Experts Archive - sgreenberg.tsn (%2)

• Sporting News Conversation: Dwight Freeney
  posted on January 21, 2010 - 09:01:37 am
  
  
  

  The leader of the Colts unheralded defense at his home in Carmel, Ind.
  As you formed your own opinions on coach Jim Caldwell's decision to pull his superstars -- Peyt
  
  
  
• School's out: Seven coaches who tried and failed
  posted on January 12, 2010 - 07:54:12 am
  
  
  Steve Greenberg

  Used to be that college football was considered an excellent training ground for NFL head coaches. After seven straight campus-to-pro washouts, not anymore:

  
  
  
• SN Conversation: Bill Self hopes to be a pillar of his profession someday
  posted on January 07, 2010 - 08:35:11 am
  
  
  Steve Greenberg
  

  Jayhawks big man Cole Aldrich says coach Bill Self helped build his confidence when he was a raw freshman.
  Bill Self got the first coaching job of his life working for Larry Brown at Kansas.
  
  
  
• Sporting News Conversation: Jim Brown interviews Adrian Peterson
  posted on August 03, 2009 - 09:20:05 am
  
  
  

  Jim Brown (left) interviews Vikings RB Adrian Peterson.

  Recently, Sporting News' Steve Greenberg sat down with NFL legendary running back Jim Brown and one of the game's current best backs, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson for a Sporting News Conversation with a twist. Instead of us asking the questions, Brown peppered Peterson with a series of questions in Brown's Los Angeles home. Here's a look at some of the dialogue between the two as well as some outtakes. The conversation originally published in the August 3 issue of Sporting News magazine. 

  This is the first of three parts. Click here to read Part II. Click here to read Part III.

  BROWN: Welcome to my home, Adrian. This is very special to me because I have great admiration for you and your ability, and if it were not that way I wouldn't do this interview. Why would you agree to do this?

  Related Links

  • Sporting News: Vikings team page
  • Camp report: Vikings' burning questions
  • Injured Tarvaris Jackson misses practice
  • The Trenches: SN's NFL blog

  PETERSON: My main reason, it kind of speaks for itself when I think about it. When they came to me, "You're out in L.A., Mr. Jim Brown wants to do an interview with you," immediately I said yes. Coming from the best football player to play the game, it's an honor for me to come here and sit down and chat with you. 

  BROWN: It's interesting. I didn't ask you the question to have you praise me, but some people are afraid of me because I am controversial, in some sense. So, for you to feel that way is really respectful of me, and I appreciate that.
  PETERSON: Yes, sir.

  BROWN: You've had fantastic statistics so far. How do you feel about your performance over the last two years, and how do you rate your performance? Are you satisfied? Are you disappointed in certain areas?
  PETERSON: My first year, it was a pretty good year for me. I wasn't excited about how we ended it—we didn't make the playoffs or anything—and that's how it is with me, it's all about team accomplishments first. But as far as how I did my rookie year, I felt I did pretty good, but deep inside I knew I could have done a lot more to help the team out. There was a lot more I could have done personally as far as just crossing the T's and dotting all the I's; a lot of missed opportunities. So, coming into my second year, I was focusing on trying to improve on those things. And we did all right. The season's never a success if you're not playing in that big game—the Super Bowl—but I felt like the second year I got a good feel, a better rhythm, a better understanding of the game, just the football part of it. I was just going out there and running the ball. I was able to feel more comfortable, wasn't thinking as much.

  BROWN: These questions are important to me, and I know you'll be really honest. Do your coaches understand your ability the way you would like them to? Do they give you the plays that you would like? And do you find sometimes that you struggle because you know some plays are better than others? Are you satisfied with what your coaches contribute to your ability?
  PETERSON: I would say our running backs coach, Eric Bieniemy, who played in the NFL for a little bit, pretty much understands me. They understand my ability, but I don't know to what extent. E.B., just talking with him and how he approaches me, he understands the potential that I have but that I still have to grow and get better. We talk about some of the plays, not really in the running game but more spreading me out and finding other ways to put the ball in my hands. I pressure him to get some plays and spread me out, get me out on reverses and stuff like that. But I feel like they do a pretty good job of addressing that.

  BROWN: That smile on your face is telling me something that only running backs know. Coaches are not always on top of it when you are special. See, you have a special makeup, your physical makeup, your mental makeup. There is a conception that you teach running backs how to run, OK? So do they try to teach you how to run?

  

  Much like Jim Brown, Adrian Peterson is adept at running both over and around defenders.

  
  PETERSON: Yeah. They say, "This is what you want to do, a step here and then a step here," and inside I'll be like, What? It's like, OK, I'll try to do it that way, but …

  BROWN: You know why I'm asking you these questions, don't you? The territory that we're in now, only running backs understand these questions. People think that coaches are always right, but it's difficult to teach a runner how to run, because every runner is different. You have to have an understanding of how to assist what that runner has, so they know how to assist what you have without taking away your special ability, because you're not like anybody else. Sometimes it's kind of hard for a coach to make those adjustments. Is that why you have that smile?
  PETERSON: Yeah. Yes, sir. You hear all that stuff about going out of bounds, or if two guys are roughing you up and your forward progress is stopped, you might as well go ahead and fall down. But that's not really my mindset.

  BROWN: Exactly. Your ability to make moves on the move, to accelerate, to break tackles, is what makes you special. Coaches are used to teaching what the norm is, so they teach what normal people do. But Adrian Peterson, in my mind, is a special talent, so consequently I would hope that they would be able to listen to you about your ability rather than you listening to them about your ability, because it's very difficult to teach a great runner how to make steps, what steps you take, and what you do at impact. They have to recognize that you have a natural ability to do things that can't be explained. So we agree on that?
  PETERSON: Yes, sir.

  BROWN: Do you ever have conversations with your linemen?
  PETERSON: From time to time. I'm really not vocal and expressive, but I'm starting to get more comfortable to open up. I guess it's just building a relationship with the guys. Right now I'm right next to a couple of offensive linemen (in the locker room) so I have more opportunity to talk to the guys. I'm becoming more vocal.

  BROWN: I get the feeling you're being respectful because you're young.
  PETERSON: Yes, sir.

  BROWN: But you know some things that you want to get out?
  PETERSON: Yes, sir.

  BROWN: My biggest problem was to get the coaches to understand that I was a runner and I wanted to prepare myself based upon the calisthenics I did and get myself ready. For example, I used my forearm when I ran the ball, so I didn't want to do pushups because I wanted my forearms to heal. I wanted to do the stretching and sprints to get certain things ready, but the coaches had a certain routine and they had the linemen doing the same routine! I thought, "My God, I need a special set of things to lend themselves to getting me ready for Sunday." Do you find that to be true?
  PETERSON: I do. I find that to be true.

  BROWN: The media deal with statistics and valide you by statistics. Have you ever had a 10-yard run that was better than a 60-yard run?
  PETERSON: I have, absolutely.

  BROWN: So you have a different set of values than those who ask you questions normally? Because they think the length of the run is the greatness of it.
  PETERSON: Yes, sir, they do. I can remember one play in college. We might have been on the 8-yard line; it was a run of the middle, right in the A gap, a combination of getting into the end zone, shoulders low, just driving, breaking tackles. When I watched the play again, I was like, "Man, I was determined to get into the end zone." You could see it on that play. That's what it's about for me.

  BROWN: Do you know anything about the history of football?
  PETERSON: The history of football? I sit back and I watch NFL Network. They show old-school football. I watch you.

  BROWN: That's real old-school football (laughs). Let me ask you something: You ever heard about Ollie Matson?
  PETERSON: No, sir.

  BROWN: OK. The reason I ask you is the Rams traded nine men to get him (from the Chicago Cardinals, in 1959) and he was an Olympic sprinter and one of the all-time greats, but very few people would probably know him. So what I've done, I've studied pretty much everybody in history that I can think of. Are you familiar with some of the great old-school runners?
  PETERSON: From the old school? You, hands down. Gale Sayers.

  BROWN: You know about Gale. Then tell me, is he, in your opinion, one of the greatest runners who ever lived?
  PETERSON: Based off what I've seen? I'd say yeah. Yes, sir.

  BROWN: You probably like his style.
  PETERSON: He wasn't, like, physical, but yeah. He had that speed—a hundred percent. He used to just glide through there.

  BROWN: So you go from Gale to Earl Campbell. They're different, right?
  PETERSON: Earl, I think he was a different style. His speed was good. He didn't have the outstanding speed, but he had speed where it was tough to catch him. But he was like a bull. Big thighs. A downhill runner.

  BROWN: Is speed your greatest asset?
  PETERSON: No, sir.

  BROWN: You don't think so?
  PETERSON: No, sir.

  BROWN: That speed is a big deal, let's be honest. I call it the fourth gear. You know you have it. If you study backs, you study history, you know there are not a lot of backs who have that fourth gear. Great backs, where you can accelerate by that last man and get the six, what value do you put on having that?
  PETERSON: I value that a lot. I won't say it's my best attribute, but I think if you've got that fourth gear, where your teammates are chucking their hands up when you get to the second level, it sets you apart.

  BROWN: That's why I wanted the Browns to draft you, because it's invaluable. Sometimes when you get caught on the 1-yard line, you never score the TD. There's no guarantee when you get caught on the 1-yard line that you're gonna get the six. But when you close out, that's six on the board. That's one of the things that sets you apart from a lot of backs in history. OK. Barry Sanders is a good friend of mine. He had unbelievable moves, but his fourth gear was suspect. Do you think he had a fourth gear?
  PETERSON: No, not really. I watched him and didn't see he could just drop it down and close it out. He had good speed, but he wasn't really that home-run hitter.

  BROWN: Do you think there have been a lot of them in history with that fourth gear?
  PETERSON: No, not that many.

  BROWN: What do you consider your greatest game?
  PETERSON: My greatest game? I would say probably against Green Bay, a home game last year. It was a must-win game for us as far as the standings in the division and trying to get to the playoffs. I contributed that day. I was able to overcome adversity through that game. The main thing I remember about that game, fourth down, fourth quarter, maybe four minutes to go, me going to the sidelines and telling coach, "Go for it, go for it!"

  BROWN: You were telling Coach that?
  PETERSON: Yes, sir. We had the punt team out there. We called a timeout, and we called … I think it was a Fox 3 run. I remember hitting it; it closed up and I bounced it outside, it was like fourth-and-2, fourth-and-1. I think about it, and it makes me sick to my stomach. There was one guy I had to beat, and it was a home run, a touchdown. I got past the first-down mark, trying to break the last tackle, and I kind of got careless with the ball; he punched the ball out and they recovered the ball. The defense did a great job of getting us the ball back. Just coming out and touching the ball every play that whole (ensuing) drive, just having the ball in my hands, not only running the ball but receiving it—and scoring the game-winning touchdown—that was something I'll always remember. I was in the zone.

  BROWN: Let me ask you this. Do you remember your mistakes more than your success or your success more than your mistakes?
  PETERSON: My mistakes more than my success.

