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<title>Big C Pro Football Insider</title>
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<description>Big C Pro Football Insider: Articles and insights from the nomadic Big C</description>
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<copyright>Copyright 2008, BigCProFootball.com</copyright>
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<category>NFL</category>
<category>Football</category>
<category>NFL Draft</category>
<category>NFL Events</category>
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<title>Bengals offensive coordinator Gruden’s mission: Be creative</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1149</link>
<description><![CDATA[GEORGETOWN, Ky. &amp;mdash; Many fans deemed the Cincinnati Bengals&amp;rsquo; play-calling perfunctory and predictable last season under offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski.The harsh reality of another losing (4-12) season set in and Bratkowski was fired during the offseason. The organization hired Jay Gruden as offensive coordinator and is counting on him to bring some creativity to the unit.Gruden seems to know what is expected.&amp;ldquo;I think versatility is a must in this offense,&amp;rdquo; Gruden said. &amp;ldquo;We could line up with three receivers and two backs or three tight ends and one back. That&amp;rsquo;s important because of injuries and pace of the game. Hopefully, multiple is the main word for our offense as well as unpredictable.&amp;rdquo;The team will debut its new look offense in a preseason matchup against the Lions in Detroit on Friday, Aug. 12. There is ongoing speculation that Gruden will run a West Coast-style offense much like older brother Jon Gruden ran with Oakland and Tampa Bay, where he won a Super Bowl.Gruden&amp;rsquo;s philosophy appears simple: Keep &amp;rsquo;em guessing.&amp;ldquo;We&amp;rsquo;ll have to wait and see,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;We might run it between the tackles 40 times and throw it five, I don&amp;rsquo;t know. I don&amp;rsquo;t really have an exact science or name for our offense. We&amp;rsquo;re just trying to put guys in the best position to make plays. The game will dictate what our formations may be. When you can run the ball it opens up a big playbook and the pass.&amp;rdquo;The Bengals ranked 20th overall on offense last season but expectations are high this year. The team has a group of young, talented receivers and the coach believes they will contribute right away.&amp;ldquo;We have some young guys that are buying in,&amp;rdquo; Gruden said. &amp;ldquo;We&amp;rsquo;re going to turn the page. What happened here the last 20 years doesn&amp;rsquo;t matter. We&amp;rsquo;re looking for our first game against Detroit and Cleveland. That&amp;rsquo;s all that matter to these guys.&amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s a brand new season for everybody in the NFL. We have a lot of guys who want to win.&amp;rdquo;]]></description>
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<title>Bengals RB Benson: ‘Just give me the rock’</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1148</link>
<description><![CDATA[GEORGETOWN, Ky. &amp;mdash; Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson enters his fourth season with the team with yet another challenge to face. Despite back-to-back 1,000-yard-plus rushing seasons, more is expected. The team will run a West Coast-style offense that requires versatility in the backfield.&amp;ldquo;I think I fit into this offense really well and I&amp;rsquo;m excited about the challenge,&amp;rdquo; Benson said. &amp;ldquo;Everyone already knows that I can run the ball, but I can catch it as well. It&amp;rsquo;s all about who&amp;rsquo;s throwing the ball. The coaches saw how much we were open on film often. The scheme is not going to get me the ball, it&amp;rsquo;s the quarterback throwing it.&amp;rdquo;Cincinnati&amp;rsquo;s offense lost its identity last season, abandoning the run game in favor of the pass. Even then, there were some missed opportunities by quarterback Carson Palmer, who seemed unable to find his check-down receivers in key situations.Benson has demonstrated his ability to catch the ball, but must establish himself as a legitimate receiving threat. The running back position is expected to be an integral part of the passing game.&amp;ldquo;I don&amp;rsquo;t ever want to look back at the 2010 season,&amp;rdquo; Benson said. &amp;ldquo;This is a new team and time to be winners. We have a lot of young talent and they&amp;rsquo;re going to be excited to play. That&amp;rsquo;s a dangerous combination, young talent and excited to play. I know these young guys are going to play their butts off. I want to do my part. Just give me the rock and let me roll.&amp;rdquo;Benson has been impressive in training camp, but could experience a few bumps in the road. He could face discipline by the league for an arrest last month on an assault charge. It is uncertain if or when that time will come, but for now he&amp;rsquo;s happy.&amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s good to be back in Cincinnati and see the changes around here,&amp;rdquo; Benson said. &amp;ldquo;When things change you have to figure out how they work and make them work. I believe this team is up for the challenge this season. I&amp;rsquo;m happy the way things are headed.&amp;rdquo;]]></description>
