The Post-Crescent from Appleton, Wisconsin • 30

9 ---t FOOTBALL D-6 The Post-Crescent, Appleton-Neenah-Menasha, Wis. www.postcrescent.com Thursday, April 1,2004 Tlce says Vildngs should have plenty of motivation Gibbs fan: Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden said he was thrilled with the return of Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs to the NFL after a 12-year break. "He's like Mick Jagger," Gruden said. "He hasn't been on tour a lot lately, but he comes back and he rocks the house. There are some things you don't forget.

That guy's got great command. He's a Hall of Fame coach. Once you're a Hall of Fame guy, you always are." Odds and ends: In what will likely be known as the "Keyshawn Johnson rul6" the owners ruled that receivers can wear jersey numbers from 10 to celebrations, such as Terrell Owens pulling a Sharpie out of his sock to autograph a football and Joe Horn pulling a cell phone out to make a call after a touchdown. Practice squad expanded: The owners voted to expand the practice squad from five to eight players, a move that was applauded by league coaches. "It's good for player development.

It's good for the game," Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian said. "We've been in favor of this for the last three years." The additional players on the practice squad will continue to count against the salary cap. By Dylan B. Tomlinson Post-Crescent staff writer PALM BEACH, Fla. It has been three months since that fateful day in Tempe, when Arizona Cardinals receiver Nathan Poole went up for a pass and came down with a NFC North title for the Green Bay Packers.

Poole's stunning catch knocked the Minnesota Vikings out of the playoffs, and coach Mike Tice is still feeling that pain. "I thought we worked hard, but we fell one game short of our goal, which was 10-6 and winning the division," Tice said. "We were very disappointed." NFL MEETINGS NOTES Minnesota's 9-7 finish was a dramatic improvement from the 2002 season, when the Vikings went 6-10. But that improvement was masked by Minnesota's meltdown, when the Vikings finished 3-7 after a 6-0 start. Tice said he hopes the frustration from those final 10 games lingers as added motivation for his team next season.

"My immediate thought was, how am I going to use the last game as a motivational weapon and not a pout session?" Tice said. "After about eight days of pouting myself, I realized we impresses coach vB-U-i0Jr ft I 7 1 "A I A 1 I 1 A Tf J- 19 even when numbers in the 80s are available. Johnson has worn No. 19 since college, but has had to fight the league in past seasons to wear that jersey. The owners also passed a rule allowing any coach to call a timeout.

Previously, only players on the field were allowed to do so. The bwners extended the five-day period immediately after the season ends for interviewing assistant coaches to seven days, or the conclusion of the wild-card round. The policy also now will cover high-level front office positions. Dylan B. Tomlinson can be reached at 920-965-5429 or by e-mail at dtomlinsonpostcrescent.com.

Horming says he regrets comments By Tom Coyne The Associated Press SOUTH BEND, Ind. Former Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung expressed regret Wednesday for saying his alma mater, Notre Dame, needed to lower its academic standards to "get the black athlete." "I was wrong," the former Green Bay Packers star running back said. "What I should have said is for all athletes it is really tough to get into Notre Dame." During a radio interview Tuesday night in Detroit, he told WXYT-AM before the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame banquet that Notre Dame has to "ease it up a little bit" on its standards. "We can't stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we've got to get the black athlete," Hornung said. "We must get the black athlete if we're going to compete." Hornung, who is white, said Wednesday that he changed his mind after being flooded with telephone calls from friends and media.

"I stood by my comments, but then when you have time to reflect you can always come up with some ideas," he said. "I rethought it and if I had to do over again I wouldn't. What I should have said was for all athletes it's very tough to get into Notre Dame." Notre Dame spokesman Matthew Storin called Hornung an illustrious alumnus but objected to the comments he made Tuesday night. "We strongly disagree with the thesis of his remarks," Storin said in a statement. "They are generally insensitive and specifically insulting to our past and current African-American student-athletes." Horhung, who is part of the Westwood One Radio team that broadcasts Notre Dame games, said he had not talked with anyone from the university, but he had heard the school's response.

"I don't know if it was insulting, I would say insensitive. It was insensitive because I didn't include the white athletes," he said. Post-Crescent photo by Dan Powers PACKERS COACH MIKE SHERMAN said he's counting on Mark Roman to upgrade the safety position. had achieved a lot in two years and we were close to where we wanted to be. We still have a lot ofworktodo." Celebrations penalized: As expected, NFL owners voted overwhelmingly in favor of passing the rule that will penalize players 15 yards for excessive celebrations.

