Rucker Still Optomistic Following Release from Chiefs

Former Eastern wide receiver Micah Rucker said he had an idea he wouldn’t be with the Kansas City Chiefs for long.

Rucker was signed to the Chiefs’ practice squad on Sept. 23 and then released seven days later on Sept. 30.

Rucker said the Chiefs - who beat the Denver Broncos 33-19 on Sept. 28 - wanted to bring in a wide receiver who could simulate Denver wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

Rucker (6-foot-6, 220 pounds) was Marshall’s stand-in because the two have similar builds and styles.

Marshall is 6-foot-4 and weighs 230 pounds and has good speed for his size like Rucker.

“I tried to take it for what it was and work hard,” Rucker said. “I had a feeling I’d only be there for a week. I went out there and did the best I could and made some plays.”

The Chiefs signed former Chicago Bears wide receiver Mark Bradley on Oct. 1 and released wide receiver Marques Hagans, who had been promoted to Kansas City’s 53-man active roster on Sept. 10 after attending training camp with the St. Louis Rams. The Chiefs re-signed Hagans to their practice squad when they released Rucker.

Rucker said he felt like he had left a good impression with the Chiefs.

He said the Chiefs’ coaches told him he did a good job, and he said Kansas City offensive coordinator Chan Gailey told him he reminded Gailey of New York Giants’ wide receiver Plaxico Burress.

“I do have the talent to play,” Rucker said. “It’s just all about getting the opportunities. My main thing is just developing as a football player.”

Rucker said he is now back home in Florida continuing to work out.

He also said he will work on different aspects of receiving he said he feels he still needs to improve.

But he said he was hoping to be with another team soon.

“I have no idea where I’ll be next,” Rucker said. “Just like I was telling my mom the other day, ‘You’ll never know if it’ll be a good situation or what’s a good situation right now. You’ve just got to be ready when the opportunity comes.’”

Although he has been released by two teams in the past month, Rucker said he hasn’t let it get to him.

“I know how this business works,” Rucker said. “It’s a tough business. It’s about being in the right place at the right time. I haven’t gotten the right opportunity, and I don’t know if I’ve been in the right situation. As long as I keep working, everything will be OK.”

Tomlin Keeps Learning as Pitt Keeps Winning

It was only six days ago that the Steelers’ season appeared to be imminently doomed because of poor offensive-line play and terrible coaching from Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians.

After the debacle in Philadelphia, Tomlin seems to have not only learned his lesson but is reaping the rewards of learning so quickly. The Steelers are overcoming their flaws and are getting better at working within their faults.

The Steelers have the hardest schedule in the NFL and there are no “breathers” on their schedule. (Even the Bengals will provide a serious challenge this year…maybe not.)

Ben Roethlisberger has been hit multiple times in the last few games, but all in all, it could have been a lot worse! Ben is getting rid of the ball quicker, and the Steelers are also going into “max-protection” by having two people on the sides of him to pick up defenders to give him more breathing room.

The reason that this is so important now for Ben and Tomlin is, because of the Steelers’ defense, they are in every single game. Teams simply can’t pin too many points on the board against this unit. If the offense can avoid sputtering like it did in Philadelphia, the Steelers will consistently win games.

With Polamalu having a rebirth, and Woodley looking like a mix between Greg Lloyd and Joey Porter, the defense is tough and nasty. Harrison is looking like an All Pro and Bryant McFadden is proving that he deserves to start and stay with the Steelers beyond this year.

Now, if the Steelers can get the offense moving consistently and not kill their momentum with penalties and sacks, the Steelers will have a chance to play deep into January. They need to keep learning to protect Roethlisberger, because the games are only going to get tougher.

If someone were to tell me that the Steelers would be 4-1 after five games with Willie Parker injured, Mendenhall out for the year, and Hampton missing significant time, I would be thrilled!

Hopefully the Steelers can get healthier over the bye week by getting Parker and Hampton back. And hopefully, Tomlin is helping this team and preparing them to get better.