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<title>Bengals’ Owens thinking championship</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1147</link>
<description><![CDATA[GEORGETOWN, Ky. &amp;mdash; Newly acquired Bengals wideout Terrell Owens has been the topic of discussion at training camp since joining the team last week.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The six-time Pro Bowl receiver made headlines when he signed a one-year contract worth $2 million with Cincinnati. He could earn an additional $2 million in incentives. Many people are wondering if Owens is the missing piece of the puzzle on offense. Owens is off to a fast start earning his keep in camp. He practices hard and is learning his way through the system. He appears focused and seems to care more about winning a championship with the Bengals than his legacy as a receiver.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;ldquo;I look at this as an edition to what I&amp;rsquo;ve done my entire career,&amp;rdquo; Owens said. &amp;ldquo;Whether it&amp;rsquo;s the Hall of Fame or not really doesn&amp;rsquo;t bother me. I think my number speaks for itself. I came to Cincinnati to help the team win a Super Bowl. We&amp;rsquo;re trying to get that title this year and I&amp;rsquo;m ready to do my part to get them over the hump.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The 36-year-old receiver has accumulated 1,006 receptions for 14,951 yards and 144 touchdowns in his 14-year career. He is third all-time in receiving touchdowns and receiving yards.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Last season, Owens led Buffalo in receptions (55), receiving yards (829) and yards-per-catch (15.1). He finished the season with five touchdowns. &amp;nbsp;It will be interesting to see if the well-traveled Owens, who has now played for five NFL franchises, can make the best of it in Cincinnati.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Of course, skeptics are anticipating the first eruption from the infamous T.O. after clashing with quarterbacks and coaches in years past. Everything is copasetic at this juncture.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;m looking forward to playing with Carson (Palmer),&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;He&amp;rsquo;s probably one of the best quarterbacks in the league that&amp;rsquo;s underrated. I look forward to the opportunity and camp is where we are going to get better. I&amp;rsquo;m starting to get my legs back and getting the offense down. Once we gain that chemistry things will start clicking. Carson has looked sharp and should have a big year.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Owens has marketed himself fairly well over the last few years during free agency, reminiscent to the way cornerback Deion Sanders marketed himself to San Francisco and Dallas to win Super Bowl titles. That being said, the one thing that has eluded Owens is a championship.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The receiver signed with the Bengals because he believes they have the makings of being champions. And adding another playmaker on offense certainly improves their chances.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;ldquo;We have a lot of quality players at every position,&amp;rdquo; Owens said. &amp;ldquo;The team has steadily improved during coach (Marvin) Lewis&amp;rsquo; tenure here. I&amp;rsquo;m just trying to add to what they already have.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;m a playmaker. I know Michael Irvin has adopted that title, but that&amp;rsquo;s what I do and have done throughout my career is make plays. The coaches know what I&amp;rsquo;m capable of once the ball is in my hands. They&amp;rsquo;re going to get all of Terrell on the field. I&amp;rsquo;m glad to be with my new team and we&amp;rsquo;ll see where it takes us.&amp;rdquo;]]></description>
