TWO days into fall football camp and the Rainbows already look more promising than they did last year. Rainbows have
the makings of
something goodThat wouldn't take much, given the level of talent that Fred vonAppen inherited for his first season as head coach. But this is a certainty: the Rainbows have some players this year who can really get after it.
Take linebacker Rinda Brooks, for example. It's true that the lads were only in short pants and T-shirts yesterday at Barbers Point, but this guy just looks like a ballplayer. He got himself into position to break up a play on one occasion so quickly, I'm not sure the offensive linemen knew exactly what happened before the play was already over.
Holdover linebackers Rufus Ayeni and Brian Chapman showed they're ready to go Gopher hunting, too. They were raising hell in the passing lanes and generally creating trouble for the offense most of the day.
Linebacker is an area in which UH should be deep and talented, as Paul Arnett's story on this page will explain. Offensive players get most of the glory, but if the other team doesn't score, chances are you'll win. And winning is the name of the game.
ALL this talk of defense brings up a point made wonderfully clear by Reggie White of the Green Bay Packers. Seems Reggie is more than a little miffed at the NFL for even thinking about fining Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski for the hit he put on Carolina Panthers quarterback Kerry Collins the other night. "The thing that ticks me off is that every time a quarterback is hurt, the league and you guys (the media) start to question what's going on with the defenses and what they have to do to protect the quarterbacks," White told Bloomberg News Service yesterday.
"When defensive guys get injured nobody questions that. But when a quarterback gets injured, everyone has a question about what has to be done to protect him."
I agree, Reggie.
Owners wring their hands over their "investments" and when you give a guy $12 million just to sign his name on a contract, that's what he is. The owner wants a nice return on that kind of cash outlay. No problem there.
But let's get real. Quarterbacks wear pads just like everybody else. Let 'em take a shot. This is football, right?
Romanowski's hit was clean as can be. Textbook, I believe, is the word for it. And it's not as though Collins is a little guy. Romanowski is 6-foot-4, 241 pounds, according to the Broncos media guide. Collins is 6-foot-5 and weighs 240.
Do you think if Collins actually threw a block on Romanowski (stop laughing, it could happen, but don't hold your breath) and broke the man's jaw, there'd be thoughts of a fine? More likely there would be a parade.
I hate to see any player get hurt, but this ain't touch football.
WHAT took the San Francisco 49ers so long to bring Jesse Sapolu back into the fold? Here's a guy who has spent 14 seasons with the team, has played admirably, knows the other players and the 49ers' "system" and is generally a credit to the game. He should have been with the team all along. The former Farrington High and University of Hawaii lineman had surgery on a valve in his heart in February. Alleged uncertainty over Sapolu's health and the whole salary cap rigamarole kept him off the team during the first couple weeks of training camp.
But then center Chris Dalman injured his knee against the Seahawks on Saturday. So Sapolu will work out for the 49ers Friday. They should skip the formality and sign the man.
It is cliched to say that you can't measure how much is inside an athlete's heart, but in Sapolu's case, that's true.
