SoCalBronco
09-30-2006, 03:09 AM
Chukwurah able to handle opponents and odd attention
By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News
September 30, 2006
It isn't as if Patrick Chukwurah needs to do anything dramatic to get noticed.
At 6-foot-1, 250 pounds, the Broncos defensive end is about as ripped a physical specimen as you'll find in professional sports. The tinted visor he wears over his facemask gives him a Darth Vader quality. And his flowing dreadlocks resemble Play-Doh being squeezed out of the rear of his helmet.
But there he was Sunday, on national television, caught on camera in slow-motion instant replay.
Losing his lunch.
The player affectionately named "Chuck" might have to add an extra syllable in front of his name now, given his digestive distress.
"He played his guts out," defensive tackle Gerard Warren said.
Chukwurah actually had two gastrointestinal incidents and didn't stop playing either time with the New England Patriots running a hurry-up offense in the second half. It wasn't until the Broncos player woozily fell to one knee that teammate Ian Gold noticed his problem and signaled to the official for a timeout, allowing Chukwurah to gather himself. He later returned.
"I really don't see the big deal in it. It's been on sports shows and replayed. And I don't understand that," Chukwurah said before the Broncos broke for a four-day hiatus for their bye weekend. "That stuff happens all the time as far as somebody throwing up. All it was was a lot of Gatorade, a lot of water that day and my body saying I didn't need it, it was holding me down and it was time to come out. And that's what it did. I didn't think it would get this much attention."
Actually, it isn't just his yakking that has put the spotlight on Chukwurah this season.
It's his sacking, or his efforts toward such.
A situational pass-rusher playing almost exclusively on third downs, the fourth-year Bronco might have made more plays per snap than any defender this season on a group that has yielded only one touchdown during the team's 2-1 start.
Chukwurah consistently disrupted quarterback Tom Brady's rhythm during the Broncos' 17-7 victory Sunday.
With the Patriots driving just before half and facing a third- and-10, Chukwurah was aligned wide at left end and redirected inside to hit Brady just as he threw, causing a wobbly throw. New England's Stephen Gostkowski had a 37-yard field-goal attempt blocked on the next play.
On another third-and-10 in the third quarter, Chukwurah bull-rushed from right end, and when pressure inside forced Brady to scramble, Chukwurah spun away from left tackle Matt Light and caught the QB from behind, forcing a punt.
The Patriots' last-gasp drive on fourth-and-1 with 1 minute, 4 seconds left ended when Chukwurah gave a two-handed shove to Light's chest to gain separation, then struck Brady in the back, helping force another incompletion over the middle.
The first two games yielded similar results, with Chukwurah making 1 1/2 of the Broncos' four sacks and generally wreaking havoc in opponents' backfields.
"By size, they look at him and think he's going to try and outrun them around the corner, but then Chuck will bust them in the mouth with a bull rush," Warren said. "He's a versatile player, and the thing about him being down there is, the tackle gets scared out of his mind because there's a real fast guy outside. So it kind of opens things up inside for us, because that tackle's kicking out making sure he contains Chuck."
Chukwurah has been a nonentity his first two full seasons with Denver other than as a special- teams contributor. He played only about 7.5 percent of defensive plays, including only 42 snaps last season. In one sense, he was a man without a position, jostling between his natural spot of outside linebacker and defensive end. But this season, the Broncos moved him full time to the defensive line and have left him there.
His playing time has come with Courtney Brown unable to complete his most recent comeback from summer knee surgery.
"When someone goes down, it opens the door for somebody else, and he's definitely seized the moment," defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban said of Chukwurah.
The former Wyoming star appreciates the time he has been given, since he was out of football completely after the Minnesota Vikings waived him in 2003.
Not playing much the past two seasons has been a trying experience but not near as taxing as just hoping to land a job somewhere to continue earning a paycheck in the game he loves.
"I think about that all the time," Chukwurah said. "It's no fun when you don't have a job, especially when you know that you could be out there playing."
He said even when Denver signed him near the end of the 2003 season, "I was just pretty much just a body."
But Chukwurah believes he has shown he has the drive to win and to do the little things right, which has made an impression on the coaches and kept him around.
He has made an imprint on his new defensive linemates, too, but not always for his on-field skills.
They wonder if he has completely made the conversion from his former position, given that Chukwurah in uniform appears like he just left a one-hour dry-cleaning establishment.
"We have to let him know once in a while that we do things differently as defensive linemen. He still wants to be a linebacker, at heart," Ekuban said. "Those linebackers like to look all pretty, dress all nice. Everything has to be tucked in the right way. Wear a little towel on the side. Things like that."
Chukwurah says it's just jealously.
"They're just haters. They're just mad because they're kind of sloppy and I'm 27, still young and built nice and they're going on their 30s and getting a little sloppy with it. They can't do the things I do as far as dress code and all that. It's all good, man. It's all love. They're my dawgs."
For Chukwurah, it's an open- ended question as to how long this dog will continue to hunt. Brown could be back for the Oct. 9 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Denver has dressed only seven linemen consistently. Sitting would be hard to stomach for Chukwurah, but not impossible to swallow should it occur.
OK, maybe that's a poor choice of words, in his case.
"I'm going to do what I've been doing, and if I'm needed, I'm needed; if not, then it'll work out for me," the pending free agent said. "But I feel I can help this team rushing the passer, so we'll just have to find a way to work with it."
rasizerl@RockyMountainNews.com
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5032631,00.html
By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News
September 30, 2006
It isn't as if Patrick Chukwurah needs to do anything dramatic to get noticed.
