It's time to question just what offensive coordinator Tom Walsh is doing with this offense, and before it's too late.
NFL.com wire reports
MINNEAPOLIS (Aug. 14, 2006) -- Randy Moss wanted so badly to make a triumphant return to Minnesota.
He wanted to put on a show for the fans who supported him so steadfastly during his seven years here, and greeted him so warmly Monday in his first game at the Metrodome since the Vikings traded him to Oakland before last season.
Instead, Moss endured a frustrating night and voiced his displeasure with both coach Art Shell for the way he benched the receiver and the Vikings organization that shipped him away.
Moss had one catch for 16 yards and Aaron Brooks looked ragged again in the Raiders' 16-13 preseason victory.
"I just wanted to come in and see the fans and give them something really to scream about because I've had my fun here in this Metrodome and they've had theirs, too," Moss said. "That's one thing I really just wanted to come back and just give back to the fans. The organization? To hell with them."
Moss, who lit up the Metrodome in the first seven years of his career, started the night with a feet-stomping tantrum after Brooks didn't see him wide open in the end zone. He said he was angry because Brooks got flushed to the right while Moss was on the left and didn't fault the quarterback for not getting him the ball.
After making his only catch against second-team cornerback Dovonte Edwards in the second quarter, Moss was pulled. Moss stormed off the field and threw his helmet in disgust, stewing on the bench for the rest of the game.
"I was just more ticked because I've never in my career been taken out of a game, preseason, during a drive," Moss said with a puzzled tone. "It's funny to me. I don't call the shots. I guess I just go back to the drawing board."
That's a good plan for the entire Raiders offense.
Brooks finished 1-for-6 for 16 yards and was sacked twice by the new-look defense, which held the Raiders to no first downs and just 15 yards in one quarter of work.
Brad Childress made his debut as Vikings coach, and the West Coast offense he brought from Philadelphia is the antithesis of what Minnesota fans saw when Moss was in purple. Those teams lived off the big play, while the new Vikings will rely on short passes and a ball-control running game.
Brad Johnson was 5-of-6 for 32 yards for the Vikings, who scored their only TD in the first quarter on new fullback Tony Richardson's 3-yard run. Ryan Longwell added two field goals, but missed a 55-yarder that would have tied it in the fourth period.
Fourth-string quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan drove the Vikings to the Oakland 22 in the closing seconds and Childress elected to go for the win. Hiram Eugene intercepted O'Sullivan's desperation heave into the end zone to clinch Oakland's victory.
"I've gotten nervous before every game I've ever coached, and this was no different," said Childress, who has never been a head coach at any level. "It's nice to look out at that panorama, but you have to get right back on task."
The night was all about Moss, who made the Vikings one of the most dangerous offensive teams from the minute he arrived in 1998. Those Vikings were defined by the deep pass to Moss, which helped them reach an unprecedented level of popularity in the state.
His tenure was hardly perfect. He left the field with 2 seconds left in a regular-season loss to Washington two years ago; got in a minor scrape with a traffic enforcement officer in 2002; and verbally abused corporate sponsors on a team bus in 2001.
Not to mention his infamous "I play when I want to play" comment.
Nevertheless, plenty of fans wore his purple No. 84 jersey on Monday night, and still more donned his black No. 18.
"It makes me feel good to know that I'm still loved here, no matter what the bad blood that kind of built when I left," Moss said. "I think that they, the people in the stands with the 84s on and whatnot, I think they understand now that I'm a Raider and there's no coming back, and I don't really want to come back."
New Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin brought his version of the cover-2 defense from Tampa Bay, a scheme specifically geared toward stopping Moss' specialty, the big play.
Brooks, still looking uncomfortable in silver and black, took one shot downfield to Moss in the first quarter, but Moss caught the ball out of bounds.
Signed as a free agent from New Orleans, Brooks is just 2-for-9 for 28 yards, one TD and one interception in Oakland's first two preseason games.
"Obviously we'd like to have some more productivity out on the field, but it's still preseason, and it's a new system for pretty much all of us," Brooks said. "It's going to take time. I have patience."
