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Patriots Lose Top Pick to ACL

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS – (Wire Service Report by The Sports Xchange) – New England Patriots defensive end Derek Rivers’ rookie season may be over due to a knee injury.  The Patriots fear they have lost their top pick (third round, 83rd overall) in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Youngstown State for the entire season, league sources said on Friday.
NFL: JUL 27 Patriots Training Camp

New England Patriots defensive end Derek Rivers (95) gets set for a drill during New England Patriots training camp on July 27, 2017. (Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Rivers, 23, was injured on a kickoff coverage drill Wednesday in a joint practice in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., with the Houston Texans.
Before the Patriots traveled to Houston for a preseason game Saturday night, the team sent Rivers back to Boston for more tests. Those tests reinforced the team’s initial fear of a season-ending knee injury, according to ESPN.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Rivers, who was projected to be part of a rotation at defensive end, played 41 snaps in last Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He had 41 sacks in his college career, including 14 as a senior in 2016

 

Patriots: Mutual Admiration Society

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – Jimmy Johnson knows a little something about building a powerhouse NFL franchise, as he did in Dallas in the early 1990s. Through his longtime friendship with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Johnson has probably had some influence on the dynasty that shows little sign of slowing down these days in New England.

NFL: JUL 30 Patriots Training Camp

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick at the Patriots Practice Facility in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

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When the two met decades ago at the Kentucky Derby, no one could have predicted where Belichick would ascend to in the world of football. But his spot, according to Johnson, is quite clear.

“He’s the best ever, and I made that statement before the (Super Bowl), but I also made that statement a year ago and two years ago,” Johnson told Patriots.com recently. “It’s not something I just recently decided. Having watched Bill over the years, it goes all the way back to Cleveland, when we first met and built a relationship.

“He covers all the bases. He’s very thorough. He approaches the job in a way that every coach should envy. And one thing about his teams, they’re always better prepared than their opponents. And that’s because of him.”

Like Belichick, Johnson oversaw both coaching and personnel in his time in Dallas and later with the Dolphins. It’s an almost infinitely demanding responsibility that generally is too much for those who are even given the chance to wear both hats.

“The job is almost overwhelming, and obviously you’ve got to have the right kind of people assisting you and helping you do it the right way,” Johnson said. “And Bill does. But there’s very few in the NFL, and very few that’s been in the NFL who can do all the jobs that he does.

“I’ll just say one more thing about Bill Belichick: He’s the best.”

Belichick had a couple of his coaching friends from other sports on hand as guests during the joint practice action with the Texans. That included former Major League Baseball manager Tony La Russa and former Indiana University men’s basketball coach Tom Crean.

“When we’re together, I’m asking the questions, he’s talking, and I’m taking notes. He’s not taking my notes,” LaRussa said with a chuckle before highlighting what he sees as the strength of his pal’s coaching style.

“I believe his ability and his staff’s ability, and his team’s ability to start at zero every year – refuse to think about last year – is an important part of why they are so consistent. It’s easy to celebrate the next year. The ability to turn the clock to zero is really impressive and very hard.”

“My relationship with Tony has been great,” Belichick said. “I’ve learned a lot from somebody as accomplished as he is in another sport. I’ll never forget the time he let me get in the dugout with him for an exhibition game. Baseball – it seems like just throw it and hit it, but there’s a lot more to it than that. I saw just how much there is on every single pitch and the focus, concentration, all of that.”

Crean offered up his observations about Belichick, the coach and the person.

“Everything matters every day,” Crean said. “As simple as that sounds, it’s very complex and hard because there are so many things that can distract, that can interrupt that, can get in the way of it. When I think of fundamentals, and preaching the fundamentals and details on a day-to-day basis – and then watching it come out in his team – that’s one place you’re going to look. He leaves nothing to chance. It would be hard to imagine something missing his radar or the people that are around him.

“He’s been very, very good to me, very helpful,” added Crean. “I think that’s one of the reasons he’s such a great leader, great developer of teams, programs, players. He’s always inquisitive. You can get an idea of how great he is with his team because of the way he helps his friends.”

