Quotes form around the League

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Random quotes from around the league

 

Monday, Feb. 21, 2005

 

Possible Vikings future owner Reggie Fowler quoted in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on why WR Randy Moss likely won’t be dealt: "I think we all have to have a set of standards. I think Mr. Moss is, if not the finest, one of the finest receivers in the league today. And I think he’s a winner. A lot of times when you want to win, you get excited. So I look forward to working with Randy, and I think he’ll do all the things we need him to do. I don’t know that you take some of the best players in the league and start trading them. We need those people to help us win, and I think Randy’s one of those guys."

 

Packers C Scott Wells quoted in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal giving an update on whether or not QB Brett Favre is planning on retiring: "He’s definitely got a couple of seasons left in him. But with his family situation and his wife’s health (she fought cancer last season), it’s definitely his decision. He can still play and he loves the game. But he hasn’t told anybody what he’ll do."

 

Dolphins head coach Nick Saban telling roughly 7,500 fans at a Dolphins event what the future holds for the offensive line: "We feel like with maybe the addition of one player, and continue to develop the players we have, that we can actually have a very good offensive line. I think it could be an asset for us next year. The offensive line is probably the one position you can really develop and improve your players. It was critical we hired … Hudson Houck, who probably is one of the two or three best offensive line coaches in the league."

 

Buccaneers general manager Bruce Allen quoted in the St. Petersburg Times about whether or not QB Brian Griese will be the starter in Tampa next season has played into his contract negotiations: "That’s something we never talk about, whether he’s going to start. It’s never been an issue. Our plan is to have four, maybe five players at that position when we go to training camp. You’d better have quarterbacks at each level who can win a football game for you."

 

Friday, Feb. 18, 2005

 

Chargers general manager A.J. Smith quoted in the San Diego Union-Tribune on his decision to give QB Drew Brees a non-exclusive “franchise” tag, which allows Brees and his agents to negotiate with other teams: “I plan on Drew being our quarterback, but it could take a twist. He will cost a team two No. 1s, or we could match the offer sheet. Now, is there anyone out there willing to give two No. 1s for Drew? I don’t know.”

 

Patriots S Rodney Harrison telling Fox Sports New England about the toughness of LB Tedy Bruschi, who is in the hospital after suffering what the team described as a “mild stroke”: “Our thoughts and prayers are with him. I don’t know what’s going on with him. He’s been an iron man, he’s been tremendous and he’s had a great impact on my career. He’s just a great guy that affects so many people on and off the field.”

 

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones quoted in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram about how the team will approach free agency when it comes to the quarterback position: “I know if you look at most quarterback situations and really study it, you’ll see that it takes a lot longer than usually a couple of seasons in the NFL to get where you want them to go. The question is, you have to start that journey sometime, do you lose the fort trying to get there? I don’t believe that’s the case. We just can’t bet the house on how the two young guys are evolving. That’s just not smart.”

 

Saints head coach Jim Haslett on the hiring of assistant offensive line coach Jim Pyne away from the Buccaneers: “We believe Jim can bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our offensive line. I wanted to hire a bright coach who has proven skills as a teacher and who understands the fundamentals and techniques of playing up front. Jim will also have the assistance of Jack (Henry), who is one of the best offensive line coaches in the business and has a wealth of knowledge. Jack’s position has evolved as well, as he will use his expertise in blocking schemes and his understanding of our system to improve the production of our running game.”

 

Rams team president John Shaw quoted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the team’s fight to replace its AstroTurf with a newer, more advanced surface: “I just know that we need a new turf. This turf is obsolete. It’s very disappointing that we can’t change the turf. I just don’t understand it. It’s hard to argue that we can be a ‘first-tier’ facility and have this type of turf.”

 

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005

 

Tim Baylor, a former Vikings player who now is a developer and a McDonald’s franchisee, quoted in the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune about Reggie Fowler, who would become the NFL’s first African-American owner if his purchase of the Vikings is approved by the league: "The less we make of him being a black man, the better. It's important, and the league obviously wants this to happen. But it will be even more significant the day we have a healthy appreciation of a new owner, and color is no longer an issue."

 

Chargers general manager A.J. Smith, quoted in the North County Times about the team’s QB situation: "People want to know what are we going to do long-term and short-term, all that kind of stuff. But I'm not worried about all that. What I'm concentrating on is '05. I'm taking it one year at a time."