The vote passed 31-1 with Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis as the only person to vote against the rule. "Those acts are classless," Miami general manager Rick Spielman said. "They have no place in our game." The league was specifically trying to target choreographed less than last year or the year before. Even when Brett leaves, that's not going to change. Did offensive coordinator Tom Rossley's trip to Favre's house in Mississippi reveal anything new? Nothing that he and I didn't discuss previously.

That wasn't the intent. Tom just went down there to play golf and spend the day with him. Brett was chasing beavers around his property. The beavers are damming up some streams and he's all concerned about that. He's like the guy in "Cad-dyshack." He's going to blow everything up to track these beavers down.

They just played golf. He thinks they're waging a war against him. He doesn't leave his property very much. Do players have to like a coach to win? No. I don't believe that's a necessity.

I think respect and trust is a factor. Like, I don't think that has to be a priority. What upgrades and needs do you feel you had to address this off-season through free agency and the draft? We wanted to upgrade our safety position and we've added Mark Roman, so that's been an upgraded position. One of our key signings, he never made it to free agency, but was getting Grady Jackson back. If we had not been able to sign him and we lost him, we would have a lot different needs at this time.

Hopefully, James Lee will also add to that mix. You're really counting on Lee a lot, aren't you? With Gilbert (Brown) gone and Rod Walker gone, we're going to need him. Have you been pleased with the off-season signings? I've been very pleased with the off-season signings because we didn't really lose anybody. Chad Clifton's coming back. We're opening up (on Sept.

13) at Carolina and I wouldn't want to play with a rookie or a player of less than Chad's ability. I feel comfortable with our team. In this day and age if you keep your team together, you'll get better. How it will translate into wins and losses, I can't say. There's a lot of familiarity, guys know each other and they know what each other is doing.

I'm satisfied. If you do a great job in the draft and sign your own guys and find free agents that can fit with your guys, you should do well. What are the chances that Joe Johnson and Jamal Reynolds will be back next season? (Long pause) I don't want to make that decision today. When will you make that decision? Before the season. What are your expectations for Nick Barnett next year? I just think he's going to have a great season next year.

I really have high expectations. Coming off his rookie season where he played almost every play, I really expect him to make another jump. The guy is SCHEELS PAYS GUNS and COLLECTIONS Bring Them In for On The Spot Appraisal of: New Utad Guna Antiqua Guna Gun Collection or Ettat Liquidation Top Dollar or Trade-in Valua Availabla Daily FOX RIVER MALL 920-830-2977 Use Our Convenient Outside Entrance offs, they told me there was a possibility he might be back if we were able to go to the Super Bowl. Certainly that wasn't the case. It's taken longer.

I think maybe his rehab would have been different. The thought of playing a game might have intensified his rehabilitation, so I don't know. He's about 85-90 percent. Do you want him back? Yes. Did safety affect the way you used Darren Sharper last year? It didn't affect us that much in how we played him.

There are certain things we like Sharper to do. Sharper's abilities, we try to highlight those, try to get him to blitz and try to get him to cover certain players. I think you always want to get someone like Sharper lined up on their better guy. What's the status of James Lee and Carl Ford? They're clear and ready to go. James Lee, I'm really proud of him.

He's been there seven days a week. Well, I don't know about seven, but he's been there every day. (Trainer) Barry (Rubin) says he's done a phenomenal job so I'm excited about him. He's about 323 (pounds), I think, five over, which I think will be easy to get off once we get into it this offseason. He's done a good job.

Carl Ford has also done a good job. He will also take some snaps as a punt returner. He's already done that. He's been working on the Jugs machine this off-season. He's very confident he can do it.

I believe he has put on some weight. Not a lot. He might have put on five pounds, but he's increased his strength considerably. You've signed three punters, including an Australian kid, Nathan Chapman. What's your impression of them? (Chapman) is an interesting young man.

We had businessmen from Australia who are in football over there come over and visit our franchise. Before we left we talked to them about possibly keeping an eye over there for any great kickers. Obviously, (Darren) Bennett from San Diego now with Minnesota is one of the best punters in the league, so we asked them to keep an eye on anybody they could recommend. This young man was really one they recommended. They sent us the tape.

We watched the tape, and it was very impressive. He did a nice job. I had dinner with him last week before I left. He worked out on Friday. He played Aus- tralian Football.

He still has a ways to go as far as development as a player. He's (28) years old, but his wife and child flew over here and he's hoping to make the team. It's a great story. He sent out tapes to different teams in the league and has always thought he could punt over here. It's a neat story.