“Again, different sport,” Belichick said of his kinship with Crean, “but I learned a lot from his organization … Different motivations, teachings, he is a very progressive guy … We speak pretty frequently.

NFL: Elliott to Appeal Suspension

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OXNARD  – (Wire Service Report by The Sports Xchange) – Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will appeal a six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy because of alleged domestic violence against a former girlfriend in July of 2016.

Dallas Cowboys Training Camp

Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys runs the ball down field during morning practice on July 27, 2017 in Oxnard, California. (Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images).

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Elliott, who was not arrested nor charged in the case, continues to maintain his innocence.

The Columbus city prosecutor said he didn’t believe that he could make a case because of conflicting and inconsistent information.

Elliott will try to discredit Tiffany Thompson in the appeal process by highlighting, her threats to “ruin his career,” including one that was racially based, according to sources.

The NFL announced Elliott’s suspension Friday, saying it has photo and digital evidence supporting a finding “that (Elliott) engaged in physical violence against Ms. Thompson on multiple occasions during the week of July 16, 2016.”

Elliott’s appeal game plan includes highlighting Thompson’s already chronicled text messages encouraging a friend to lie to police about an alleged domestic assault on July 22, misleading testimony to NFL lead investigator Lisa Friel, and repeated threats to ruin his career after breaking off the relationship.Elliott has not talked to the media since the start of training camp, and was escorted from the locker room following Saturday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams.

But he made his feelings known on Twitter on Friday, saying he was “both surprised and disappointed by the NFL’s decision” and “I strongly disagree with the league’s findings.”

His representatives also blasted the NFL in a statement Friday for their “factual inaccuracies and erroneous conclusions” and promised “a slew of additional credible and controverting evidence will come to light” during the appeal.

It’s unclear what role Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will play in the appeal. But a source says Jones is “angry” about the suspension after being adamant that, after reviewing all of the league’s evidence, no assault occurred and Elliott would not be disciplined.

Jones also has uncharacteristically not spoken with the media since the suspension.

Elliott’s absence will leave a massive hole in the Cowboys’ offense. He led the league in rushing a season ago as a rookie and is a home-run threat whenever the ball is in his hands.

“For us it’s very shocking,” running back Darren McFadden said. “We didn’t know what was going on exactly. To hear six games, it was definitely a surprise to us. We didn’t expect anything to happen. But they made a decision. For us as a team, we are going to rally around him and keep going forward.”

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NFL: Bills Snake-Bitten (Again)

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BUFFALO – Newly acquired Buffalo Bills wide receiver Jordan Matthews suffered a chip fracture in his sternum during his first practice, the team announced Monday. Matthews, who is considered week-to-week, suffered the injury Sunday, just two days after the Bills acquired him in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. On Friday, the Bills traded cornerback Ronald Darby to the Eagles for Matthews and a 2018 third-round pick.

The injury happened when Matthews went to the ground hard after competing with a defensive back for a pass. He was able to finish practice but afterwards underwent examination for discomfort in his chest and the chip fracture was discovered.

Matthews took reps with the first and second team reps Sunday in his first work with quarterback Tyrod Taylor.

The 25-year-old Matthews is expected to be one of the top options at wide receiver after the Bills also traded Sammy Watkins along with a 2018 sixth-round draft pick to the Los Angeles Rams for cornerback E.J. Gaines and a 2018 second-round draft pick.

The 6-foot-3, 212-pound Matthews totaled 225 catches for 2,673 yards and 19 touchdowns in three seasons with the Eagles. He was selected by Philadelphia in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft.

Patriots: Garoppolo Shines vs Jax

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FOXBORO – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – The New England Patriots’ 31-24 loss to Jacksonville in the preseason opener closed four days of work with the Jaguars that head coach Bill Belichick deemed productive.

Jacksonville Jaguars v New England Patriots

FOXBORO, MA – AUGUST 10: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the New England Patriots prepares to throw against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first half of a preseason game at Gillette Stadium on August 10, 2017 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Jim Rogash/Getty Images).