  BROWN: That's the way I am. I know that I remember them so vividly, because it's like, "Damn! If I'd just shifted the ball. My God!" People think you're always thinking about what you did good, but you're in that elite group that goes for perfection. So you remember those mistakes; they live with you because you know you could have made a better choice.
  PETERSON: I definitely agree with all that.

  BROWN: Which leads me to the fact that everybody wants to talk to you about injuries. How do you think about injuries? Are you trying to modify something because it might keep you from being injured?
  PETERSON: No, sir. I have the mentality that if you come in playing not to get hurt, that's when you're going to get hurt. So I play relentless.

  This story first appeared in the August 3 edition of Sporting News magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today, or pick up a copy, available at most Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets.

  
  
  
• SN Conversation with Ron Artest: 'I used to drink Hennessy at halftime'
  posted on December 01, 2009 - 10:42:56 pm
  
  
  
  
• Sporting News Conversation: Chad Ochocinco
  posted on December 01, 2009 - 07:39:49 am
  
  
  Steve Greenberg
  
  
  
• Sporting News Conversation: Ohio State's Jim Tressel opens up
  posted on November 18, 2009 - 10:36:39 am
  
  

  This story first appeared in the September 14, 2009, edition of Sporting News magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today.

  The hardest part of the job for Jim Tressel isn't bouncing back from the three consecutive BCS game losses that have knocked Ohio State down a peg in the minds of many college football observers. Nor is it trying to help sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor meet the expectations of all-fired greatness held by an army of breathless Buckeyes fans.

  No, the hardest part for Tressel is finding the time to nurture his relationships with hundreds of players from his nine years in Columbus and the previous 15 as head coach at Youngstown State. "They're like my kids," he says. And then there are the recruits for whom he also always wants to be available.

  Tressel has more than 1,800 phone numbers programmed into his BlackBerry. But when his phone rings during an interview in his office with Sporting News' Steve Greenberg, he recognizes neither the number nor the area code, and this makes him fidget. Twice in the next five minutes, the caller dials back. "Let me just make sure, OK?" he says, politely.

  "Hello?" he answers. "Oh, sorry, Mike. This isn't Larry." Wrong number.

  If only Mike from the 6-3-1 knew.

  SN: The Fiesta Bowl loss to Texas last season was a great game, a thrilling game. Are you more accepting of that result than you were of the BCS championship game losses to LSU (2007) and Florida (2006)?
  Tressel: The most disappointing was the Florida game. Not that Florida wasn't deserving -- Florida was the national champion and deserved to be -– but that was probably the most disappointing and the furthest from our reaching our potential.

  

  Jim Tressel calls Terrelle Pryor the most athletically-talented QB he's ever coached.

  The LSU game, I really thought going into it that we were going to have to be really outstanding because I thought LSU really made themselves a heck of a football team by the end of that year. You could just see the leadership and maturity of that team. I really felt like we were going to have to be truly at the top of our game, not to mention playing in New Orleans, which was a little bit different. And I thought we prepared extremely well, came out ready to go, got up on them 10-0 ... then allowed a very mature, very tenacious and very good team to -- boom, boom, boom -- get the momentum, and we just weren't able to take it back.

  Then you go to the Texas game. I thought our guys prepared extremely hard and focused in and were ready to go. We played a real good first half. I thought we could've been up more than 6-3 (at halftime), but we weren't, and then all of a sudden we didn't have a good third quarter. I thought we bounced back well in the fourth quarter, but we gave Colt McCoy the ball with too much time left. ... On that last touchdown drive of ours, we were talking on the headphones about, 'We'll keep grinding this out, and a field goal won't kill us because it'll put us ahead and won't leave them much time and they'll have to burn their timeouts. We'll just run a couple base plays.' And, wouldn't you know it, we broke a (15-yard touchdown run with 2:05 left). That's part of the Colt McCoy story now.

  SN: Do you get the sense the season-ending losses have begun to overshadow Ohio State's Big Ten championships?
  Tressel: Everything about your body of work, if you will, is evaluated. It is a fact we've lost the last three BCS games. Does that overshadow something else? I don't know. I suppose it depends upon whose viewpoint it is. I don't feel as if my guys that walked out of here last year as seniors left without a great amount of pride in what they'd accomplished and a great amount of good feeling about the process. Being part of that game against Texas -- a hard-fought, good game -- they're a good team, we're a good team, the atmosphere was electric ... that was the fun of it.

  SN: Would you have dared to dream as big as 7-1 vs. Michigan?
  Tressel: Coaches think from day to day, from phone call to phone call. Sometimes it's seeming like a good day, and all of a sudden you get a phone call that something went awry. And so you don't ever look too far out; it's just not the nature of what we do. ... It is not a boring life we live, and I think that's why coaches love it, crave it, have a hard time leaving it, because every day's different. You don't ever hear a coach saying, 'Same old, same old,' because once they say that the phone's going to ring or someone's going to turn an ankle.

  SN: Why do you think things took such a downward turn for Michigan? And would you like to see that program rise back up?
  Tressel: The Ohio State-Michigan game is a special, special game. I don't know if Ohio State would be Ohio State or Michigan would be Michigan if it weren't for that game. ...

  

  Jim Tressel says Ohio State wouldn't be Ohio State if it weren't for Michigan.

  Transition is very difficult. Coach (Lloyd) Carr had an extraordinary record at Michigan; the transition from his staff and the way they did things to coach (Rich) Rodriguez and his group, it's hard. Kids only know what they know; they haven't had that many experiences. But you look at Rich's track record: a) wherever he's been, he's always won; and b) it didn't always happen the first year. I know in our case, our first year we were 7-5. That's not exactly what you shoot for. ...

  You know how coaches always tell you during the season that the greatest improvement should be from Game 1 to Game 2? It's maybe even magnified more from Season 1 to Season 2. So I would expect the growth Michigan makes as a team, as a program, in Year 2 to be a quantum leap. They'll be fine.

  SN: Do you like Michigan fans?
  Tressel: So many of the Michigan fans I meet just love the rivalry, and so I have to like that about them because it kind of reaffirms what I believe. Aren't we lucky to be a part of this game? Not that many people can say they're part of the game. Yeah, I've never really had any negative interaction with any fans from Michigan. They scream and yell when you're in their stadium, but our fans are no box of chocolates.

  SN: Would Ohio State fans be able to cope with a losing season?
  Tressel: I hope we don't ever test that out. Obviously, they wouldn't enjoy that and it would disappoint them, and all their buddies who they teased when they beat them would now be teasing them. But when it was time to tee it up again, Ohio State fans would be ready to go because Ohio State is bigger than that, bigger than one season.

  SN: Are you the conservative offensive coach you're cracked up to be?
  Tressel: I think that would be fair. And here's where you define conservatism: What's most important to us offensively is we do what the team needs, and what the team needs first is for us not to put the defense in bad position. So if that's the conservative outlook -- our No. 1 role as an offense is to not put our defense in poor position‹then we are.

  SN: Is Terrelle Pryor the most talented player you've coached?
  Tressel: Athletically, at quarterback, certainly. And I've had some really good quarterbacks, but I haven't had any that are 6-6 and run 4.3. And I haven't had any that had any more passion to be good than him.

  SN: Can you imagine Pryor being able to do someday what Texas' Vince Young did against USC in the 2005 national title game? When it mattered most, Young was head and shoulders above all those other NFL-bound players.
  Tressel: I saw him do it on our field that year (in a 25-22 win for the Longhorns). I knew at the end of that game, we were up by six . ... and I was thinking, 'Man, they haven't moved the ball much all game.' He delivered. I knew after that game, I said, 'That guy's going to have a good chance, if he stays healthy, of taking his team pretty far.' And they did that. Can I visualize Terrelle doing similar things? It'd be nice.

  SN: You played quarterback for your father, Lee Tressel, at Division III Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Were you good?
  Tressel: No. I was very average. We had very good quarterbacks for a number of years. We ran the run-and-shoot. My dad was one of the first college coaches to run the run-and-shoot. ... I was a guy who shared time, played probably a little less than half the time as a junior and played full-time as a senior. I was all-conference, but part of me thinks it was because my dad was the coach and we had a good record. But I enjoyed playing for him. I wouldn't change it for the world.

  SN: We know you love your job, but if you took a crack at the NFL right now, would you do well and would you like it?

  Related Links

  • Ohio State-Michigan preview
  • Ohio State-Michigan projection
  • More trouble for Rich Rod

  
  Tressel: I think I could do well, but there would be quite a learning curve. It's a different age group, but they're still humans; they still want to be cared about. But if I were one of the 32 teams, I wouldn't be my first choice. I think there would be a lot of other people who could take more to the table. If I had a great owner, a great general manager and great players, I could win. But I think there would be a lot better people for those jobs than I would be. I have no experience in that world. Believe it or not, I didn't play in the NFL. I know it's hard to believe.

  Steve Greenberg is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at sgreenberg@sportingnews.com.

  
  
  
• Sporting News Conversation: Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis
  posted on October 28, 2009 - 09:01:01 am
  
  

  The following are excerpts and outtakes from an interview that first appeared in the Oct. 26 edition of Sporting News magazine, which you can pick up at Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today.

  It's been an up-and-down season already for 10-time Pro Bowler Ray Lewis, the definitive middle linebacker of his generation. Up came in September by way of a 3-0 record for the Ravens, with Lewis providing a momentous highlight in Week 2: a fourth-down mauling of San Diego running back Darren Sproles on the favored Chargers' final possession. Down came in October with a controversial defeat at New England (what's the penalty for breathing on Tom Brady?) and similarly frustrating losses to the Bengals and Vikings.

  In Week 5, Cincinnati's Cedric Benson became the first player to rush for 100 yards vs. Baltimore in 40 games, ending a streak of which Lewis was immensely proud. (The Lewis-led Ravens also held runners without a 100-yard day for 50 straight games from 1998-2001.) The following week, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson made it two 100-yard rushers in a row.

  But Lewis' confidence remains in full bloom, as was evident throughout a lengthy interview with Steve Greenberg.

  SN: Are you still at the top of your game?
  Lewis: Easily. That's the beauty of it. Being at the top of your game means really feeling your influence over others, your influence over how you play the game, how your coaches grade you, how other players respect you. Not this or that outside source, but inside the game. ... That's what happens when you play amongst men who need you to be more than who you are. Your game changes. Even Rod Woodson will tell you his best year he had as a professional was when he was 36 years old. If you think about why, you're much wiser. The game slows down. You don't have to waste energy anymore -- it's now conserved because you're always in the right place.

  

  "I want to be the greatest player ever"

  SN: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre -- everyone starts with them when talking about the best players of this era. Where should you fit into the discussion?
  Lewis: That's the thing -- everybody just names quarterbacks. It's so easy to do that. "Ooh, he threw for 4,000 yards and so many touchdowns." That's the glamour of the game. I've always had one goal when I came into this business. I don't believe in the course of a game that a man can touch the ball 25, 30 times and get 100 yards on me. I'm the quarterback of the defense -- that's my record. I'm talking about 50 straight games and another streak of (39) games.

