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    Doug Farrar

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    Doug Farrar is the editor of Shutdown Corner, Yahoo! Sports’ NFL blog.

    • Alfred Morris came out of nowhere to become an NFL star. (Getty Images)

      With rookie minicamps starting for so many teams through this weekend, there will be hundreds of young men new to the NFL who are convinced that the league sold them short. And every season, a few rise up from the rabble to become the new "How did THAT guy last THAT long in the draft?" stories. Perhaps the most glaring example that the 2012 draft was not an exact science came from former Florida Atlantic running back Alfred Morris, selected in the sixth round by the Washington Redskins. Morris ran for 3,506 yards and 27 touchdowns in three seasons for the Owls, but the team went 1-11 in his last year there, and 1-11 in the Sun Belt doesn't get you a lot of looks at the next level.

      But Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan, who had a bit of success with another sixth-round running back in Terrell Davis, took a shot, and off Morris went. After decent preseason performances against Buffalo and Chicago, he ran for 107 yards against the Colts, which had Shanahan thinking he'd seen enough. He told Morris that he'd be the starting halfback the day before the season opener against the New Orleans Saints, and that proved to be a wise decision. Morris ended his rookie campaign with a franchise-record 1,613 rushing yards on 335 carries, including a 200-yard, three-touchdown performance in the regular-season finale against the Dallas Cowboys that clinched Washington's first NFC East title since 1999. Quarterback Robert Griffin III was the marquee rookie, but Morris gave just as much with far less fanfare.

      So, when I spoke with Morris during his recent media blitz for a DirectTV sponsorship, I asked him what he'd tell this year's class of rookies who believe that they've been undersold for whatever reason.

      Morris had to come in through the back door, but no more. (Getty Images)"Don't go in with a chip on your shoulder -- at least, I couldn't have done it that way," he said. "Don't go in looking to prove anything. You just be who you've been since Day 1, and you'll catch their eye. Hard work pays off. You stay focused, you stay positive, and don't get down just because things didn't go the way you expected them to go. It's gonna be a grind, and when you get that opportunity, you make the most of it."

      It was a gradual process for Morris -- he started the preseason in competition with the usual battery of running backs, and ended it as the de facto man in charge.

      "As things progressed, I became a better ballplayer," he remembered. "My coaches were staying on me -- teaching me instead of just yelling at me. 'This is how you do it better,' and I became better. So, stay focused, and the hard work will pay off. I can definitely attest to that, because I busted my butt, and I came from nowhere, but I got an opportunity, and I made the most of it."

      Like most rookies who prove their worth beyond their draft position, Morris was never told by anyone in the league why he had to wait so long. There were 11 backs taken before him in the 2012 draft, and none of those players -- including third overall pick Trent Richardson -- came close to his productivity. Morris had a few dings on his scouting reports that really didn't make sense in retrospect. Some said that he didn't have the burst to hit the edge with authority, when he did that quite a bit in the NFL. Others questioned his ability to run quickly through one-cut gaps, which he did about as well as any back who's ever played in Shanahan's well-established zone-blocking system. And, of course, there's always the default small-school question.

      Read More »from Alfred Morris tells this year’s class of unheralded rookies: Act like you’ve been there before
    • Dan Snyder doesn't care what you think of his team's name. (Getty Images)

      From fans to journalists to politicians -- and certainly many of Native American descent -- the Washington Redskins' team nickname is offensive. That much is clear. Congress weighed in this March, leaving some to wonder if these people didn't have anything better to do, but the controversy rolls along. On May 1, David Grosso, an independent District of Columbia councilman, introduced a bill that would have the Redskins changing a name that Grosso says is "racist and derogatory."

      No matter where you stand on the issue, there's only one guy who's going to make the call to change the name, and that's team owner Daniel Snyder. And it should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Snyder's headstrong ways that he's not going to change that name anytime soon.

      Check that -- according to USA Today, the Redskins will be the Redskins as long as Snyder owns the team.