Sebastian Janikowski's three field goals, including a 55-yarder in the first quarter, helped the Raiders overcome nine penalties.
The Raiders finally got into the end zone midway through the second quarter in Moss-like fashion. Andrew Walter hooked up with Johnnie Morant on a 67-yard touchdown pass for a 13-7 lead. Walter (10-for-19 for 148 yards and two interceptions) hit Morant in stride with a perfect pass down the left sideline.
Notes: Morant had five catches for 108 yards and the touchdown. ... Raiders WR Jerry Porter, who missed the opener with a calf injury, came out for warmups, but didn't feel ready to go.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Cincinnati Bengals Top Wash Redskins 19-3; Clinton Portis Hurt - NFL.com
And to add insult to injury, the Bengals used a flea-flicker in preseason.
Bengals stop Redskins; Portis injured
NFL.com wire reports
CINCINNATI (Aug. 13, 2006) -- Clinton Portis didn't even want to be on the field for the first preseason game. Now, the dependable running back isn't sure if he can be on the field when it counts.
The Washington Redskins' revamped offense took a significant jolt Sunday night when Portis partially dislocated his left shoulder during a 19-3 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, leaving him sidelined indefinitely.
"Right now, it's tough to say," coach Joe Gibbs said. "Obviously, it's going to be a while."
Portis ran for a club-record 1,516 yards last season, when Washington made the playoffs as a wild-card team, and was counted on to steady an offense retooled by assistant coach Al Saunders in the offseason.
Instead, Washington is wondering how long it will be without its best running back -- something Portis can't comprehend.
Portis opened the game with an 8-yard carry, then blocked for Mark Brunell's passes. When Brunell's sixth throw was intercepted by cornerback Keiwan Ratliff, Portis ran him down and reached to make the tackle.
His left arm was extended when he hit Ratliff, momentarily knocking the bone part of the way out of the shoulder socket. An MRI confirmed the injury.
"After that 8-yard run, I was like, 'Get me out of that game,"' Portis said. "That's what I was thinking. It's football. It can happen to anyone. It happened to me."
Standard treatment involves rest and strengthening exercises. Portis had the left arm in a blue sling after the game, when he lobbied for regulars to play less in the preseason.
"For whoever's watching: Let's get rid of some of these games," Portis said. "Four games is ridiculous. Then you play a 16-game season and the playoffs behind that."
Gibbs planned to keep Portis and his other starters in the game for only a short time.
"We wanted to have one good drive," Gibbs said. "We didn't want him to carry the ball more than one or two times."
Mark Brunell threw an interception while under pressure. Clinton Portis was injured making the tackle on the return.
Without Portis, the running game will depend upon backup Ladell Betts, who ran for 338 yards last season and missed four games because of a knee injury.
"Who knows what it is?" Portis said of his injury. "Even if it's not serious, to be nicked up for the first week of the season ..."
For Cincinnati, the opener was a chance to gauge what the offense will look like if Carson Palmer isn't ready to start the season. Palmer stood on the sideline in a white Bengals T-shirt and gray sweat pants, watching newcomer Anthony Wright make a lackluster debut.
The Bengals failed to get a first down on their first three series behind Wright, a free-agent quarterback signed less than four months ago. He was sacked twice and looked indecisive in those three drives.
He finally got going with the help of a flea-flicker -- a trick play seldom used in preseason -- that surprised the Redskins. T.J. Houshmandzadeh was unguarded downfield for a 52-yard catch, setting up Wright's 12-yard touchdown pass to Chris Henry.
"I think overall it was a good start, for the first time," Wright said. "There's a lot of complications to this offense."
Wright was 9-of-16 in the first half for 101 yards, more than half of them on the one trick play. Doug Johnson went 11-of-14 for 128 yards with a touchdown and three sacks in the second half, when both teams played their backups.
Palmer tore ligaments in his left knee during a playoff loss to Pittsburgh in January and had reconstructive surgery. He's not expected to play until at least the third preseason game, leaving his status unclear.