  SN: Do you think anyone has played your position as well as you?
  Lewis: Well, you know, I'll tell you this, from day one -- from college to this day -- I've been chasing something. And not in a disrespectful way. I've never slowed down anyone else's path. I try to help guys like (the 49ers') Patrick Willis, (the Seahawks') Lofa Tatupu, (the Browns') D'Qwell Jackson. I mentor them. And I don't like to judge myself against anybody. But, at the end of the day, I want to be the greatest player ever to strap it on. Not just because I was able to make plays, but to do that and to influence men, the souls of men, the spirits of men, the willingness of men.

  SN: Who is your successor as the game's next great middle linebacker?
  Lewis: I like Willis. But I use this example a lot: You don't ask Chuck Norris if he can beat Bruce Lee. Do you got great skills? Yes. Are you both deadly? Yes. But there's only once Bruce. I tell Patrick, "There's only one lion right now." I love watching the Serengeti, the way lions live. The only way the king lion loses his crown is by somebody physically defeating him. That, for me, is the easiest thing about my game and football -- they have to beat me as a man, and I just don't think anybody's working that hard.

  SN: When was the last time you felt as good on the field -- as thrilled -- as you did on that game-saving hit on the Chargers' Darren Sproles in Week 2?
  Lewis: Aw, man. Incredible. You can take a million linebackers across this country -- fast, strong, whatever -- and they don't make that play because it all comes with the mastery, with years of studying, never getting comfortable, six, seven hours a day loading up the film. When that play (ended) I looked at my teammates and ran to them. It's like laying your greatest masterpiece on something that was already so great -- like Bruce Lee and The Last Dragon. Oh, my gosh! That play took everybody who saw it on a quick rewind. Fourteen years! And he sticks him! I'm not going anywhere until the good Lord has me stop ticking. Then I'll walk away from the game willingly.

  SN: It's been over three months since your friend Steve McNair was killed. How much is he on your mind?
  Lewis: I don't forget him. I talk to his mom every Sunday, tell her, "You lost one son, but you've got another one here. We've all got to close our eyes someday. The Lord knew this day was coming and knew we were going to have these conversations." We talk. She tells me she loves me. She says, "Go do what you do." He never leaves my mind and my heart.

  Related Links

  • SN's Top 100 NFL players: Where does Lewis rank?
  • More Ray Lewis on his player page
  • Catch up on all the Ravens news

  SN: Will a man of your powerful voice and leadership ability work for change in the community? Is that something you want to do with your life?
  Lewis: That's what I'm doing. I train the Baltimore police officers every Tuesday night. It's a huge camp about physical fitness. Mind, body and spirit. I work their behinds, and they look at me like, "What the heck?" I go where the gangs are to talk about their influence. I want to talk to people who write music: Stop writing about material things; write about love, hope, dedication, sacrifice. You've been given a table --what are you doing with it? If people are listening, are they striving to be better person? It's the same thing when you're a public speaker. That's why I like going into the 'hood. I work out with these homeless men on Wednesdays. When they start getting tired, I'm like, "Look, success, or whatever you're looking for, ain't on the outside -- it's inside! I do so much people never know about, but I love it that way because it affects people differently.

  SN: Where do you think your school, Miami, is headed under Randy Shannon?
  Lewis: In the right direction. That guy was my first linebackers coach, and he was a hell of a leader then. And me briefly watching what he's doing now, I am very impressed. He has lot of young talent. And he knows what to do with it.

  SN: It's doubtful the Colts regret drafting Marvin Harrison at No. 19 in 1996, but how many of those other teams regret letting you fall to No. 26?
  Lewis: I remember that year, man. I watched all the big names go by. I can almost go through the whole first round. I said, "I will remember these things." Keyshawn Johnson one, Kevin Hardy two, Simeon Rice three, Cedric Jones five. (The Ravens selected offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden with the fourth pick.) At No. 20, I'm thinking the Dolphins are going to take me, then they take Daryl Gardener. I'm like, "Man, they don't know what's inside me!" I wasn't the biggest, the strongest or the fastest, but not one man was going to outwork me. So look at it now.

  SN: How do you hope to be remembered?
  Lewis: As one of the greatest servers ever, as a man who honored life, who honored his job and did nothing else but want to find a different way to help somebody. If I get this done before I leave this earth, I pray I hear those five words: "Well done, my humble servant."

  Steve Greenberg is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at sgreenberg@sportingnews.com.

  
  
  
• Nebraska weathers Mizzou to become Big 12 North favorite
  posted on October 08, 2009 - 11:27:59 pm
  
  

  COLUMBIA, Mo. — It was dreary. It was messy. Really, it was kind of gross.

  Oh, and the weather was awful, too.

  For three quarters on a stormy Thursday in the heartland, Nebraska set the game of football back what felt like three centuries. Quarterback Zac Lee threw the ball like an option-era quarterback. The rushing attack was reduced to one-yard-and-a-splash-of-hopelessness. The defense repeatedly dropped would-be interceptions. There were penalties galore. Incredibly, the special teams unit muffed three punts and gave Missouri two points after a bobbled snap in the end zone.

  The weather had something to do with the Huskers' unsightly display. So did the reality that they still aren't anywhere close to the quality of the Nebraska teams that rang in the 2000s.

  And yet, despite trailing 12-0 through three quarters to the two-time defending Big 12 North champions, the Huskers won anyway. Despite having dropped seven straight road games vs. ranked teams — and 14 of their last 15 such contests — the Big Red got a big ol' leg up in the climb to the conference title game.

  True, the North champ seems likely to be destroyed again by whichever team wins the South. But it's October. Who cares?

  "We said before we walked out there on the field (for) the second half, 'We will not walk out of here without a win,' " said second-year coach Bo Pelini, who has pledged to restore the program to glory. As if anything less would be acceptable.

  "We made some plays in the fourth quarter," Pelini added. "I just think our football team showed a lot of character tonight."

  It did — for 15 minutes. But that was enough, much as it was for Missouri on a rainy night at Faurot Field in 2003. The Tigers outscored Nebraska 27-0 in the fourth quarter that night, sticking the Huskers' faces in a puddle from which they still haven't fully escaped.

  Six years later, it was Nebraska outscoring the Tigers 27-0 in the final period and getting its first win in Columbia since 2001. As the decade nears its conclusion, could it be the start of something big for the Huskers?

  "I don't get into all of that," Pelini said. "This game is just part of the process, part of where we are."

  Where they are is not as interesting a subject as where Nebraska football might be headed. For now, the Huskers have middle-of-the-road talent at most spots on the field. The strength of the team — its defensive line, led by future NFL first-rounder Ndamukong Suh — is formidable enough to give the Huskers a reasonable shot to sweep the North.

  Suh, a senior defensive tackle, was his team's biggest impact player against the Tigers. In the first quarter, he forced a fumble on a sack of Blaine Gabbert and, more important, caused Mizzou's hotshot sophomore quarterback to spend the rest of the night limping. In the fourth quarter, Suh dropped into coverage and picked off Gabbert, leading to Nebraska's go-ahead touchdown.

  "A great player," said Tigers coach Gary Pinkel.

  According to Suh, the Huskers want to "dominate" their North division opponents. "It's a great start to Big 12 play," he said.

  It's the start of something, but what? For now, the North is what it is. The picture in Columbia on a cold, gloomy night was worth a thousand words about the state of a strong conference's weak-sister division.

  But at least this much can be said about Nebraska football: It isn't all wet anymore.

  Steve Greenberg is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at sgreenberg@sportingnews.com.

  
  
  
• Lincecum on Cain: 'I just love watching him pitch'
  posted on September 30, 2009 - 10:31:27 am
  
  

  Tim Lincecum was running late. Like a blur, the 25-year-old right-hander exited the team shuttle bus and entered the clubhouse; was out of his black jeans, gray-and-white flannel shirt and black wool hat, and into the Giants uniform he has worn since bursting upon the scene as an ace-to-be in 2007. The National League's reigning Cy Young winner made haste for the visitors' dugout at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, where he found his 24-year-old partner in dominance, Matt Cain, ready and waiting.

  A short, skinny native of the Seattle area, Lincecum spent much of the next half-hour moving back and forth between the top step and bottom step, sometimes sitting on his rear, sometimes squatting like a catcher, repeatedly getting up to spit. Meanwhile Cain, a tall, strapping righty from small-town Alabama who, like Lincecum, has been in the thick of the Cy Young race all season, stayed hunkered in one spot, a picture of relaxation.

  Cain and Lincecum—the keys to a promising present and future for the Giants—come across as very different guys. But looks can be deceiving, as the pair demonstrated during a late-season interview with Sporting News' Steve Greenberg.

  

  Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain give the Giants pehaps the best 1-2 punch in baseball.
  Sporting News: The Franchise and The Freak. Big Daddy and Big Sugar. Does anybody actually call you these things?

  Lincecum: I hear them all the time. I get them from fans every place we go. (Former Giants reliever) Steve Kline tagged me with The Franchise or French Fries, whatever you want to call it. It's just funny names. You just roll with it.

  Cain: I've had the Big Daddy one ever since my high school coach gave it to me. The Big Sugar one, I'm not too fond of; it makes me feel like I'm just eating too much candy. I don't know if I approve of that one.

  SN: Do you have nicknames for each other or do you go by the painfully unoriginal Tim and Matt?

  Lincecum: Just Cainer. I call him Cainer.

  Cain: Timmy. And a couple of names that we can't talk about.

  SN: On a friendship level, what about the other guy's personality appeals to you most?

  Lincecum: I think it's both our competitiveness. That's why we mesh well. It's taken, like, a couple years for us to get closer, though. Our first year was a little different, but the last couple years we've become pretty good friends and we've gotten closer and just gotten to know each other. We play catch together all the time. Before, it was almost like a competition between us, like we didn't even know each other, like we were on different teams. But now it's just fun stuff, giving each other a hard time just like two good guys will do.

  SN: So bad competitiveness became good competitiveness?

  Lincecum: Exactly. I just remember during spring training (in 2008) we played catch for the first time. It was like fireball, firecatch … what's it called?

  Cain: Burnout.

  Lincecum: Burnout! A competition of who's got the better arm—in your own mind—I guess you could say.

  Cain: I think it was boys being boys.

  Lincecum: Exactly.

  SN: Matt was drafted in the first round in 2002. Tim was first drafted in the 48th round in 2003. After high school, what were your personal expectations about having big-league careers?

  Cain: I think mine might have been different than his coming out of high school. I got drafted in the first round, so they kind of put that "He's going to try to be the guy" tag on me. I thought, "All right, I'm going to have to get better and better as fast as possible to get to the big leagues real quick." Whereas Timmy came out his junior or senior year in college. Lincecum was drafted 10th overall by the Giants out of Washington in 2006—his third time going through the draft.)

