the state of florida is going nuts for lsu.....

Discussion in 'The Tiger's Den' started by snorton938, Dec 19, 2004.

  1. snorton938

    snorton938 Founding Member

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    well three (3) in particular:

    1. michael clayton is the fan favorite with the bucs (today's paper has him running for a td with no helmet.....typical clayton toughness)

    2. shaq......miami heat are on cloud 9 with him.....today's headline reads "shaq king of the beach".

    3. and sadly....yes it is true, on the front page along with shaq is coach nick saban and miami is ready to grab him......they are going nuts......which means that they'll probably get him.....quoting george perles (who won 4 superbowls as defensive coordinator for the steelers)...."Really. I mean it. I don't know how you could do any better. He will bring the franchise back to respectability"......quoting brandie james now with the cowboys...."Coach right now is hot. Everybody wants a piece of him because he has new energy coming into the game."

    oh well, with the good of success has to come the bad that everyone else wants some of it too..........
     
  2. pensacola

    pensacola Founding Member

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    What's the deal on the helmetless TD? Sounds cool.
     
  3. snorton938

    snorton938 Founding Member

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    it got knocked off during the play.......clayton just kept running for the td.....the article also lists all the other wr's picked ahead of him in the draft and how he is kicking their a** this season.......the perfect replacement for "meshawn". :D :D :D
     
  4. Capt Fun

    Capt Fun Founding Member

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    Give us a link to that pic if you can.


    Thanks
     
  5. snorton938

    snorton938 Founding Member

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    it's in the orlando sentinel (print version)......i'll see if i can locate it on-line.....the game was bucs vs. broncos and john lynch is chasing him......
     
  6. snorton938

    snorton938 Founding Member

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    article and picture attached !!!!!

    TAMPA -- Though his numbers belie his lack of experience as a wide receiver at the highest level, Michael Clayton has played just 13 games in the National Football League.

    He's still a rookie, and he's reminded of the fact often by teammates, but more so by opposing defensive backs. Clayton, the first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former All-American at LSU, responds the only way he knows how: by catching passes. With three games to in the 2004 season, he leads all NFL rookies with 70 receptions and 988 yards to go with four touchdowns.

    "Oh yeah, they still call me 'Rook,'." said Clayton, who with three games remaining in the 2004 season leads all NFL rookies with 70 receptions and 988 yards to go with four touchdowns. "Maybe they should start calling me 'Mr. Rook.'."

    With that line, Clayton broke into a smile that softened his brimming confidence and made for a nice scene for the crowd of Tampa Bay area reporters gathered at the locker of the Bucs' exploding supernova. Clayton, the native of Baton Rouge, La., was anxiously looking to today's meeting between the Bucs (5-8) and his close-to-home New Orleans Saints (5-8) at Raymond James Stadium.

    "It's fun to be in this situation," he said. "Every game is a chance to grow."

    Across the locker room, Tim Brown sat by himself, nodding politely to managers and teammates as they walked by.

    Five months ago, few would have figured Brown, the No..3 receiver in NFL history and slam-dunk future Hall-of-Famer, would be relegated to virtual anonymity at the expense of a kid that was five when Brown won the 1987 Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame and was drafted in the first round by Oakland.

    But "Mr. Rookie" has upstaged "Mr. Raider."

    After being released by the Raiders during training camp, Brown signed on with the Bucs to be reunited with Coach Jon Gruden, who during their four seasons together in Oakland helped produce some of the most productive seasons of Brown's magnificent career. With 2003 Pro Bowler Keenan McCardell in a bitter contract holdout, Joe Jurevicius recovering from knee and back surgeries and Joey Galloway suffering a severe groin injury in Week 1, Brown figured to play a prominent role in the Tampa Bay offense.

    But very little about the 2004 season has gone as planned for Bucs.

    "My expectations for coming down here were that I would play and I would play quite a bit. That hasn't worked out," said Brown, whose 17-season total of 1,092 catches includes just 22 for 175 yards and one score as a Buc. "But I've always been a lover of the game, always been a guy who tries to mentor players. ..... People might say, 'Hey, that guy took your job!' I'm like, 'He didn't take my job; they gave it to him.' There's a difference."

