Wednesday, August 25, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B • Page 5
Chiefs tired after fast-paced practices
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gunther Cunningham's fast-paced, up-tempo training camp may be taking a toll on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Even Cunningham admitted after yesterday morning's practice that his troops were getting weary.
"When we went to two minutes I thought they were all going to fall down and pass out," said the first-year coach. "But we had a good two-minute drill. The offense did a good job on the first one and the defense did a good job on the second one. It was a good day at the office."
During a three-week stay at their training camp in River Falls, Wis., the Chiefs astonished even themselves with the pace of two-a-day practices. Cunningham, who replaced Marty Schottenheimer this year, said he wanted no waste time.
"There's a lot of guys who are tired right now,
me being one of those guys who's tired," said backup quarterback Warren Moon, 42. "Over the next few days we should be able to get our legs back and start getting back into a regular routine. But a tough camp was what this team needed."
Still, no one is complaining that they're being worked too hard.
"The attitude is back in the right direction again," Moon said. "But we need to get our second wind back so we can start the season off fresh."
The Offers kept up their pace after ending camp last weekend.
The Chiefs kept up
"It's kind of tiring. I'm kind of exhausted," said safety Reggie Tongue. "But we're learning a lot, getting better."
to the new tempo.
It figures that by now, players would be adjusted
"You would think so," Tongue said. "But after you go out there and start running around a little bit, the legs aren't there and you feel it. But it's a good thing. We get out there and get our work done. We're getting in shape and getting a gametype tempo in practice."
The Chiefs will travel to Jacksonville, Fla., tomorrow for a night exhibition game against the Jaguars. They plan to use most of their first team for at least the first half, including quarterback Elvis Grbac.
"Just like this practice, I'm sure we're going to be a little more fatigued, but I don't care," Cunningham said. "We've got to get our work out of the way. The schedule's not in our favor. But we're going to do what we have to do."
Outside linebacker Donnie Edwards, hobbed since the first week of camp with a bruised hip, should see his first action against the Jaguars.
Modest standout faces media hype
The Associated Press
The line starts forming whenever word gets out that Drew Brees is home.
From all over the Austin, Texas, neighborhood people come to the Brees' doorstep, asking for their buddy.
The guy nobody wanted out of high school is everybody's favorite quarterback these days. He turned the Big 10 Conference upside down with his 3,983 yards passing and 39 touchdowns last season, and the Kansas State Wildcats still haven't figured out how he beat them at the Alamo Bowl.
Now the quarterback for No. 23 Purdue is a Heisman Troop favorite.
"Never would have thought. Uh-uh," he said.
He seemed destined to be a big-time quarterback. His family tree is full of football players.
His high school team went 28-0-1 in Brees' junior and senior years in Class 5A, the toughest
in Texas. He threw for 5,461 yards and 50 touchdowns.
No one seemed to want Brees.
Then he got a call from Joe Tiller, who was moving to Purdue.
He played sparingly his freshman year, enough to show he was picking up the offense but not enough to win Tiller over completely.
Then in just his fifth game, Tiller threw for 522 yards and six touchdowns against Minnesota.
The next week he set NCAA records with 55 completions and 83 attempts.
Suddenly, everyone was talking about Brees.
In the Alamo Bowl, he took the Boilermakers 80 yards in the final minute to upset the Wildcats 37-34.
That's what really started the Heisman hype, a subject Brees hates.
"He's just a down-to-earth guy." Tiller said. "He likes to be thought of as one of the good guys."
Cincinnati quarterback scurries to attend camp
The Associated Press
CINCINNATI — Now that he's got a seven-year deal worth as much as $56 million, Akili Smith has a lot of catching up to.
The determined back of the future took an overnight flight and arrived for what's left of training camp yesterday, less than three weeks
The Cincinnati Bengals' quarter-
before the season opener.
Smith, the last unsigned member of the celebrated quarterback class of '99, agreed to a contract Monday evening.
He got about two hours of sleep overnight, attended a brief news conference after signing his contract, then headed for training camp and an afternoon workout in Georgetown, Ky.
Brown talked all off season about acquiring a quarterback to pull his team out of a decade-long rut. He said he's still hoping that Smith can pick up the offense quickly enough to make an impact this season.
("General manager Mike Brown)
said, "I don't care about you sleeping,
I don't care about you eating. We
want 'you in there practicing.'"
Smith said.
"It is a good time for him to be in Cincinnati, with our new stadium coming out of the ground," Brown said.
Smith, chosen overall behind quarterbacks Tim Couch and Donovan McNabb, doesn't want to repeat the experience that Bengals quarterback David Klingler had in 1992.
Klingler, the No. 6 pick overall that season, didn't sign until one week before the season opener. The Bengals made him the starter 12 weeks into the season, but he got sacked 10 times by Pittsburgh in his debut and never panned out.
Smith, who like Klingler has been represented by agent Leigh Steinberg, has a few things in his favor. Unlike Klingler, he got to work out with the Bengals before training camp started, so he's not as far behind.
Jury deliberates in receiver's case
The Associated Press
MIAMI — Miami Dolphins receiver Tony Martin never made any effort to hide a series of cash repayments and simply was trying to help a longtime friend through troubled times, his lawyer told jurors yesterday.
Martin faces five federal charges of money laundering. He is being tried alongside Rickey Brownlee, who served seven years in prison for two
1980s drug convictions, in a case largely focusing on brownlee's alleged
narcotics activities from 1994 to 1997.
After the closing statements in the 3 1/2-week-old case were completed this morning, jurors begin deliberations.
Martin is accused of leasing three cars in his name on behalf of Brownlee, who paid him back with cash. He also is accused of taking $100,000 in cash to reimburse a check written to Brownlee's first lawyer.
At issue is whether Martin, who has known Brownlee since childhood and calls him his uncle, knowingly accepted drug money.
Yesterday, Srebnick recounted Martin's inner-city upbringing in Miami, saying Brownlee was somebody who helped the youngster pursue his dream of playing professional football.
So when Brownlee needed a car and had no credit after his release from prison in 1993, Srebnick said, Martin was willing to help out the man who once helped him.
Srebnick also noted that Martin, who has been heavily in debt for years and filed for bankruptcy last March, received less in repayment than the amount of the checks he wrote for the cars.
The lawyer also pointed out that Brownlee managed two restaurants that took in about $1.6 million during 2 1/2 years. Srebrnick said that Martin saw his friend as a successful businessman.
"The government wants you to think 'cash' is some kind of fourletter word," Srebnick said. "It's currency. It's money. There is no evidence that any money Martin received was drug money."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron DeWaard painted a different picture in his closing argument. He called Martin a money launderer for a drug trafficker and said there was no way the receiver could have thought the huge cash reimbursements were anything but drug money.
"When you do a transaction with a drug dealer, you can't say, 'I don't care. I'm not going to look at where that money is coming from.' DeWaard said.
Three months after Brownlee's 1993 release, DeWaard noted, Martin wrote checks for more than $13,000 to lease a 1994 Acura Legend. Days later, the receiver deposited $12,900 cash into his bank account. Similar deposits were made after Martin leased two other cars used by Brownlee.
Recounting video and audiotapes of undercover drug transactions linked to Brownlee, DeWaard said Brownlee piled up $1.3 million in unexplained wealth.
Brownlee's lawyers argued that his money was made from the restaurant business, not drugs, and any cash given to Martin was legally acquired.
Attorney Peter Raben said prosecutors disregarded $1.6 million in revenue generated
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