Posts tagged WarrickDunn at FanHouse

I'll have more detail on this when I focus on the Falcons rebuilt offensive line in this week's Between the Lines on Thursday, but the Football Outsiders have a solid piece today explaining how the Falcons have gone from laughing stock to second place in the NFC South.

As FO points out, the biggest difference between last year's debacle and this year's turnaround (besides getting rid of Bobby Petrino) is the much improved running game. Obviously replacing Warrick Dunn's 770 yards (3.2 yards per carry) with Michael Turner has been a big part of that, but having a relatively healthy offensive line with more talent (thank you Sam Baker and Harvey Dahl) have played a big part as well.

And of course, Matt Ryan has played better than you can expect a rookie quarterback to play.

The schedule gets a lot tougher in the next two months--there are no Lions or Chiefs-style patsies on the schedule until the Rams in Week 17--but this Falcons team has already shown that it's a lot better than people expected. While they may not be a playoff team, it does look the rebuilding effort is ahead of schedule.

Mike Freeman of CBS Sports has a great column about one of the classiest players in the NFL, Buccaneers running back Warrick Dunn. It's a good look at a guy who had a rough life as a young man, built himself up into a great success story, and is now trying to give back.

But there's one particularly noteworthy quote from Dunn that's worth pointing out:

"It's not the same," he said. "When I came in, my generation was different. We respected the guys who came before us. I learned about the guys who paved the way. Now you have a lot of young guys who don't care about the past. They couldn't name some of the past great players. They (couldn't) care less."

If you're like me, and you remember Dunn as a freshman at Florida State, doesn't that make you feel old? That Dunn is now the aged veteran complaining about the whippersnappers who don't respect their elders?

Anyway, with all due respect to Dunn, I think he's probably wrong there: Let's not forget, this year's rookies are all going ga-ga over seeing Walter Payton's bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Dunn is 33 years old, and there's a big generation gap between him and the young breed of players, but I think that even when Dunn and his generation of players retires, the league will remain in good hands.

Mike Lombardi is the former Raiders personnel executive-turned-teevee talking head. A few days ago, he lamented the fact that Oakland, like 30 other teams, missed out on the Tony Romo phenomenon (if there had only been a long-drive competition as part of the combine!).

And today he writes that Ravens second-round pick, Ray Rice, could be the blue-chip back that Willis McGahee isn't. (Or, more specifically, that Lombardi doesn't think McGahee is; while Bills fans might agree, I suspect Willis and Drew Rosenhaus feel differently.)

Although Rice may have been overlooked by some teams because of his size, Lombardi says that's a mistake.

Too often scouts make a big deal about a running backs height, but height is really not a factor in the run game, just if you want to extend the back out of the formation. Short backs are effective if they have a great lower body and can possess great balance. Our west coast scout in Oakland told me I was crazy for liking Maurice Drew-"he is a midget" was his first comment.

Lombardi points to this Baltimore Sun article as evidence new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is smitten; I'm not so sure, but I do agree that small backs shouldn't be summarily dismissed because, well, they're small.

Warrick Dunn's made out okay, and with virtually every team going to a back-by-committee approach, having a smaller, shiftier runner makes sense. Lombardi thinks Rice could be bad news for McGahee; I think it could extend McGahee's career, all else equal. Either way, it's good news for the Ravens' offense.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Warrick Dunn is one of the real good guys in the NFL, a person who is universally admired for the way he conducts himself and for the charitable deeds he's done off the field.

So it always feels a little uncomfortable criticizing him. But I find this awfully hard to believe:

"I would never consider myself a third-down back. It's not my mentality. I don't play the game that way," he said. "I don't think Coach Jon Gruden brought me here just to play on third down. He believes in me, and I just have to go out and prove it." ...

"I see him as being a front-line guy," Gruden said. "He is going to play a lot."

Dunn and Gruden can't possibly believe that he's the same guy he was when he played in Tampa Bay seven years ago, can they? Dunn is 33 years old and coming off a season in which he averaged 3.2 yards a carry. As a good presence in the locker room and a guy who might help out on offense for five or 10 plays a game, he's a fine addition. But as an every-down back? That just doesn't make any sense.

A number of you aren't going read this because as Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen says, the public prefers to follow news of celebs and sports figures who are "[expletived] up." The rise of the sports blog generally hasn't be driven by fans' desire to read do-gooder stories. (Though I have to say, I think that would be an interesting niche sports blog).

In any event, I want to highlight a few stories in the news this week that talk about NFL players doing good in the world.

The New York Times had a great article yesterday about four NFL players with ties to Nigeria visiting the country in March. They must have been an impressive display of defensive linemen big people: NY Giants' Osi Umenyiora, Houston Texans' Amobi Okoye, and Chicago Bears' Adewale Ogunleye and Israel Idonije.

It was Okoye's idea for them to all go to Nigeria as a group, figuring they could do more good works together than separately. They also could get scared together as the bus they were traveling in got broadsided by a truck on the first day of their trip. The article is certainly worth a read.

Another article worth checking out is the continuing help that Tampa Bay running back Warrick Dunn gives to single parents looking to purchase their first homes. He does this to honor his police officer mother who never owned a house. She was shot while working her off-duty security job, and a 17-year-old Dunn along with his grandmother found themselves taking care of his five siblings. To date, his foundation has helped 77 single parents buy their first homes by providing a down payment and home furnishings. (Here's the donation link).

