NFL Report Thurs

[HEAV]

The Dolphins are considering bolstering their secondary by scheduling a
free-agent visit today with safety Lance Schulters. A seven-year NFL veteran,
Schulters was released last week by Tennessee after being unable to agree upon a
restructured contract. Schulters was slated to earn $2.75 million in 2005, which
was too pricey for the Titans because of their salary cap problems. "We
wish him the best and realize he still has some quality football ahead of
him," Tennessee General Manager Floyd Reese said in a team-released
statement. "But we are committed to getting through our cap difficulties
this year." Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta and Green Bay also are thought
to have expressed interest in Schulters.



The Jaguars will take a look at free agent cornerback Ty Law today. Coach Jack
Del Rio said they'll bring the veteran in for a workout and a physical to see if
he's recovered from a serious foot injury. "If he's healthy, we're
interested,'' Del Rio said. "We're going to give him a physical and see
where he is. We're doing our due diligence.'' If the Jaguars believe Law will be
able to recover from the injury, they will then have to decide how high to bid.
Law had a $12.5 million cap number, including $9 million in new money, when the
Patriots cut the four-time Pro Bowler.


Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, who had postseason ankle surgery, has been
practicing with the No. 1 defense and should be ready for the first training
camp workout, coach Lovie Smith said Wednesday. "He'll be full go, and he's
close now," Smith said. The Bears were cautious with Ogunleye, who didn't
get on the field until last week. They continue to be careful with fullback
Bryan Johnson, who is recovering from a foot injury and isn't working out.


Titans General Manager Floyd Reese is laying low these days. He knows the
Buffalo Bills want to dump disgruntled running back Travis Henry because Willis
McGahee is assured of starting ahead of the former Tennessee star. The Bills
have cast the bait, GM Tom Donahoe demanding a third-round draft pick for Henry.
It must be said that Reese values draft picks right up there with his wife and
running shoes. Prying a third-round draft pick out of Reese could prove
excruciatingly difficult. Two of the interested parties reside in the Titans
division — Jacksonville and Houston. The Jaguars admitted they have interest in
Henry. Veteran Fred Taylor has suffered his share of injuries and is on the
downside of a brilliant-when-healthy career. Why are the Titans interested in
Henry? Primarily because of the past injury record of third-year back Chris
Brown.


Soon-to-be-unretired Dolphins running back Ricky Williams has taken up residence
in Miami Beach, according to a source close to Williams. He was scheduled to
arrive in Miami Beach from Boston on Tuesday. Although Williams can go to the
Dolphins facility in Davie to conduct off-the-field business, he can't work out
with the team until he's officially reinstated by the NFL. That will be July 27
or 28, a few days into training camp. The date of his ''retirement'' officially
is July 27, 2004.

Mike Martz WILL look better in retrospect, because odds are the Rams will hit a
down cycle on the next coach’s watch. Only then will people appreciate a coach
who kept moving his team back into playoff contention. Right now, fans take that
for granted around here.


Bucs coach Jon Gruden, asked about the chance of tackle Kenyatta Walker being a
salary-cap casualty: "We expect Kenyatta to be here, and that's all I can
say."


CB R.W. McQuarters signed a one-year contract with the Lions on Wednesday and --
in the process -- rejoined two of his former head coaches. Lions coach Steve
Mariucci was the coach in San Francisco when the 49ers made McQuarters their
first pick (28th overall) in the 1998 draft. After he was traded to Chicago in
2000, he played four more seasons under Dick Jauron, now the Lions' defensive
coordinator. McQuarters' projected role with the Lions is uncertain. He is
experienced at both cornerback positions, has played the nickel and dime
positions, and played free safety for part of the past season with the Bears.

Welcome to Jeff Fisher's world. When the Titans head coach was a boy, doctors
told his mother he was born without the canal in his right ear. His world is
hardly silent, but he is 90 percent deaf in that ear. "I don't know what it
is like to hear in two; it's all I have ever known," Fisher said. "My
good ear has compensated so much. I have learned to read lips. Really, it's
never been an issue. I've made it this far just fine."


Jon Gruden reached into his Raiders past Wednesday, inviting Jack Tatum, the
hard-hitting safety who typified the tough Oakland defenses of the 1970s, to
speak to his Bucs players. "I don't have a lot of friends, but he's one of
them," Gruden said. "When we beat the Raiders in the Super Bowl, he
was the one ex-Oakland employee that called me and congratulated me. When I went
out to the Bay area to work out (first-round pick Aaron Rodgers), we was the one
ex-Raider that came and met with me. It says a lot about him as a friend."
Gruden said he hopes some of Tatum's toughness can rub off on his safeties.


With defensive tackle Tank Johnson awaiting a July 8 arraignment for allegedly
carrying an unregistered handgun in his car, Bears coach Lovie Smith was asked
if he had a policy on such a practice. “I definitely have an opinion on that,”
Smith said on the Bears’ final practice day before training camp begins July 23.
“No, I don’t think they should (carry weapons). Of course we’re going to let it
play out in the courts, and (NFL) Commissioner (Paul Tagliabue) will really
decide what to do with Tank first before we get a chance to look at it. “But of
course we don’t agree with guys carrying guns around, if that was the case.
We’ll look to discipline Tank after he goes through the courts and through the
NFL.”