      [Also: Iron man Ronde Barber retires after 16 seasons | Watch: Hall of Famer? | Photos]

      "We will never change the name of the team," he told USA Today's Erik Brady this week. "As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it's all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season.

      For those who didn't get it the first time, Snyder reinforced it to Brady.

      "We'll never change the name. It's that simple. NEVER — you can use caps."

      Well, there you go. While a recent survey conducted by the Associated Press concluded that nearly four out of five people poll didn't think a name change was warranted, others clearly disagree. In March, a three-person panel heard from five Native American representatives who insisted that the Redskins shouldn't have copyright protection for their nickname. Some newspapers, like the Washington City Paper and the Kansas City Star, refuse to use the Redskins nickname when writing about the team.

      The omission in Kansas City in particularly interesting, because there's no equivalent issue with the local NFL team being called the Chiefs. But some will tell you that it's the Redskins name that is particularly offensive and egregious.

      "There's a derogatory name for every ethnic group in America, and we shouldn't be using those words," Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Native American, told the AP.

      Read More »from Dan Snyder insists that the Redskins will never change their name
    • It seemed like one of those perfectly innocent and happy off-season team-building exercises. A bunch of Denver Broncos players went to watch the Colorado Rockies take on the New York Yankees at Coors Field in Denver on Tuesday night. They were relaxing in the owner's suite, eating hot dogs and ice cream provided by Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, and right tackle Orlando Franklin was speaking to a local media person about his hopes for the 2013 season.

      And then, it all went to heck. As you can see about a minute into the video above, receiver Eric Decker came careening out of nowhere, and nailed Franklin with a goopy plate full of whipped cream. The old standard pie in the face -- a staple of baseball celebrations for decades -- had come to the Denver Broncos. It was easy to see that it was a setup; many Broncos players on the other side of the suite had their phone cameras rolling before Decker did the dirty deed.

      And it was Manning, the inveterate prankster, who was behind it all.

      “I was just standing there and all of a sudden I saw Decker run by with a plate full of whipped cream," tight end Joel Dreessen recalled. "Obviously, I saw Orlando getting interviewed and then I saw what was going on. I kind of stood up on a chair to get a better view of things. I don’t know whose idea it was but it worked out.”

      Franklin had no doubt as to the identity of the ringleader.

      [Also: Tebowmania hurting popular QB's NFL prospects]

      “I feel like Peyton and Decker, they got me real well last night," he said. "I’m definitely looking forward to revenge at this point ... I think a lot of guys are going to jump at that opportunity. So we’ve just got to plan something out real well for him and get him when it counts.”

      Franklin, the second-round pick in John Elway's first Broncos draft of 2011 out of Miami, has started all possible games since he came into the league. He's going to be around for a while -- especially if the team continues to struggle with a new long-term contract for star left tackle Ryan Clady -- and that gave him solace regarding his potential for revenge.

      But Dreessen, who's already been on the receiving end of one of Manning's pranks, said that it's not always easy to trick the future Hall of Fame quarterback. After Manning tried to change the language on Dreessen's cel phone to Chinese, Dreessen planned his own plot that eventually went awry.

      Read More »from Peyton Manning sets up pie in the face for tackle Orlando Franklin at Colorado Rockies game
    • Darnell Dockett seems happier with the Cards' new regime. (Getty Images)

      When former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator and interim head coach Bruce Arians became the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals (a well-deserved honor), some changes to the staff were inevitable. One change that could alter the franchise in a negative way was defensive coordinator Ray Horton moving on to take that same position with the Cleveland Browns. Despite an offense that was an unmitigated dumpster fire, Horton led Arizona's defense to one of the best single-season performances in the long history of the franchise.