 

Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs, speaking on a Washington-area radio show and quoted in The Washington Post on his preference for addressing needs in free agency while also indicating the team is unlikely to sign many big-name free agents because of their cost: "We would like to solve everything that we could on our football team in free agency. That way you go into the draft and you're freewheeling."

 

Peter Schaffer, agent for Bengals RB Rudi Johnson, quoted in The Cincinnati Enquirer after Johnson received the franchise tag from the team: “We have an honest disagreement to Rudi's value. And the best way to determine value would be to let him hit the market. But they've taken him off the market."

 

Monday, Feb. 14, 2005

 

Eagles WR Terrell Owens telling ESPN’s Michael Irvin that he was hurt by comments from teammate Freddie Mitchell last week in which Mitchell said that he believed T.O. was put on a pedestal by the media leading up to the Super Bowl: “It was discouraging. I felt that it was a shot at me. It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault the Eagles coaches and coordinators put me in an offense to make plays. If he was the missing piece than they wouldn’t have brought me here.”

 

Browns head coach Romeo Crennel quoted in a statement on the hiring of Maurice Carthon as the new offensive coordinator in Cleveland: “I’ve worked with Maurice for 13 years, both when he was a player and a coach, and I have seen how he conducts himself and leads on the field, in the meeting rooms, and in game situations. He has a tremendous work ethic. Maurice and I share the same philosophy on how our offense will run, and I know he will be a great asset to the Cleveland Browns.”

 

Broncos S John Lynch after watching QB Peyton Manning throw three touchdown passes in the AFC’s Pro Bowl win over the NFC: “We were standing there joking that Peyton can throw touchdown passes anywhere. He can throw on an island, on the mainland, anywhere.”

 

Manning on the nerves he had watching NFC QB Michael Vick attempt to rally his team late in the game: “I’m not going to say I wasn’t holding my breath over there once Vick started rolling around over there. But our defense did a great job of stopping him there and holding him. It was good that we got the game this year after we sort of let the lead slip away last year.”

 

Feb. 11, 2005

 

Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert quoted in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on how the team’s coaching staff will go about evaluating free agents while they are in Hawaii coaching the Pro Bowl: “We lost some time because of the Pro Bowl. We had a couple of meetings to try and map out our plans. Coaches were given some players (free agents) to evaluate prior to their leaving.”

 

Eagles QB Donovan McNabb quoted in the Philadelphia Daily News about whether a cold earlier in the week might have left him tired at the end of the Super Bowl: “That could have been it. But I wasn’t sick to the point of hanging over a toilet or excusing myself.”

 

Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper quoted in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on whether WR Randy Moss could be traded during the offseason as has been rumored and what he wants out of Moss on the field: “It’s not my decision. If he’s there, I’m cool. I’m just tired of answering all the questions about him. That’s all people want to ask me about. That’s my last Randy Moss question I’m answering. … I just want him to play football like he loves the game. That’s what I want him to do. If he did that, I think we can win the Super Bowl.”

 

Chargers general manager A.J. Smith quoted in the San Diego Union-Tribune on what the team plans to do with QB Drew Brees leading up to the Feb. 22 deadline on putting franchise tags on players: “We won’t take it to the last day. That’s the topic on the top of the list, what are we going to do with Drew Brees? … We’ve discussed all those things. We’ve hashed it all over. We’ve already had our organizational meetings, the organizational meetings that we have every year, and as a group we discussed a number of things. What I’m going to do now is digest it; take this week and do a lot of thinking over here, then come back and make a lot of recommendations to Dean Spanos. But we’re not going to wait till the end. There’s no sense in waiting until the day before the 22nd. We’ll probably back it up a few days.”

 

Colts PK Mike Vanderjagt quoted in the Toronto Sun on whether his comments about the Patriots being “ripe for the picking” prior to the AFC divisional playoffs were blown out of proportion: “Much too much was made about nothing. That’s the wonderful world of the media. I just said I think we have a good chance to win. If that’s talking too much, then I don’t know what you’re supposed to say these days. I just said we could win the game. I didn’t guarantee anything. I didn’t say: ‘They stink and we’re the best.’ I just thought we could win. You guys (in the media) seem to think that I’m some outspoken, crazy Canadian. I guess you’re going to make something out of anything that comes out of my mouth, so that’s what I’ve learned. You’re not going to hear anything out of me.”