NFL Capsules: NFLPA to stage rookie educational program
The NFL Players Association will stage a two-day educational program for rookies at the end of June and cover all costs.
One week after the league canceled its annual rookie symposium because of the owners' lockout of the players, the NFLPA has set up what it calls "The Business of Football, Rookie Edition" for Washington on June 28-29. Every drafted rookie — all 254 of them — is invited.
"We're doing this because it's the right thing to do," NFLPA spokesman George Atallah said.
The forum will cover financial education and planning, proper behavior on and off the field, and other information to prepare rookies for a future in the NFL.
Because of the lockout, those draftees can have no communication with the teams that selected them in April.
"Great idea and I'm all for it," agent Drew Rosenhaus said in an email to the AP. "I'm glad the NFLPA stepped in & kept this concept going. It is important for these young men and now they won't miss out."
The NFL canceled the rookie symposium because it could not commit to the number of people who needed to attend and lecture the rookies. It was scheduled for June 26 in Canton, Ohio.
At the owners' meetings in Indianapolis last week, NFL vice president Adolpho Birch said the league "waited as long as we could." He called the rookie symposium "an extremely complex event that requires a lot of people — from all of the drafted players to the panelists and presenters, production people and the youth camp that is associated with it. It is really a large production.
"We got to the point, based on the uncertainty we have right now, that we needed to be fair to those who would be asked to come and participate and help us put it on," Birch added. "Given that, we had to make a decision. This was about as late as we could do it."
Birch said it would be up to the individual teams to help indoctrinate the rookies to the NFL, and that league-sponsored programs during the season would continue once the lockout ends. The lockout is in its 11th week.
Agent David Canter thinks the NFLPA's forum makes sense.
"I'm very happy that the former union made this decision," said Canter, who counts Syracuse linebacker Doug Hogue, a fifth-round pick of the Lions, among his clients. "The symposium is a great experience for all players. For this year's class, it's even more valuable because of the lack of information. And this will be the first time all of these players have been able to meet."
NFL, Morehouse hosting dementia forum in Michigan
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — A town hall-style meeting on dementia being organized by the Morehouse School of Medicine and the NFL is touching down in Dearborn.
The Wednesday evening forum in the Detroit suburb is the 11th stop on a tour of communities with NFL teams. The forum is part of a national effort to prevent or reduce the risk of dementia, specifically mental disorders encountered by athletes.
Scheduled presenters include former NFL players Eric Hipple and Mark Kelso, and Sylvia Mackey, wife of former NFL player John Mackey.
Also scheduled to speak is former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher. He's the director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Atlanta-based Morehouse.
Player Capsules
Jets' Pouha hits web with 'Life of Lockout' series
NEW YORK (AP) — Sione Pouha was tired of answering the same questions everywhere he went this offseason. He heard them in stores. At his kids' school. Even at the dinner table.
"Everybody was asking two general things: 'What's up with the lockout? What are you doing with no football?'" the big New York Jets defensive tackle said. "I was kind of like a broken record. So, I thought to myself, 'Dude, what am I doing? I can just show them.'"
So, Pouha (BO-oo-ha) grabbed a video camera, got a film crew together and started rolling on a behind-the-scenes series that fans can subscribe to for free on his own YouTube channel. The 4-minute preview for the "Life of a Lock Out" series has gotten more than 1,500 views since it was posted a week ago, and the first full-length episode airs Wednesday.
"I would call it a low-budget reality series," Pouha said with a big laugh. "It's not quite 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians.' It's the non-football life of a football player and what they do during the lockout."
The preview shows clips of Pouha working out and getting a visit from teammate Nick Mangold, hanging out in Times Square in Manhattan and waiting to reward a Jets fan with tickets to the home opener — when and if that happens — and singing in the kitchen with one of his daughters.
"I thought it would be awesome to give people, kind of like a reality show, a chance to see what we do other than on the fields," he said. "A lot of people just see us on Sundays and obviously that's what we get paid to do, but we have adventures and have families and take our kids to school and do homework and that sort of stuff."