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<title>Bengals receiver Caldwell ready to fight for job</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1146</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Cincinnati Bengals entered the offseason looking to find replacements for receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh and the late Chris Henry. The team would like to think it has addressed those needs after drafting Texas All-American Jordan Shipley and Dezmon Briscoe. Only time will tell.Shipley is being counted upon to contribute right away. He&amp;rsquo;s expected to challenge third-year receiver Andre Caldwell for the No. 3 position.Caldwell is open to the competition but is not ready to relinquish his duties without a fight. If he goes down, he&amp;rsquo;s going down swinging.&amp;ldquo;Competing is going to make everybody better,&amp;rdquo; Caldwell said in a recent interview. &amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;m trying to make a name for myself this season by putting up big numbers. I want this to be a breakout season for me and be a key figure in the offense. So I&amp;rsquo;m up for the challenge.&amp;rdquo;The receiver dedicated the offseason to improving his game by becoming more explosive. Caldwell stole a page from teammate Chad Ochocinco&amp;rsquo;s book of workout regimens and trained as a boxer.&amp;ldquo;Boxing got me in the best shape of my life,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;I believe it will help me become more of an impact player this season. I had to take myself away from football and watch film. I watched a lot of film to find my strengths and weaknesses in order to improve.&amp;rdquo;The training appears to be paying off.Caldwell looked a lot quicker running routes during the team&amp;rsquo;s recent minicamp. He was in and out of his breaks quickly and displayed good straight-line speed to get deep. Caldwell showed some toughness over the middle making difficult catches in traffic. He also did a nice job running after the catch.&amp;ldquo;I feel like I&amp;rsquo;ve grown in the offense every year just by learning from the veterans,&amp;rdquo; Caldwell said. &amp;ldquo;Those guys have helped me step my game up. Now the coaches have to trust in me to make plays and get me the ball.&amp;rdquo;Consistency, or lack thereof, has been the receiver&amp;rsquo;s problem. During the season Caldwell had some critical turnovers and key dropped passes. He finished with 51 receptions for 432 yards and three touchdowns.One of the team&amp;rsquo;s goals this season is to have its passing game in the top 10. Therefore more will be expected of Caldwell providing he can hang on to his current roster spot. The receiver knows what it will take to get the job done.&amp;ldquo;I have to increase my productivity and prove to the coaches my worth,&amp;rdquo; Caldwell said. &amp;ldquo;The bar is set high for us this season. That&amp;rsquo;s the difference from when I first arrived in Cincinnati. We&amp;rsquo;re not going to be satisfied unless we get to the Super Bowl and win it. Anything other than that is a failure for us. I&amp;rsquo;m ready to do my part.&amp;rdquo;Do you love Fantasy Football? Click here: ]]></description>
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<title>Bengals boast dangerous backfield</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1145</link>
<description><![CDATA[Their running backs don&amp;rsquo;t get much national publicity but the Cincinnati Bengals might have the best one-two-three backfield punch in the NFL this season.Cedric Benson, Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard work well together, and with help from a well-coordinated offensive line, they can be a dangerous unit. Guiding the group is longtime NFL coach Jim Anderson, a consummate professional and supreme motivator whose 25 years of experience in the league speaks for itself. Any diehard Bengal fan and or football enthusiast who gets to meet the coaches in training camp should seek out Anderson. The man is a great evaluator and knows the game like Elvis knows hits. He&amp;rsquo;s always more than willing to share his knowledge. Now to the stable of running backs. The backfield is made up of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Good Whoever said white men can&amp;rsquo;t jump obviously hasn&amp;rsquo;t seen Brian Leonard hurdle guys like Edwin Moses. Leonard is an outstanding short-yardage runner with the ability to run on the perimeter. He&amp;rsquo;s a tough guy with tremendous versatility, catching 30 passes out of the backfield a year ago. Leonard is expected to play an expanded role in the offense for obvious reasons. The Bad Benson is coming off his most productive season as a pro. He rushed for 1,251 yards and six touchdowns. He finished the 2009 season as the eighth-leading rusher in the league. There is no reason to believe he won&amp;rsquo;t repeat that performance or do better. Bottom line: Benson has the physical skills to make plays. That&amp;rsquo;s bad news for opposing defenses. The Ugly Scott has the instincts, speed, quickness, athleticism and toughness to make big plays. The way I see it, anytime you have a player who can make big plays on a consistent basis you have something special. The Bengals believe they have that in Scott. &amp;ldquo;Bernard came in as a rookie last year and did a good job for us,&amp;rdquo; Anderson said. &amp;ldquo;We&amp;rsquo;re counting on him to be bigger and better than he was last season. He will play a bigger role in what we do.&amp;rdquo; Things could get real ugly for defenses if Scott can live up to expectations. There is no doubt the Bengals are building a respectable ground game.]]></description>