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The joint practices earlier in the week were to the coach’s satisfaction that the Patriots sat out 37 players in the preseason opener, a list that included quarterback Tom Brady, tight end Rob Gronkowski and cornerback Malcolm Butler, and virtually any player projected to be in the top half of the roster once the regular season rolls around.

That left quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to start and run the offense for more than a half of the action, to mixed results. The fourth-year backup shook off a shaky start – which came after two weeks of less-than-impressive practice action – to complete 22 of 28 passes for 235 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He had an effective two-minute drive to close out the first half with a touchdown and marched to another score on the opening drive after halftime.

“It’s not on purpose,” Garoppolo said of a growing reputation for far better performances on the game field than he’s able to put up consistently in practice. “I don’t know. I try to go out there and practice well every day with the guys. I mean, you’re trying different things in practice sometimes. You’re working with different guys. But, I don’t know. I don’t think there’s really a rhyme or reason to it. It’s football at the end of the day.”

While Garoppolo was doing his work on offense, New England’s second- and third-team defensive players struggled against the Jaguars. The units allowed three touchdowns of 42 yards or longer, including a 97-yard pass. A day after the effort, Belichick didn’t mince words regarding the poor play that included struggles by former second-round picks in third-year safety Jordan Richards and second-year cornerback Cyrus Jones.

“I’d say there were a lot of problems on all of those plays. Just obviously bad,” Belichick declared, “so we need to do a lot better on that. We’ll just have to correct a lot of things there and see if we can move forward and get better.”

With that in mind, after the Thursday night opener, the Patriots’ head coach scheduled three days without practice. He explained the break in on-field work, leading into a week that includes a trip to West Virginia for joint workouts at The Greenbrier resort with the Texans in advance of the teams’ Saturday night preseason contest in Houston.

“I think we’ve had a pretty good stretch here from the start of training camp,” Belichick said. “We’ve been in pads on all of the days that we’ve practiced other than the day before the Jacksonville game and the first two days of camp. We’ve had a lot of padded practices. We’re going to take a couple of days here and give the players an opportunity to get their legs back under them, try to take care of some of the bumps and bruises and so forth that we’ve accumulated through camp.”

The next phase in the preseason process should include Brady and many others seeing their first exhibition action in Houston, one wrinkle with the joint work with the Texans is that the teams are scheduled to meet in Week 3 of the regular season action at Gillette Stadium.

So, as Belichick and his former offensive coordinator, Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, go about planning their week of work it might be altered a bit with a real, meaningful game little more than a month away.

“I think they’ll be a little bit different. Bill and I will probably work some details out,” Belichick said. “We definitely will work some details out before we get started. We’ve talked kind of in general terms and we have a general format, but I’m sure there will be some specifics. This situation is a little bit different than most other ones that we do. We did this with Tampa Bay (in 2013) where we worked with them and then played a game against them early in the season, so a similar situation with Houston. It’s a little bit different than practicing with a team that you don’t play or that you’re just going to play in preseason and you’re not going to see them again during the regular season. This one’s a little bit different. Bill and I, we’ll talk and we’ll agree on a format.

“Again, the most important thing for us this week is to get better as a football team and to make improvements individually, make improvements collectively on our team that’ll help us over the course of the season. It’s not to try to just gain an edge on one particular opponent. The idea is to try to help our team over the long haul and evaluate our players. I’m sure that he has similar goals in mind. We’ll find a way that we feel is mutually beneficial to be able to do that. I have a lot of confidence in our relationship and our ability to be able to put something together that will be productive, and at the same time not overly sensitive in terms of compromising the competition that we’ll have early in the season.”

Why is Kaepernick Not in a Camp?

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(Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange)

We have heard it for so many years from so many people in the NFL that we were almost starting to believe the Big Lie that, even though almost all the money in the league is divided equally, on a competitive level all the teams care about is winning and beating the others.

The Big Lie is that partnership ends at the sidelines.