But, would fans really care? The 32-year-old Pouha is one of the more under-the-radar guys on a team filled with headline-making personalities. But he got all the confirmation he needed that night in Times Square when fans flocked to him.
"You see them and it's like they're dehydrating (without football)," he said. "It just looked like they were absorbing it like a dry sponge. That's when you understand, as a player, how much energy the fans give to you. It's like, 'Wow!'"
Pouha, who had a career-high 59 tackles and two sacks last year while filling in for the injured Kris Jenkins for the second straight season, is not alone in trying to keep fans entertained. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has begun posting videos and pictures on his Facebook page of things he's doing this offseason, such as his "Jets West" camp with some offensive teammates in Southern California and his recent appearance on NFL Network. Safety Emanuel Cook is also starting his own YouTube channel, and several Jets players are active on Twitter.
Pouha began thinking about his project in early May, when "the flakes of the idea" came to him. Three weeks ago, he decided to go ahead with it and called a camera crew that shoots commercials for his business venture, Bula Beverage — a kava root-based Pomegranate-flavored soda which hit stores in the West and Southwest a year ago. The crew showed up a week later and the cameras have been shooting ever since.
"Usually around this time, fans are excited and buying rookie jerseys and everyone's starting to set up their fantasy teams and welcoming in their new acquisitions through free agency," he said. "None of that's going on right now, so I thought I'd give fans something to watch."
Using Bula's marketing budget to pay for the crew's expenses, all Pouha needed was to run it by his wife, Katie.
"She thought I was crazy, kind of," Pouha said, laughing. "My wife was kind of like, 'What are you going to think of next?' It's crazy because this is kind of against my nature. I'm not really the kind of guy who goes and has a Web page. It's kind of like out of character, but at the same time, I don't know what's come over me."
His family is originally from the South Pacific island kingdom of Tonga, and this will allow relatives and friends there to keep up with the Pouhas.
"You get access at any time," Pouha said. "It's free and you can find it anywhere around the world."
There will be shots of him and the rest of the Jets' defensive linemen when they get together soon for position workouts, but not all the footage will be filmed by the crew. Pouha will use his own camera and produce vlogs — video-style blogs — that will be included in each episode. He took his camera back home to Utah for Memorial Day weekend, and will introduce fans to his mother, and even take them on some private moments, such as when he visits his father's grave site. Pouha stopped cutting his hair last season in tribute to his father and has also started growing a beard, but fans will have to tune in to find out why.
He'll give demonstrations on Polynesian cooking, and if the lockout is still going on, he'll take the fans on a video tour of Tonga. He might go down to Miami to hang with friends Koa Misi and Paul Soliai, who play for the Dolphins. There will also be games in which subscribers can win prizes, and Pouha will answer questions from Twitter followers.
"People will be like, 'Oh, he doesn't just two-gap. He multitasks and these guys really juggle a few things more than football,'" Pouha said, laughing again.
He already has over a hundred hours of footage and plans to post a new episode every other week. While Pouha hopes the lockout ends soon so he can get back to work, that doesn't mean the video series will then end.
"We'll start it off with 'Life of a Lock Out,' and then when that's done, we can change it up and do something else," Pouha said. "I feel like we'll have a lot of stuff, even throughout the season. It's fun for me and it'll be fun for the fans."
-- Dennis Waszak Jr.
Bills QB Fitzpatrick growing into leadership role
ELMA, N.Y. (AP) — It's nearing the end of practice, or what loosely resembles one in the limbo of the NFL lockout, and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's job is far from complete as he begins working the room to ensure there are no loose ends.
One moment, he's sitting on the turf catching up with a group of Bills receivers. The next, he's wandered to the far end of the field to watch safety George Wilson holding an impromptu walkthrough for the team's younger players.
Before leaving the suburban Buffalo sports complex that served home to the Bills' player-organized workouts last week, Fitzpatrick then made sure to check in with a group of reporters to see what questions they might have.