  

  Tim Lincecum put in time at the University of Washington before becoming a first-round pick.
  Lincecum: He just had more of a plan. College prepares us in a different fashion than his preparation was in the minors. You take what you can from that. Cain, you can just look at this guy—ever since the first day I met him, he was that old young guy, just beyond his years. He was a grown man before most other guys.

  SN: What roles have your physical sizes played in your athletic lives?

  Lincecum: I've always dealt with the lack-of-size issue. Going into college, I was, like, 135 pounds. That's pretty small for anybody. I met girls freshman year that were bigger than me.

  Cain: (laughing) That's awesome.

  Lincecum: They had me on the quick track to get up to 150. That was a big jump for me. But I just matured as a person and as an athlete. As you get older, your body wears the way you throw and the innings you put on it and the throws you put on it just a little bit differently. So you've got to take care of your body harder as your life gets going, and that's stuff that I wasn't ready to do—didn't know how to deal with yet—until I got to college. You really do feel the after-effects of throwing in a serious kind of game like that. Taking those steps was essential.

  Cain: I was always more of a bigger kid. I probably got away with a lot of things when I was throwing or hitting or whatever, where today I have to be more mechanical and put everything into it.

  Lincecum: Everybody's got to worry about mechanics. Everybody's worrying about the same stuff.

  Cain: My body was in a different situation than Timmy's, but my mental part maybe wasn't there. Timmy's mental part was in the right spot, but his body wasn't there yet. Either way, one part has to catch up to the other part.

  SN: On your best days, is one of you a more dominant pitcher than the other?

  Lincecum: I just love watching him pitch. Cain's that guy who doesn't give up any hits. You're looking at the board, you're like, "They've only got two hits?" He just sneaky-dominates you. It's awesome to watch.

  Cain: For me it's the same way. Suddenly it's the sixth inning and Timmy has punched out eight guys already. He does it sneaky, too. I think we do different things different. He's definitely going to be a guy who strikes out guys no matter what, where I probably won't strike out as many guys. I think I could, but I don't think it's effective for me. I can't effectively strike out that many guys.

  Lincecum: Some guys are made to pitch that way and some people have to pitch a different way. Just because a guy throws 95 and another guy throws 95, it doesn't mean they're the same 95.

  SN: If you could take from both of you to build some kind of four-pitch robo-ace, which pitches of each of yours would you want to have?

  Lincecum: I would take his knuckleball.

  Cain:(laughing) It's not very good. We're taking his changeup no matter what. We know what it does.

  Lincecum: Cain's fastball has got so much life late in the zone—it's powering, it's surging, to the glove.

  Cain: That's the way yours looks. I think our fastballs are similar. I think we could take my curveball; it may be a little bigger. We'd take your slider.

  Lincecum: Your slider, though, it moves, it's 89 (mph) and it's just filthy.

  Cain:You throw yours 86 and it moves more. … It's so hard to say, because sometimes I really wish I had all his pitches.

  SN: A lack of run support has been an issue on this team. Matt has had tougher luck in that regard than perhaps anyone in baseball the past few years. How have you dealt with that?

  Lincecum: Just watching him the last couple years, the way he battles through the run support issues that he's had to deal with … he deals with it better than anybody. You can get so frustrated, take it badly, get pissed off, but he just takes the ball and doesn't worry about that. He's going to pitch his game. Whether he wins or he loses by one run, Cain just lets it go. I've learned from that.

  Cain: It's got to be one of those situations that makes you better. I would get in situations where we were winning 2-1 or whatever, and I'd think about it too much and give up a couple runs. Then I'd watch Timmy out there: He'd be winning 2-0, getting the same runs but focusing more in some situations; he'd keep it 2-0. That's what I've tried to get better at this year.

  Lincecum: I find it's good to somehow have that pressure on you. It's good to pitch in close games. It brings out a different side of you. If you're pitching in a 10-0 game, you're just cruising. But when you're in a 2-0 game and still have a shutout, you've got a different mentality locked in: "I can't let this slip away." Everything in this game is such a learning experience.

  SN: What have you learned from having Randy Johnson as a teammate? And is Jonathan Sanchez, who threw a no-hitter in July, as talented as you guys are?

  Cain: I think Sanchez is what R.J. has helped with most, actually, in the past couple months. We know Sanchez is obviously very talented, but he's got his games where he goes out and deals and his games where he struggles. It's about focus. It comes at different times for different guys, but we know he has the ability to focus because there's no way you don't stay focused the whole time when you throw a no hitter—there's no room to let down.

  Lincecum: Just sitting down and talking to R.J. when we were at spring training, he said, "You never become content; you keep getting better." He said, "Look at the four Cy Youngs I won in a row (1999-2002). It wasn't like they got worse—they got better through the last one."

  SN: Who are your favorite pitchers, now and ever?

  Lincecum: Sandy Koufax was definitely one of them. Nolan Ryan. Man, I just dig strikeouts. As for somebody now, (Roy) Halladay. Oh, my god, just the way he works—he's a friggin' workhorse. It's like painting a picture every time he goes out there; he works on the edges, breaks tons of bats, makes people look foolish. It's just fun to watch that. He's so consistent year after year.

  

  Matt Cain is among the league leaders in several pitching categories.
  Cain: I liked watching (Greg) Maddux and (John) Smoltz. Two different guys. Smoltz, when I was young, he was just a "here it comes" fastball, slider, split guy. Maddux moved the ball and did different things. Those guys working together, I'll bet they helped each other a ton. It's kind of like how I feel I can try to do different things with the ball now from watching Timmy. I love watching Halladay, but Josh Beckett—"here it comes, you're getting what I've got," he never quits that. Whether he goes five innings or nine, he's going to come at you the whole time.

  SN: Who's the toughest out in the National League?

  Cain: I'm going to say (Todd) Helton, especially this year. I've done good with him in the past, but it doesn't matter if he's done good or not, he's just going to be a tough guy to get out.

  Lincecum: You took the words out of my mouth. Seriously, you can work both sides of the plate and he's still going to fight you off, hit four foul balls over here and then take you deep. It's like, "What the heck? Why couldn't you have done that three pitches ago? Why'd you have to waste my pitches?"

  SN: You'll both be 25 at the end of this season. How important is it to both of you to be a 1-2 punch for a long time?

  Lincecum: It's definitely important. Matty is going to be a workhorse for this organization for as long as he can be. I hope to do the same thing.

  Cain: We both love being in the organization and hope that we can stay together and really be a Big Three with Zito or even a Big Four with Sanchez.

  SN: Two outs, two men on, we're down a run in Game 7 of the World Series. Who are we sending out to the plate, Cain or Lincecum?

  Cain: Depends on who's pitching. If it's a lefty, he's got no chance.

  Lincecum: I hate lefties.

  Cain: But I don't know if I've got a chance either if it's a lefty.

  Lincecum: Cain, more often than not.

  Cain: I might say him because he's probably going to make more contact than I will.

  Lincecum: Are you serious? I strike out more than you do.

  Cain:Well, I don't know, then. I do have four homers and he doesn't.

  This story first appeared in the Sept. 28 edition of Sporting News magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today, or pick up a copy, available at most Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets.

  
  
  
• 2009 NFL Preview: How to skip the parity party
  posted on September 07, 2009 - 06:04:31 am
  
  
  Steve Greenberg
  

  How to skip the parity party? Here's a look at the winning formula.

  The full version of this story first appeared in the August 31, 2009 edition of Sporting News magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today, or pick up a copy, available at most Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets.

  Here's one you surely can put with the most untouchable records in all of sports: the Dallas Cowboys' 20 consecutive winning seasons from 1966 to 1985.

  "I'm not sure that anyone can break the streak," Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach says, "because of free agency and coaches getting burned out a lot quicker." Right. And because the parity-obsessed NFL probably would enact a league wide 8-8 rule before it let anything like that happen again.
   
  This time of year, the word parity seems to be spoken at NFL training camps as routinely as run, pass and tackle. On the surface, it's a nice word, signifying equal opportunity for all. ("If the 2008 Cardinals did it, why can't we?") But for bad teams, it can be a mirage. And for teams that have fallen back to the pack, it often sounds a whole lot like an excuse.
   
  In all likelihood, the notion of parity is better left ignored by NFL teams. It may be impossible to sustain success for 20 years, but winning consistently is hardly a matter of waiting for your time in the sun to come around.
   
  Where parity stops, you'll find strong quarterback play, coaching stability, decisive personnel moves, commitment to the pass rush and the ability to win on the road -- these are perhaps the biggest strengths the league's most reliable winners have in common. What counts as reliable nowadays? The Patriots, Colts, Steelers, Giants, Chargers and Cowboys are the only NFL teams that have gone at least the past four years without a losing record. (The Eagles and Titans are in the next cut, with three each.) Everybody else is holding up the walls at the parity party.
   
  "Only six teams total?" Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner says. "Wow. That comes as a shock."
   
  Should it? In the NBA, only seven teams have gone at least the past four seasons without a losing record. In major league baseball, the number is five. Perhaps the whole parity thing is a tad overstated. It seems there is a formula to winning year in and year out after all.
   

  1. Strong quarterback play

  How they rank heading into the season:
  1. Colts
  2. Patriots
  3. Steelers
  4. Chargers
  5. Giants
  6. Cowboys
  The six teams listed above, plus the Eagles and Titans, start quarterbacks who have been to the Pro Bowl. According to Warner, "A Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback is worth probably two or three games that you might not win otherwise. … So many of these games come down to one possession, one play, and I think that's what separates those guys."
   
  Two or three extra wins sounds like a lot -- and it is, with so many teams in the hunt every December for playoff berths. But Warner's opinion was supported by nearly everyone Sporting News talked to at training camps.
   
  Ravens G.M. Ozzie Newsome: "I would say three (extra wins). They have so much control over the game.
  … You can't put everything on a quarterback, but he should win three games -- and the great ones win those at the right times."
   
  Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey: "When you talk about extra wins, that quarterback's going to get you that extra two or three."
   
  Bears tackle Orlando Pace: "If you have a Pro Bowl quarterback, that's nine wins at least, maybe 10." Eagles defensive tackle Dan Klecko has the distinction of having played with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and now Donovan McNabb. "I think it's 10 to 12 wins if you have a Pro Bowl quarterback," he says. "That's the guy who sets up everything on your team. It all starts with them. They're just great players. It's easy playing with those guys."
   

  2. Coaching stability

  How they rank heading into the season:
  1. Patriots
  2. Steelers
  3. Colts
  4. Giants
  5. Chargers
  6. Cowboys
  Eighteen NFL teams have fired a total of 22 head coaches since the start of the 2005 season. None of those teams has won a Super Bowl in that time. Only one of them -- the Cardinals, who jettisoned Dennis Green following the '06 season -- has made it to the big game. That should be daunting news for the 11 franchises that have different coaches than they had a year ago.
   