Bengals Pro Bowl receiver Chad Johnson showed up with a new look -- his mohawk was dyed blond -- but didn't catch a pass in limited action. Johnson had shaved his head for games in the past.
Receiver Chris Henry, one of six Bengals either arrested or suspended in recent months, had six catches for 61 yards. Henry is scheduled to go on trial on a gun charge in Florida later this month.
Brunell played only two series, going 4-of-9 for 66 yards with the interception by Ratliff that was Portis' final play. Backup Todd Collins finished the first half, going 6-of-13 for 68 yards with an interception. Collins also was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety.
Bengals stop Redskins; Portis injured
NFL.com wire reports
CINCINNATI (Aug. 13, 2006) -- Clinton Portis didn't even want to be on the field for the first preseason game. Now, the dependable running back isn't sure if he can be on the field when it counts.
The Washington Redskins' revamped offense took a significant jolt Sunday night when Portis partially dislocated his left shoulder during a 19-3 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, leaving him sidelined indefinitely.
"Right now, it's tough to say," coach Joe Gibbs said. "Obviously, it's going to be a while."
Portis ran for a club-record 1,516 yards last season, when Washington made the playoffs as a wild-card team, and was counted on to steady an offense retooled by assistant coach Al Saunders in the offseason.
Instead, Washington is wondering how long it will be without its best running back -- something Portis can't comprehend.
Portis opened the game with an 8-yard carry, then blocked for Mark Brunell's passes. When Brunell's sixth throw was intercepted by cornerback Keiwan Ratliff, Portis ran him down and reached to make the tackle.
His left arm was extended when he hit Ratliff, momentarily knocking the bone part of the way out of the shoulder socket. An MRI confirmed the injury.
"After that 8-yard run, I was like, 'Get me out of that game,"' Portis said. "That's what I was thinking. It's football. It can happen to anyone. It happened to me."
Standard treatment involves rest and strengthening exercises. Portis had the left arm in a blue sling after the game, when he lobbied for regulars to play less in the preseason.
"For whoever's watching: Let's get rid of some of these games," Portis said. "Four games is ridiculous. Then you play a 16-game season and the playoffs behind that."
Gibbs planned to keep Portis and his other starters in the game for only a short time.
"We wanted to have one good drive," Gibbs said. "We didn't want him to carry the ball more than one or two times."
Mark Brunell threw an interception while under pressure. Clinton Portis was injured making the tackle on the return.
Without Portis, the running game will depend upon backup Ladell Betts, who ran for 338 yards last season and missed four games because of a knee injury.
"Who knows what it is?" Portis said of his injury. "Even if it's not serious, to be nicked up for the first week of the season ..."
For Cincinnati, the opener was a chance to gauge what the offense will look like if Carson Palmer isn't ready to start the season. Palmer stood on the sideline in a white Bengals T-shirt and gray sweat pants, watching newcomer Anthony Wright make a lackluster debut.
The Bengals failed to get a first down on their first three series behind Wright, a free-agent quarterback signed less than four months ago. He was sacked twice and looked indecisive in those three drives.
He finally got going with the help of a flea-flicker -- a trick play seldom used in preseason -- that surprised the Redskins. T.J. Houshmandzadeh was unguarded downfield for a 52-yard catch, setting up Wright's 12-yard touchdown pass to Chris Henry.
"I think overall it was a good start, for the first time," Wright said. "There's a lot of complications to this offense."
Wright was 9-of-16 in the first half for 101 yards, more than half of them on the one trick play. Doug Johnson went 11-of-14 for 128 yards with a touchdown and three sacks in the second half, when both teams played their backups.
Palmer tore ligaments in his left knee during a playoff loss to Pittsburgh in January and had reconstructive surgery. He's not expected to play until at least the third preseason game, leaving his status unclear.
Bengals Pro Bowl receiver Chad Johnson showed up with a new look -- his mohawk was dyed blond -- but didn't catch a pass in limited action. Johnson had shaved his head for games in the past.
Receiver Chris Henry, one of six Bengals either arrested or suspended in recent months, had six catches for 61 yards. Henry is scheduled to go on trial on a gun charge in Florida later this month.
