Monday, August 23, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 5
Football
Rookies must fulfill savior roles
The Associated Press
Dauunte Culpepper's NFL debut was hardly auspicious: He was sacked five times and completed just two of six passes for 15 yards in Minnesota's 36-21 loss to the Giants.
But of the five quarterbacks drafted in the first round last April, Culpepper is in the best position — the bench.
He's also the only one not viewed by his team's fans as some sort of savior. He will sit behind Randall Cunningham and Jeff George until he's ready to become Minnesota's quarterback of the future.
The others?
Tim Couch, No. 1 overall, is already the fan favorite to start for the new Cleveland Browns ahead of Ty Detmer, the journeyman picked up from the 49ers. His offensive line, anchored at the tackles by Lomas Brown and Orlando Brown is pretty decent.
Couch may have a chance to progress as quickly as Peyton Manning did last year because he has good handlers. Chris Palmer, the Browns' coach, was a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, and had a major role in helping Drew Bledsoe and Mark Brunell achieve their potential.
Donovan McNabb, No. 2 overall. Like Couch, he's the fan favorite to start ahead of a journeyman, Doug Pederson. And like Palmer, Andy Reid, the Eagles' coach, is a quarterback guru.
But where Couch is a classic pro dropback passer, MNebanks played in an option offense at Syracuse. Moreover, he's playing behind a poor offensive line and the Eagles are probably far worse than expansion Cleveland and in a city where fan opinion turns quickly.
One plus: He's quick enough to scramble for his life. That also might be a minus — he didn't slide in college.
Cade McNown, No. 12 overall. He's in a worse position than McNabb. He was thrust into the starter's position when the Bears cut Erik Kramer just before camp, he held out for two weeks and Chicago may be worse than Philadelphia. McNown's got a winner's mentality but there are questions about his arm and his height.
**Akill Smith, No. 3 overall. Unsigned, perhaps because Cincinnati thinks it doesn't need him now with Jeff Blake to play quarterback. But the Bengals are a team with a shallow offensive line and a high injury potential.**
“It’s impossible,” Blake says of Smith's holdout. "He could come in and play, but I don't think he could be productive. He could get by on athletic ability, but that will only take you so far. That's why they have training camp. If you could come in off the street, you could do it."
Yes, Culpepper has to be happy to have landed where he did.
Browns lose in stadium opener
The Associated Press
CLEVELAND — The Brows returned to Cleveland for the first time in nearly four years, opening their new $283 million stadium with a 24-17 exhibition loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday night.
It was an historic night for Cleveland, which hadn't held an NFL game since Dec. 17, 1985, when the Browns played their final game in old Cleveland Stadium before moving to Baltimore.
Led by Randall Cunningham and Cris Carter, the Vikings dominated the expansion Browns from the start. Cunningham was 11-of-12 for 124 yards before being replaced by Jeff George. Carter, whose 5-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter gave the Vikings a 14-0 lead, made five catches alone in the first period when Minnesota out gained the Browns 130 yards to 24.
Rookie Tim Couch, making his first NFL start for Cleveland, was 8-of-17 for 77 yards. Ty Detmer, expected to be the Browns starter when the regular season opens, threw two touchdown passes.
GASTER 27, jayguers 20
EAST RUTHERFORD,
N.J. — Kent Graham
passed for 269 yards and
two touchdowns in a 304-
yard, 24-point first half that
led the New York Giants
over the Jacksonville Jaguars in an exhibition game that featured 11 lost fumbles.
New York did its best to hand the game away in the second half, losing fumbles on its first six possessions. The Giants lost seven in the game.
Despite great field position, the Jaguars only got 13 points off the mistakes, highlighted by Mike Logan's 37-yard touchdown return in the third.
quarter.
Ravens 19, Falcons 6
ATLANTAN — Second-
string receiver Patrick
Johnson hauled in five
passes for 170 yards, including an 89-yard touchdown, and the Baltimore Ravens scored 16 points in the final quarter to beat the Atlanta Falcons.
NFL Roundup
The Ravens, still adjusting to the offensive changes of new coach Brian Billick, managed only one touchdown through the first seven quarters of the preseason.
win the Ravens traction 6-3 in the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Tony Banks hooked up with Johnson on a 57-yard pass to the Falcons four yardline. On the next play, Jay Graham dived in for the touchdown that gave Baltimore the lead for good at 10-6 with 9-23 remaining.
CHICAGO — After throwing interceptions on his first two nass attempts.
rookie Cade McNown settled down and started looking like an NFL quarterback as the Chicago Bears beat the St. Louis Rams.
McNown, the 12th overall draft pick, led the Bears on an eight-play 68-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Macey Brooks. It was his first touchdown pass in three preseason games. He finished the night 7-of-13 for 71 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.
The loss spoiled Marshall Faulk's debut in a St. Louis uniform. Faulk, traded from Indianapolis a few days before the draft, rushed for 17 yards on nine carries.