"What's up?" he said, without quibble.
In an offseason like no other, with no playbook to study, plays to practice and without a coach offering guidance, Fitzpatrick has found himself playing a jack-of-all-trades role: from assistant coach to publicist, travel coordinator to even innkeeper, after putting up a handful of teammates at his home in Arizona during a series of workouts in April.
If these are among the leadership responsibilities that come with being a starting quarterback, Fitzpatrick has no trouble embracing them.
"I love it. That's why I play quarterback. I love being the guy that everybody looks up to," Fitzpatrick said. "The starting quarterback is the guy who is looked at as the natural leader. I think these offseason workouts allow me to continue to grow into that role."
One of these days, he might finally have the opportunity to show it on the field, too.
Fitzpatrick's place as the team's starter entering next season was essentially cemented during the NFL draft in April. That's when the Bills passed on a large crop of quarterback prospects, and instead focused on improving their porous defense.
That leaves Fitzpatrick as the team's most experienced starter, and the quarterback most familiar with the offensive system coach Chan Gailey introduced in his first year last season.
Once the first round was over, Fitzpatrick celebrated with a pair of what he called "little fist pumps."
The first was for the Bills selecting defensive lineman Marcell Dareus with the No. 3 pick because he has the chance to immediately improve the team. The second fist pump was personal, knowing that his role as starter was secure.
Though Gailey didn't rule out the potential of drafting a franchise quarterback, he made it no secret this offseason that he was comfortable sticking with Fitzpatrick. Gailey credited the quarterback for providing a spark and identity to a ragtag offense over the final half of what was an otherwise forgettable 4-12 season.
Despite a 4-9 record, Fitzpatrick had 3,000 yards passing, in becoming the first Bills quarterback to hit that mark since J.P. Losman in 2006. And his 23 touchdowns were the most since Drew Bledsoe had 24 in 2002.
Fitzpatrick reached those numbers despite playing fewer games than Losman or Bledsoe, while also running an offense that featured a patchwork line and a young, no-name group of receivers.
Entering his eighth NFL season and first with a legitimate chance at starting, Fitzpatrick is eager to deliver on Gailey's trust after the team held up its end of the bargain in the draft.
"That definitely helped just for the fact that this organization is behind me and I know my teammates are behind me," Fitzpatrick said. "It just helps that extra bit to know that they're not only talking about it, but showing it."
His teammates are behind him.
Receiver Lee Evans questioned why Trent Edwards got the nod to start last season, before Gailey switched to Fitzpatrick three weeks in.
"It was a huge missed opportunity," Evans said. "This year, knowing that he's the No. 1 quarterback, it gives everybody a vote of confidence that this is a guy that we can move forward with."
Linebacker Reggie Torbor is among the defensive veterans who expressed their respect for Fitzpatrick as a team leader.
"Fitz doesn't have to put on a shirt that says, 'I'm a leader now.' ... He didn't have to fill out a leadership application or take a course. It's in him," Torbor said. "When things get going rough, even the leaders look to Fitz. That's the way he is now and I think he's accepted that role, embraced it. And we believe in him."
-- John Wawrow
Rookie Ponder sets up workouts for Vikings players
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Christian Ponder has wasted no time exhibiting the leadership qualities needed for an NFL quarterback.
The first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings helped arrange an informal minicamp for himself and a handful of his new teammates this week in Bradenton, Fla.
Ponder even paid for the group to use the IMG football academy facilities, setting up on-field workouts, passing drills and weightlifting sessions, wide receiver Greg Camarillo said. The workouts began Tuesday, with Ponder, Camarillo, wide receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux, quarterbacks Rhett Bomar and Joe Webb, tight end Kyle Rudolph and center Brandon Fusco.
More players, including wide receiver Percy Harvin and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, were expected to join them later this week.
"The mood is fun and positive," Camarillo said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "It's good to meet some of my new teammates. It's the closest one can get to simulating a three-day minicamp without actually having a camp. ... It would've been nice to get some more guys, but we'll make do with what we have."