Brunell played only two series, going 4-of-9 for 66 yards with the interception by Ratliff that was Portis' final play. Backup Todd Collins finished the first half, going 6-of-13 for 68 yards with an interception. Collins also was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety.
Matt Leinart Demands Arizona Cardinals Hold Training Camp At His House - Onion Sports
PHOENIX—Arizona Cardinals first-round draft pick quarterback Matt Leinart has stunned the team by not only holding out on signing his rookie contract but demanding that training camp be moved to the more convenient location of his house.
"I don't see why we have to go to all the way up to Flagstaff for camp. What do we need? A pool? Because I've got a pool. And some weights, and a 72-inch plasma television for, like, film study," the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback told coach Dennis Green Wednesday.
"And, oh, I just got this huge dining-room table that'd be great for drawing up plays, or even just, you know, chowing down." Football experts consider it unlikely that Cardinals management will accommodate Leinart, especially after strongly considering but ultimately rejecting his previous suggestion that the team play all its home games in Los Angeles.
Reggie Bush' 44-Yard Run - Video
In this video, New Orleans Saints Running Back Reggie Bush shows the speed that made him Heisman Trophy Winner and the second pick in the first round of the NFL Draft, during his first preseason game against the Tennessee Titans.
Raiders Tyler Brayton Moved To Defensive End - Oakland Tribune
Coach Art Shell reshapes the Oakland Defense.
Raiders LB experiments have mixed results
Irons finds himself a new home, while Brayton returns to defensive end spot
By Bill Soliday, STAFF WRITER - Oakland Tribune
NAPA — When last visited, Oakland Raiders defensive ends Tyler Brayton and Grant Irons were being reinvented into linebackers — one willingly, one if not unwillingly, with at least a degree of skepticism.
One switch worked. One didn't, and change is in effect.
Brayton is back at defensive end, the position at which he was drafted in the first round in 2003. Irons, an undrafted rookie that same year, is still plying his trade as a linebacker.
Both are delighted. And, in Brayton's case, there is no longer need for defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to tell his player to keep his thoughts to himself and just play ball.
"Sometimes you have certain needs, and people have to adapt to those needs," Ryan said by way of explaining originally switching Brayton.
There has been speculation that the move took the heart out of Brayton, who was drafted largely because of his nonstop motor. Ryan would disagree.
"Tyler has always been a team player," he said. "Right now, he is working down at defensive end, and obviously that's where we think it's best for the team.
"With him, you always get hard work, and you always get 100 percent. That's all you can ask from a guy."
Irons had an impressive debut in last weekend's exhibition opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, living up to the nickname coaches and teammates have bestowed upon him — "Game Ready."
He administered a sack, forcing Jeff Garcia to fumble and threw running back Bruce Perry for a 5-yard loss.
"This is my fifth year in the NFL," Irons said, explaining that his goal is to play with what he calls aggressivefrom Sports 1
passion. "Each and every year there is more to learn, and I want to improve and get better. It's all been a learning experience and a great journey."
"He's been doing a great job," Ryan said. "He has really improved. He's another smart guy. He has great talent. His abilities really help us on defense. He can make plays. We like those kinds of guys."
There wasn't much to Brayton's first game back at end. He had one tackle, and it would be a stretch to say the starting line distinguished itself.
However, if happiness is the measure of a man's potential, Brayton's future looks bright indeed.
It was during the off-season that Brayton learned he was being reinstalled at end.
"It was still on the fence going into the off-season," he said. "I just kind of took it upon myself. I got in the weight room ... put on a few pounds. I just put it in my mind that's where I was going to be, and it turned out that's where coaches told me to be. Once I found that out, I knew I was going in the right direction."
Coach Art Shell broke the news to Brayton.
"I said 'Tyler, you're a defensive end,'" Shell recounted. "He said, 'Thanks a lot, coach. I really appreciate it. I'll show you what I can do from that position.'"
For the most part, Brayton toed the company line when he had been asked to play in the up position. However, on occasion he acknowledged the strangeness of it all.
"I had played my entire career with my hand on the ground," he said.