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<title>Bryant seen as missing piece to Bengals’ offense</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1144</link>
<description><![CDATA[CINCINNATI &amp;mdash; The Cincinnati Bengals opened their three-day minicamp on Tuesday, Jun 15 to a spectacular display of media coverage. Reporters came out of the woodwork to cover the event and get a look at arguably the most improved team in the NFL. They were&amp;#39;t disappointed because there was plenty to see on Day 1. To the surprise of no one, Chad Ochocinco received much of the attention from the media after missing time in the team&amp;#39;s OTA, which isn&amp;#39;t uncommon for the controversial receiver. Ochocinco didn&amp;#39;t miss a beat. The receiver appeared to be in mid-season form catching the ball and making plays. Maybe the most impressive guy on the field Tuesday was a newcomer, wide receiver Antonio Bryant. He made a couple of difficult catches in traffic look easy and demonstrated superb blocking skills. The receiver could be the missing piece in the puzzle for the Bengals on offense. &amp;quot;It was a good first day for me,&amp;quot; Bryant said. &amp;quot;It was a lot more organized than I was accustomed. I believe things will get a little more potent as camp rolls on. Everyone looked really sharp,&amp;quot; Bryant said. It&amp;#39;s only the beginning, but the Bengals are banking on a productive season from the receiver. The team signed Bryant to a multi-million dollar contract with incentives this offseason. &amp;quot;My role on this team is to make plays.&amp;quot; Bryant said. &amp;quot;I&amp;#39;m here to fill a void for something the offense lacked in the past and contribute. I will do whatever the coaches ask me to do to the best of my ability. I have a long-term deal with the club and plan to honor that by helping the team win games. &amp;quot;One thing about the league, it doesn&amp;#39;t matter what the contract says. Everybody has the opportunity to get in, but you have to have staying power. I have to go out there and work hard every day and prove myself.&amp;quot; When the Bengals signed Bryant a number of questions were raised. Can Ochocinco and Bryant co-exist in the same offense? Will there be enough balls to go around with a plethora of receivers already on board? Will Bryant trade in his uniform for some tight disco pants and try to steal Ochocinco&amp;#39;s thunder on &amp;quot;Dancing with the Stars&amp;quot;? Bryant addressed the most important questions inquiring minds want to know. &amp;quot;Chad and I are two guys who want to win a championship,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;The chemistry between us and Carson [Palmer] is great. The team made the move to sign me for a reason. They chose me because I&amp;#39;m a guy who fit their formula in a quest to win a championship.&amp;quot;]]></description>
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<title>Bengals counting heavily on Henry</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1143</link>
<description><![CDATA[This time last year, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was entering a dark period of his NFL career. He was facing misdemeanor charges of assault and criminal damaging, as well as suspension from the league for his latest run-in with the law.Henry&amp;rsquo;s frequent incidents and suspensions have been well documented. After the last one, his playing career looked rather bleak. Henry was released by the Bengals last April following his arrest.However, just like a cat with nine lives, Henry survived. The charges against him were dismissed and the Brown family believed in Henry enough to bring him back despite what many skeptics had to say. The receiver ended up serving a four-game suspension before returning to the playing field.A year later, it&amp;rsquo;s now time for the receiver to pay his dues.During a phone interview with Henry on Wednesday, May 27, he talked about the changes in his life and how he plans to help the Bengals win and redeem himself in the process.&amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;m older and more mature about everything now,&amp;rdquo; Henry said. &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s like I did a complete turnaround with my life. I feel a different vibe from the coaches and it seems like they show me a little more respect. They know that they can trust me now. It&amp;rsquo;s all good things going on with me.&amp;rdquo;Henry turned 26 on May 17 and is entering his fifth season with the Bengals. His plate has been full these days personally and professionally. He is engaged and has a wedding date set for March 6, 2010.Henry said his four kids, ranging from ages 4 to 6 months, take up a lot of his time. He went on to say that he&amp;rsquo;s focused on his family, football and doing what it takes to be successful in life.You will no longer find Henry at the club hanging with the posse, but instead at an area park playing football with the neighborhood kids.There is no denying that Henry&amp;rsquo;s off-field antics have overshadowed his talent on the field, but he&amp;rsquo;s looking to change all of that this season.