“This is not helping the kid’s career,” Carroll proclaimed. “It’s unfortunate for the kid and the Raiders have come up with a tremendous quarterback situation without (Russell) by getting Daunte (Culpepper).”
Carroll has a couple of dogs in this fight. Kiffin is his guy. So too is Mark Jackson, the Raiders' director of football development who worked with Carroll both at USC and when Carroll was head coach of the Patriots from 1997-99.
Quarterbacks (2 or 3)
# Locks: Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers.
# On the bubble: Ingle Martin, Paul Thompson.
Running backs (5 or 6)
# Locks: RB Brandon Jackson, RB Vernand Morency, FB Korey Hall.
# On the bubble: RB Noah Herron, RB-FB Corey White, FB Brandon Miree, RB DeShawn Wynn.
# Long shots: RB P.J. Pope, FB Erryn Cobb, FB Ryan Powdrell.
Receivers (5 or 6)
# Locks: Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones, Ruvell Martin.
# Good bet: Carlyle Holiday.
# On the bubble: David Clowney.
# Long shots: Chris Francies, Shaun Bodiford, Calvin Russell, Carlton Brewster.
Tight end (3 or 4)
# Lock: Donald Lee, Bubba Franks.
# On the bubble: Zac Alcorn, Clark Harris.
# Long shot: Joe Werner.
Offensive line (9 or 10)
# Locks: T Chad Clifton, G Daryn Colledge, C Scott Wells, G Jason Spitz, T Mark Tauscher, G Allen Barbre.
# Good bets: G-T Junius Coston, T Tony Moll.
# On the bubble: C-T Tyson Walter, C-G Tony Palmer.
# Long shots: G-T Adam Stenavich, C C.J. Blomvall, G Pat Murray, G-T Travis Leffew, T Orrin Thompson.
Defensive line (9 or 10)
# Locks: DE Aaron Kampman, DT Ryan Pickett, DT Justin Harrell, DE Cullen Jenkins, DT Corey Williams, DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila.
# Good bets: DT Colin Cole, DT Johnny Jolly.
# On the bubble: DE Michael Montgomery, DE Jason Hunter, DE Larry Birdine.
# Long shots: DT Daniel Muir, DE DeVon Hicks.
Linebackers (5 or 6)
# Locks: WLB A.J. Hawk, MLB Nick Barnett, SLB Brady Poppinga.
# On the bubble: SLB Spencer Havner, WLB Tracy White, MLB Abdul Hodge, MLB Desmond Bishop, WLB Rory Johnson.
# Long shots: WLB Tim Goodwell, SLB Juwan Simpson.
Defensive backs (9 or 10)
# Locks: CB Charles Woodson, CB Al Harris, S Nick Collins, S Atari Bigby, CB Jarrett Bush, S Aaron Rouse, CB Will Blackmon.
# On the bubble: S Marquand Manuel, S Charlie Peprah, S Tyrone Culver, CB Patrick Dendy, CB Frank Walker, CB Tramon Williams.
# Long shots: S Alvin Nnabuife, CB Antonio Malone.
Specialists (3)
# Locks: P Jon Ryan, LS Rob Davis.
# On the bubble: K Dave Rayner, K Mason Crosby.
# Long shot: P Ryan Dougherty.
The Journal Sentinel reported in July that Clay had failed to meet the NCAA's initial eligibility requirements to play as a freshman.
However, in order to become eligible Clay attended summer school in Racine and then had to be cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse.
"It actually happened a lot faster than I thought," Bielema said. "For the first time I'll give kudos to the Clearinghouse."
In order for Clay to join the team before the first day of classes at UW (Sept. 4), it was necessary for a player to voluntarily leave the program.
That player, according to Bielema, was freshman defensive back Tony Megna, a walk-on from Oak Creek High School.
"A year ago, Tony suffered a knee injury," Bielema said. "He is going to take some time away from the program, start school and hopefully at some point come back."
With a scrimmage set for today, the players worked out in shoulder pads, helmets and shorts Friday night.
Clay participated in individual work with the other running backs at the beginning of practice, worked on his footwork with staring tailback P.J. Hill and got in briefly against the scout-team defense.