  It can be brutally difficult to start over. "You draft players to fit into a specific scheme, and then they're brought along and they're learning one system over a period of two, three, sometimes four years before they're asked to contribute," Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert says. "Whereas if you draft a player thinking he's going to play in a certain scheme and you change that scheme, now that player may not be able to adapt and you're that much further behind."
   
  The Giants hung tough with Tom Coughlin despite poor starts to the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The Eagles did likewise in 2008 with Andy Reid, the second-longest-tenured coach in the NFL behind the Titans' Jeff Fisher.
   
  After Bill Cowher resigned following the 2006 season, the Steelers went outside the organization to hire Mike Tomlin but made an equally wise move in keeping assistant Dick LeBeau, the architect of their defense. To the surprise of many, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has stood by Wade Phillips, who had been widely considered an uninspiring replacement for Bill Parcells after Parcells retired.

  Related Links

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  • Iyer: 3 NFL coaches on the hot seat
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  The Chargers are an anomaly in that they're the only team in the elite six that has fired a coach within the past four years, but "we've been fortunate," quarterback Philip Rivers says, "because our system ( in going from Marty Schottenheimer to Norv Turner) stayed the same."
   
  In all, the NFL's top organizations have displayed that coaching stability is a matter of choice -- and often is the right choice.
   

  3. Decisive personnel moves

  How they rank heading into the season:
  1. Patriots
  2. Cowboys
  3. Giants
  4. Steelers
  5. Chargers
  6. Colts
  Who is John Bowie? Go on, think about it for a moment. Time's up: Bowie was drafted in the fourth round in 2007 by the Raiders -- who got the pick in a trade with the Patriots for wide receiver Randy Moss.
   
  New England's acquisition of Moss didn't quite have that Terrell Owens-to-Buffalo feel, did it? No, it smacked of great success from the moment it was announced, and it paid off in a 16-0 season and record-shattering offensive numbers. And it wasn't the first time (Junior Seau, Corey Dillon) or the last (Fred Taylor) the team would boldly add an aging star.
   
  Dallas, too, knows a thing or two about going for the offseason jugular. Cases in point: Owens and Pacman Jones, not to mention several significant rolls of the dice among the 54 draft-day trades owner Jerry Jones has made since buying the team in 1989. The Steelers and Colts, on the other hand, don't often play the high-stakes free-agent game. But few, if any, franchises are more willing to tie up big money in the building blocks they decide they can't win a championship without.
   
  An important factor in how all these teams operate is the decisiveness with which those moves are made. Decisive messages are always best received by players, such as when a team quickly signs its top draft pick -- or draws a line in the sand with a holdout then sticks to its guns no matter what.
   
  Meanwhile, a hopeless dirge sounds for any team whose players aren't sure where the front office's priorities lie. "It might mean there are different agendas," new Lions coach Jim Schwartz says.
   
  "I really didn't know what free agency was when I was in Cincinnati, because we never went out and made any moves to bring players in," 49ers linebacker Takeo Spikes says. "Guys were like, 'We're not making any moves. It's the same coaching staff.' It's kind of like, 'Here we go again.' "
   

  4. Commitment to the pass rush

  How they rank heading into the season:
  1. Giants
  2. Steelers
  3. Cowboys
  4. Chargers
  5. Colts
  6. Patriots

  Elite pass rushers are the most prized defensive players in the league -- the proof is in their paychecks. Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers will be the NFL's highest-paid player in 2009, at just over $1 million per game guaranteed. Pittsburgh's James

  Harrison reportedly is the highest-paid linebacker ever.
   
  In Dallas, DeMarcus Ware -- who led the league with 20 sacks last season -- could sign a deal even richer than Harrison 's before the '09 opener.
   
  The extreme pressure they create "makes for a hard day for the coordinator to call the game," Redskins coach Jim Zorn says, "because you want to trust that you'll get this protection, but you're not sure. You don't want to put the quarterback in position where he's cannon fodder all day and taking shots."
   
  Sacks translate to winning -- the Chargers, Cowboys and Steelers rank 1-2-3 in the statistic over the past four seasons. The Giants are tied for fifth and the Patriots are eighth. The Eagles' pass rush has long been famously blitz-oriented and disruptive. Among the league's reliable winners, only the Colts rank far down the list in sacks during that span (tied for 20th).
   
  "I just can't imagine how you can win a lot of games without putting pressure on the quarterback," Rams G.M. Billy Devaney says. "If you have four Pro Bowlers back there in the secondary but you give the quarterbacks in this league enough time, they will pick you apart. … You might be able to win a game now and then without a pass rush, but to win on a consistent basis? You basically have no chance."
   
  Tomlin says: "These quarterbacks are talented people. All of them, at the professional level, given time to operate, can move the football on people. A lot of times, people underestimate what those guys are capable of."
   

  5. Ability to win on the road

  How they rank heading into the season:
  1. Patriots
  2. Giants
  3. Colts
  4. Steelers
  5. Chargers
  6. Cowboys
  Rams center Jason Brown offers a harrowing description of life on the field in an opposing stadium: "You're trying to execute your offense, and you can't hear your quarterback make audibles. I cannot hear the rest of the offensive line; they cannot hear me. I'm talking about either my left guard or my right guard -- they're 2 feet away from my face, I'm yelling to the top of my lungs, and all I'm hearing is, 'Aaaaahhhh!!!' It's like white noise on your television screen. So they see my lips moving, but they have no clue as far as what I'm saying."
   
  Not to pick on Brown, but there might be another way to look at it: "If you're good," Patriots guard Logan Mankins says, "you should be good on the road. Crowd noise shouldn't affect you that much."
   
  New England has the league's best road mark (26-6) over the previous four seasons and was an extremely impressive 6-2 last year -- without Tom Brady . The Colts (24-8) rank second during that time period, followed by the Giants (21-11), the Cowboys and Panthers (19-13 apiece), and the Chargers and Steelers (18-14 apiece).
   
  Eleven teams are .500 or better on the road since the start of the '05 season.
   
  "I love playing on the road," Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew says, "because I feel like a wild animal with my back against the wall -- and the only people I have with me are my brothers who come out on the field suited up."
   
  It sounds good, but really it's an overdramatization of a manageable event. Then again, the Jags' three-year road record is a status-quo-or-bust 10-14.
   
  Steve Greenberg is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at sgreenberg@sportingnews.com.
  
  
  
• David Yost Q&A: Mizzou OC talks about QB Blaine Gabbert
  posted on September 07, 2009 - 07:01:32 am
  
  
  

  Gabbert was a five-star recruit out of Parkway West High School in Ballwin, Mo.

  No player in the country had a more attention-getting debut than Missouri sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who completed 25 of 33 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-9 rout of Illinois. Sporting News spoke with Tigers offensive coordinator David Yost about the 6-5, 240-pound Gabbert, who is a full head taller -- and just maybe better -- than his Heisman Trophy-contending predecessor, Chase Daniel.
   
  Sporting News: Where did this Blaine Gabbert fella come from?
   
  David Yost: He had a good week of practice. He was focused in; his preparation was what it needed to be. He started from the beginning making good decisions. … You never know how a guy is going to be his first time out there. He was calm, he was collected, he knew whatever was going on with the defense. As the game went on, we probably gave him more and more to do just because that's what we like to do with this offense -- run more through him so he can be successful.
   
  SN: What were the biggest challenges in his first start?
   
  DY: He's become a very, very good, accurate thrower. He could rely on that big arm that he has -- which he showed a few times -- but the accuracy and understanding with where to go with the ball was great. He understands coverages as well as anybody I've worked with. He got a lot of that from Chase Daniel. Chase did a good job of stressing that to him. He gets the ball in the right positions. It was good to see.
   
  SN: What did he learn last year on the sideline watching Daniel?
   
  DY: I think that was a big, big deal. Last summer, he spent so much time with Chase; he absorbed a lot, just like what Chase did with Brad (Smith) before him. (But) he also branched out a little bit. He doesn't do everything exactly like what Chase did. He's got his own personality. And also getting a lot of reps last year in practice gave him a lot of confidence.
   
  SN: Was the Illinois game just the tip of the iceberg?
   
  DY: He's extremely talented. What it comes down to is he's got to do it on a week-in, week-out basis. You can't just have a good game and all of a sudden nothing's going to change. People are going to test him; people are going to blitz him. It's a challenge to him to have the same type of practices when a lot of people are talking about how good you are. That's what everybody's going to be saying. That's a challenge for him and a challenge for us, to keep all the guys focused.
   
  SN: We've heard you guys say Daniel's small size wasn't an issue. Is Gabbert's size an issue? Will it change the offense?
   
  DY: Chase's size was never an issue. But Blaine gives you more things you can do. … Blaine gives you more of a straight, vertical threat. We wanted to make sure we used him to make people defend our running game. They're going to come down on the read play, the option play, and we're going to run him. A lot of times with Chase, we were trying to put somebody in the pitch phase. A lot of times that guy was (Jeremy) Maclin; we were trying any way we could to get No. 9 the ball. We'll use Blaine that way but also have the (quarterback) draw in because of what he can do. (His running) also gives you another third-down call. We don't have to just stand back there and try to throw it.
   
  SN: He looks very comfortable seeing over the middle of the field, which wasn't always the case with Daniel.
   
  DY: Size-wise, Chase never had a big issue with that because of the (throwing) lanes. But having a big quarterback who has that stronger arm does give you some other things to use.
   
  SN: Gabbert beat an outside linebacker to the edge easily on a first-quarter run. Is he one of those guys with what you call game speed?
   
  DY: He's fast. When we ran the 40s in winter ball, he opened our eyes. He's a big, athletic guy who can run.
   
  SN: Is he a better runner than Daniel?
   
  DY: He's faster than Chase but not as fast as Brad. Chase was a good runner with the football, but there are some guys who can scramble and some guys that can run with it. … Blaine is really a runner with the football. He doesn't just run and scramble around and try to throw it away.
   
  Steve Greenberg is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at sgreenberg@sportingnews.com.
  
  
  
• Blaine Gabbert shows juice to carry Missouri
  posted on September 05, 2009 - 06:08:01 pm
  
  

  ST. LOUIS—One week into a new season, we're leaping to conclusions as if they're pork steaks on the grill.

  • Juice Williams hasn't gotten any better.

  • Blaine Gabbert is a stud.

  • Missouri is to Illinois what the Big 12 is to the Big Ten.

  

  Gabbert completed 25 of 33 passes for 319 yards and three TDs.

  Some might think it unfair to criticize Williams for not rising to the occasion in Illinois' 37-9 loss to Mizzou—the Illini's best receiver, Arrelious Benn, was knocked out of the game before the last tailgaters were in the house, and first-string running back Daniel Dufrene did not play due to an injury.

  But it was vintage Williams on the game's first drive when the senior quarterback went through his progressions like a marshmallow through molasses, only to turn a wide-open Jarred Fayson into a tightly covered Jarred Fayson. Instead of converting that third-down play in Missouri territory and marching on to an early lead, the Illini punted—then saw Gabbert play rock-solid football in his first drive as a starter.