The next time you feel like ragging on athletes for being a bunch of "turds", ask yourself what you are doing to make this world a better place. Athletes are like the rest of us imperfect people. Some do good, some do bad, and some get busted for being a smiling black guy who loves his mom on a boat full of white women in bikinis boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

(Photo of Dunn as the first winner of the Home Depot Neighborhood MVP award in January. Photo Credit: Scott Halleran, Getty Images).

The JB Awards took place last night in Washington, D.C. as part of the NFL Players Gala which recognizes the NFL athletes who do the most in terms of community service. CBS' James Brown, host of "The NFL Today," led the ceremony along with former Steelers coach Bill Cowher. The festivities benefited the Special Olympics D.C. and many of the players honored even spent the day playing with some local kids at Catholic University.

One member of each team was nominated to be honored and from those players nominated, James Brown personally selected twelve to win a JB Award. In addition to those twelve players, four other athletes were given specific honors.

The biggest name being honored was Dan Marino, former Miami Dolphins star QB and 2005 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Marino received the JB Award for Lifetime Achievement for his dedication to fight against autism.

While Marino was honored for a lifetime achievement award, one of the game's brightest young stars on the rise received a JB Award for Emerging Leadership. Read on to hear my tale of how Purple Jesus almost broke my hand.Sorry, No Photos

Many of the league's most respected players were in Washington, DC, on Friday to be honored at the 2008 NFL Players Gala featuring the JB Awards. Hosted by CBS' James Brown and former Steelers head coach turned CBS analyst Bill Cowher, the event is an annual awards presentation benefiting Special Olympics District of Columbia.

A group of the players being honored at the evening's award show spent the morning at Catholic University playing football with 75 or so local Special Olympic Athletes. Players involved on Friday morning included Marques Douglas, Chris Draft, Warrick Dunn, Braylon Edwards, Israel Idonije, Kassim Osgood, Mack Strong, James Thrash and Brian Waters.

With guys like Chris Henry and Matt Leinert in the news for questionable decisions lately, I think it's important to recognize many of the league's good people. DC was lucky enough to be full of them on Friday.Sorry, No Photos

Former Falcons running back Warrick Dunn is considered one of the nicest guys in the league. He's probably known more for his generosity off the field than his football exploits, even though, at one time, he was one of the league's best backs. (That said, the Bucs were crazy to give him all that dough, at least from an economic standpoint; but as a genuinely solid guy, good for him.)

Which makes it all the more surprising that he laid waste to Bobby Petrino, the dude who coached the Falcons for 13 weeks last season before quitting to take the Arkansas job.

You can listen to Dunn's comments here, but if you're too lazy to click the link, I'll give you the highlights:

"He didn't want to treat us like men, he wanted to treat us like kids who came out of high school ... It wasn't a friendly environment... This guy was calling plays we hadn't even practiced; he wanted everyone to talk at a whisper whenever there was a team dinner, he didn't like a lot of noise on the plane... The way he went as a coward and the people in Arkansas have to worry about that..."

So on and so forth -- you get the point. Petrino gets everything he deserves, but Marshall Faulk made an interesting point: Petrino didn't sign up for all the Ron Mexico drama when he took the Falcons job, but he basically spent his first four months dealing primarily with it.

The Seahawks front office doesn't have to release a statement admitting they messed up by signing Shaun Alexander to an eight-year, $62 million deal back in 2006 -- that's as obvious as Matt Hasselbeck's bald melon -- but now the question is this: what becomes of Alexander after the team gives him the ol' pink slip?

ESPN's Matt Mosley and FOXSports.com's John Czarnecki are already speculating on some potential landing spots. Here's Mosley's take:

Does Alexander still have a place in this league? Oh, I suppose so, but you get the feeling that he's lost the desire now that his skills are in full retreat. He's had an excellent career, but he never displayed the passion that fans yearned for. When he struggled the past two seasons, they wanted to see the pain on his face.

But that's not the way Alexander's wired. He could go somewhere and be a backup (Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Cincinnati), but his days as a feature back have come and gone.

As a Steelers fan, I'd love the idea of him going to the Bengals. Carson Palmer is harder to bring down. I suppose some team would take a chance on Alexander, and maybe he'll even get more than the veteran minimum (although I don't know what he's done recently to deserve it, but whatever).

But as Michael David Smith pointed out, Alexander is a 3.5 yard-per-carry back at this stage of his career and not much more. If you're a head coach who's big on punting, then, well, Alexander's your man. Otherwise, he's probably be better off retiring.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting that free agent running back Warrick Dunn has reached an agreement on a two-year, $6 million contract to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Dunn spent the first five seasons of his NFL career playing for Tampa Bay, where he was the featured runner throughout his tenure and twice ran for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He left for Atlanta as a free agent and has spent his last six seasons with the Falcons before they released him last week.

Dunn is a good guy who has been a good player for several years, but $3 million a year, including $2 million guaranteed, is more than he's worth at this point. As Schefter notes, Dunn is the oldest running back in the league, and he averaged just 3.2 yards a carry last season. If the Bucs want him around because he adds good character and a good veteran presence in the locker room, fine. But $3 million is a lot to pay for that.