At 6-foot-1, 250 pounds, the Broncos defensive end is about as ripped a physical specimen as you'll find in professional sports. The tinted visor he wears over his facemask gives him a Darth Vader quality. And his flowing dreadlocks resemble Play-Doh being squeezed out of the rear of his helmet.
But there he was Sunday, on national television, caught on camera in slow-motion instant replay.
Losing his lunch.
The player affectionately named "Chuck" might have to add an extra syllable in front of his name now, given his digestive distress.
"He played his guts out," defensive tackle Gerard Warren said.
Chukwurah actually had two gastrointestinal incidents and didn't stop playing either time with the New England Patriots running a hurry-up offense in the second half. It wasn't until the Broncos player woozily fell to one knee that teammate Ian Gold noticed his problem and signaled to the official for a timeout, allowing Chukwurah to gather himself. He later returned.
"I really don't see the big deal in it. It's been on sports shows and replayed. And I don't understand that," Chukwurah said before the Broncos broke for a four-day hiatus for their bye weekend. "That stuff happens all the time as far as somebody throwing up. All it was was a lot of Gatorade, a lot of water that day and my body saying I didn't need it, it was holding me down and it was time to come out. And that's what it did. I didn't think it would get this much attention."
Actually, it isn't just his yakking that has put the spotlight on Chukwurah this season.
It's his sacking, or his efforts toward such.
A situational pass-rusher playing almost exclusively on third downs, the fourth-year Bronco might have made more plays per snap than any defender this season on a group that has yielded only one touchdown during the team's 2-1 start.
Chukwurah consistently disrupted quarterback Tom Brady's rhythm during the Broncos' 17-7 victory Sunday.
With the Patriots driving just before half and facing a third- and-10, Chukwurah was aligned wide at left end and redirected inside to hit Brady just as he threw, causing a wobbly throw. New England's Stephen Gostkowski had a 37-yard field-goal attempt blocked on the next play.
On another third-and-10 in the third quarter, Chukwurah bull-rushed from right end, and when pressure inside forced Brady to scramble, Chukwurah spun away from left tackle Matt Light and caught the QB from behind, forcing a punt.
The Patriots' last-gasp drive on fourth-and-1 with 1 minute, 4 seconds left ended when Chukwurah gave a two-handed shove to Light's chest to gain separation, then struck Brady in the back, helping force another incompletion over the middle.
The first two games yielded similar results, with Chukwurah making 1 1/2 of the Broncos' four sacks and generally wreaking havoc in opponents' backfields.
"By size, they look at him and think he's going to try and outrun them around the corner, but then Chuck will bust them in the mouth with a bull rush," Warren said. "He's a versatile player, and the thing about him being down there is, the tackle gets scared out of his mind because there's a real fast guy outside. So it kind of opens things up inside for us, because that tackle's kicking out making sure he contains Chuck."
Chukwurah has been a nonentity his first two full seasons with Denver other than as a special- teams contributor. He played only about 7.5 percent of defensive plays, including only 42 snaps last season. In one sense, he was a man without a position, jostling between his natural spot of outside linebacker and defensive end. But this season, the Broncos moved him full time to the defensive line and have left him there.
His playing time has come with Courtney Brown unable to complete his most recent comeback from summer knee surgery.
"When someone goes down, it opens the door for somebody else, and he's definitely seized the moment," defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban said of Chukwurah.
The former Wyoming star appreciates the time he has been given, since he was out of football completely after the Minnesota Vikings waived him in 2003.
Not playing much the past two seasons has been a trying experience but not near as taxing as just hoping to land a job somewhere to continue earning a paycheck in the game he loves.
"I think about that all the time," Chukwurah said. "It's no fun when you don't have a job, especially when you know that you could be out there playing."
He said even when Denver signed him near the end of the 2003 season, "I was just pretty much just a body."
But Chukwurah believes he has shown he has the drive to win and to do the little things right, which has made an impression on the coaches and kept him around.
He has made an imprint on his new defensive linemates, too, but not always for his on-field skills.
They wonder if he has completely made the conversion from his former position, given that Chukwurah in uniform appears like he just left a one-hour dry-cleaning establishment.
"We have to let him know once in a while that we do things differently as defensive linemen. He still wants to be a linebacker, at heart," Ekuban said. "Those linebackers like to look all pretty, dress all nice. Everything has to be tucked in the right way. Wear a little towel on the side. Things like that."
Chukwurah says it's just jealously.
"They're just haters. They're just mad because they're kind of sloppy and I'm 27, still young and built nice and they're going on their 30s and getting a little sloppy with it. They can't do the things I do as far as dress code and all that. It's all good, man. It's all love. They're my dawgs."
For Chukwurah, it's an open- ended question as to how long this dog will continue to hunt. Brown could be back for the Oct. 9 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Denver has dressed only seven linemen consistently. Sitting would be hard to stomach for Chukwurah, but not impossible to swallow should it occur.
OK, maybe that's a poor choice of words, in his case.
"I'm going to do what I've been doing, and if I'm needed, I'm needed; if not, then it'll work out for me," the pending free agent said. "But I feel I can help this team rushing the passer, so we'll just have to find a way to work with it."
rasizerl@RockyMountainNews.com
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5032631,00.html