  The 6-5, 240-pound sophomore—a strikingly larger human than Chase Daniel, his household-name predecessor—threw the ball with accuracy and zip, going 5-for-6 for 53 yards. He showed speed on an option keeper, beating outside linebacker Ian Thomas to the edge for a 14-yard gain. He showed brute strength on a short-yardage keeper up the middle for the Tigers' final first down before a field goal gave them a lead they would never relinquish.

  All game long, Gabbert was astonishingly good, completing 25 of 33 passes for 319 yards and three TDs, without an interception. He also ran for a score. Let's see, what else can we say about him? How about this: He was the best player on the field, bar none.

  Related Links

  • Recap: Missouri 37, Illinois 9
  • Curtis: Big 12 football shows depth

  "He's got it all," said Tigers coach Gary Pinkel. "He's very, very talented. He's very gifted. … I've been doing this a long time, and he's as talented a guy as there is."

  There was a time Ron Zook effused in such a manner about Williams, but the Illini coach must know what he has by now: A strong-armed, big-play guy who can't be counted on to manage a game against a trumped-up "Arch Rival" or even one against one of the Big Ten's lowlier teams.

  Which, by the looks of Saturday, is pretty much all of them. OK, that's an overstatement. But, really, skin-of-their-teeth escapes for Ohio State, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota vs. Navy, Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois and (for crying out loud) Syracuse? Add Illinois' display to the junk pile, and the Big Ten is looking once again like a monstrosity of mediocrity.

  "I sure wouldn't have thought we'd play like that," Zook said. "I know our guys will come back and fix the thing."

  How or why he knows that is anybody's guess.

  Meanwhile, the Big 12—yeah, yeah, it was just one week—is strengthening its standing as the only conference worthy to sit at the table with the SEC. The Tigers are nowhere near the head of the table, either.

  But of all the Week 1 stories across college football, none was bigger than the coming-out party of Blaine Gabbert—bigger, stronger, faster and, we daresay, more talented than Daniel, who merely is the most celebrated quarterback in program history.

  Said Pinkel: "I told (offensive coordinator) David Yost during two-a-days, 'This guy's got it. He can be a great player.' "

  In the bowels of the Edward Jones Dome after the game, Yost was asked if Gabbert is more talented than Daniel right now. His eyes twinkling, he grinned widely and said, "I'd never say something like that this early."

  That's what we're here for.

  Steve Greenberg is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at sgreenberg@sportingnews.com.

  
  
  
• Sporting News Conversation: Jim Brown interviews Adrian Peterson, Part II
  posted on August 03, 2009 - 05:15:34 pm
  
  

  LaDainian Tomlinson, player salaries and religion were part of the recent Sporting News Conversation between NFL legend Jim Brown and Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson.

  Sporting News senior writer Steve Greenberg recently sat down with the two backs in Brown's Los Angeles home while Brown played the role as the interviewer with Peterson. Here's a look at part of the conversation in the August 3 issue of Sporting News magazine as well as some outtakes.

  This is Part II of the conversation. Click here for Part I. Click here for Part III.

  BROWN: Give me an idea of the running backs in the game today that you look at and respect.
  PETERSON: LaDainian Tomlinson, I grew up watching him and liking him. Of course, he's been injured. There are some young guys I like. I like (the Bears') Matt Forte. He doesn't really have that breakaway speed, but he's an all-around player; he runs hard and follows his blockers well. I like (the Jaguars') Maurice Jones-Drew. A little bowling ball is what I call him; he runs hard. For a bigger guy, I like (the Giants') Brandon Jacobs. Sometimes I don't think he runs the way he should, but as far as, what, 270 pounds? He's a beast when he wants to be.

  BROWN: Don't worry about controversy because honesty is what it is, OK? Is L.T. overrated?
  PETERSON: Is he overrated? I wouldn't say that he's overrated. I would say the injuries that he had kind of put him on the back burner.

  BROWN: You're the most complete runner I've seen in a long time. When I analyze L.T.'s situation, I think he's very fortunate to be in the system that he's in. If he were not in San Diego in the system that he's in—if he had to run what you run—could he be the same player?
  PETERSON: In a different system, it's possible things would be different. He's not that great a downhill back. But I think he's a pretty good running back.

  

  BROWN: But you're what I call a true striker of the ball—a guy who makes me sit up on my seat, makes me think that you got more yards than you should have gotten rather than looking at a guy who didn't get what he should have gotten. He should have got another five!
  PETERSON: I say that about myself sometimes, too. I should have taken that to the house! I should've broken that tackle! Yeah, I do that.

  BROWN: Rumor has it that you want to gain weight. Is that true, and why?
  PETERSON: It's a long season, and your body's going to get beaten up. I wanted to put on a couple more pounds in the right spots—legs and whatnot—just to be stronger and faster. I hear guys talk about how it might slow me down, but I don't think so. If I put the weight on in the right way and continue to work hard, it won't affect me too much.

  BROWN: Do you ever get out of shape?
  PETERSON: I don't think I'm ever really out of shape. Sometimes I'm not in the best shape, just when I'm relaxing. But never out of shape.

  BROWN: When you came to my home, your father was with you. Could you tell me what he means to you?
  PETERSON: He means the world to me. It's really hard to put into words how much he means to me. Just being the first person to put the ball in my hands and get me started playing this game. And football is just outside of everything else. He has always been there for me and all of his kids. I'll always have that respect for him, hands down.

  BROWN: You've had some tragedies in your life. Have you been able to cope with those, come to grips with them?
  PETERSON: Just by praying and giving God his time and knowing He'll help you through no matter what it is, no matter what the situation. It's not going to be easy, but He'll make it a lot easier for you.

  Related Links

  • Sporting News Conversation, Part I
  • Sporting News Conversation, Part III
  • Sporting News: Vikings team page
  • Camp report: Vikings' burning question
  • Injured Tarvaris Jackson misses practice
  • The Trenches: SN's NFL blog
  BROWN: So you're a spiritual person?
  PETERSON: Yes, sir.

  BROWN: Religious or spiritual?
  PETERSON: Religious.

  BROWN: What religion are you?
  PETERSON: Baptist.

  BROWN: What would be the biggest principle in your religion that guides you in your life?
  PETERSON: You can do all things through God, and He'll never put more on you than you can bear. Those are the two things that I've fallen back on. With my dad being gone, as bad as that was, God never gives you more than you can handle. My brother passed at a young age; I saw him get killed right in front of me. It's knowing that God gives me the strength to deal with it and knowing that He'll never give me more than I can handle.

  BROWN: Do you feel like your generation, the now generation, is as different as people say, that you're your peers are difficult and trouble-prone?
  PETERSON: I think you could say that in a way, but it's the people you surround yourself with. You hang around positive people and you can expect positive to come from it, and if you're around negative people you definitely can expect something negative to come from it.

  BROWN: Do you think money is the No. 1 criterion for young guys, that they think of the money more than anything else?
  PETERSON: I think a lot of guys do. I see it all the time, and it kills me. A lot of guys come into the league and they get comfortable. They're being paid this and that. It's like how they played in college doesn't transfer because now they're playing more not to get hurt; they're out there playing timid and thinking about the money.

  BROWN: Do you feel there's any bias in the game today? Are you aware of any prejudice, any inequality, or do you feel totally comfortable with the National Football League?
  PETERSON: As far as on the field?

  BROWN: Period.
  PETERSON: I think it is what it is. I don't want to sit here and say it's not out there. It's out there. Some guys are prejudiced toward different people. Some black toward white, and vice versa. On the field, though, I wouldn't say there's too much. I would say much more, like, within the business aspect.

  BROWN: You think the agents are great for the game, they're great for you, they make their contribution? Or do you think they can be a detriment?
  PETERSON: I think they serve their purpose. They do a good job. When you come out, there's a lot of things you don't understand about the business, contracts and different things like that. You find some good guys that can take care of you. I think they do their job. But then again, I sit back now, I look back and it's like the guys are really not around that much, other than when there's some type of incentive you can reach, or they're just talking about your contract or what not. But I think they serve their purpose to a certain extent.

  BROWN: Do you think agents have your best interests in mind other than the money they can get you?
  PETERSON: I would say my agent, Ben Dogra, I think he does. He has a pretty good feel. He seems like a pretty good guy.

  BROWN: What do you think of a system where rookies can get a $20 million bonus and not even play the first year?
  PETERSON: I don't think it should be changed. There's a lot of guys who say, "Man, these guys come in not proven, and they get paid like that?" But I think it's fine.

  BROWN: But when you get further into your career and it's time to get paid, they don't pay you. So to me it seems like you're getting money when you haven't done nothing, and then when you've done something they don't pay you. Shouldn't it be the opposite?
  PETERSON: I guess maybe it should be the opposite. … You can look at it and say, Matt Stafford got $80 million and hasn't played one game, and then you've got Peyton Manning—won a Super Bowl and probably the best quarterback in the game—and this young cat is getting paid more than him. But you can also look at that and say when it's time for Peyton to come back up and renegotiate, that's going to help him out.

  BROWN: So you think that the way it's settled now is OK?
  PETERSON: I think it's OK. I really do. Football is a physical sport; you never know what can happen to you. They say NFL stands for Not For Long, so you never know. Guys that have proven themselves in college to be in the top 10, top 15, I think they should be rewarded.

  BROWN: I'm not going to give my opinion on that.
  PETERSON: You have an opinion? I want to hear it.

  BROWN: I think the league is kind of upside down. JaMarcus Russell went to the Raiders (with the No. 1 pick in 2007) and didn't get to camp in time to play his first year, but he got paid. But his career is in shambles now because he didn't show up in time to get a good start. So, consequently, his total career might be affected by that. So all he got is the money with no real consistent career, and I think that's a crime. I think that every young player should report to camp on time; they should get all contracts worked out to get their career into a great position. So I would say to you, if you've got to opt for money or the career, opt for the career, because the career will give you the opportunity to make money for a long time. But if you just opt for the money and don't have a career where your legacy is set, then that money you got earlier is going to run out. I've come to this conclusion based upon personal experience and understanding.
  PETERSON: I can definitely understand where you're coming from.

  BROWN: Do you pay attention to your union?
  PETERSON: Yes, sir. I'm starting to get more involved, too.

  BROWN: The worst thing, in my opinion, is that you all have neglected the pioneers of the game. Guys are crippled. Guys die at an early age. Guys are homeless. And they tell me through your union, the modern-day players say, "Well, hey, man, that's not our affair." Do you feel that way?
  PETERSON: I don't feel that way at all. I feel like those are the guys that paved the way for us. And especially with the amount of money they're issuing out today, it's ridiculous not to look out for them.

  BROWN: Do you feel, as an African-American, you should put back into the system to help the culture elevate itself, or do you feel it's good enough just to give to charity once in a while? Do you feel you should use some of your money, some of your influence, to truly put back into society and to help those who are not really at the table?
  PETERSON: I do.