Source: Bleacher Report

Dockery Gets Big INT

An hour after cornerback Kevin Dockery plucked a pass by Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck from the afternoon air at Giants Stadium, the ball remained tucked under Dockery’s right arm.

Dockery had good reason to keep the ball there. His interception, his first since 2006, was the first by a Giants defensive back this season.

So far this season, the defense had played well enough for the Giants to go undefeated, but the only interception belonged to Justin Tuck, a 6-foot-5, 274-pound defensive end who rumbled 41 yards for a touchdown.

Of course, the defensive backs know this, and if they managed to forget, Tuck surely reminded them.

“It has been the goal,” Dockery said. “We’ve been getting our hands on a lot of balls. We just have to catch them. We came into the game thinking, ‘This is the week we’re going to get some turnovers.’ ”

Dockery’s came midway through the third quarter, with the Seahawks at the Giants’ 40-yard line, facing a third-and-5. Hasselbeck dropped back and, under heavy pressure, forced a wobbly pass into double coverage. Dockery said Hasselbeck never saw him.

“He couldn’t set his feet,” Dockery said. “The defensive line did a good job of pressuring him. It made him get rid of the ball before he had to.”

Hasselbeck said: “Just a really stupid play. Just very frustrated, tried to do something, and it was really stupid.”

The real show came next. Dockery danced and shimmied up the sideline like a matador bobbing and weaving around 11 bulls. He cut toward the left sideline and slipped a tackle. He cut back inside and slipped another. It looked like a Keystone Kops routine.

Dockery’s first thought? Touchdown. He gained 44 yards on the return, and while he did not score, he gave the Giants field position that led to another field goal and a 37-6 advantage.

The last time these teams played, in 2006, Hasselbeck and the Seahawks’ healthy passing game cruised to a 42-30 win in Seattle.

The Giants watched that loss on tape this week, and on Sunday, courtesy of Dockery and Company, Hasselbeck recorded a 46.7 passer rating.

Afterward, Dockery pulled on a diamond watch and platinum bracelet at his locker before making his way toward the exit. When he left, the ball from that interception was still tucked under his arm.

Vonnie Holliday says ‘Believe’

Vonnie Holliday had to get something off his chest after Sunday’s 17-10 win over the Chargers, and Dolphins fans and critics need to hear it because it personifies this teams attitude since training camp.

What you’ll read in this blog is Holliday’s open plea for the Dolphins to regain South Florida’s respect, and support.

“Not many people believed in us. You heard the questions last week. Big bad San Diego’s coming in with that high powered offense. You didn’t think we can get it done. The guys pounded their chest, bowed up, and re-established home field. That’s what we’re trying to do. It was real big for us.

“They talked about blacking out the TV game in South Florida for the first time in a long time. Not even last year during 1-15 did they black a game out here. A lot of things were accomplished today, but this is just another step. We’re proud about what we did [Sunday], but it’s just another step. [Twelve] more games, and I’m so excited.

“We’re certainly getting [swagger]. The ball is starting to roll. We’re starting to get that momentum. Coming back home and winning a big game after the bye [week] is huge for us.

“Let’s get this understood, no Tom Brady, that’s how they looked at that [New England] win. There was no Tom Brady, no [Laurence] Maroney. These guys are still jokes. People are going to look at [the San Diego] game right here and say the same thing.

“There are still plenty of nonbelievers out there. We’re still going to have to fight for respect and we know that. We’re in an uphill climb. We’ve taken that road and we’re just going to take it one game at a time. We didn’t win but one game last year, and here we are at 2-2.

“To the fans that were actually here, actually came out and supported us, believed in us, we appreciate it. It means so much. It was loud in there and that effected them some. On the goal line [fourth-and-1 stop] they flinched a little bit and showed their hand and we were able to make a big play down there.”

For that play, that noise, your support, Holliday, a team captain, thanks you on behalf of the Dolphins.