However, if he was fighting it, he kept it to himself.
"It was one of those deals where I'm going to do whatever they ask me to do the best I can," he said. "You can't sit there and complain about anything. My (approach) was it wasn't a position, it was a disposition. So, outside linebacker, defensive end — there wasn't a ton of difference. But it's definitely a lot more comfortable being a defensive end."
Brayton refuses to say the experiment was a total loss.
"Playing outside linebacker has given me a whole new perspective," he said. "You get to see the whole field. You know what everybody does on the defense. You understand what we're trying to accomplish with every blitz and every movement, in every defense.
"Sometimes, when you play defensive line, you get locked in and think 'I need to be here or here,' and that's it. You don't really understand why. Understanding helps you get the job done that much better.
"I don't think it was a waste at all."
Brayton wants to play at 270 pounds. Although he was being fashioned as a linebacker carrying 10 fewer pounds, the team believes he is stout enough to play on goal-line situations.
"I think 270 is an ideal weight for me," he said. 'It's just a matter of getting used to getting my pads down again, getting underneath blockers."
Getting used to being at home.
Raiders LB experiments have mixed results
Irons finds himself a new home, while Brayton returns to defensive end spot
By Bill Soliday, STAFF WRITER - Oakland Tribune
NAPA — When last visited, Oakland Raiders defensive ends Tyler Brayton and Grant Irons were being reinvented into linebackers — one willingly, one if not unwillingly, with at least a degree of skepticism.
One switch worked. One didn't, and change is in effect.
Brayton is back at defensive end, the position at which he was drafted in the first round in 2003. Irons, an undrafted rookie that same year, is still plying his trade as a linebacker.
Both are delighted. And, in Brayton's case, there is no longer need for defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to tell his player to keep his thoughts to himself and just play ball.
"Sometimes you have certain needs, and people have to adapt to those needs," Ryan said by way of explaining originally switching Brayton.
There has been speculation that the move took the heart out of Brayton, who was drafted largely because of his nonstop motor. Ryan would disagree.
"Tyler has always been a team player," he said. "Right now, he is working down at defensive end, and obviously that's where we think it's best for the team.
"With him, you always get hard work, and you always get 100 percent. That's all you can ask from a guy."
Irons had an impressive debut in last weekend's exhibition opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, living up to the nickname coaches and teammates have bestowed upon him — "Game Ready."
He administered a sack, forcing Jeff Garcia to fumble and threw running back Bruce Perry for a 5-yard loss.
"This is my fifth year in the NFL," Irons said, explaining that his goal is to play with what he calls aggressivefrom Sports 1
passion. "Each and every year there is more to learn, and I want to improve and get better. It's all been a learning experience and a great journey."
"He's been doing a great job," Ryan said. "He has really improved. He's another smart guy. He has great talent. His abilities really help us on defense. He can make plays. We like those kinds of guys."
There wasn't much to Brayton's first game back at end. He had one tackle, and it would be a stretch to say the starting line distinguished itself.
However, if happiness is the measure of a man's potential, Brayton's future looks bright indeed.
It was during the off-season that Brayton learned he was being reinstalled at end.
"It was still on the fence going into the off-season," he said. "I just kind of took it upon myself. I got in the weight room ... put on a few pounds. I just put it in my mind that's where I was going to be, and it turned out that's where coaches told me to be. Once I found that out, I knew I was going in the right direction."
Coach Art Shell broke the news to Brayton.
"I said 'Tyler, you're a defensive end,'" Shell recounted. "He said, 'Thanks a lot, coach. I really appreciate it. I'll show you what I can do from that position.'"
For the most part, Brayton toed the company line when he had been asked to play in the up position. However, on occasion he acknowledged the strangeness of it all.
"I had played my entire career with my hand on the ground," he said.
However, if he was fighting it, he kept it to himself.
"It was one of those deals where I'm going to do whatever they ask me to do the best I can," he said. "You can't sit there and complain about anything. My (approach) was it wasn't a position, it was a disposition. So, outside linebacker, defensive end — there wasn't a ton of difference. But it's definitely a lot more comfortable being a defensive end."