Around 5 p.m., about 90 minutes before the team took the field for its final night practice of the summer, Ferguson was informed by coach Mike McCarthy that an attempt was being made to trade him to another team. If a trade can't be made, then he will in all likelihood be released.
"Robert will no longer be a Packer," McCarthy said after the night practice. "We're going to go in another direction. We're just moving on with the other guys and that's where it stands right now. I'll have more definitive information for you tomorrow."
I think the defense will be solid, especially with the depth on the line. That will take pressure off the secondary, which probably has the weakest link at safety. Marquand Manuel needs to improve over his performance in 2006. A nickel cornerback also must emerge to solidify the unit. I fully expect to watch a lot of 13-10 games this season. The offense's job will be to simply not make any killer mistakes, and get within Mason Crosby's field goal range (55 yards and in). If Brett Favre can hold up his end of the bargain, maybe the defense can carry the Packers to the playoffs this season.
BY GERY WOELFEL
BadgerNation can only wait.
Johnny Clay, the University of Wisconsin’s blue-chip football recruit from Racine, has completed his summer school work and will find out fairly soon whether he’ll be eligible to play for the Badgers this fall.
Clay, a 6-foot-2, 222-pound running back from Park High School, took two English classes this summer at Horlick High School with the hopes of gaining his eligibility.
While neither Wisconsin nor Park officials would discuss Clay’s situation, it was believed Clay needed an "A’’ and a "B’’ in those courses to be eligible at Wisconsin.
I’ve been told Clay attained those aforementioned grades and that Park officials have since forwarded his grades to the NCAA’s Clearinghouse.
It’s unknown how long it’ll take Clearinghouse officials to make a final determination on Clay’s status, although there is speculation it’ll be within two weeks.
Even if Clay is cleared to play, it’s still highly unlikely he’d be ready to play in the Badgers’ season opener Sept. 1 against Washington State.
Clay would, however, likely be ready to play in the Badgers’ Big Ten opener Sept. 22 against Iowa at Camp Randall in Madison.
While Clay hasn’t been able to work out with the Badgers and hasn’t been assigned a playbook, he has been working out religiously.
Clay, who intends on majoring in business at Wisconsin, was one of the most sought-after recruits in the country. He rushed for 5,005 yards and scored 58 touchdowns during his decorated high school career, which included being a three-time all-state first-team selection.
Clay was recruited by a "Who’s Who’’ of the country’s top football programs and opted for Wisconsin over Iowa.
First-round pick Justin Harrell has been unimpressive during his first week and a half of camp, especially in one-on-one pass-rushing drills. Harrell doesn't seem to have many moves and he's regularly stopped by the likes of Adam Stenavich, Travis Leffew and Tony Palmer. During the night practice he managed to bull rush Swedish import C.J. Blomvall, but that was about it. It's gotten to a point where the coaches don't even put him up against Daryn Colledge, Jason Spitz or Scott Wells. They're probably worried about crushing his confidence. But it's hard to imagine he'll get a lot better not working against comparable athletes. If Harrell's going to play this year, he's going to have to face starting talent at some point.
"When we talk about the blueprint of the Green Bay Packers we talk about the offensive and defensive lines," McCarthy said. "That's where we put our emphasis. The transactions we've made for our football team reflect that. It all starts up front."
Said Thompson: "We've talked from the get-go that the lines are the engines that run the thing. You can have as good a secondary as you can possibly have but if you don't have a defensive line that can control the run and pressure the passer, in this day and age it makes it unbelievably difficult to be successful."
But what if The Man made the same comparison?Brett Favre was the latest player to lavish praise on Rotoworld's favorite keeper league rookie sleeper James Jones, who he compared to Sterling Sharpe …
Newly signed tight end Joe Werner, who hasn't played football since high school, had a rough time in the night practice. The former UW-La Crosse basketball star was stripped in a routine ball-security drill, dropped three consecutive balls from a Jugs machine and couldn't handle an Aaron Rodgers pass during a rare appearance in a team drill. …
Night practice ended with a spirited place-kicking session. McCarthy cut it short because players were dumping too much water on Dave Rayner and Mason Crosby.