      The 2012 Cardinals ranked sixth overall in Football Outsiders' opponent-adjusted defensive metrics, the squad's highest ranking since 1994 -- the first year they were termed the Arizona Cardinals, and the first year of Buddy Ryan's head coaching tenure. Horton's advanced schemes made stars out of end Calais Campbell and linebacker Darryl Washington, and made it very difficult for opposing offenses to do much of anything. Arizona ranked dead last in offensive efficiency last season, which makes Horton's work even more impressive.

      But with new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles on board, it seems that Arizona's defensive linemen -- especially Campbell and his fellow end Darnell Dockett are not only happy with the new system in place; some are also claiming that Horton's system held them back.

      The Cardinals may miss Ray Horton more than they think. (Getty Images)

      “Personally, I had nothing against Ray,” Dockett told the team's official website this week. “But I hated that scheme. I really hated it. I played it because I needed to. But this defense is based on guys and what their ability allows them to be good at. What they were drafted for.”

      Horton, a Dick Lebeau disciple, often set his fronts with three down linemen -- a nose tackle and the Campbell/Dockett combo outside -- and other defenders flying around with heavy pre-snap motion and post-snap disguising. Part of the problem in facing Arizona's defense under Horton was that it was very tough to determine where people were coming from. That was especially true for Washington, who played all over the place.

      Campbell, who had two great seasons under Horton in 2011 and 2012, also believes that the new regime will provide better results.

      Read More »from Cardinals linemen happy with new ‘attack’ scheme, but may see a decline in results
    • Ronde Barber has decided to call it a career. (Getty Images)

      The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent a great deal of money this offseason to re-do their defensive backfield this offseason in an attempt to regain the glories of past Bucs defenses. Now, the last man standing from the 2002 team that won Super Bowl XXXVII has decided to call it a career. After 16 NFL seasons, cornerback Ronde Barber will retire.

      Jay Glazer of FOX Sports was the first with the news.

      Barber was selected by the Bucs in the third round of the 1997 NFL draft, and he was a huge fixture on a defense that excelled with multiple mid-1990s draft picks -- Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch as the other prominent players. From 1996 through 2005, Tampa Bay always ranked in the top 10 in points allowed, and the 2002 defense is rightly regarded as one of the best in NFL history. Through the years, Barber was the leader of that secondary, and his leadership transferred to a new generation of Bucs defenders as the other veterans retired and moved on to other things.

      When the Bucs took Alabama safety Mark Barron in the first round of the 2012 draft, Barber was the first to show him the ropes.

      Read More »from Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber retires after 16-year NFL career
    • The NFL is full of stories featuring players who grew out of their young-and-dumb pasts to become reasonably responsible citizens. And then, there are those guys who will just never get it. It's safe to assume that former Detroit Lions receiver Titus Young is one of the guys who will never get it. Young, who was jettisoned from the Lions on Feb. 4 for a litany of transgressions we'll detail later, was picked up and waived soon thereafter by the St. Louis Rams, whose head coach, Jeff Fisher, has a colorful history when it comes to taking chances on players with dubious off-field histories. We should have known that a guy who didn't pass the smell test with the Lions or Fisher was headed for a weird future, and we would have been very correct.

      According to a report from Paula Pasche of the Oakland (Mich.) Press, Young was arrested twice in a 15-hour period last Sunday. He was pulled over at 12:01 a.m. by the Moreno Valley police in Southern California for suspicion of drunk driving, and subsequently arrested for driving under the influence. He was booked at a local detention center, was issued a citation, and was released from custody.

      Ah, but we're not done yet. At 2:22 p.m. that very same day, police responded to a tow yard, where Young had been seen jumping over the fence. He was trying to find his black Mustang, which had been impounded upon his first arrest of the day. Young was taken to the same detention center and booked for trying to steal his own car.

      Young, selected in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft out of Boise State, started his career with some promise, but things quickly unraveled. During the 2012 season, he (deep breath here): Sucker-punched teammate Louis Delmas in practice, lined up in the wrong place during a game to protest his lack of playing time, had been sent home on three different occasions for insubordination, and let loose some bizarre stuff on Twitter that showed, above all else, that he's in this for himself and nobody else. Oh, and there was the time he claimed to be better than Calvin Johnson.