&amp;ldquo;It is definitely time for me to show the type of person and ballplayer I really am,&amp;rdquo; Henry said. &amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;ve been working hard on and off the field. I&amp;rsquo;m real focused on what I need to be doing to raise my game to the next level. That&amp;rsquo;s what I plan on doing and hopefully this will be a big year for me and the team.&amp;rdquo;The Bengals are looking for the type of production they received from Henry during the 2006 season when he was the team&amp;rsquo;s home-run hitter. The receiver averaged 16.8 yards per catch and hauled in nine touchdowns. With Henry at his best it could get real ugly for opposing defenses. He could be the key to a successful passing game.The receiver has been a model citizen this offseason and it appears he has learned from his many mistakes. It&amp;rsquo;s like a bell went off in his head saying it&amp;rsquo;s time to wake up. And the coaching staff has taken note.Receivers coach Mike Sheppard, who is heading into his third season with the Bengals, on Thursday shed some light on the transformation of Henry.&amp;ldquo;Everybody understands the past and I think Chris has moved on from that,&amp;rdquo; Sheppard said. &amp;ldquo;What I&amp;rsquo;ve seen in my first couple of years here were things other than football. Now it&amp;rsquo;s all about football for Chris. It&amp;rsquo;s being here working in the offseason program and getting better with his peers and quarterbacks.&amp;ldquo;So in that respect, I think he&amp;rsquo;s made great progress. Also, that translates on the field to where you don&amp;rsquo;t have the same distractions that limits one&amp;rsquo;s production. Chris is focused professionally, and I think he has grown up.&amp;rdquo;Sheppard said Henry has been working out of the X-receiver position in Chad Ochocinco&amp;rsquo;s absence from volunteer workouts. He said Henry&amp;rsquo;s ultimate role is to compete with Ochocinco and newcomer Laveranues Coles for a starting position. Of course, if Henry fails to unseat Ochocinco or Coles he will then have to compete for the No. 3 receiver position.This should make for an interesting competition during training camp. As for Henry, he&amp;rsquo;s not ready to relinquish his role without a fight.&amp;ldquo;No one has a guaranteed spot at the wide receiver position,&amp;rdquo; Henry said. &amp;ldquo;It&amp;rsquo;s like the best man gets the job and there is a lot of competition out there. I&amp;rsquo;m approaching it like it&amp;rsquo;s my job to lose and will give it my all to be in the lineup. I want to help this team get to the playoffs and maybe even the Super Bowl, which is the ultimate goal.&amp;ldquo;The sky is the limit for us this season. (Quarterback) Carson (Palmer) is back and he is better than ever. He encourages all the receivers to step up their game, and I&amp;rsquo;m ready to do just that. That&amp;rsquo;s the deal right now with me.&amp;rdquo;]]></description>
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<title>Bengals safety Williams committed to perform</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1142</link>
<description><![CDATA[When the Cincinnati Bengals signed veteran safety Roy Williams this offseason fans knew instantly the impact player the team was adding on defense. But what Bengal fans might be intrigued to learn is the high standard that the player holds himself to both on and off the field. While many of the league&amp;rsquo;s players are off vacationing and resting up before training camp opens, Williams is in Cincinnati hard at work training with Clif Marshall, performance director of Ignition Athletics Performance Group in Mason, Ohio. It was at Ignition where I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Williams about the things that are important to him. One of the first things I learned was his commitment to playing at a high level for the Bengals. &amp;ldquo;I had all the vacation I needed sitting out from football last season,&amp;rdquo; Williams said. &amp;ldquo;I felt that it was more important for me to get back in shape and get where I need to be. Our strength coach, Chip Morton, told me about Clif&amp;rsquo;s energy and that&amp;rsquo;s why I&amp;rsquo;m here. It&amp;rsquo;s a good fit for me and I hope to make the most of it.&amp;rdquo; Williams missed 13 games last season due to a broken forearm. Before that, he was a five time Pro Bowl selection (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). The individual accolades seem to mean very little to Williams at this point in his career. He&amp;rsquo;s more focused on the here and now. &amp;ldquo;I am very blessed to have some Pro Bowls under my belt, but I don&amp;rsquo;t get caught up in the hoopla of being a Pro Bowl safety,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;It was an honor and I appreciate it, but that&amp;rsquo;s the past. I can&amp;rsquo;t worry about what happened then. I have to be able to produce on Sundays for the Bengals when they need me to perform.