HeadtoHeadFootball -
NFL

Rudolph shrugs off Big Ben 'help now' remark

PITTSBURGH — Mason Rudolph has no hard feelings over Ben Roethlisberger’s comments.

Roethlisberger on Friday told radio station 93.7 The Fan that he was surprised the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Rudolph in the third round over players who can “help this team now,” and he hedged when asked about playing any sort of mentor role.

Appearing on NFL Network over the weekend, Rudolph seemed to understand Roethlisberger’s perspective.

“If I was Ben, I’d probably say the same thing,” the former Oklahoma State quarterback said on the network’s “Path To The Draft” broadcast. “He’s a competitor. Obviously, he has a lot of confidence in himself, like I do. And, yeah, he’s going to be a future Hall of Famer, and I would expect him to say that. So I’m just looking forward to going in there and learning the system, competing, raising my level of play, preparing like I’m the starter even though obviously I won’t be the starter and just waiting and being prepared for whenever I get my time. Whenever my time comes, to be ready and take advantage of it.”

2 Related

The Steelers traded up three spots to select Rudolph No. 76 overall, with general manager Kevin Colbert touting the former Oklahoma State star as a first-round talent.

Roethlisberger, 36, told the team this offseason that he planned to play three-to-five more seasons, and the Steelers hope he continues to start games for them while viewing Rudolph as a viable option for the future at quarterback.

The 14-year starter said he wondered whether the team believed his commitment since they drafted a quarterback in the third round. The Steelers also took quarterback Josh Dobbs in the fourth round of the 2017 draft.

“I was surprised when they took a quarterback because I thought that maybe in the third round, you know, you can get some really good football players that can help this team now,” Roethlisberger said. “Nothing against Mason — I think he’s a great football player. I don’t know him personally, but I’m sure he’s a great kid. I just don’t know how backing up or being a third [stringer] — well, who knows where he’s going to fall on the depth chart — helps us win now. But, you know, that’s not my decision to make. That’s on the coaches and the GM and the owner and those kind of things. If they think he can help our team, so be it, but I was a little surprised.”

Roethlisberger added that he won’t be required to help Rudolph much since the rookie “said he doesn’t need me,” playing off Rudolph’s comments to the Pittsburgh media after being drafted that it’s his job to learn, not Roethlisberger’s job to teach him.

Roethlisberger respected the talent of receiver Martavis Bryant, who was shipped to Oakland in a trade for the draft selection that facilitated the Rudolph move. That’s one reason Roethlisberger might be stressing the win-now theme, though the Steelers went receiver in the second round, selecting Rudolph’s playmaking teammate James Washington.

Roethlisberger flirted with retirement last offseason but sounds ready to play for the Steelers into his 40s. Rudolph — who broke passing records at Oklahoma State with 13,618 yards in the air — sounds ready to be patient.

NFL

Callaway: Diluted sample cause of positive test

BEREA, Ohio – Cleveland Browns rookie wide receiver Antonio Callaway said his positive drug test at this year’s scouting combine was the result of a dilute sample and that he’s taking steps to put his troubled past behind him.

“I had a diluted sample,” Callaway, the Browns’ fourth-round pick in last week’s NFL draft, said between workouts at the team’s rookie minicamp Saturday. “I didn’t intentionally do it, but I take responsibility for my test. That was a wake-up call, but like I’ve said, day by day I’m still getting better as a person, as a player, as a man, as a father. I’ve got a daughter. She’s going to be 3 months old next week.”

Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway runs a drill during rookie minicamp. Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports

Callaway was seen by many as a talented enough player to be drafted in the early rounds, but he fell to the fourth because of significant off-field concerns. He was suspended from the Florida Gators football team for all of 2017 for allegedly using stolen credit card information to fund bookstore accounts. He was cited after a traffic stop in May 2017 for misdemeanor marijuana possession and possession of drug equipment. And he was cleared of sexual assault allegations by a Title IX hearing officer in August 2016 after his accuser and her witnesses boycotted the hearing because the hearing officer was a Gators football booster.

“I was young, that’s all. Immature,” Callaway said of his list of transgressions. “I was just living in the moment. I knew I had to grow and learn from my mistakes. When I got suspended, I didn’t think it would cost me the NFL. I just knew that it would hurt. Because I know my talent. I’m pretty good at football.”