Seattle Seahawks v San Francisco 49ers

SANTA CLARA, CA – JANUARY 1: Eric Reid #35, Colin Kaepernick #7 and Eli Harold #58 of the San Francisco 49ers kneel on the sideline, during the anthem, prior to the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi Stadium on January 1, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. The Seahawks defeated the 49ers 25-23. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

 

Never has the league shown that to be such a falsehood until now, with the apparent blackballing of quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Look, no one here is claiming that Kaepernick is a really great guy, a wonderful teammate or the next coming of Joe Montana or Tom Brady. But when you look around the landscape and see some of the stiffs masquerading as NFL quarterbacks, when you consider some of the cretins that the league has welcomed back to its ranks through the years, when you weigh all the evidence, the conclusion is inescapable.

There is no clear proof – yet – that the league is orchestrating the blackballing of Kaepernick the way baseball teams subverted the salary cap by colluding a quarter-century ago. But the result could not be more clear.

–Kaepernick is one of only three quarterbacks still under age 30 who have led their team to the Super Bowl. The other two are Russell Wilson and Cam Newton.

–Kaepernick has the No. 11 passer rating among “active” NFL quarterbacks. Among those who trail him are such starters as Carson Palmer, Andrew Luck, Matthew Stafford, Ryan Tannehill (injured), Newton, Alex Smith, Joe Flacco and Eli Manning.

–Kaepernick has a winning percentage of .483, dragged down by last year’s 1-10 record with the 49ers. Before that, he was at .574. And it’s tough to pin last year on him; he threw 16 touchdown passes and only four interceptions and averaged a career-high 6.8 yards a carry as a runner.

But even counting last season, the list of active quarterbacks with worse winning percentages include Kirk Cousins (who is making just under $24 million this year), Stafford and Sam Bradford, among others.

–Kaepernick has thrown 72 touchdown passes in his career and 30 interceptions. That’s a ratio of better than 2-to-1, and only four active quarterbacks have a better ratio.

We won’t even go into the Jay Cutler signing in Miami, because that’s a special case as he’s reunited with a coach under whom he had his best season in Chicago.

So, tell me again, how it is that all NFL teams care about is winning? You mean to tell me Kaepernick would not be an upgrade at quarterback for more than a handful of NFL teams? Or that fan reaction would be so brutal teams can’t take a chance on signing him, yet they have been perfectly content in recent years to employ such players as:

–Ray Lewis. Pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in a double murder case. Never missed a game.

–Michael Vick. After 18 months in federal prison, played seven more NFL seasons for three teams.

–Plaxico Burress. Served 20 months in prison for a gun violation, returned for three more NFL seasons with two teams.

–Josh Brent. Convicted of intoxication manslaughter in an incident in which a teammate was killed, sentenced to 180 days in jail, returned to play for the Cowboys but quit after one game.

–Tank Johnson. Released by the Bears after at least three gun-related arrests and requiring a waiver from the court to leave Illinois to play in the Super Bowl. Later played for Dallas and Cincinnati.

–Johnny Jolly. Played for the Packers in 2013 after missing three seasons due to drug violations and prison time.

–Jamal Lewis. Served four months in federal prison on drug charges, served a four-game suspension while on injured reserve, so he didn’t miss games.

–Leonard Little. Served four years probation on a drunk driving charge for an accident that killed a woman. Suspended eight games, but then continued playing for the Rams.

–Donte Stallworth. Served 30 days in jail for DWI manslaughter. Suspended a full season; played afterward for the Ravens, Redskins and Patriots.

–Ray Rice. It took a second video of him hitting his fiancee in an elevator before there was much outrage over the slap on the wrist the league handed him.

–Michael Floyd. Served 24 days in jail on a DWI last year, currently with the Minnesota Vikings in training camp.

Impressive list.

Presumably, all of them stood for the national anthem. Presumably, none of them made a big noise about social issues. Presumably, none of them seriously angered the conservatives who make up most of NFL ownership and apparently, a vocal part of the fan base.

This is, of course, the same league that is so bent on waving the flag that a check at a recent Super Bowl showed nearly three dozen souvenirs being sold at a league stand, and not a single one of them were made in the United States.

Yet Colin Kaepernick, who, as far as we know, never beat up or killed anyone in a drunken rage, never served time in prison, never did much of anything off the field except what is supposedly protected by the Constitution, can’t get a job in the NFL.