The players are focusing on strength and conditioning in the mornings and on-field practice in the afternoons.
"One can never get into football shape without actually playing football, but this is a solid plan 'B,'" Camarillo said. "There's only so much one can accomplish in four days, but at least we'll be four days better when we finally get back to playing football."
Camarillo and Ponder exchanged text messages earlier this month to organize the date and site. With barely 10 percent of the team in attendance, substantive progress will be close to impossible.
Most importantly, Ponder has a playbook. He got his during a visit to Minnesota on draft weekend while the lockout was on a brief court-ordered hiatus. When it went back in effect, coaches weren't allowed to have any contact with players.
Ponder didn't immediately respond to a message left by the AP. But he told the NFL Network he made copies and planned to hand them out this week.
"I'll definitely start getting the info out of there," Camarillo said. "We're at a serious disadvantage having a new quarterback and a new offense without practice and coaching. We need these few days to get the ball rolling, learn some basics of our offense (terminology, play calling, plays, etc.) and start working on passing chemistry."
Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave acknowledged in April what a setback the lockout has been, particularly for a team like the Vikings with its new coaches and a new quarterback in the post-Brett Favre era.
"We're going to have to make up for lost time," Musgrave said then. "Whenever something transpires, we'll be able to hit the ground running and be able to overcome whatever feeling of being behind the eight-ball that we may experience."
Head coach Leslie Frazier, who was promoted from defensive coordinator and hired Musgrave to run the offense, said in a recent interview with the AP that Musgrave can mesh information so players don't "feel like they're overwhelmed" by the changes if the league year starts late.
"We're going to retain some of the language we've had in the past, considering that we might be starting football much later than we would have in the past," Frazier said. "That's going to be a big plus for us."
-- Dave Campbell
Panthers gather for secret workout amid lockout
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Perhaps no team is in need of offseason practices more than the NFL-worst Carolina Panthers. After falling behind their division rivals, the Panthers finally gathered Tuesday for their first player-organized workout since the lockout began.
They also did their best to make sure no one saw rookie Cam Newton and company.
Players hired a police officer to shoo away reporters from the high school where they were working out on the hot, humid morning. Cones blocked another entrance to the field at Charlotte Christian.
Guard Geoff Schwartz indicated on Twitter that more than 50 players attended.
"Great morning of team activities," he wrote.
Left tackle Jordan Gross, who organized the two weeks of practices with left guard Travelle Wharton, said reporters wouldn't be allowed in until the last day June 9 to prevent distractions.
"We're just trying to prepare to win some football games," Gross said outside the private school.
A few dozen high-priced vehicles were seen in the parking lot, but the field was out of view from the road. So there was no way of seeing Newton, the No. 1 overall pick, fellow quarterback Jimmy Clausen or to get updates on players coming back from injury.
The Panthers were the last team in the NFC South to gather in this odd offseason. Atlanta, New Orleans and Tampa Bay have already held player-led workouts.
"It's been so long," running back Jonathan Stewart wrote on Twitter. "Time to get better!"
That's for sure. After going 2-14 last season with the league's worst offense, the Panthers replaced coach John Fox with San Diego defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. But the labor dispute has prevented Rivera from gathering his team to learn a new system on both sides of the ball.
Then the Panthers drafted Newton. The Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn could replace Clausen, who went 1-9 as a starter with the NFL's worst passer rating in 2010. Throw in the uncertain status of receiver Steve Smith, who has hedged on whether he wants to return, and the Panthers are stuck in neutral.
Carolina was helped by the one day the lockout was lifted in April, allowing Newton and several players to receive new playbooks from the coaching staff. Linebacker Jon Beason said a couple weeks ago they wanted the workouts to closely resemble normal coach-led offseason practices.
"We're going to try to make it as close as (organized team activities) as possible," Beason said. "Meetings, light practice, light workout, conditioning, the same thing that we would usually do."
