
"It was ridiculous. I finished with five sacks, and I didn't play but about 17 percent of the downs. And the guy who played 100 (actually 83) percent of the downs had seven (sacks). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out."
The Raiders figured out that they loved Bromell's size (6-foot-6, 270 pounds) and energy when Minnesota pummeled them in the preseason. Then, last month, coach Bill Callahan figured out that opposing offenses were using right-handed running and roll-out passing to target ends Trace Armstrong and DeLawrence Grant. So he called Bromell.
And since he didn't have a wedding or whatever to attend, Bromell showed up.
Now, he'll start his second consecutive game for Oakland on Sunday against Pittsburgh.
Weary Woodson -- Future Hall of Fame safety Rod Woodson, 38, expects the surgery that he will soon have on his left knee will have him ready to return for an 18th season.
But Woodson said he will retire if the surgery to fill a hole in a bone with cartilage does not make him fully healthy by next summer.
"(If) I can't get the knee back to 100 percent or close to 100 percent, why come back?" Woodson said. "I'm not going to play like this."
Woodson reiterated that, if healthy, he wants to be back in Oakland -- if the Raiders' front office wants him.
JPs need IDs -- Raiders receiver Jerry Porter said he is looking forward to sharing some laughs with Steelers linebacker Joey Porter on Sunday.
When the Pittsburgh Porter was shot in the buttocks outside a Denver nightspot in September, some reports confused Joey with Jerry, who was just coming off a breakout 2002 season.
"My mom called me," Jerry Porter said. "They had a picture of Joey on TV, but the guy said 'Jerry.' C'mon! We don't even look alike!"
Et cetera -- Callahan said after Friday's practice that strong safety Derrick Gibson may start Sunday for the first time since he suffered a bruised neck Nov. 23 at Kansas City.
* Defensive tackle Sean Gilbert is unlikely to play because of a groin injury. But Callahan said Dana Stubblefield probably will play after missing five games with a sprained left ankle.
By Gregg Bell -- Bee Staff Writer
ALAMEDA -- He got hitched, then he got ditched.
Lorenzo Bromell, the Raiders' new left defensive end, said he can explain why Minnesota cut him in August and left him idle at home as the season started.
"I missed a camp and got married or whatever, then came back, and they took my job away. Things were never the same," the 28-year-old lineman said while sitting in front of his still-new locker.
Wait a second. "Got married or whatever?" Not exactly the express route to "until death do us part."
Bromell then said -- somewhat defensively, somewhat sheepishly -- that his wife's name is Shontell and is swell in married life.
Now, what about that camp he missed? What was it, all of Vikings training camp? Why else would the NFL's 26th-ranked defense shun a proven sack man (26 1/2 in his 71 career games)?
"It was a (spring) developmental camp (before the 2002 season). I'm a five-year guy, and it's voluntary," Bromell said. "That's not a mandatory camp. I wouldn't have missed a mandatory camp. It never meshed again after that.
"I came back, and it was empty excuses, telling me this and telling me that: 'We were adding a lot of defenses in. We'll rotate you back in.' One lie compounded another lie, and it ended up being Week 13 (last season).
"It was ridiculous. I finished with five sacks, and I didn't play but about 17 percent of the downs. And the guy who played 100 (actually 83) percent of the downs had seven (sacks). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out."
The Raiders figured out that they loved Bromell's size (6-foot-6, 270 pounds) and energy when Minnesota pummeled them in the preseason. Then, last month, coach Bill Callahan figured out that opposing offenses were using right-handed running and roll-out passing to target ends Trace Armstrong and DeLawrence Grant. So he called Bromell.
And since he didn't have a wedding or whatever to attend, Bromell showed up.
Now, he'll start his second consecutive game for Oakland on Sunday against Pittsburgh.
Weary Woodson -- Future Hall of Fame safety Rod Woodson, 38, expects the surgery that he will soon have on his left knee will have him ready to return for an 18th season.
But Woodson said he will retire if the surgery to fill a hole in a bone with cartilage does not make him fully healthy by next summer.
"(If) I can't get the knee back to 100 percent or close to 100 percent, why come back?" Woodson said. "I'm not going to play like this."
Woodson reiterated that, if healthy, he wants to be back in Oakland -- if the Raiders' front office wants him.
JPs need IDs -- Raiders receiver Jerry Porter said he is looking forward to sharing some laughs with Steelers linebacker Joey Porter on Sunday.
When the Pittsburgh Porter was shot in the buttocks outside a Denver nightspot in September, some reports confused Joey with Jerry, who was just coming off a breakout 2002 season.
"My mom called me," Jerry Porter said. "They had a picture of Joey on TV, but the guy said 'Jerry.' C'mon! We don't even look alike!"
Et cetera -- Callahan said after Friday's practice that strong safety Derrick Gibson may start Sunday for the first time since he suffered a bruised neck Nov. 23 at Kansas City.
* Defensive tackle Sean Gilbert is unlikely to play because of a groin injury. But Callahan said Dana Stubblefield probably will play after missing five games with a sprained left ankle.