16B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
MONDAY,AUGUST 16,2004
NFLteams prepare for season
The Associated Press
Clinton Portis didn't remain the NFL's richest running back for long. He's about to be overtaken by San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson.
Tomlinson said after Thursday's practice had agreed in principle to a deal
that would eclipse the eight-year, $50.5 million contract signed by the Redskins' Portis in the offseason.
Asked if his deal will be worth more than that given Portis, Tomlinson said, "Absolutely. I don't think it will even be close."
In his three years in the NFL, he's rushed for 4,564 yards and 37 touchdowns. Tomlinson, the fifth player in NFL history to rush for more than 200 yards in four games, last year became the first to rush for 1,000 yards and catch 100 passes.
But he has not turned the Chargers into winners. Still, Tomlinson said he's never considered playing out his current deal or leaving the Chargers, who haven't a winning record or made the playoffs since 1995.
“In my opinion, that is what losers do,” he said. “They bail out on a team. [They say], ‘So this team is not winning, it’s not going anywhere. I got to get out of here.’”
"I've never been that way, so why change now?"
Giants
Jeremy Shockey is back on the field, although he's not doing nearly as much as he'd like.
The Pro Bowltight end felt soreness Thursday, one day after he practiced with
the New York Giants for the first time since having foot surgery in June. He's not thrilled about being kept under wraps.
"The hardest thing was they limited me," Shockey said. "They only told me to go one rep every
period, so I got cold. That was more dangerous because I was sitting there the whole time and you can pull a muscle like that."
Shockey sat out the Giants' preseason opener Friday night against Kansas City. The team is being cautious with its most dangerous offensive threat in light of Shockey having hurt his foot last season and aggravating it during a minicamp. He also had a toe problem as a rookie in 2002 and a knee injury ended his '03 season after nine games.
Shockey didn't like being portraved as injury prone.
"I don't care what people think of that." Shockey said. "If I were to get a career-ending injury this season, I'm happy about what I have already done. I don't care. I'll go full speed and whatever happens will happen."
Ravens
Jamal Lewis' drug conspiracy trial was scheduled for Nov.1 by a federal court in
Atlanta. That date falls between the eighth and ninth weeks of the season, meaning if the trial goes on as scheduled, Lewis could miss several games. The Ravens are at Philadelphia on Oct. 31, and then host Cleveland in a night game the following Sunday.
Lewis and Angelo Jackson, a childhood friend, are charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and using a cell phone in violation of federal law.
Last season, Lewis became the fifth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards.
Vikings
For the first time in two seasons, the Vikings won't be able to rely on Kenny Mixon.
a two-game suspension to the veteran who led Minnesota's defensive linemen in tackles last season. Even though he's preparing to start Saturday's preseason game against Arizona, Mixon — barring a successful appeal — won't play in the regular season until Sept. 26 against Chicago.
After a drunken driving conviction earlier this year, the NFL handed down
"The appeal is still pending," Mixon said Thursday. "I haven't heard anything yet, but that's something I've come to grips with, you know."
"It if doesn't go in my favor, I intend to come here and work hard every day as if I was playing the first game. If I have to sit out, I'll have to go ahead and do that and come back and get ready to play that third game of the season."
The Vikings open at home Sept. 12 against Dallas.
Cornerback Samari Rolle sat out practice with a sore right ankle and could miss the Titans' exhibition opener Saturday against Cleveland.
Titans
Rolle was given a break from practice Wednesday to rest his legs, but he had
swelling and discomfort in his ankle Thursday. The Titans X-rayed his ankle and coach Jeff Fisher said the tests were negative.
"We're going to rest him tomorrow and see how he is for the warmups. If he's feeling good, comfortable, we'll let him play," Fisher said.
Fisher said Rolle would be able to play if it was a regular season game. Mike Echols will start at right cornerback if the Titans decide to protect Rolle's ankle.
sidelined by a broken middle finger on his right hand. ran pass patterns and carried the ball in his left hand. A day before, he was running on the sidelines.
One day after making a cameo appearance, rookie running back Tatum Bell had a greater role in workouts.