Ridiculous.

Ira Miller is an award-winning sportswriter who has covered the National Football League for more than five decades and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He is a national columnist for The Sports Xchange.

NFL Suspends Cowboys’ Elliott

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NEW YORK – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott was suspended six games by the NFL on Friday for violating the league’s personal conduct policy after multiple domestic violence incidents.

Elliott has three days to appeal the suspension and is expected to do so, ESPN reports. The six-game ban is the penalty for first-time offenders of the league’s new domestic violent policy.

Dallas Cowboys Training Camp

OXNARD, CA – JULY 24: Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys runs through drills at training camp in Oxnard, California. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images).

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The suspension is scheduled to begin Sept. 2 and Elliott is eligible to return to the Cowboys’ roster on Oct. 23, one day after the team’s Week 7 road game against the San Francisco 49ers.

As a result of the suspension, the guarantees in the four-year, $24.956 million deal Elliott signed with Dallas in 2016 will be voided, per ESPN. Elliott will forfeit $559,192 in 2017 salary according to salaray cap website Spotrac.

In addition, Elliott will give up $240,000 per missed game in signing-bonus money if the suspension is upheld.

Elliott, 22, is accused by his former girlfriend of five domestic assault incidents in July 2016 in Columbus, Ohio and has been under NFL investigation, although the city attorney’s office already announced he will not face criminal charges.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is reportedly “furious” with the league’s decision to suspend Elliott, according to ESPN.

“Over the course of the last year, the league conducted an extensive investigation,” a league statement read Friday. “League investigators interviewed more than a dozen witnesses, including Ms. Tiffany Thompson, who had alleged multiple instances of physical violence in July 2016, and Mr. Elliott. The league also consulted with medical experts. League investigators examined all available evidence, including photographic and digital evidence, thousands of text messages and other records of electronic communications.

“… After reviewing the record, and having considered the views of the independent advisors, the (NFL) commissioner (Roger Goodell) determined that the credible evidence established that Elliott engaged in conduct that violated NFL policy.”

The NFL Players’ Association also issued a statement saying it is reviewing the league’s decision and has been “in touch with Ezekiel and his representatives to consider all options.”

Jones previously said that the focus of the league’s investigation was centered around Elliott’s behavior and not the domestic violence allegations.

“I have reviewed everything, and there is absolutely nothing — not one thing — that had anything to do with domestic violence,” Jones said during the team’s training camp.The second-year back is coming off a sensational rookie season in which he rushed for a Cowboys-rookie-record 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns en route to his first career Pro Bowl selection.

Patriots Benefit at Joint Workouts

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FOXBORO  — There are few things that players, coaches, fans and media agree on.  But it’s hard to find anyone in those groups with a negative word about training camp practices between NFL teams.

First Day Of New England Patriots Training Camp

New England Patriots Rob Gronkowski catches a pass during the first day of training camp at the Gillette Stadium practice field in Foxborough, Mass., July 27, 2017. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images).

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So when the Patriots opened up joint workouts with the Jaguars on Monday on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium in front of huge crowds of fans and a massive media contingent, nothing but positives were voiced in the post-practice interviews.

“They’re really beneficial,” said New England tight end Rob Gronkowski.

“Obviously it’s always good to go versus each other as a team, but when you get a new opponent, when you get new looks, new defense, new players, it’s always great. It’s like more of a game feel and everything. It’s very beneficial for myself and the whole team.”

Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler agreed. While the former Pro Bowl defender faces the likes of Tom Brady, Julian Edelman and the foundation of an elite passing attack each practice, shaking off the familiarity of those battles has clear benefits.

“It’s great to work against somebody other than Julian, (Danny) Amendola and our guys,” Butler said after a practice in which he notched an interception against Jacksonville starter Blake Bortles.

Butler said the intensity of going against a different team, even in a practice setting, brings everything closer to the level of game action that’s less than a month away.

“I most definitely got winded out there, going hard each and every play,” Butler said, “but that’s what we need. The season is near … well, the season is here. Practice turns into game reality. Got to work hard.”