Players around the NFL often travel around the globe but few are treated like a
visiting dignitary. That's the greeting that awaits Giant RB Tiki Barber, who on
Monday embarks on a week-long stay in Israel at the invitation of Shimon Peres,
the former Israeli Prime Minister. Barber will make an appearance on behalf of
the Peres Center for Peace, which attempts to advance understanding between
Israelis and Palestinians.


Indianapolis Colts cornerback Nick Harper, facing a misdemeanor charge of
domestic battery in Hamilton County, waived his right to an initial hearing and
was not required to appear in court Wednesday.


There are nearly 20 rookies in Kansas City for a final week of workouts, but
coach Dick Vermeil knows which one is Sam Gado. He’s the one standing outside,
in 90-degree heat, smiling. The undrafted rookie didn’t just make it out of the
video scrap heap. Both Vermeil and Saunders say Gado was so impressive during
offseason workouts that he has a shot of sticking around past training camp. “He
has exceeded our expectations in every area,” Saunders says. “He’s just a ball
of energy.” He’s 210 pounds of pep, he’s an honors student who wants to go back
to his home in Nigeria and someday be a doctor, but Samkon Gado wants you to
know one thing — he wasn’t always this sky-high. Gado never dominated in
college. He was supposed to redshirt in 2004 before Liberty’s top two running
backs got hurt. But college production doesn’t always translate to NFL
potential, and Karcher says Gado’s best days are still ahead of him. He ran a
4.47 40-yard dash for the Patriots, and is deceptively strong. The Chiefs list
him at 5 foot 11 and 210 pounds. Karcher says Gado actually weighs 225. Gado was
nicknamed “The Nigerian Nightmare” in high school after his boyhood idol,
Christian Okoye. Karcher says Gado reminds him of a faster, smaller Christian
Okoye.


It was a chance for Eagles fans to buy single-game tickets, and the team readily
admits it was a slim one. In just under 15 minutes yesterday, the tickets were
gone. "They sold slightly faster than last year," said Leo Carlin, the
Eagles' director of ticket client service. "Last year, we sold out in 15
minutes. This year, it was just under 15 minutes." While the chance of
scoring tickets by telephone yesterday was slim, it was still the best offer the
Eagles could make. Carlin said the team's season-ticket waiting list has more
than 60,000 names. How long would it take to get season tickets if you placed
your name on the waiting list today? "That's a tough one," Carlin
said. "We're playing well and we're extremely popular. We enjoy an
incredibly high renewal rate. At this point, I'd say it would take years."


Serious contract talks with first-round pick Cedric Benson have yet to begin,
but the running back from Texas is in no hurry. No first-round picks have agreed
to terms, so Benson doesn't figure to sign until well into July. The Bears go to
camp early because they play in the Aug. 8 Hall of Fame Game, making a holdout
more likely. "I haven't gone through it before so it's hard to say how
important it is to be on time," Benson said. "But it is important for
players to be there for their teammates' sake, not so much for preparation, but
for whole aura and morale."


Chicago attorney Gil Gordon, who has represented several Bears over the years,
recently won worker's compensation settlements of $275,000 for Curtis Enis and
$175,000 for Rashaan Salaam. The former Bears running backs were first-round
draft picks whose careers were curtailed because of injuries and other factors.


A bill to change how marriage licenses are corrected in Wisconsin normally
wouldn't move with lightning speed through the Legislature. But when legislators
learned that Green Bay Packer Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was pushing for a change,
they moved fast. The Assembly is slated to take up the bill today, just a week
after it was introduced. The Senate will likely take it up next week. The bill
would make minor changes to state law and is not expected to spark controversy,
but nonetheless is moving more quickly through the Legislature than the average
mundane measure. Gbaja-Biamila wants to fix his marriage license, which lists
the wrong person as his father. Under current law, the wrong name can be crossed
out and the correct one typed in, but Gbaja-Biamila wants to have the wrong name
removed entirely and replaced with the right one.

[SoCalBronco]

Thanks Heav.

[fontaine]

Mi

ke Martz WILL look better in retrospect, because odds are the Rams will hit a
down cycle on the next coach’s watch. Only then will people appreciate a coach
who kept moving his team back into playoff contention. Right now, fans take that
for granted around here.

This has got to be a joke. Martz is great at designing offenses but he's widely known as being a poor head coach in all other phases of the game whether it's drafting (especially for defense), clock management, motivation and FA. The Rams have got to be one of worst drafting teams since Martz took over. Two high profile first round DT busts, CB busts, LB busts, etc. They should really have an annual Mike Martz incompetence award to the coach that has sucked that year and call it the

"The Kyle Turley Death Threat, Award!"

or

"Concussion? What Concussion, Warner is fine, Award"

or

"Yoko Warner said I was a liar, Award"

and worst of all

"The I drafted Eric Crouch Award."