Brayton refuses to say the experiment was a total loss.
"Playing outside linebacker has given me a whole new perspective," he said. "You get to see the whole field. You know what everybody does on the defense. You understand what we're trying to accomplish with every blitz and every movement, in every defense.
"Sometimes, when you play defensive line, you get locked in and think 'I need to be here or here,' and that's it. You don't really understand why. Understanding helps you get the job done that much better.
"I don't think it was a waste at all."
Brayton wants to play at 270 pounds. Although he was being fashioned as a linebacker carrying 10 fewer pounds, the team believes he is stout enough to play on goal-line situations.
"I think 270 is an ideal weight for me," he said. 'It's just a matter of getting used to getting my pads down again, getting underneath blockers."
Getting used to being at home.
New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick's Concerned About Defense and "Reaction Plays"
Here's what may be a chnk in the armor of the New England Patriots defense: how they play against what Heach Coach Bill Belichick calls "reaction plays" like screens, boolegs, and draws.
The Coach expressed this concern in the Saturday press conference after the game against the Falcons.
As bootleg passes are becoming the norm in NFL 2006, the Patriots defense is going to have a hard time this year if they don't correct that problem.
But considering they play a 3-4, those plays will be a constant thorn in the side of the New England Defense.
Vikings Coach Brad Childress Puts Clamps On Hazing Of Rookies - ESPN
MANKATO, Minn. -- Fred Smoot couldn't wait to get rookie cornerback Cedric Griffin to training camp.
Entering his sixth NFL season, Smoot has become an expert in the time-honored tradition of rookie hazing.
"When we first got here, Smoot and some of those guys were talking about shaving my eyebrows off, cutting my dreadlocks, shaving people's legs, pouring water on me when I go to sleep," said Griffin, a second-round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings.
There was a time when hazing was as much a part of Vikings training camp as two-a-days in the August heat. But new coach Brad Childress put a stop to that this year, issuing a no-hazing edict that has made life easier for his first-year players.
"Awwww, never!" Smoot recalled saying when he first heard about the rule. "But he did it. He really wanted us to focus on winning, and I respect that. I just wish he was my coach my rookie year."
Smoot was drafted by Washington in 2001, coming to a team loaded with veterans like Bruce Smith and Darrell Green who knew how to make a rookie's life miserable.
"My first practice they made me tackle everybody, then they taped me to the goal post and poured some water on me and left me there for about two hours," Smoot said. "Then ... I make it to my room and my mattress was thrown out the window. So I had to sleep with no mattress and no alarm clock. They had stole my TV and my alarm clock out of my room for like four or five days."
Ever since that tough initiation, Smoot has relished returning the favor.
Not under Childress's watch. The no-nonsense coach sees hazing not as harmless fun, but as a potentially divisive force.
"You better be inclusive," Childress told his players. "You better pull people into the pile, because if that guy can help you win and you're a seven-year player and you think that doing something to him or making him get up and sing or alienating him is going to help you, no, it's not."
Childress isn't the only one to feel that way. Across the nation, stories of hazing incidents gone wrong have grabbed headlines, most notably at the college level.
In June, Northwestern's women's soccer coach resigned and several players were suspended after photographs appeared on a Web site allegedly showing members of the team clad only in T-shirts and underwear, some blindfolded and others with their hands tied behind their back.
"Hazing is something that happened in high school, it happened in college," said Chad Greenway, the Vikings' first-round pick. "I was guessing something would happen here, but Coach Childress has been strong in that we won't have any of that and it's nice to hear as a rookie."
It's yet another stark contrast between Childress and his predecessor, Mike Tice, who in some respects was more like a bullying older brother to his players than a coach.
Under Tice, rookies had to stand up during lunch and sing their college fight song and put on a "talent show" later in camp.
Most of it was the kind of good-natured fun found at many NFL stops, including when defensive end Erasmus James had his clothes stolen out of his locker, dipped in cold water and thrown outside on a frigid December afternoon to freeze solid.
But the prank infuriated James, which is just what Childress is hoping to avoid.