&amp;quot; Williams played for Mike Zimmer, now the Bengals&amp;#39; defensive coordinator, when the two were together in Dallas. &amp;ldquo;I don&amp;rsquo;t want people thinking that just because I played under coach Zimmer in Dallas that I&amp;rsquo;m his boy. If he tells me to shut up I have to listen. I&amp;rsquo;m working and fighting for this job. There&amp;rsquo;s nothing given to me and I am one of the guys trying to make the team. I just want to contribute. I&amp;rsquo;m no better than anyone else on this team. I&amp;rsquo;m not coming in here thinking that I&amp;rsquo;m hot stuff and about to run things. I can be on the backseat and end up third-string.&amp;rdquo; Williams will be competing against the likes of Chris Crocker, Chinedum Ndukwe, Marvin White, Kyries Hebert and Corey Lynch during training camp. &amp;ldquo;You always have to come into situations humbled and understand your role,&amp;rdquo; Williams said. &amp;ldquo;You&amp;rsquo;re in here competing for a job to make the team better. If you&amp;rsquo;re not making the team better you have to take a backseat or you&amp;rsquo;re going to be out of here. I just want to be able to help and play to the level I was playing under Zim.&amp;rdquo; Williams had some of the best years of his seven-year career under Zimmer. If minicamp was any indication of the role Williams will play in the Bengals defense this season, opposing offenses had better beware. It was on one play during run drills where a small hole opened up along the line and Williams zoomed past linebacker Dhani Jones to make the play. Jones looked at the safety in amazement as if to say where the heck did you come from? Williams, of course, was just doing what he was brought in to do, make plays. Williams is a player that leads by example and other players feed off his energy. This little light of mine We often see athletes praying before games or pointing to the heavens after making a fantastic play. What does it all mean and is it sincere? Outwardly expressing one&amp;rsquo;s Christian beliefs is deemed taboo in everyday life, but Williams has no qualms sharing his faith. I first became acquainted with Williams at Paul Brown Stadium where we crossed paths in the tunnel after minicamp. He was wearing a t-shirt that read &amp;ldquo;I love my church.&amp;rdquo; In fact, you can also find him on Twitter delivering the inspirational word of God. &amp;ldquo;I don&amp;rsquo;t shy away from my Christianity,&amp;rdquo; Williams said. &amp;ldquo;When people give me a compliment I say glory to God. Without him I wouldn&amp;rsquo;t be recognized for my talent if God wasn&amp;rsquo;t inside me. It is obvious, glory to God first for me.&amp;rdquo; Williams doesn&amp;rsquo;t proclaim to be some modern day saint, but tries to live his life staying true to the word. &amp;ldquo;You&amp;rsquo;re either on the winning team which is God or the losing team which is the Devil,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;I&amp;rsquo;ve been on the losing team before and once I switched over to the winning team life became a little easier, but at the same time became a little harder. Once you make that push to do right, Satan gets mad. &amp;ldquo;In 2004, when I rededicated myself to Christ, that&amp;rsquo;s when I caught the most persecution. That&amp;rsquo;s when the media started talking and fans started saying, &amp;lsquo;Roy got soft because he gave his life to Christ&amp;rsquo;. It&amp;rsquo;s not that I got soft. I&amp;rsquo;m not going to let words hurt me or deter me from doing what I love to do and that is love God and play football.&amp;rdquo; Before the change in Williams&amp;rsquo; life he recalled a time when he used to carry $10,000 in his pocket. He was flashy, wearing expensive jewelry and flew all over the country to be a part of what he called the &amp;lsquo;in crowd.&amp;rsquo; Williams said he had to attend all the big parties and award ceremonies but never drank or smoked. It was just all about having a good old time. It wasn&amp;rsquo;t until Williams walked back into his church in Dallas, Texas that he had a humbling experience. &amp;ldquo;I felt the love,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;They had men&amp;rsquo;s fellowship on Friday and it was all of us coming together getting the word, laughing and joking around. It was something to do rather than going out on Friday nights. That was awesome for me and just being a part of something positive was the best for me. I had a great transformation and am happy where I am.