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, also from Miami, reached out to Callaway on Twitter recently and has been spending time working out with him and trying to help him prepare for life in the NFL.

“Basically, he’s just been mentoring me, telling me I’ve got too much talent to let it go to waste,” Callaway said of Brown. “Where we’re from in Miami, Florida, a lot of people barely make it out. I’m one of the few to.”

Callaway said he and his four younger sisters were raised by their mother in a very tough part of Miami.

“It’s hard, where I’m from. It’s hard. The worst of the worst,” Callaway said. “Killings, drugs, you name it, I’ve seen it, and at a young age. Growing up, I said I didn’t want that life, so I just stuck with football.”

NFL

Seahawks rookie Griffin: 'Time to get to work'
11:14 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

RENTON, Wash. — Shaquem Griffin said he has no problem with all the attention he has received as perhaps the biggest story of the 2018 NFL draft. But after what he described as a “whirlwind” period of media interviews and an unforgettable experience on draft day, he’s turning his focus squarely to football.

“Now that’s over with and it’s time for us to get to work and make sure I give high competition,” he said, “make sure I give the coaches a chance to see who I am and make sure I can do my best to make sure I can make my players better and help anybody I can.”

The first step toward that goal came Friday, when Griffin joined the Seattle Seahawks’ other eight draft picks, 15 undrafted free agents and dozens of other players for the start of the team’s three-day rookie minicamp. It was Griffin’s first practice with the Seahawks since they chose him in the fifth round, making him the first player in the NFL’s modern era with one hand to be drafted and reuniting him with his twin brother, Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin, in the process.

“Quem looked very aggressive,” coach Pete Carroll said of Friday’s practice. “We had to slow him down in some stuff early in the practice. In the walk-throughs, he was going too hard so we had to chill him out a little bit. But he’s very excited about being here. He’s a very, very good-looking prospect. He’s big and fast and he had a good feel for what’s going on. Obviously, [Shaquill] had done a little bit of tutoring. He was ahead of us a little bit, which was good.”

The Seahawks selected Shaquem Griffin in the fifth round, making him the first player in the NFL’s modern era with one hand to be drafted. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

The speed that the Seahawks had to temper Friday was part of what drew them to Griffin, who was clocked at 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine — the fastest time by a linebacker in more than a decade. The Seahawks are putting him at the weak-side linebacker spot, where they feel his speed and relatively smaller frame are best suited. For now, he’s projected to back up former Pro Bowler K.J. Wright and compete for a part-time role on defense in addition to playing on special teams.

Griffin, listed at 227 pounds, said he has added a few pounds since the scouting combine and plans to meet with the team’s strength and conditioning coaches this weekend to make sure he knows what weight they want him playing at.

“I feel pretty comfortable there,” he said of the weak-side spot. “When I was at UCF, I played a lot of different positions, so I don’t feel uncomfortable moving around. I feel like where they put me at right now is a pretty good fit. It doesn’t matter where I play at — as long as I get an opportunity to help better my team in any aspect, I’ll play anything.”

Griffin isn’t taking anything for granted. When asked what it’s like to be done with the “auditioning” of the pre-draft process, he offered a correction.

1 Related

“Well, everyone here is still auditioning, so I wouldn’t say the auditioning part is over,” he said. “Everybody’s out here fighting to get a spot, fighting to get on the 53-man roster. That’s what I don’t want nobody to get beside of because no spots are a given out there. You’ve got to work your butt off. This is a great team and you’re going to learn from great leaders and great players, and the only thing you have to do is keep working your butt off and eventually you’re going to get to where you want to go.”

Griffin’s quest to reach the NFL has become a wildly popular story. He told ESPN last month that his mother was getting stopped in public for picture requests. The family even fielded interview requests from China and Italy.

“Just deal with it and then keep moving forward,” Shaquem said of all the attention he has received. “It’s nothing really for me to be able to say it’s overwhelming or anything. It’s just, you do the interviews, you interact with everybody and you make sure that, at the end of the day, you focus on why you’re here and that’s to play football and make sure I can contribute as a teammate.”

Carroll called it “extremely important” for Griffin to shift his focus to football.

“It’s been a great story. It will always be a great story, but right now he’s got work to do and he’s got focus that he’s got to generate,” Carroll said. “There’s a lot of people tugging on him for all of the right reasons and all that, but I know he’s very determined and we are to help him in his pursuit of making the club and making the spot and all of that.

