Post by TheShadow on Jul 22, 2006 7:40:54 GMT -5
www.therecord.com/
T.O. is in Dallas, James in Arizona and Bush in Orleans, as NFL camps open
Reggie Bush. Edgerrin James. Ben Roethlisberger. LaVar Arrington.
And, of course, Terrell Owens.
For differing reasons, all will be in the spotlight when NFL training camps open this week.
So will rehabbing quarterbacks Daunte Culpepper, Carson Palmer, Drew Brees and Chad Pennington.
As well as Adam Vinatieri, the best clutch kicker in NFL history, who has moved from New England to Indianapolis, a team whose Super Bowl ambitions he helped thwart several times.
Camps open with any number of intriguing storylines:
The Saints' return to New Orleans from Katrina-imposed exile. They will feature Bush, the explosive running back and all-purpose touchdown man from Southern California.
James, who left Indy for suddenly free-spending Arizona, which is opening a new stadium this season.
Roethlisberger's return to Pittsburgh from a motorcycle accident.
Arrington's debut with the New York Giants after a less-than-amicable departure from division-rival Washington.
And then there is Owens.
Even with all the interesting plots as training camps open, it's still likely to be "all T.O., all the time'' for awhile, as it was last year when he was disrupting the Eagles' camp.
Even before the 2006 camp started, he was sounding off -- promoting his new book by saying he was misquoted by Jason Rosenhaus, his co-author (who also is his co-agent); once again bashing Donovan McNabb, and proclaiming (for the hundredth time) that he has been misunderstood and attacked for no good reason.
If T.O. has been vocal, his new coach hasn't been.
It took 48 days from the day Jerry Jones signed Owens to a $25-million US, three-year deal for Bill Parcells to say anything about it. He didn't say much and has declined to talk about it since.
"I support it and that's the way we go, and I don't view it as a gamble,'' Parcells said. "It's in my best interest that he's successful. And it's in his best interest that he's successful.''
It may help that the Cowboys will train in Oxnard, Calif., 2,500 kilometres from home and three time zones away from Philadelphia. Most other teams are either home or close to it -- the Saints are in Jackson, Miss.
Meanwhile, there are dozens of other plots, particularly those surrounding quarterbacks.
Four high-profile QBs, for example, are coming off serious injuries. Not only do their futures hinge on full recoveries, but so do the seasons for their teams.
Two of them, Daunte Culpepper and Drew Brees, are beginning with new clubs.
Culpepper, who tore up his knee last October while playing for Minnesota, was traded to Miami, which hopes he can propel it ahead of perennial AFC East champion New England. Brees was dealt from San Diego to New Orleans, opening the way for Philip Rivers to start for the Chargers after sitting for two seasons. Rivers was chosen fourth in the first round of the 2004 draft.
Brees is coming off a serious shoulder injury, so there are questions about him even as he says he's "ahead of schedule'' in his recovery.
Carson Palmer led Cincinnati to its first playoff berth since 1993, then had a devastating knee injury against Pittsburgh in the post-season opener. If he can't start, newly acquired career backup Anthony Wright would fill in until Palmer is ready. And the Bengals face a tough early schedule.
Chad Pennington of the New York Jets underwent rotator cuff surgery on his throwing shoulder for the second straight year and finds himself competing with Patrick Ramsey and rookie Kellen Clemens as the team opens camp under new coach Eric Mangini, a 35-year-old Bill Belichick protege.
Then there's Roethlisberger, the quarterback as Pittsburgh won its fifth Super Bowl by beating Seattle last February. He broke his jaw and had numerous facial injuries when his motorcycle collided with a car in downtown Pittsburgh on June 12. It could have been worse -- he was riding without a helmet and acknowledged later that those on the scene told him he was perhaps a minute from death.
Another QB to watch: Steve McNair, the league's co-MVP with Peyton Manning in 2003, was too expensive to stay in Tennessee, which used the third pick in the draft on Vince Young, who could be a starter by mid-season. McNair is now in Baltimore, the best quarterback the Ravens ever have had. They've gotten by for their 11 seasons on defence and running, and won a Super Bowl with journeyman QB Trent Dilfer.
Mangini is one of 10 new head coaches after one of the larger seasons of turnover in recent history. He replaced Herm Edwards, who left for Kansas City to take over for the retired Dick Vermeil.
Other coaching changes include Art Shell, who left a high-ranking league office job to return to Oakland to coach the Raiders for the second time, and one-time Chicago coach Dick Jauron, an interim in Detroit last season and now the head man in Buffalo.
Edwards, Shell and Jauron are the only ones with previous head coaching experience. Three in the NFC North -- Rod Marinelli in Detroit, Brad Childress in Minnesota and Mike McCarthy in Green Bay -- have not been head coaches before. Nor has Gary Kubiak in Houston, Sean Payton in New Orleans and Scott Linehan in St. Louis.
Some things don't change: holdouts.
As the first camp opened, only one first-round pick had signed. Mario Williams, the defensive end taken No. 1 overall by Houston, signed before the draft.
Bush, the electrifying running back from USC who was expected to be No. 1, went No. 2 to New Orleans and could hold up signings at the top of the draft if he insists on being paid like a No. 1 overall selection.
That makes it likely many of the early signings will be players at the middle and end of the first round. Normally one agreement leads to another under the decades-old practice of "slotting'' -- players get paid more or less in the order they were picked, with an occasional premium for a quarterback or a pass rusher.
But Brett Favre is back at QB for the Packers after keeping them and their fans in suspense for months over whether he was coming back. He will turn 37 in October.