Dreamed of playing in the National Football League. Is there an increased need to win while Favre is still playing? There's no rebuilding in Green Bay. If you're rebuilding, you're a new coach. So every year is exactly the same. The intensity to win this year is no This Adult Toys GREEN BAY 405-9418 i.

1845 Velp Avenue (Suites Open I0am-9pm Mon-Sat; Sun Nootv6pm FromD-1 away. With the agent and the money, the whole thing has to align right and when you're dealing with as many parties as we're dealing with, that's not al- ways easy. What is the status of the Couch trade? Nothing has happened. There's a possibility. We're still talking about it.

What is the likelihood of a deal? I really can't (say). I wouldn't say anything unless there was something I could sink my teeth into and there isn't anything yet. Is it cap, compensation, what? It's a combination. It's value, the actual value of the player, the salary cap and compensation. It's those three Did Cleveland ask you for a second-round pick? No, we haven't gotten that far yet.

We're going to work on that today, tomorrow and the next day. Once we get back to our office and they get back to theirs, we'll talk about it further. Would you wait until June when he's cut? That's a possibility. What has been your impression of some of the college quarterbacks? (Miami of Ohio's Ben) Roethlisberger, the other day had an excellent workout, very accurate. Threw very well on the run, which is intriguing because we do a fair amount of throws outside the pocket.

That part of what he did was exceptional. He's very accurate (and has a) strong arm outside the pocket. He has good presence, great height. I think he's a very good competitor. He's a fairly accurate quarterback.

He's a junior coming out so he doesn't have all the experience you like, but he's gained quite a bit of experience there. He's played in a good system. Did a lot of shotgun, which concerns you a little bit. But he's done a lot of the throws we do. With (Tulane QB J.P.) Losman, the ball comes out of his hand very quickly.

He's very athletic. Some people have compared Losman to Favre. Is that accurate? Really? I have talked to him. I don't know. He's competitive.

He's a blue-collar quarterback if that's the comparison you want to make, where he comes from. He's more a city kid than a country club kid. I guess I didn't make the (connection). He's from California and Brett's from Mississippi. Is Mark Roman an upgrade at safety? He'll certainly be in the mix.

He really was one of the early guys that we targeted in free agency. I really like him as a person. He's up there now working with our coaches trying to get caught up. I think he'll help us. Will Antuan Edwards be back and is he healthy? He's about 85 percent.

It was a pretty severe strain of the hamstring. When I put him down at the end of the season as we were preparing for the play NY KM vl 'Lingerie Lotion APPLETON 731-3252 tw w.v-nlfcfpe Ave. Marketplace square Open 10am-9pm Mon-Sat; Sun Noon-tfpm i Special (Gbaja-Biamila), but I think Cletidus played too many plays last season. I'd like to give him more rest so he can do better on third downs. I think if we had another pass rusher it would help us.

How's Bryant Westbrook doing? I've always had a soft spot for Bryant. Once you have that Achilles' surgery, there's a one in a million chance of it happening again. He's always very confident when I talk to him on the phone. He really loves playing. I think the big question is how far has he healed? What do you expect to see from Eric Crouch? He is athletic and he was confused.

Is he a quarterback, is he not a quarterback? Now, he'll come to minicamp knowing he's a safety. We'll see what he can do. He's been working out in Green Bay. He'll return punts, too." Dylan B. Tomlinson can be reached at 920-965-5429 or by e-mail at dtomlinsonpostcrescent.com.

9 tremendously competitive. I think he's going to become a leader on the field. What are your impressions of the linebackers as a group? That group made a lot of progress last year. I think that group as a whole is going to make a jump. I'm very excited about that group.

I think these guys will be the strength of our defense. Are there defensive players out there, who if you add to your team they automatically make you a much better team? Sure, you're talking about Reggie White-type players. There are players like that. There are fewer it seems, but -obviously we're always looking for players like that. Is there one area that you feel if you improved upon, it would help you immensely entering next season? I'd like to get another pass rusher.

I thought Grady gave us a little bit of that. We had disruption from Larry Smith at times. We improved our pass rush over the course of the season. I think if we're able to rest Cletidus Hunt, he'll be a better pass rusher. Everybody always talks about resting Kabeer VP 0 LEAGUE OPENINGS Men: Monday AM Tuesday Wednesday PM Ladies: Monday Tuesday PM Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday AM Couples: Monday PM Thursday afternoon eo Friday PM Call for information about a specific league hi 111111 VTi) 1 vii DAYS TIL MUSKY Time to Gear Up Baits: Over B5Q Types Colors of baits In stock Including the hard to find stuff Rods: St.

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