  BROWN: You do?
  PETERSON: Yes, sir.

  BROWN: Do you think most of the players feel that way?
  PETERSON: I don't think too many players feel that way. You've got a lot of selfish people in the world. But I've always had that mindset, even at a young age, because I've been dreaming of being in the NFL since I was knee-high, since I was seven. I always wanted to give back to the community back home, and back in Oklahoma, and nationally. … I love to give. I've got a big heart.

  BROWN: Do you worry about your image? Do you let your publicists present you as just a good guy, or would you prefer to be your own man and let the perception be what it is?
  PETERSON: Just be my own man. I do want to have a good image, a clean image, but I really don't focus too much on that. That doesn't mean I go out and do crazy stuff. That's not my personality at all. I know I've got 10 brothers and sisters who look up to me, and they want to be just like me, too. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I carry myself well.

  BROWN: That's OK. That's good. You've got to be you, right?
  PETERSON: Yes, sir.

  This story first appeared in the August 3 edition of Sporting News magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today, or pick up a copy, available at most Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets.

  
  
  
• Sporting News Conversation: Steve Spurrier
  posted on September 02, 2009 - 07:19:11 pm
  
  
  

  Spurrier expected to better with the Gamecocks.

  The Ol' Ball Coach. A tortured offensive genius with an ever-quick hook for his quarterbacks. A smart-mouth who likes to take shots at rival coaches and programs. 

  These are the ways in which many college football fans and media still define 64-year-old Steve Spurrier — as though he were still riding high at Florida. But it's been nearly 13 years since the man's only national championship, and what is starting to feel like a very long time since he left Florida for the Washington Redskins. Spurrier failed there and has done only a "little bit above average" job, in his words, at South Carolina. His Gamecocks open the season Thursday at NC State.
   
  On a summer afternoon in his office in Columbia, Spurrier spoke for a wide-ranging interview that appears in the current issue of Sporting News magazine. Some excerpts and outtakes from that interview appear here:
   
  SN: How do you measure success as the coach at South Carolina?
  Spurrier: When you look at our tradition and history here, it hasn't been all that great. No division titles, no SEC titles since South Carolina joined the conference in 1992. … The way I would define success here is for us to win an SEC championship. We did go to the Outback Bowl last year — maybe considered the best bowl our school has ever been to — and we've been to that bowl three times now. (The 2000 and 2001 Gamecocks played in that game under coach Lou Holtz.) So we haven't done poorly here. I consider we've done a little bit better than average, and that's about it. We're averaging seven wins a season. I'd like to hope we get that up to nine, 10 hopefully someday soon.
   
  SN: That's a big difference. Ten is what you averaged at Florida.
  Spurrier: Yeah, we haven't quite been at the level of Florida and Georgia — yet — but we've really had two outstanding recruiting classes out of the last three years, and this past year might be one of our best. And we've got a bunch of solid commitments for next year.
   
  SN: Has it been, perhaps, a little harder than you expected it to be at South Carolina?
  Spurrier: I expected to do a little bit better. We've made some mistakes. I've made some mistakes, probably, in quarterbacks or coaches or what have you. We've had a lot of changeover. Of our 10 assistant coaches — nine assistants and the strength and conditioning coach — we have six new coaches starting this year. So we've sort of started afresh.
   

  Related Links

  • Hayes: Spurrier one to watch Thursday
  • Five quarterbacks with jobs in jeopardy
  • Preview: South Carolina at NC State
  • Preview: No. 16 Oregon at No. 14 Boise State
  • Preview: Utah State at No. 19 Utah
  • Scoreboard: Previews, stats and more
  • The Recruitnik: Latest commitments

  SN: Have you done a good enough job here yourself?
  Spurrier: I've done an average job. I'm a firm believer that a coach is whatever his record is. Our average record is about 7-5, so just a little above average is all I've done thus far.
   
  SN: Who's the best coach in the SEC?
  Spurrier: Right now, Urban Meyer and Nick Saban have to be the top two. Of course, I think Bobby Stoops and Pete Carroll are probably the two around the country because their teams are always there at the top. Those coaches are also the best recruiters. That's part of college football. You've got to go get the top players and get good coaches, up to the head coach, to assemble those parts and put it all together.
   
  SN: Did you feel sorry for Phillip Fulmer after the way things fell apart at Tennessee?
  Spurrier: Oh, I don't know. I certainly hope not to ever be fired. I did sort of quit on my own up at the Redskins, and I'm sure they were happy I left. That's one thing I would really like to do when my coaching career is over, is say, "OK, I'm finished, I'm out of here," rather than be fired. But, on the other hand, it's no big deal to be fired.
   
  SN: Any thoughts on that common refrain that "the game has passed Bobby Bowden by"?
  Spurrier: As a coach, I don't know exactly what all they do there. I don't think Coach Bowden actually coaches the players or the team much anymore. I think he still motivates, which is another way to do it. I think their biggest problem at FSU, they just haven't had the teams they've had in the past. They haven't recruited those top guys.
   
  SN: You once said of the Vols, "You can't spell 'Citrus' without UT." You referred to Florida State as "Free Shoes University." Do those classic cracks still make you chuckle?
  Spurrier: Back in those days — and of course we were winning at Florida, winning pretty big, and everybody was happy — you've got all those booster clubs, and everyone wants to hear something funny. You go to a booster club in the summer, everybody's having a few cold drinks, and you try to give them something to laugh about. Bobby Bowden tells little ol' corny Gator jokes at his Seminole booster clubs, and it's no big deal. People think I say that stuff year-round, but it's just summertime jokes for the boosters. If they told one about me, I can assure you I wouldn't have gotten mad about it. But Tennessee people got a little upset about the Citrus Bowl joke.
   
  

  Spurier: "I'm not Public Enemy No. 1. It's still the Gators."

  SN: Do you ever feel like you've been caricatured by fans and particularly by the national media? Do a lot of them have you pegged wrong?
  Spurrier: A little bit. Sometimes I guess I wish I hadn't said some of those things. Certainly now, I'm in a different situation. The team's 7-5, not 11-1. I've watched other coaches: When they're beating everybody pretty good, they have the tendency to talk a little bit more. When you start getting your butt beat a little bit, you're not near as talkative. I've learned now that the Georgia people and a lot of the FSU people, they don't dislike me near as much as they used to. I'm not Public Enemy No. 1. It's still the Gators. It's not me.
   
  SN: Which program is in better shape today, Clemson or South Carolina?
  Spurrier: I don't know a lot about where they are right now. I know they've kicked our butts a lot more than we've beaten them. We've had the lead in the fourth quarter three times and only held on to it once, so we have not finished well against those guys. We have to beat them. But our program is in good shape right now partly because local players are committing to us now.
   
  SN: How important is quarterback Stephen Garcia to your progress here? Can you succeed at South Carolina if Garcia never pans out?
  Spurrier: He has to play well. We've had some pretty good quarterback play at times, but not consistently. A team needs a quarterback everyone knows is going to be there. He's got to be a leader and a tough, courageous guy. We're hoping Stephen can do that. The thing that Stephen has finally learned is that he needs to learn to play the game. He thought he could come here, get in a shotgun and just run around and make plays. He could do that in high school, but at our level you've got to have a plan every play and you've got to execute the plan. So, after two years here, I hope he's learned he needs to fully understand the game. He made some nice strides during spring practice and in the summer to do that.
   
  SN: Any regrets about your coaching career?
  Spurrier: Probably if I had it to do over again, I always sort of felt I might coach at Tampa Bay. But they hadn't quite finished their season (in 2001), and (Redskins owner) Dan Snyder made an offer at the time I guess I couldn't refuse. So that didn't work out. I guess maybe I should have waited; maybe that one would've opened up. But I don't think I would've coached in the NFL a long time, I really don't. I don't think it suits me. I like the offseason. What does the Bible tell us? There are seasons of the year for everything. But it seems like NFL football is a good 11-months-a-year type of deal. Some guys love that, but I like other parts of life also.
   
  This article appears in the Aug. 31, 2009, issue of Sporting News Magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today, or pick up a copy, available at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Hudson News and other retail outlets.
   
  Steve Greenberg is a staff writer for Sporting News. Email him at sgreenberg@sportingnews.com.
  
  
  
• Sporting News Conversation: Jim Brown interviews Adrian Peterson, Part III
  posted on August 04, 2009 - 12:57:47 pm
  
  

  In the August 3 issue of Sporting News magazine, we handed over our Sporting News Conversation to NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown, who interviewed Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. The two, along with Sporting News senior writer Steve Greenberg, met at Brown's home in Los Angeles and talked football.

  

  NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown

  But Peterson didn't have to do all the talking. The two changed places for several questions with Peterson getting his chance to pick Brown's brain. Here is that exchange between the two as well as some additional comments from Brown you won't find in the magazine.

  This is the final of three parts. Click here to read Part I. Click here to read Part II.

  PETERSON: What were some of the things you did during the offseason as far as working out?
  BROWN: I was vain. I didn't want to gain any weight so my clothes would fit right and all that stuff—for the ladies, you know? Some of my friends and teammates, we'd do some running. I'd work on my quick-starts—acceleration was always my thing—and that was pretty much it other than basketball, which I played almost every day. I would come into camp about five pounds underweight so that when I got there I wouldn't have any weight to lose. We used to run the 40; I'd run my 40, beat everybody, and then the coach would leave me alone and I could start working on my game.

  Related Links

  • Sporting News Conversation: Part I
  • Sporting News Conversation: Part II
  • Follow the Vikings: SN's team page
  • Camp report: Vikings' burning questions
  • The Trenches: SN's NFL blog
  PETERSON: How do you think the game has changed over the years?
  BROWN: I think it's a great entertainment spectacle. They've done a fantastic job of promoting it. I think it's exciting, I think the playoff system is good, and I think that you have certain players who are great because they love the game. But I think money has affected the game, cheapened it, and I think the buffoonery has taken a lot of dignity out of the game. A lot of players think those antics are amusing, but it's buffoonery. If you're conscious about images and history, African-Americans had to fight off the caricatures of buffoonery all through history; they made a mockery of watermelon-eating, big eyes, shuffling, dancing, shaking your booty. We had to fight to get rid of those stereotypes, then the modern-day football player comes out and shakes his butt and all that (expletive), excuse my language, but it's embarrassing because the population likes it in one sense, they laugh at it, but then they ridicule it. So if you're Ochocinco, he thinks he's cute, but in essence it's a lack of dignity.

  But I'll tell you this: If you look at Troy Polamalu, that kid's a player. You look at Ray Lewis, that's a player. You look at Shawn Merriman, that's a player. Peyton Manning, that's a player. The real players don't deal with a lot of foolishness. Polamalu just gets ready for the next play. The money has obviously affected the game. The agent worries about the money; he's not looking for what you call quality of life, your whole being, family, social life, your happiness. And the union has to keep itself going, so there's a selfishness there. And, of course, you have the ownership. In essence, I don't think that players are different; I think the circumstances are different. And you don't have a lot of legitimate people dealing with the players. Who tells a player the truth? It's like the tail wagging the dog.