New England has three days of work with the Jags heading into the preseason opener for both teams. Then, the Patriots will travel to West Virginia to Texans camp for a few days of joint work with Houston. Joint sessions have become the norm for Bill Belichick’s teams in recent years, but not everyone is used to the format.

“Today is my first time going against another team in training camp,” said new Patriots linebacker David Harris, who spent 10 seasons with the New York Jets.

“It was good to hit someone other than ourselves … it’s a high level of competition on both sides. It’s a good measuring stick. That’s what these practices are for, to see if you can carry over from the normal practice. We’re still learning, it’s still training camp. Still have a long way to go, but it’s a good start.”
In practice Monday against Jacksonville, the Patriots’ offense made plenty of plays but also had some issues with dropped passes and miscommunications. Gronkowski had a rare drop.

“We’ve always got a lot of work to put in,” he said. “No matter if we caught every ball (or) if we got a first down every play, there’s always work that you can put in.”

And as Belichick has referenced in the past, sometimes there is no better place to get that done than in joint practice action this time of year. Gronkowski said the value of these reps can surpass even game action at this point in the process.

“(During) joint practices you can analyze the play right after, go to your coach, see what’s going on, see what you did wrong,” Gronkowski said.

“Games, it’s more, ‘Boom, you’re on to the next play.’ But out here in practice you can definitely get the feel of it, learn from your mistakes and keep getting better.”

–RB Mike Gillislee has been in full pads but only doing rehab work during recent Patriots training camp practice as he deals with an apparent hamstring injury.

–WR Malcolm Mitchell has practiced since the first day of camp, despite being on the practice field in full pads. The second-year receiver, who dealt with a knee injury last fall and dealt with injury issues at Georgia, has been doing rehab work on a side practice field.

–WR Cody Hollister has not practiced since the second day of training camp due to an apparent left shoulder injury. The undrafted rookie has been on the practice field in recent days doing rehab work.

–OT Nate Solder has missed the last three practices due to an unknown injury. The veteran has been on the field in full pads doing rehab work

NFL: Immortality in Canton, Ohio

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CANTON – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – On an unseasonably cool summer night in the birthplace of professional football, seven more immortals swelled the ranks of the Pro Football of Fame to 310.

The group included an owner, a quarterback, two running backs, a pass rusher, a hard-hitting safety and a kicker.

Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement ceremony

CANTON, Ohio – AUGUST 5: Denver Broncos Terrell Davis salutes his bust after his speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement ceremony on August 5, 2017 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. (John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images).

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As the safety, Kenny Easley said, “To my fellow 2017 Hall of Fame classmates — (kicker) Morten Andersen, (running back) Terrell Davis, (owner) Jerry Jones, (defensive end) Jason Taylor, (running back) LaDainian Tomlinson and (quarterback) Kurt Warner, could be the start of a pretty good team, wouldn’t you say, Jerry?”

Similar to Davis, Easley, elected as a Seniors candidate 24 years after he first became eligible, had an outstanding career cut short by injury. He played seven seasons and 89 games and was Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1981 when he had three interceptions for 155 yards, including an 82-yard touchdown. Easley was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1984 when he had 10 interceptions with two touchdowns.

Easley noted, “Some folks said, ‘I deserved to be in the Hall of Fame earlier.’ I don’t believe that. Others said, ‘Maybe he didn’t play long enough.’ I don’t believe that either.

“But my pastor, Tyrone Armstrong, (who is) here tonight … has said many times: ‘There is a season for everything and while we sometimes try to figure it out, God has already worked it out.”

Davis played only seven seasons and 78 regular-season games but surely made them count, especially the 1998 season. That year, Davis became the fourth player in history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a season (2,008) while scoring a league-leading 21 rushing touchdowns and leading the Denver Broncos to their second straight Super Bowl championship.

During the 1997-98 postseasons, Davis set an NFL record with seven consecutive games with 100 yards or more. In his 78 games, Davis rushed for 7,607 yards and 65 touchdowns, including five as a receiver.

Two players were inducted in their first year of eligibility, bringing that total to 80 of the 310 players, coaches and contributors enshrined: Tomlinson and Taylor.