But Beason acknowledged the Panthers — with a new coaching staff, 28 potential free agents and possibly a rookie quarterback — are affected perhaps more than any other team by the lockout. Beason is expected to attend the next court hearing tied to the labor dispute Friday in St. Louis.
"If you look at a team like Pittsburgh or the Colts, teams that are good consistently, they have that camaraderie, they have that chemistry," Beason said. "That's what I think winning is about. Anytime there's a new system, new coaches, not only do you have to learn scheme and terminology, but also personalities. I think that's important."
-- Mike Cranston
Agreement settles Haynesworth assault case
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday dismissed a misdemeanor assault charge against Washington Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth after the player reached an agreement with the man who said he was the victim of a road-rage attack.
Under Virginia law, a judge can dismiss misdemeanor assaults under a provision called "accord and satisfaction," in which a victim says he has been made whole, usually by a financial payment.
Neither Haynesworth nor the victim, identified as Arthur Velasquez, would comment on details of the settlement. Haynesworth, dressed in a white collared shirt with blue jeans and large diamond stud earrings, said nothing as he left the courthouse after the two-minute hearing in Fairfax County General District Court.
The incident in early February began when Velasquez gave the finger to Haynesworth on the Fairfax County Parkway in Reston because he believed Haynesworth was following too closely, according to Haynesworth's attorney, Steven Merril, and police accounts.
Both drivers exited the parkway, and at some point Haynesworth got out of his car. At that point, according to Merril, the two men's stories diverged. Velasquez said Haynesworth punched him in the face, giving him a bloody nose.
"There's blame for both of them" in the confrontation, Merril said after the hearing. "You know how northern Virginia can be with tight traffic, anger building up among drivers."
Merril said, "Haynesworth's mistake was he got out of the car. Judges don't like that."
It was not clear if Velasquez knew Haynesworth's identity at the outset of the confrontation.
Velasquez's lawyer, Stephen Sheehy, declined to discuss details of the case but said his client is satisfied with the outcome.
Haynesworth, meanwhile, still faces a misdemeanor sexual abuse charge in the District of Columbia, where he is accused of groping a waitress at a hotel bar. He has pleaded not guilty.
At one point last year Haynesworth was juggling as many four court-related matters, including lawsuits from a bank, an exotic dancer, a man injured in an automobile accident and complaints from his ex-wife that he wasn't paying her health insurance or their children's bills.
Haynesworth set an NFL record in 2009 with $41 million guaranteed as part of a seven-year, $100 million contract with the Redskins. But Haynesworth fell out of favor with new coach Mike Shanahan in 2010 and repeatedly clashed over workout routines and playing time. The Redskins suspended Haynesworth for the final four games of the season for "conduct detrimental to the team."
-- Matthew Barakat
Locker joins Titans' teammates for workouts
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Jake Locker has joined his new teammates for the first time for unofficial workouts in Nashville.
The Tennessean reported that the Titans' first-round draft pick joined 14 teammates at Nashville's Father Ryan High School for conditioning drills on Tuesday morning. He says he plans on working out with teammates for the next two weeks.
Locker, who has been working out in his homestate of Washington and in Los Angeles, won't sign a contract or receive any salary until the ending of the NFL's lockout, which prohibits contact between the coaches and players.
Locker says he feels comfortable around the other Titans players and wants to work hard to show them how important the opportunity is to him.
Elsewhere
Leaf has benign tumor removed from brain stem
LUBBOCK (AP) — Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was recovering in California on Tuesday after doctors removed a benign tumor from his brain stem.
The 35-year-old Leaf had been experiencing headaches, dizziness and blurred vision before seeing a doctor May 18, his publicist, Margo Myers, told The Associated Press. He had surgery a week later at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., and was released Saturday.
"I am looking forward to resting a bit and being with my family," Leaf said in the statement. "This was just another bridge for me to cross, and I will continue to live each day to the fullest and give back where I can!"