Two great catches by rookie receiver James Jones. First, he elevated over Patrick Dendy for a ball from Aaron Rodgers in the front right corner of the end zone. Then, he fully extended to haul in a high Paul Thompson pass near the back of the end zone.
As a teen with an average academic record, Donaghy had a ringer take the SAT for him so he could gain admittance to prestigious Villanova University, which he attended for free because his mom worked there, according to a source at Donaghy's alma mater, Cardinal O'Hara HS in Springfield, Pa.
The ref puffed up his official NBA résumé with fibs - and was shunned by other league officials after punching out fellow whistleblower Joey Crawford three years ago, several sources said.
"When Tim didn't get his way, he'd act like an out-of-control child,"
...
But when it came to getting an elite job as an NBA official, Donaghy didn't have to resort to lying or cheating - he had help on his way up.
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But the biggest local referee was Jake O'Donnell, a legendary NBA official who hails from nearby Clifton and helped others from the area break into the league - including current officials Crawford and two Cardinal O'Hara alums, Mike "Duke" Callahan and Ed Malloy.
That trio became a tight-knit group.
"You never met three better people," Coach Gardler said.
Soon joining their ranks was Donaghy, who worked just five years in the minor-league CBA before moving up, partly due to O'Donnell's help, to a league that paid him six figures, sources who know the group said.
Donaghy often joined the others to hang out after games or have beers together when they weren't working, the sources said.
Q.Favre has never come across as a shrewd judge of personnel, but in his mind he saw Moss doing damage in Green Bay with Donald Driver and Greg Jennings. He wanted Moss and said Moss would have done the same reduced deal that he took in New England. Given the circumstances, why didn't you obtain Moss?
A. Randy Moss is a member of the New England Patriots now. That's the way it is. It's inappropriate for me to be discussing a player that's on another team.
Q.Ron Wolf and Bob Harlan almost always explained themselves to fans when given the opportunity in similar forums. Don't fans in this state deserve an explanation from the general manager three months after the fact?
A. Right. I still think it's inappropriate to talk about a player that's on another team.
Q.I don't recall Ron Wolf getting in trouble with the league office when he talked about players on other teams. Why aren't you more forthcoming?
A. I just don't do that.
Q.You're well into the third year of a five-year contract. No matter what you inherited, the team is 12-20 during your watch. Do you worry that your tenure might be short-lived if the team doesn't start winning this season?
A. Well, we would like to win this season. I've said that publicly and privately, saying we expect to win. I don't worry about things like, "Am I going to be here after this year?" That never enters my mind.
People should stop jumping to conclusions on this. The Bucks hold ALL the bargaining chips here: Yi wants to play in the NBA, he needs to play next year to get ready for the Olympics, and if he does play in China they continue to hold his rights. The Bucks aren't rushing this.When asked "What choice should Yi make if the Bucks insist on no trading?" Chen thought for a moment before answering, "the only way out is negotiation. As for final decision, I really have no answer."
However, Chen suggested the media should not oppose Yi's agent team against the Bucks and denied he's in bad relationship with the Bucks.
"The National Basketball Association is a sort of business where people negotiate on set platform with set rules," Chen said. "There's no opposition between us and we respect each other. "Now it's the phase in which everybody express opinions, not like what some people think."
I'm not really sure why exactly the Bucks wouldn't be suitable for his growth, and hopefully this is just more posturing. Larry Harris is planning to visit China soon, so stay tuned.The Milwaukee Bucks' campaign to secure the services of reluctant power forward Yi Jianlian has suffered a blow after the player's Chinese club said it would block his move to the United States.
Yi, taken by Milwaukee with the sixth selection in the NBA draft last month, would "definitely not" play for Milwaukee, Tuesday's Beijing News quoted Guangdong Tigers chief, Chen Haitao, as saying.
"This is not -- as media reports have said -- because Milwaukee, as a city with very few Chinese people, is not good for Yi's commercial development," Chen said.
"Rather we want to find a team suitable for Yi's growth. That's the root of the problem," he added.