An accomplished runner and receiver, Tomlinson totaled 13,684 yards and 145 touchdowns rushing while adding 624 receptions for 4,772 yards and another 17 touchdowns. Just for good measure he also had seven touchdown passes.

In 2006, he was named the league’s Most Valuable player with 2,323 combined yards from scrimmage (1,815 rushing and 508 receiving on 56 receptions). He scored 28 rushing and three receiving touchdowns for an NFL season record of 31 touchdowns and 186 points.

Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony

LaDainian Tomlinson speaks during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on August 5, 2017 in Canton, Ohio. (Joe Robbins/Getty Images).

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Taylor had 139.5 career sacks and more than any other player from 2000 to 2011. Like Tomlinson, he had an award-winning year in 2006 when he was named Defensive Player of the Year. That season, he had 13.5 sacks, two interceptions returned for touchdowns, 11 passes defensed, 10 forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 62 tackles.

What stands out Taylor’s big-play ability. In his career, Taylor had eight interceptions for 100 yards and three touchdowns to go with a league record-tying 29 opponents’ fumbles recovered, NFL record six touchdowns on fumble recoveries and three safeties.

Taylor attended college at Akron, just up the road from Canton. Taylor said, “Twenty miles away. Might as well have been a million. Back then, I couldn’t fathom that over the next two decades, step by step, I’d travel those 20 miles to be on this stage, wearing this jacket, 20 years to travel 20 miles, but it was worth every bit of it.”

He recalled how difficult his first camp was with then-head coach Jimmy Johnson when he wanted to quit after five days and called his mom saying this NFL thing might not be for him.

“She said, ‘OK, come home, get a job, join the military or get your butt ready for practice.'”

Taylor concluded by imploring everyone “to enjoy the journey” and “appreciate those around you and articulate that appreciation.

“Ease is a greater threat to growth than hardship. So keep moving, growing, learning, loving. I couldn’t have made it these 20 miles over 20 years if I hadn’t had you at my back, my side and out front. My football career ends right here, tonight. My gratitude is eternal.”

Andersen, enshrined in his fourth year as a finalist, kicked for an astounding 25 seasons until he was 47 years old, played 382 games and established records for games, points (2,544) and field goals (565). He was the career scoring leader for both the Saints and Falcons, and was named to two All-Decade teams for the 1980s and 1990s.

Andersen becomes only the second kicker-only to be enshrined, 26 years after Jan Stenerud’s induction in 1991. Stenerud is from Norway and Andersen from Denmark.

Andersen said, “I’m honored to join my new Hall-of-Fame brother Jan Stenerud tonight along with all these great legends of the game. Jan, you set the standard and it was high. All specialists owe you a debt of gratitude for your unselfish trailblazing. You’ve always carried yourself with dignity and grace and have been a tremendous friend and adviser through this process.”

Jones, also president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, bought the team in 1989 for $140 million. It is now worth an estimated $4 billion. His aggressive style brought the league to a new level of marketing and promotion, and contributed to revenue growing to nearly $10 billion a year. Jones also had the vision to build AT&T Stadium, affectionately known as “Jerry’s World.”

The Cowboys won three Super Bowls in his first seven years of ownership, but haven’t won once since. He has said the biggest lesson he learned about being an owner is how difficult it is to win.

Perhaps the most unlikely path of any player that ended in Canton was Warner. Cut by the Green Bay Packers in 1994 after being signed as an undrafted free agent, Warner was a standout in the Arena Football League for the Iowa Barnstormers and didn’t get another opportunity until 1998 with the St. Louis Rams.

Nearly cut that training camp, Warner made the team and the rags to riches story materialized the following year after Trent Green tore an A

CL in the team’s third preseason game. Then-head coach Dick Vermeil uttered the famous words, “We will rally around Kurt Warner and play good football.”

Did they ever.

He passed for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns in a season that culminated with a Super Bowl victory over the Tennessee Titans when he passed for a record 414 yards and was named Super Bowl MVP. He led the Rams to another Super Bowl two seasons later and to the Super Bowl with the Arizona Cardinals in the 2008 season.

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