  PETERSON: As a running back, what's your best advice for me?
  BROWN: Do what you're doing. (laughs) Do just what you're doing. That's good enough for me, and it'll be good enough for you because you're studying, you're working with your coaches. … There are people who want to give you advice because they want to give you advice. They might not be as smart as you, and just because I played doesn't mean I know any more than you know about you right now. … You have your freedom to think and to do. I don't want to inhibit you by forcing things into your mind. I want to free you up to use your creativity and let your physical and your mental spirit come together and perform. If you were having certain problems, I might have some advice for you. But I don't see any problems. You're a special young man.

  More from Jim Brown:

  On his reputation:

  Until you got here, you didn't know how I am. Am I just like you thought I would be? A lot of people are scared of me. They think I'm going to just jump on them, try to eat them up, all that kind of mess. But here's what happens: The brighter you are, it's almost the more you have to look out for other people's feelings because intelligence will eat them up, intimidate them. And if you're an African-American, in general, you're not supposed to be intelligent. The boxes you're supposed to be in, your thing is leadership through physical ability, not that you can truly think. …

  They try to look at me as an "angry black man." Naw, I'm a man first, a human being, and I don't give up my space for anybody. I fought to be recognized as a man; that's intimidating to people that want you to be a symbol. Don't ever let anybody make you a symbol. Football is what you do; it's not what you are. And your character and your dignity is utmost. So your space belongs to you in this world, not to be validated by nobody else. That doesn't mean you're an angry man, it just means you're a man.

  On the relationship between black athletes and corporate America:

  They say, "Be like we want you to be and we'll give you this endorsement money." Well, guys opt to be that and so they become African-American symbols of making a lot of money and being great athletes, but they have nothing to say about the destiny of our country, the destiny of our people. You can be a great player and have a lot to say, because if you're a great player, they're going to go along with you until you can't play anymore. Then it don't matter what you say, anyway, because you've been used up. So you might as well take the opportunity to be your own man.

  I'm not dependent. I don't want something for nothing. I believe in hard work. I believe in education. I believe in family values. I believe in collective power. OK? It doesn't matter how old I am; I'll be relevant because I'm always working to make change.

  On the difference between charity and change:

  Charity is when you do something to help situations and people by donation, an open hand and so forth, and you do it because the people need it, you have a charitable heart, you're a humanitarian and you want to do good things that you can do.

  Change is when you fight to make change in a society so that the masses of people can enjoy their democratic rights. You fight for equality and equal opportunity, so that a person is not receiving your charity but being able to go through a door that's been closed so they can get what they deserve based upon their hard work.

  If you take charity as your first move, then you send a message to all the youngsters: "Be like me. I'm a great player, but I'm not politically inclined. I'll help you out, but I'm not going to get in anything controversial because I'm going to let the status quo remain." Like Michael Jordan, for example. I like Michael. I think Michael's a nice guy, a great basketball player, a nice smile, dresses well. But Michael said once, when I asked him about putting back and there was a political candidate (we) wanted him to help, he said, "Look, I can't do that because I'm with Nike and Republicans buy sneakers, too." He was saying he had to keep his image first. Well, in America, that was his right. But he never got to where he got because people did that before him. Some people sacrificed everything to break down the barriers.

  This story first appeared in the August 3 edition of Sporting News magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today, or pick up a copy, available at most Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets.

  
  
  
• Sporting News Conversation: Roy Williams
  posted on July 09, 2009 - 08:53:22 am
  
  
  

  In one of the busiest weeks Roy Williams has had since cutting down the nets at the Final Four in Detroit, the two-time national championship coach at North Carolina was hosting hundreds of players at a basketball camp and fielding dozens of 11th-hour phone calls from NBA people who wanted to discuss Tyler Hansbrough and the program's other draft propects. On the day before the draft, in his office in Chapel Hill, the 58-year-old Williams made time for an hour-long Sporting News Conversation with Steve Greenberg. Here are some excerpts and outtakes from the magazine interview that is on newsstands now:

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  SN: You were a boy in the '50s, a teenager in the '60s, a sudden celebrity in the late-'80s and now you're a rock star in the 2000s. Which has been the best period of your life?
  Williams: There's no question that 2005 and 2009, winning national championships, was and is huge for me. But I loved being a high school student. I loved being in college and getting my masters in '73. I really have been lucky. Lou Gehrig gets the publicity for saying it, but I really find it hard to believe anybody's been luckier than me.

  SN: And what's been the best period for the game?
  Williams: It's now for me as a coach. But I think the game had a lot more purity to it in college in the '70s and '80s and even in the '90s. And the pros, when there were only eight teams in the NBA, gosh, you had to be really a stud to be able to play at that time. The stuff surrounding the game now is not as much fun as it was in the '80s or '90s.

  

  Williams thinks he has at least eight-to-10 good years left at Carolina

  SN: Do you know how many games you've won as a college head coach?
  Williams: Somebody said we're six short of 600.
  
  SN: That's right, 594. You're still a young man. You've got a real chance to break Bob Knight's record of 902, don't you?
  Williams: Oh, no. I never even think about those things.
  
  SN: Just do the math. You're like the A-Rod of college basketball, without the steroids.
  Williams: Look at my body -- I'll say, there's no steroids. (laughs) But I don't think in those terms. Never have, never will. I think I can easily coach another eight to 10 years. Health is always an issue, but as long as I'm healthy, eight to 10 years would not be a push for me at all. Coach Smith quit at 66. He told me, "That's too early. Don't you stop at 66."
  
  SN: You didn't catch Phog Allen in wins at Kansas and you're not gonna catch Dean Smith in wins at North Carolina, but you'll be a rock-solid No. 2 on both lists. Is that just the way you want it?
  Williams: Kansas basketball is Dr. Allen, and North Carolina basketball is Coach Smith. … Both those guys set a standard that nobody will ever be able to match. I didn't stay at Kansas long enough, and I'm not going to live long enough to do it at North Carolina. So it's the way it should be, and I'm very comfortable with it.

  SN: The General. Dean Smith. Coach K. They have long been the three. Are you with them now?
  Williams: No. I haven't accomplished as much as those guys did and haven't done it as long as those guys did. I would like to be in that group, but I have zero problems with saying that I'm not.

  SN: So who's in that next cut with you? Jim Calhoun? Jim Boeheim?
  Williams: I don't know that I can answer that. I'll give you an example: the silly commercial for Guitar Hero. (Rick) Pitino, Krzyzewski, Knight, Williams---I thought, "My gosh, it wasn't the three musketeers or the three stooges, it was four of us." I was thrilled to be in with that group right there.
  
  SN: What's the toughest loss you ever had?
  Williams: No question it was in 1997 (at Kansas), losing to (eventual champion) Arizona when I was convinced we had the best team. … It was like somebody just reached in and grabbed my heart and shook it right in front of my face. That's the worst feeling you can possibly have. But after that, I changed my attitude. I hate to use this word because we're talking about a game, but I desperately wanted to win a national championship. But when that '97 team didn't, I realized you have to have something else. So I changed my dream to living long enough to coach my grandchildren in little league basketball and little league baseball. After that, I think I became a better coach. It made my life better.

  SN: You were criticized for not winning a national championship at Kansas, and then for leaving there in 2003. UNC fans came down on you for wearing a KU sticker to the 2008 title game after the Jayhawks had beaten you in the semifinals. Does any of that still hurt?
  Williams: First of all, I'm way too thin-skinned. Things bother me that wouldn't bother a lot of people. The criticism when I left Kansas really hurt because I'd given them my heart, body and soul for 15 years, never short-changed them one day. Part of that I brought on myself because I'd said three years before if we ever have this press conference again, it'll be because I'm retiring or dying. But that's the way I felt at the time; it wasn't that I told them a lie. The criticism I got there, no question it still bothers me to this day. It's been educational: Some people are only really with you if you do what they want you to do. The criticism about the sticker, that was silly. I can reverse it to '93: In the Final Four, I lose to North Carolina in the semifinals and stay on Monday night to watch North Carolina win the national championship, and I'm waving that Carolina blue pompon just like everybody, and I don't hear one word. So what was different? Give me a break. They can make every frickin' argument they want, but no one can justify criticizing me for that.
  
  SN: Do you consider yourself a very loyal person?
  Williams: Well, I had the best teacher. Coach Smith was the most loyal person I've ever known in my life. Whether it's an oxymoron or not, Coach Smith is loyal to a fault. How can loyalty be a fault? But he is so much that way, and I have tried to be that way because it's the right thing to do. I think most people would tell you that I'm extremely loyal, but I'm proud of that. I'm extremely loyal to those people who have given me their best, helped me, been with me, cared about me. If they've given me their best at any time, I want to give them my best for the rest of my life.

  

  Williams went further to silence his critics by winning his second title in six years at UNC

  
  SN: Michael Jordan is famous for his work ethic. So is Tyler Hansbrough. Obviously, they are very different players, but who wanted it more, so to speak?
  Williams: Michael's senior year in high school, they lost seven games. He went through an entire NBA season (1996) and only lost 10. Michael's desire and competitiveness improved dramatically from year to year. But Tyler Hansbrough, when he came in, he had the most incredible focus I have ever seen, including Michael, off the court. Michael was so competitive; he wanted to beat you, he wanted to kill you. Tyler had that, but also more of a single focus to do everything he could do to be the best player on and off the court, whether it was in the weight room or eating properly, getting his proper rest. I've never been around anybody as focused as Tyler Hansbrough.

  SN: Might his departure hurt the program more than most fans anticipate?
  Williams: We lost the heart and soul of North Carolina basketball for the last four years. But we've been pretty doggone good before, and we're going to be pretty doggone good after. … I will never forget what Tyler Hansbrough did and the impact he had on the rest of our players. In each and every year, I will try to find someone who can do similar things, maybe never to the level Tyler did. He has left a legacy of respect for his teammates, for the coaching staff, that I will try to find for the rest of my life. I believe it will provide great benefits for me for the rest of my coaching career.

  SN: Much as the SEC is most widely considered the best league in football, the ACC has traditionally taken that same position in basketball. But is it really better than the Big 12---where you spent so many years---let alone the Big East?
  Williams: I do believe the SEC is the best in football. In basketball, I think it changes. I don't think there's ever a time period where if we're not at the top, we're far from it. But I do believe it changes each and every year. The Big East with all the media centers, they get tremendous coverage, and yet last year they stood up to it because their teams were sensational. The Big 12, one year we had three teams in the final eight, two in the Final Four. But for tradition and history and what has been accomplished over time, nobody can match the granddaddy, and the granddaddy is the ACC.

  The original version of this interview appears in the July 6 edition of Sporting News magazine. If you are not receiving the magazine, subscribe today, or pick up a copy, available at most Barnes & Noble, Borders and Hudson Retail outlets.

  
  
  
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• What we learned: Dismiss Texas Tech at your own risk
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