Colts 37, Saints 7
Indianapolis Colts $49 million man, scored twice to lead a victory against the New Orleans Saints.
NEW ORLEANS - Edgerrin James, the
James was designated the Colts' starting tail back when he was drafted as the
overall fourth pick in April. He missed three weeks of training camp while he worked out a seven-year contract.
Playing in the first half, James rushed for 77 yards on 10 carries and scored on runs of 16 yards and 12 yards.
Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning was making his first NFL appearance in the Superdome, giving him a 5-0 mark there. Manning, a New Orleans native, played in the Superdome every year as a high school quarterback.
Buccaneers 17,Chiefs 7
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Martin Gramatica, the highest-picked kicker in the 1999 NFL draft, came up with a clutch field goal to lead to victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the
Buccaneers against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gramatica, taken from Kansas State in the third round, broke a 7-7 tie with a 23-yard field goal late in the third quarter to improve to 3-for-3 in the preseason.
The Chiefs, with Pete Stoyanovich sitting out with a hip injury for a second straight week, continued to struggle with their kicking game.
Patriots 34. Cowboys 14
Gramatica:
makes clutch field
goal
FOXBORO, Mass. - Terry Glenn caught five passes for 85 yards and a touchdown in the New England Patriots' exhibition victory against the Cowboys.
On a wet and windy night, Glenn returned from his injury-plagued 1998 season with the speed
Glenn caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Drew Bledsoe to break a 7-7 tie with 2:49 left in the first quarter. He also made a nice catch on the sideline to pull down a 26-yard reception that set up Ben Coates' touchdown catch to make it 21-7 with 3:59 left in the second quarter.
skin of his rookie year, when he caught 90 passes and helped the Patriots win the AFC Championship.
Denver has no tricks for Packers
The Associated Press
DENVER — Coach Mike Shanahan rarely tips his hand, but Saturday he said the Denver Broncos didn't plan any quarterback shuffles for their game today in Madison, Wis., against the Green Bay Packers.
Denver, from the quarterback rotation to the use of Terrell Davis, will present a similar approach to the one showed a week earlier against the Arizona Cardinals. The exception will be the use of Chuck Clements, who was brought back when Jeff Brohm sprained his right ankle.
"Bubby Brister will play the first 20 to 35 plays, and Brian Griese will finish the game," Shanahan said. "Possibly Clements will get a series or two depending how the game is going."
Davis isn't expected to be in beyond the second series. Against the Cardinals, Davis had six carries for 43 yards before retiring to the sideline.
"He will get about six carries and then it will be (Derek) Loville," Shanahan said. "Terrell will play more against Dallas next week. He will and the first unit will play about three-quarters of the game."
The game plan will continue to be a diluted one in comparison to a normal regular-season game. Brister indicated, and Shanahan concurred, it will be no more than 25 percent to 30 percent of the offense that teams would see come September.
"That is normally the case," Shanahan said. "We don't get too complicated with our game plan, we don't like to trick people, but simply like to go out and watch people execute."
He promised a few wrinkles and a more complicated game plan the next week against Dallas.
Bengals safety breaks neck, team handles trauma
The Associated Press
CINCINNATI — For the second time in three years, the Cincinnati Bengals are handling the tough emotions that come with having a player hospitalized with a serious neck injury.
Safety Kelvin Moore was in stable condition yesterday at a hospital in Pontiac, Mich., two days after he broke a vertebra in his neck while making a tackle in a preseason game against the Lions.
Moore has feeling in his arms and legs and is expected to make an excellent recovery, team Dr. Robert Heidt Jr. said. But he said there's no way to tell whether 24-year-old Moore will ever play again.
After watching film of the play, coach Bruce Coslet said Moore did everything right and still got hurt.
"It looked like he was a little bit stumbling into him and just bent his head back." Coslet said. "It just happened."
It brought back memories of how offensive lineman Scott Brumfield was hurt on Nov. 3, 1996, in a game in Baltimore. Brumfield banged heads with teammate Troy Sadowski and was temporarily paralyzed.
Brumfield made a full recovery from a spinal cord concussion and played for the Bengals in 1997, appearing in 15 games.
Moore's injury also brought back memories for Detroit fans. Former Lions Mike Utley and Reggie Brown suffered severe neck injuries this decade and had to retire.
"With these powerful athletes flying around and the collisions they generate, sometimes you wonder why there's not more of them," Coslet said. "But when it happens, it's devastating.
"It's part of the game, and injury always has been part of the game. When it
becomes career-ending or life-threatening or whatever other adjective you want to use, it puts things in perspective quick."
Moore was on the Bengals' practice squad last season as a rookie free agent. He was in line to be on the Bengals' special teams and play as an extra defensive back on passing downs.
His injury came one week after cornerback Ric Mathias hurt his knee, ending his season.
"You've got to say, 'Hey, we can't let this affect us,' and that's tough to do right now," Coslet said. "But you've to go on."
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