&amp;rdquo; Last stop Williams was drafted by Dallas with the eighth overall pick in the 2002 draft and released by the team this offseason upon his request. A number of teams showed interest in the former Pro Bowler, but none more so than the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles where looking to replace longtime safety Brian Dawkins who bolted to Denver during free agency. Williams passed on more lucrative offers from other teams and signed with Cincinnati. &amp;ldquo;I really wasn&amp;rsquo;t moved by any team until coach Zim called me,&amp;rdquo; Williams said. &amp;ldquo;It wasn&amp;rsquo;t about riches. I feel this defense has a lot of upside. To do the things they did under coach Zim last year it&amp;rsquo;s only going to get better. I&amp;rsquo;m really looking forward to this season. I&amp;rsquo;m very excited to step in and be a part of what&amp;rsquo;s going to happen here.&amp;rdquo; When asked if he wanted to finish his career in Cincinnati, Williams didn&amp;rsquo;t mix words. &amp;ldquo;I do,&amp;rdquo; he said. &amp;ldquo;It just depends on how well the season goes. I would love to be back here. In fact, I&amp;rsquo;m going to claim it. It&amp;rsquo;s going to happen. I don&amp;rsquo;t want to be anywhere else. I&amp;rsquo;m very comfortable here and I feel the people are great. I&amp;rsquo;m here for a reason, to play football.&amp;rdquo; ]]></description>
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<title>Exec with Dayton ties has Texans poised to contend</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1141</link>
<description><![CDATA[The New England Patriots are admired for their team-building efforts, so it&amp;rsquo;s not surprising when another franchise attempts to copy them. Meet the Houston Texans, who appear to be gaining some ground in the NFL by adopting a similar decision-making and draft philosophy under the leadership of Rick Smith, a Dayton Meadowdale High School graduate. Smith, the Houston general manager, has spearheaded the team&amp;rsquo;s turnabout since taking over for Charley Casserly following a 2-14 season in 2005. The Texans improved to 6-10 the next year, then went 8-8 in 2007 and 2008. During a recent phone interview, Smith, at 38 the youngest GM in the league, shared his philosophy on building a franchise as well as expectations for the team&amp;rsquo;s future. &amp;ldquo;Obviously, it&amp;rsquo;s an exciting time for us because from a philosophical standpoint this is the way that we want to build our football team &amp;mdash; through the draft,&amp;rdquo; Smith said. &amp;ldquo;What that means is having success on draft day and further down the road it becomes important to lock those young players up. &amp;ldquo;This is the time of year where we really have an opportunity to get our football team right. You have a couple of opportunities to get better. One is free agency and the second one is the draft.&amp;rdquo; The team addressed some key areas on defense during free agency by re-signing a number of its own players, then had what looks like a strong draft, snagging Southern Cal linebacker Brian Cushing in the first round and Cincinnati defensive end/linebacker/tight end Connor Barwin, perhaps the hottest prospect going into the draft, in round two. &amp;ldquo;The communication between our scouting department and coaching staff has worked very well,&amp;rdquo; Smith said. &amp;ldquo;I like how well our process has gone this year. I can start to see some of the benefits from the two staffs working hard together. With that, I expect us to have success.&amp;rdquo; The Texans seem to be on the cusp of challenging for their first AFC South title. They won five of their last six last season. &amp;ldquo;We&amp;rsquo;re in a very tough division,&amp;rdquo; Smith said. &amp;ldquo;We understand that in order to achieve our goals we&amp;rsquo;re going to have to be competitive in our division and win our division. It&amp;rsquo;s a physical brand of football we play and we like to establish a mindset and work ethic of what it takes to win in this league.&amp;rdquo; Smith went on to say that the team is maturing and learning how to win and that should translate into a playoff spot. This year&amp;rsquo;s Arizona Cardinals? Don&amp;rsquo;t be surprised if the Texans are christened with that distinction as the season draws closer.]]></description>
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<title>Boston College DT Ron Brace in draft day demand</title>
<link>http://www.bigcprofootball.com/articles/viewarticle.php?id=1140</link>