    Brown can live with that difference.

    Clayton has thrived on it.

    "He's sort of been one of those right-place, right-time guys," receivers coach Richard Mann said.

    What Clayton really became was a star and star pupil. Where some rookies with fat contracts (six years, $13.million, with $6.5.million up front) might have resented playing apprentice role, he embraced it.

    "He's been amazing," Clayton said of Brown. "Without him, I don't think I would have taken that next step up the ladder. Without a guy like that, who do you lean on? From my standpoint, I've been blessed."

    In contrast, Brown has been cursed with remaining on the sidelines. Clearly, he does not have the skills - certainly not the blazing speed - of the all-world wideout that is one of only three men (along with Jerry Rice and Cris Carter) to reach 1,000 catches and 14,000 yards, and one of four (Rice, Carter and Steve Largent) to grab 100 touchdowns in a career.

    As such, playing time in a Gruden offense he once mastered has been minimal. His 8 yards-per-catch average is the lowest of his career (equaling 1988 when he caught one pass before suffering a season-ending injury in Week.1), and his NFL record streak of 179 straight games with at least one reception - the third-longest run in league history - ended Nov. 6 against Kansas City.

    "But the Raider in him enjoyed beating the Chiefs, I will tell you that," General Manager Bruce Allen said. "Timmy came here to help us, and he's done that. I think having one of the greatest receivers in the history of the game has been good for everyone on the team. And to watch that particular relationship [with Clayton] develop, that's been special. For Michael, it's only going to be more helpful in the next decade or so."

    With so much time on the sideline, Brown has had plenty of opportunity to observe and assess Clayton.

    "He has the goods, no doubt," Brown said. "He may not have the lightning speed, but everything else - the toughness, the capability of dealing with pressure - that embodies a great receiver, yes, he has. Best of all, he's willing to learn. He asks questions and wants to know what's happening."

    No question, Gruden and Mann are the voices of authority in Clayton's football life right now. They're the ones who bark orders during practices and meetings; they're the ones who will oversee Clayton making the most of his potential over the next few seasons.

    That's probably why Gruden is careful with complements directed toward his rookie star. He speaks more of what Clayton can become, rather than what he is.

    "I know every time I see Terrell Owens, I cut out the picture and show him the body and say, 'That's what we're after!' Because Clayton's got that frame," Gruden said. "He's got the lowers and framework to get sturdier and all those things that come with modern technology: weight, flexibility, diet. He's got a chance to be something."

    Coaches are more prone to be measured when it comes to speaking of potential. But there are facets of the game that only players know, and that's where Brown comes in. Though he has 252 games of knowledge from which to glean, Brown picks his spots when it comes to speaking (or critiquing). He knows Clayton is less than a year into feeling his way through NFL defenses, but what Brown would love to see is what Jerry Rice and Sterling Sharpe talked to him about when he first started learning the flanker (or "Z") position in the West Coast offense.

    "Michael has not put his spin on this offense," Brown said. "He's still just running lines and running what coaches tell him to do. At some time, instincts have to take over and he'll run a route the way he wants to run it, come off the field like a man and say, 'That's the way I need to do it.' The next day, you look at the film and you move on. That's part of the process. Part of maturing, part of developing. And it's fun, man."

    When Brown speaks of the game, there is no mistaking his wisdom of it and affection for it. The shame of it all, no one's talking to him anymore.

    Everyone's at Clayton's locker these days.

    "That's cool," he nods.

    But at that locker, Clayton never fails to mention Brown; not just the time the veteran has invested in offering advice, but also the confidence Brown has helped instill on Clayton's way to setting franchise rookie records for receptions and receiving yards. Clayton needs one more touchdown catch to tie that team mark, too.

    "My self-expectations are a lot higher than anybody else's are of me," Clayton said. "I haven't reached my goals yet. I have a lot of work to do in this league and I have a lot to learn. I use every game and every practice as a learning experience to get better. I mean, I don't know how long Tim Brown will be in this league, but everything he has to offer I take it and use it as a positive anyway I can."

    Call in an education of a NFL lifetime
     
  7. Capt Fun

    Capt Fun Founding Member

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    You da man!!!!
     

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