Now, what do you have to say to the team that has once again brought you joy on Sundays, and a pleasant hangover on Monday morning.

We beat them down when they fail. I know I do. Wouldn’t it be nice to say something positive when they succeed?

Let me be the first to start. Ikechuku Ndukwe, Congrats on turning it around. You are showing some promise as a starting right guard. Keep pushing.

Now it’s your turn.

Deuces.

Source: Sun Sentinel

Related: Dean of the defense: Holliday welcomes his role as leader and mentor

Curry Deserves Better

With all the chaos coming down in Oakland with the Raiders this week, my thoughts turned to Ronald Curry, for whom the phrase “star-crossed” should have been invented.

If he hadn’t begun to wonder long ago, Curry has to be perplexed as to which power in the universe - and I don’t mean Al Davis - he torqued off years ago.

I’ve always said Hampton High’s Curry was the best high school athlete I’ve ever seen, and we all know how many brilliant ones have come out of this region in just the past 20 years.

Talent to dream of and die for. Smooth as the day was long. Multiple state football champion. All-American in football and basketball. Potential NBA player - or so the talk went - right out of high school. That was Curry the Crabber.

And yet Curry has become almost better known as a cautionary tale about how nothing in life, especially in sports, is ever guaranteed.

Think of it all.

First, Curry made that controversial college-decision switch - Virginia to North Carolina - becoming a permanent U.Va. sworn enemy. He insisted on playing football (quarterback) and basketball (point guard) for the Tar Heels - and wound up doing both inconsistently.

When it was finally time to turn pro, Curry was drafted in the seventh round by Oakland - and converted to wide receiver.

Fair enough; he was a tremendous natural athlete, he could learn.

But he struggled two years to pick up that position - then tore an Achilles’ tendon in 2004 and again 2005. Healthy again, somewhat, the past two years, Curry caught 117

passes for more than 1,400 yards - and the Raiders won six stinking games.

Now he’s got this: an owner holding a bizarre news conference to disparage his fired coach, Lane Kiffin, in an arrogant, bullying, amazingly unprofessional attempt to not pay off Kiffin’s contract.

Meanwhile here’s Curry, still just 29, who has caught only three balls in four games this season - not sure what’s wrong there. And who has a contract that sticks him in Oakland for three more years, unless Davis fires him first at some point “for cause.”

It’s more than enough to make you wonder what Chesapeake’s DeAngelo Hall was thinking - besides “Oh man, am I gonna be rich!” - when he committed to enter the Bay Area zoo over the winter.

A Pro Bowl cornerback, Hall forced a trade from Atlanta and checked into the black Raider hole for seven years.

Naturally, Hall spoke glowingly of Davis’ business and football mind after he signed, but you would too if you’d just been handed $24 million-plus guaranteed.

Especially now, over-compensation has to be the only way anyone would sign up to play with this franchise while Davis continues to careen it into the turf.

I heard some NFL expert, a former Raider executive in fact, on the radio Wednesday call Oakland the “Hotel California” of the NFL. Fitting? Well, you know the lyric:

“We are all just prisoners here of our own device.”

Right or wrong, here’s how I imagine Curry and Hall - down in a basement, dank and wet, desperately rattling their chains.

Steelers Sign Russell to Active Roster

The Steelers filled two open roster spots today by signing veteran running backs Najeh Davenport and Gary Russell to one-year contracts. Financial terms of the deals were not released.

Russell, a second-year player who originally made the Steelers roster in 2007 as an undrafted rookie free agent, was with the team for the first two games of the 2008 season before being released Sept. 20. He was added to the Steelers practice squad on Sept. 21 before being promoted today to the active roster.

Russell gained 21 yards on seven carries for the Steelers during his rookie season, but was not active on game day for the team’s first two games in 2008.

Torn Pec Ends Jenkins Season

Cullen Jenkins’ ramped-up offseason workouts were supposed to accomplish two things – improve his performance and keep him off the injury report. Read more

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