<description><![CDATA[One half of Boston College&amp;#39;s defensive tackle duo, Ron Brace is thought to be a rare commodity in this year&amp;#39;s NFL draft. He is believed to be the only one of his kind at the Nose Tackle position, a position hard to find and unique in itself.Aware of the shortage, NFL teams are really starting to take notice of this monster in the middle.Brace is drawing interest from a number of teams that include Tampa Bay, New Orleans and Denver. He has a private workout scheduled with the Broncos later this week.Another team said to have some interest is the Detroit Lions after trading their top defensive tackle Cory Redding to the Seattle Seahawks. Brace, who is an Albert Haynesworth type tackle, would be an ideal fit in Jim Schwartz&amp;#39;s defense. Schwartz coached Haynesworth when they were both with the Tennessee Titians.Brace&amp;#39;s agent Nate Haber of Players Rep Sports Management commented recently on what sets his client apart from the field.&amp;quot;Ron&amp;#39;s an interesting prospect because he&amp;#39;s really the only true nose tackle in this draft that warrants a first-day draft grade,&amp;quot; Haber said.&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;If you want that big run stuffer, a mauler who will collapse the pocket and occupy several linemen, then he&amp;#39;s your guy.&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;It&amp;#39;s exciting because we&amp;#39;ve received just as much interest from 4-3 teams as we have from 3-4 teams.&amp;nbsp; When you have 32 potential employers in need of your services, things are good.&amp;quot;ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay supports the agent&amp;#39;s statement on the D-tackle position.&amp;quot;Guys like Mississippi&amp;#39;s Peria Jerry and [Missouri&amp;#39;s] Evander Hood are all 3-technique, undersized guys,&amp;quot; said McShay. &amp;quot;So if you don&amp;#39;t get Brace in the first two rounds, you&amp;#39;ll be looking for backup guys in the fourth, fifth or sixth round.&amp;quot;That said Brace could very easily be the second D-tackle off the board in the first round behind teammate B.J. Raji due to his versatility to play either tackle position.Brace yourself The 6-foot-3, 330-pound Brace is a smash-mouth player who is tough in the trenches. He&amp;#39;s a bonafide run-stuffer but can get penetration during gap assignments to wreak havoc in the backfield.He&amp;#39;s explosive off the snap and very athletic for a guy his size, showing outstanding agility and quickness to angle and stunt.Brace demonstrates solid hand technique and packs a powerful hand punch. However, he will need to continue to develop on his pass-rushing technique early in his career.Brace shows good pursuit; does a great job shedding blocks and anchors extremely well. A large part of Raji&amp;#39;s success could be attributed to Brace who saw a lot of double-teams.The Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff marveled over the player&amp;#39;s ability and intelligence when they coached him at the Senior Bowl in January.Bottom line, Brace has a tremendous work ethic and would be a force in the middle of any D-line.Downtime When Brace is not wreaking havoc on the playing field he&amp;#39;s following in his father&amp;#39;s (Ron Brace II) footsteps, working with troubled youths in his community.&amp;quot;I think a lot of youths are being misled by thinking that a life of crime is the only way to get out of a bad situation in life,&amp;quot; Brace said in a recent phone interview. &amp;quot;But realistically they&amp;#39;re digging themselves a bigger hole. They need someone to teach them that there is a better way to make a life for them.&amp;quot;Brace learned at an early age that crime doesn&amp;#39;t pay. As a youngster, he was brought to Westfield Youth Services Center where his father worked, every weekend for a reality check. He saw a lot of his childhood chums there in confinement during the visits and knew right away that this was not the life for him.Brace said anytime an opportunity presents itself to speak to the kids he&amp;#39;s there, because many of them come from the same area of Springfield, Massachusetts where he grew up.&amp;quot;Some of these youths are coming to believe that if they&amp;#39;re not making it in school or sports then that&amp;#39;s the end. That&amp;#39;s not true. They&amp;#39;re just being fed the wrong ideals on what life is about. So a lot of them think that life is about going out and hanging with gangs, smoking marijuana, drinking, and thinking that&amp;#39;s the life. When in reality it&amp;#39;s really not. This is wide spread throughout the country and not just in the area I come from.&amp;quot;I think these kids need a better role model than I would say a rapper,&amp;quot; Brace said. &amp;quot;They really need someone who comes from their area and will give them a more realistic view on how they can make it in life. Not everyone is going to be a rapper. Most rappers who are successful are talking about a life where you&amp;#39;re in the club all night, poppin&amp;#39; bottles, selling this and that to everybody, and kids are being made to believe that this is a life of success. They&amp;#39;re just selling lies. The kids need to be fed something truthful and I&amp;#39;m willing to do that.&amp;quot;Brace&amp;#39;s passion for helping troubled youth is equal or greater than his passion for the game of football.Brace is a well-rounded individual both on and off the field. He would be an asset to any team who choices to draft him.]]></description>
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