"We're not a team that hazes because, hey, we want all hands on deck," Childress said. "If there's four [rookies] who can contribute, or three, we want them there if they can help us win."
Offensive lineman Chris Liwienski said his fellow veterans initially were disappointed with the policy, but they have been understanding.
"The league is competitive, and if we need rookies to step in and make plays for us then we need to start embracing them as teammates as early as we can and not alienate them," said Liwienski, who was taped to the goal post and covered in shaving cream as a rookie.
It's just one less thing to worry about for Griffin. While rookies across the league lie awake at night wondering when the vets are coming for them, Griffin dozes off peacefully.
"I'm happy about the situation," the former Texas Longhorn said. "I can actually go to sleep at night without being afraid about who is coming to get me."
Entering his sixth NFL season, Smoot has become an expert in the time-honored tradition of rookie hazing.
"When we first got here, Smoot and some of those guys were talking about shaving my eyebrows off, cutting my dreadlocks, shaving people's legs, pouring water on me when I go to sleep," said Griffin, a second-round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings.
There was a time when hazing was as much a part of Vikings training camp as two-a-days in the August heat. But new coach Brad Childress put a stop to that this year, issuing a no-hazing edict that has made life easier for his first-year players.
"Awwww, never!" Smoot recalled saying when he first heard about the rule. "But he did it. He really wanted us to focus on winning, and I respect that. I just wish he was my coach my rookie year."
Smoot was drafted by Washington in 2001, coming to a team loaded with veterans like Bruce Smith and Darrell Green who knew how to make a rookie's life miserable.
"My first practice they made me tackle everybody, then they taped me to the goal post and poured some water on me and left me there for about two hours," Smoot said. "Then ... I make it to my room and my mattress was thrown out the window. So I had to sleep with no mattress and no alarm clock. They had stole my TV and my alarm clock out of my room for like four or five days."
Ever since that tough initiation, Smoot has relished returning the favor.
Not under Childress's watch. The no-nonsense coach sees hazing not as harmless fun, but as a potentially divisive force.
"You better be inclusive," Childress told his players. "You better pull people into the pile, because if that guy can help you win and you're a seven-year player and you think that doing something to him or making him get up and sing or alienating him is going to help you, no, it's not."
Childress isn't the only one to feel that way. Across the nation, stories of hazing incidents gone wrong have grabbed headlines, most notably at the college level.
In June, Northwestern's women's soccer coach resigned and several players were suspended after photographs appeared on a Web site allegedly showing members of the team clad only in T-shirts and underwear, some blindfolded and others with their hands tied behind their back.
"Hazing is something that happened in high school, it happened in college," said Chad Greenway, the Vikings' first-round pick. "I was guessing something would happen here, but Coach Childress has been strong in that we won't have any of that and it's nice to hear as a rookie."
It's yet another stark contrast between Childress and his predecessor, Mike Tice, who in some respects was more like a bullying older brother to his players than a coach.
Under Tice, rookies had to stand up during lunch and sing their college fight song and put on a "talent show" later in camp.
Most of it was the kind of good-natured fun found at many NFL stops, including when defensive end Erasmus James had his clothes stolen out of his locker, dipped in cold water and thrown outside on a frigid December afternoon to freeze solid.
But the prank infuriated James, which is just what Childress is hoping to avoid.
"We're not a team that hazes because, hey, we want all hands on deck," Childress said. "If there's four [rookies] who can contribute, or three, we want them there if they can help us win."
Offensive lineman Chris Liwienski said his fellow veterans initially were disappointed with the policy, but they have been understanding.
"The league is competitive, and if we need rookies to step in and make plays for us then we need to start embracing them as teammates as early as we can and not alienate them," said Liwienski, who was taped to the goal post and covered in shaving cream as a rookie.
It's just one less thing to worry about for Griffin. While rookies across the league lie awake at night wondering when the vets are coming for them, Griffin dozes off peacefully.
"I'm happy about the situation," the former Texas Longhorn said. "I can actually go to sleep at night without being afraid about who is coming to get me."
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