“He’s like everybody else. He’s got to compete like everybody. He’s going to do it. He’s going to bring it. But it’s important, and the fact that he’s talking to you guys about it, he understands and he’s gotten the message and he’s very clear about it. So we appreciate [the media] giving him a chance for everybody that’s working. It’s just such a wonderful story — he’s a wonderful kid and all that. I get it. But right now, it’s ball.”

NFL

John Schneider: Seahawks aren't trying to trade Earl Thomas
11:19 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

SEATTLE — The chances of the Seattle Seahawks trading Earl Thomas diminished considerably over the weekend when he remained with the team through the second day of the NFL draft.

Another indication a trade isn’t likely came Thursday, when general manager John Schneider said in an interview with Seattle’s Sports Radio 950 KRJ that the team isn’t trying to move its All-Pro free safety. Specifically, he was asked if the Seahawks are still “actively” looking for a trade partner.

“Nope, not actively looking for that,” Schneider responded. “Nope.”

Earl Thomas, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and arguably the NFL’s best safety, isn’t likely to be traded. Jeff Halstead/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire

Asked if the Seahawks had looked to trade Thomas, Schneider said it’s his job to consider everything.

“The way to answer that is that we’re not doing our job if we don’t listen to everybody,” he said. “If you guys could sit next to me throughout the draft, you’d be blown away with what you hear. You have to be ready to make decisions all the way through whether it’s the first round, third round or fifth round with players that are on their restricted tenders that want to be moved, so there’s names being thrown around all the time.”

That’s been a common response from Schneider to questions about a possible Thomas trade, which has been one of the more pressing topics of Seattle’s offseason. It has persisted for several reasons.

Thomas is entering the final year of his contract and at one point mentioned the possibility of holding out if he didn’t get a new deal, though his stance on that may have changed. This comes at a time when the Seahawks are reshaping their roster at the expense of some of their star players such as Richard Sherman (released), Michael Bennett (traded) and Jimmy Graham (left in free agency), to name a few. The Dallas Cowboys also have known interest in Thomas. ESPN’s Todd Archer reported that the Cowboys may continue to pursue Thomas before the 2018 season.

However, the best chance of a trade almost certainly came and went along with the second day of the draft. That’s because a trade now would have to include 2019 draft picks, which wouldn’t be nearly as valuable to the Seahawks since they can no longer draft an immediate replacement.

But it’s worth noting that at no point have the Seahawks slammed the door on a possible trade.

The next question: Will the Seahawks extend Thomas before the season? Schneider was noncommittal when asked Thursday if he foresees any talks with Thomas’ representatives about a new deal in the near future.

“That’s hard to tell. I mean, he’s under contract for next year,” Schneider said. “From a timing standpoint, that’s not something I’m going to get into. But obviously, everybody loves Earl. We all know he’s a Hall of Fame-caliber player. Like I said, he’s the second player we ever picked here. He’s just been a huge inspiration all the way through. The guys a tempo-setter at practice and overcame his injury, and he’s been doing great ever since.”

Thomas was the NFL’s highest-paid safety in terms of annual average when he signed a four-year, $40 million extension in 2014, but he’s since fallen to sixth, with teammate Kam Chancellor ($12 million) among those who have surpassed him. He first raised the possibility of holding out in an interview with ESPN from the Pro Bowl in January, but Schneider said last month that he’s been told by Thomas’ representatives that he won’t hold out.

Is there any concern on Schneider’s part that Thomas’ attitude may change if he doesn’t get a new deal before the season?

“I don’t think so,” Schneider said. “He plays the game 100 miles an hour. He only knows how to do this in one manner, and that’s just all out. So no, I wouldn’t think that would be a factor for him.”

Schneider also said in the KJR interview that the team “would love” to extend left tackle Duane Brown before the season. Brown has one year left on the contract the Seahawks inherited when they acquired him in a trade with the Houston Texans in October. The Seahawks gave up their third-round pick in that deal, which is why Schneider said he considered Brown to be, in a sense, a part of Seattle’s recent draft class.

“We had to keep looking over at that card too — right? — in the third round, like, ‘OK, he’s part of this too,'” Schneider said. “When we made that move, we were hoping to lock him up, have him finish his career here.”

Page 173 of 333« First...102030172173174175180190200...Last »