Here We Go Brownies...

Unfortunately for me and the rest of the Notre Dame community, there's nothing Irish pigskin related to look forward to (besides perhaps the open to student practice) until September 6th.

Fortunately for me and every NFL fan out there, next week starts the beginning of preseason football games. So while the Notre Dame athletes are busy going from class to practice to CJs to bed, my home Dawgs are hard at work running through plays and cranking out media material.

And, fortunately for our Quote of the Week segment, a few Notre Dame players happen to be in the lime light of the preseason media binoculars, so I can find a way to tie in the Brown and Orange with the Blue and Gold.

While most late round draft picks (let alone undrafted free agents) rarely experience any media coverage while trying to make the team, former Irish running back Travis Thomas is making his presence known enough in practice to merit his own write up on the front page of the Akron Beacon Journal sports section this morning.
Quinn hands off to Thomas during Two-A-Days

First impressions are everything, and there's little doubt that rookie running back Travis Thomas made a favorable one on Browns coach Romeo Crennel. Crennel recently singled out Thomas for praise, an enviable position just a week into training camp.

For all of you potential Notre Dame recruits reading this, Thomas credits playing for Charlie Weis as one of the reasons for his success:

Thomas said he feels comfortable in the Browns offense, primarily because Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis ran a pro-style attack.''I thought the offense was similar to what I came from in college, and also, it was a good opportunity, and it seemed to be a good fit for me,'' he said of signing as an undrafted free agent.

It's very encouraging to see that TT is doing so well in Cleveland. I have to admit that I was skeptical about him making the team when I saw that he was signed, and even if he does make the team now, it would be an even larger surprise if he sees time at running back. Thomas is currently sitting behind Jamal Lewis, Jason Wright, and Jerome Harrison, who have already proven to coaches and fans that they can be a dominant back, an above average backup, and a capable speedy 3rd down back, respectively. The most likely way for Thomas to make an impact this season is on special teams, where he will rely on the experienced he gained while playing linebacker for Notre Dame.

There have been mixed reviews about Quinn's performance in training camp, but I think it is more a result of high expectations and tough competition than a lack of talent. What I have been reading about this summer camp is night and day different than what I was reading last season, when the Browns were in a 2.5 man quarterback derby (Quinn only practiced about half of the camp due to a hold out). Now DA is showing off his strong arm with confidence and is looking primed to lead the team this season, and Quinn, while he has been praised for his accuracy in the short game and ability to read the defense, is still going through some issues that every young quarterback faces in the NFL. For one thing, Quinn has been allegedly having some trouble with overthrowing his receivers on deep balls (which I suppose is better than the alternative Pennington approach), but head coach Romeo Crennel doesn't see it as a problem, but as sign of growth:

"Last year, he would just take what the defense gave him. I think he has better command of the offense, and he's trying to anticipate when he can make a play down the field."

''I know that he works hard. Things are going to smooth out for him and things will be less erratic for him, so to speak. "

Good luck to both Thomas and Quinn as they prepare to face New York a week from today in the first preseason game. Go Cleveland! Beat Jets!

Quote of the Week

No, that's not a typo, the quote of the week is back. While the segment has been MIA for a long time, I found some time after packing/leaving school and starting my summer job to dig up a moderately respectable Notre Dame related quote: after the first few days of OTA's, the Browns team site gave a shoutout to undrafted free agent signee Travis Thomas.


"The team also added two rookie running backs following the draft this year in Notre Dame's Travis Thomas and Penn State's Austin Scott, who looked impressive in rookie minicamp."


This is coming from a team site that made 7th round draft pick Alex Hall seem like the next Julius Peppers, but it is always nice to hear that an Irish player is holding his own in the big leagues. If TT keeps up the good work, he might even get a chance to switch back to defense as one of the Browns' three remaining cornerbacks sustained a season ending knee injury in practice yesterday...


UHND.com dug up a screenshot of the top players on ND's roster for the upcoming NCAA 2009 video game, and as always, there a few major head scratchers. In the 2008 game, I was able to tear it up with DE #90 (who was black), and a speedy white runningback (#25) that led me to a national championship while winning the Heisman. This year's roster seems to be more of the same.
Sam, Mo, and Bruton seem like decently fair choices for the top three, but the players underneath are questionable to say the least. Paul Duncan and James Aldridge will both be fighting for playing time next season, and to be honest, I would be mildly surprised if either of them got more than 4 or 5 starts next year. And it is a crime to put Schwapp ahead of some other players on next season's roster; UHND put it well when they asked "Who does Schwapp know at EA sports?"


My last gripe about these rankings is Sam Young's break tackle. At only a measly 65, the EA game creators obviously never saw him returning punts in spring practice.

Go Irish!

Miscellaneous

Having three papers due in a span of five days somewhat impeded my desire to write anything for a few days, but now that classes are done for the semester, and before I work up the motivation to seriously lock into finals studying mode, I thought I'd take some time to share a few thoughts about the sports world.

• Congrats to the four Irishmen drafted last weekend. Now I have a reason to watch Eagles games other than being able to listen to my roommate belt out their fight song; Trevor Laws will be teaming up with Abiamiri on the defensive line, and it will be exciting to see the birds pair of second round draft picks develop into a brutal stopping force. Another ND pair was made when the Seahawks drafted John Carlson to block for newly acquired runningback Julius Jones; this should be fun to watch just because Jones will likely be the feature back instead of splitting carries while Carlson should be able to make some plays downfield. Zibby will fight for a job in the return game, but he and Sullivan will likely be watching from the sidelines and learn from the experienced veterans at their position.
  
• Also, congrats to the ND players that signed contracts after the draft. Brockington and Jansen signed with the Bills and Packers, respectively, and Travis Thomas signed with his former teammate Brady Quinn and the Cleveland Browns. With Lewis, Wright, and Harrison at runningback, TT will not likely see any carries soon, but his hard work ethic should allow him to compete for a special teams spot.




• In other Browns news, this weekend's rookie minicamp will feature the team's 5 draft picks, 15 signed free agents, and 54 walk ons; apparently, the Browns invited any eligible football player who went to school in Ohio. I know that you need bodies to have a practice, but it seems a little odd to send invites to everyone at Oberlin College.




• On the hardwood, Mike Brey named the first recipient of the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award last month. Besides earning the award, Brey also likely feels good about winning the battle over Purdue and Oklahoma State to secure Mississippi State transfer Ben Hansbrough. Psycho B will have to sit out a year, but the shooting guard brings depth and NCAA tourney experience that will help push Jackson and McAlarney in practice next season.

• In other roundball news, has anyone been watching the Cavs Wizards series? I'm not a huge NBA fan, but I can't help but wonder how the entire Wizards arena can boo LeBron every time he touches the ball; they even booed when he was helping Wizards player get up after they had been fouled. What is most surprising, perhaps, is that Papa Johns sponsored a 'Crybaby 23' shirt that was being displayed by several fans in last night's game. I doubt that the shirts will cause a very significant spike in D.C. sales, but I would be surprised if it didn't have a negative effect in the Cleveland area. I guess dropping 27, 13, and 13 while blowing out a team at home in an elimination game is a pretty good way to get them to shut up with the stupid smack talk.

• Lastly, for those of you that don't already check out NDLNA on a regular basis, there is a great rant from the Rock Report that responds to a New York Times article that basically labels Notre Dame as a strong arming bully for refusing to play a true home and away series against Rutgers in the upcoming years. The Rock's post does a nice job of throwing cold water over the Times' argument, but if you have the time for it, I also recommend reading the comments at the bottom of the Rock's post as there is some great stuff there.

Off to studying... Go Irish!