Leaf, a Great Falls, Mont., native, starred at Washington State, and the San Diego Chargers made him the second pick of the 1998 NFL draft. He played for the Chargers from 1998-2000 and for the Cowboys in 2001.
He threw for 3,666 yards and 14 touchdowns in his career, but is considered one of the league's biggest busts.
In April 2010, Leaf pleaded guilty to eight felony drug charges in Texas and received 10 years of probation. He was at West Texas A&M coaching quarterbacks at the time.
Leaf just recently finished writing a draft of his first of three books he's penning for Crimson Oak Publishing, a Pullman, Wash.-based publisher — about his life, football career and addiction to painkillers. He also writes a column for his alma mater's website and sells resort packages in British Columbia.
Leaf also spends time talking to groups about his addiction.
-- Betsy Blaney
Former Giants DE Robustelli dies
STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Football Hall of Famer Andy Robustelli, who played for the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams during a 14-year NFL career, has died. He was 85.
"He was one of the greatest players in franchise history, and one of the finest, most dignified gentlemen you could ever meet," Giants President John Mara said. "Andy was a man's man in every respect."
It wasn't immediately clear where and when Robustelli died. His death was first reported by The Advocate of Stamford.
The 6-foot-1, 230-pound defensive end played for the Rams from 1951-55 and the Giants from 1956-64, but his arrival in New York ushered in one of the greatest eras in Giants' football.
New York won the 1956 NFL championship in Robustelli's first season. They won five more conference championships during his tenure, in 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962 and 1963. Robustelli played on a winning team in 13 of his 14 pro seasons and played in eight NFL championship games.
"Andy was a great leader. When he came to us from the Rams, it turned everything around defensively," fellow Hall of Famer Frank Gifford said. "He fit perfectly into Tom Landry's defense. Tom Landry was such a leader in putting defense into pro football and Andy was one of the key components of that."
Robustelli was selected to seven Pro Bowls and was named first team All-NFL seven times, two with the Rams and five with the Giants. He was also a three-time second-team All-Pro choice. In 1962, the Maxwell Club selected Robustelli as the NFL's top player, an honor then usually given to an offensive player.
"He was far and away above the other defensive ends of his era," Gifford said. "Andy was not all that big, but he was very quick. With Andy and Tom Landry, it was almost scary the anticipation that they had of what was going to be run. He and Tom were very, very close. Whereas Tom was the overall defensive coach, Andy basically ran the defensive line along with the linebackers. He was the leader. Everyone knew that. He was the leader in the clubhouse. He was quiet. But when Andy talked, everyone listened."
Robustelli played in 175 regular-season games in his 14-year career, missing only one because of injury. In his last three years with the Giants, he was a player-coach.
Robustelli was the Giants' Director of Operations — what is now called general manager — from 1974-78, prior to George Young's arrival. During his tenure, the Giants drafted Hall of Famer Harry Carson, as well as such standout players as George Martin, Gary Jeter and Gordon King.
"Andy is someone I looked up to fiercely," said Martin, who played for the Giants from 1975-88 and is now the executive director and president of the NFL Alumni Association. "I think he was legendary among all ballplayers, but especially within the illustrious Giants' history."
Martin said Robustelli never stopped coaching, even when he was working in the front office.
"Andy was always giving you tips about the game — here's your general manager coming out to give you some words of advice," Martin said. "For a young man, particularly a rookie, those were like words from heaven. Although our styles were different and the eras in which we played in were completely different, one of the things I know I tried hard to copy was the tenacity that Andy had, because it's transferable no matter what era you played in."
After leaving the Giants, Robustelli was a successful businessman in his native Connecticut.
Born in Stamford, he played football and baseball at Stamford High before enlisting in the U.S. Navy at age 18. During World War II, Robustelli served on the USS William C. Cole in the Pacific Theater. When he returned from war, Robustelli attended Arnold College in nearby Bridgeport. He made his family home in Stamford, where he ran a successful travel agency.
Robustelli's wife, Jeanne, died in April. She was 84. The couple had nine children, 29 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