      Read More »from Titus Young raises the stupidity bar with two arrests in 15-hour crime spree
    • Marcus Trufant has a chance to make history. (AP)

      As part of a rebuild that starts from the studs and will eventually work its way up to the roof, the Jacksonville Jaguars are in great (some would say desperate) need of help in their pass defense. Last year's team ranked 29th in Football Outsiders' opponent-adjusted metrics against the pass, and the Jags lost their two primary cornerbacks -- Aaron Ross and Derek Cox -- to the New York Giants and San Diego Chargers, respectively. To shore up the gaps, the Jags selected no fewer than five defensive backs in the draft -- two safeties and three cornerbacks. Now, new head coach Gus Bradley has taken a page from his days as the Seattle Seahawks' defensive coordinator and brought 10-year veteran Marcus Trufant on board.

      At this point in his career, Trufant is most likely more attuned to a slot cornerback role (he played all but eight of his 2012 snaps there), though if Bradley wants to play more off-zone coverage than there was in Seattle, Trufant might play a bit outside. Most likely, Trufant will be in charge of helping Bradley teach the kids his system.

      “I just finished my 10th year, so I’m able to bring some wisdom to the table,” Marcus told the team's official website. “At the same time, I’m here to compete, to try to help the team wherever I can.

      "It’s a great fit. A lot of the language, a lot of the scheme, a lot of the stuff that I dealt with with Gus for four years, there’s a lot of carryover. I should be able to guide some of the younger players along, but at the same time, I’m trying to get better myself."

      More interestingly, if Trufant makes the roster, it keeps the family dream alive for three Trufant siblings to play in the NFL at the same time. There's Marcus, who was with the Seahawks from his first-round selection in the 2003 draft. There's Isaiah, who's been with the New York Jets since 2010 as an undrafted free agent. And there's Desmond, the former Washington standout who was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the 22th overall pick. Desmond should start pretty quickly, while Isaiah and Marcus have more nebulous futures.

      There have been five sibling trios to play in the NFL at the same time throughout the league's history, but the Trufants would be the first trio of cornerbacks.

      Read More »from Marcus Trufant lands with Jacksonville Jaguars, keeps dream of three-Trufant NFL alive
    • Nick Reed in 2009. (Getty Images)Nick Reed was one of the Pac 10's all-time sack leaders as a star for the Oregon Ducks, but he didn't hear his name called until the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft. The Seattle Seahawks took the undersized pass-rusher there, and after one season in the dumpster fire that was the Jim Mora "era" in Seattle, Reed received an injury settlement and moved around the league, trying to stick somewhere. He signed a futures deal with the Chicago Bears and made the team, went to Tampa Bay after his release, and was cut by the Minnesota Vikings in August of 2012. That release led Reed to a calling he had seen coming for a long time -- he wanted to be an Air Force pilot, and that's what he's training to be now.

      "When I was a kid my dad was in the Navy," Reed told CBS' Jason La Canfora during the fourth week of his current training at the Air Force Academy, "and he was flight surgeon -- a doctor for the pilots. So he would come home and talk about that stuff with me, and I think that's how I kind of got into it and knew that was something I wanted to do. Most kids want to be an astronaut or a pilot. I guess I never really got out of that stage."

      Reed almost made that move the year before. The Bears told him that he made their team on Sept. 1, 2001. 10 days later, he received word of his acceptance into the Air Force.

      "It kind of put me in a tough position, because it's hard to pass up the NFL," Reed told La Canfora, "but this is also a job I always wanted to do. So I decided this would be here for me in a couple of more years and I was still young enough that it wouldn't pass me up."

      Now, Reed gets up every day at 4:30 in the morning, and he's hard at work in a process that rivals or exceeds anything he ever saw when he was trying to make the NFL. He began a nine-week "Super Boot Camp" last month, and though he's all in for his new life, there are still pangs when he thinks about how his football career turned out.