Denver's second-round draft choice out of Oklahoma State,
"I know I won't be full speed, 100 percent, but I have to go out and play," said Bell, who wears a small, soft cast to protect the finger.
Broncos
"We're not expecting him to catch the ball right now," coach Mike Shanahan said. "In fact, we don't even care if he uses the other hand."
Cardinals
Former Minnesota coach Dennis Green knows plenty about what kind of noise his Arizona Cardinals had to deal with Saturday in its preseason opener at the Metrodome
To get the Cardinals ready for the din, Green had them
practice Thursday with loudspeakers blaring rock and dance music on the sideline.
"That is a fabulous crowd they've got there," Green said. "I would say, probably along with St. Louis, they're probably one of the loudest crowds in the National Football League."
As the offense and defense tried to communicate at the line of scrimmage, a cart loaded with a generator and a stereo system with two large speakers blared the music. Players tried to find ways to call out plays and coverages above the din.
"You don't try to yell over the noise — you cannot," Green said. "[They] create an atmosphere that makes it difficult for you to function. So the noise, it doesn't necessarily keep you from hearing, but it keeps you from communicating. You use a lot more hand signals, you look each other in the eyes when you're talking. You do some lip reading."
The Associated Press
Hard work not enough for Florida coach
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — With his fate entangled among the accomplishments of the past and the promise of the future, Ron Zook stays faithful to one promise he made when he got his job: No coach in America will work harder than him.
But hard work may not be enough.
Bill Callahan of Nebraska and Tyrone Willingham of Notre Dame are also coaches stuck in conundrums. They're trying to lead struggling, high-profile programs back to a level their fans got used to under more successful coaches, but they're forced to do it on a much more level playing field than their predecessors had.
Entering his third year as coach at Florida, Zook has gone 8-5 in each of the last two seasons. During that time, there have been wild swings of success and failure, the term "firenzoook.com" has become a familiar college sports catchphrase and there has been a general sense that not all is well. He has company.
"It's a challenge that gets me going every day," said Callahan, who replaced Frank Solich after his five-year stint as Tom Osborne's successor.
Of the three coaches, Callahan may have the most unique challenge. He takes over for Solich, who went 49-16 with the Cornhuskers but couldn't get his fans or his athletic director to shake the feeling that Nebraska was losing ground.
"If you're afraid to play for the championship, that's a tough way to go through life," athletic director Steve Pederson said when he hired Callahan. "We're going to continue to strive to be at the top of college football. At Nebraska, that's the way it should be."
Indeed, while Solich led Nebraska to the Alamo and Independence Bowls in two of his last three seasons, Oklahoma won a national title and two Big 12 championships after Bob Stoops
came aboard in 1999.
One reason for the Sooners' success was Stoops' willingness to change the offense and make Oklahoma multidimensional instead of run-oriented.
Callahan, whose expertise is in the West Coast Offense, is being asked to do the same thing. Any college football fan knows throwing the ball around the field at Nebraska is about as familiar as a heat wave there in January.
"You almost think that the world is coming to an end when you see that," Willingham said of the new approach at Nebraska.
A record crowd of 61,417 attended Nebraska's spring football game, a sign of the unwavering devotion to football, but possibly also a warning of how seriously they take it.
"I don't feel pressure," Callah insisted. "Getting the program back to the position it has been at historically is an awesome responsibility, one I look forward to."
Zook's challenge wasn't so much to get the program back to where it had been as much as to keep it where it was.
Over 12 seasons preceding Zook, Steve Spurrier turned the Gators into one of the most successful, exciting programs in the country, and when he left, they were ranked third in the final Associated Press poll.
Since Zook took over, hearts have continued to race around Gainesville, but not for all the right reasons.
Zook's first two seasons have almost been a primer on mistakes that first-time head coaches can make as they feel their way into a leadership position. Zook has been guilty of public-relations gaffes, bad calls on the sidelines and running an offense many people feel is unsuited to the talent.
All that aside, he has also notched some huge wins — twice against Georgia, and a big win at LSU last year that saved his season — and has brought in some of the best recruiting classes in the country.
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