      Read More »from Nick Reed: From NFL defensive end to prospective Air Force fighter pilot
    • Don't tell Mike Ditka that Tim Tebow can't succeed. (Getty Images)

      Someday, when President Mike Ditka is sworn into office, all our problems will be solved. International tensions will be cleared up with a clothesline hit, a good cigar, and a steak. Fiscal deficits will be eradicated by the trading of multiple draft picks, the national anthem will be replaced by a simple cry of "DA BEARS!", and nickels will be the size of manhole covers. In the meantime, we'll have to dial our expectations down, and satisfy ourselves with Ditka's evaluation of one Timothy Richard Tebow, who's been out of the NFL since the New York Jets released him on Apr. 29.

      Some would tell you that the former Heisman Trophy winner and first-round pick of the Denver Broncos is out of the NFL for good, at least as a quarterback. But Ditka, the ex-tight end and head coach of the Chicago Bears, who also served that latter function for the New Orleans Saints for a little while, believes that Tebow has a place in the NFL. Moreover, he's willing to go out on a limb in his current capacity as an NFL analyst.

      [Also: Tim Tebow tops Forbes' list of most influential athletes]

      From the Chicago Sun-Times, and his "4 Downs with Ditka" column, here's Ditka on Tebow's pro football future:

      “I think [Tebow] can play quarterback in the NFL, but whatever offense you run might have to be tweaked a bit. This kid is a talent and he proved it in college. He is an outstanding leader. Now, does he have an unusual throwing motion? Yes. But there a lot of quarterbacks that didn’t have a perfect throwing motion. Some of them turned out to be great quarterbacks because they were great leaders. I really do think there’s a place for him. If not at quarterback, I think he could play tight end. If I was in the league and coaching today, I would take a chance on him at quarterback.”

      Ditka has an interesting history with quarterbacks.

      Read More »from Mike Ditka believes in Tim Tebow as an NFL quarterback, and it’s easy to see why
    • Phoenix-area head shop ‘welcomes’ Tyrann Mathieu to Arizona

      This isn't a very good idea at all. (@SBergerBOSTON)

      Arizona Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu's struggles with substance abuse are well-documented. His history got him booted off the LSU football team before the 2012 season, and dropped his value as a draft pick precipitously in a year -- from Heisman candidate and dynamic team-altering player to third-round draft pick and calculated risk.

      Many people are in Mathieu's corner, hoping that he'll be able to figure his life out and live up to his impressive potential. However, there's one store in the Phoenix area more interested in targeting a potential customer than any of those other factors. A head shop called Bud's Glass Joint (ha, ha -- we get it on all three counts) put an ad in the Phoenix New Times, claiming that they have what the Honey Badger is looking for. Of course, the proprietors of this establishment could mean that they think Mathieu would enjoy the live glass blowing exhibition, but given the mention of "Home Grown Hydrophonic" underneath, we're thinking not.

      [Also: Vikings release outspoken punter Chris Kluwe]

      One of the reasons the Cardinals took Mathieu is his relationship with fellow LSU alum Patrick Peterson. Mathieu lived and trained with Peterson for a time while he went through rehab and tried to turn things around, and it's easy to imagine a scenario in which Peterson, the team's first-round pick in 2011 and one of the best pass defenders in the game, told the Cards' brass that he'd help Mathieu try to get past a past in which he cancelled two pre-draft team visits, and reportedly failed more drug tests than he could remember while in college. Mathieu started his football path again with a positive combine performance (and a negative drug test).

      "I couldn't think of a better team to go to,' Mathieu said after the Cardinals selected him, possibly to play free safety. "I spent so much time out there with Patrick, that became sort of like my second home. The whole time, I was telling myself, 'don't cry.' I know I'm on the right track."

      Read More »from Phoenix-area head shop ‘welcomes’ Tyrann Mathieu to Arizona

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