(NFL) Week Two

Even if somewhat late, thanks to rea life work, here is the second part of the “Heels in the League” (NFL) for Week Two. Once again I will check out three games from this weekend and then give you the third part of this post in the late afternoon (or more probable as the Colts/Dolphins game is going on). But let’s get back to this edtion of “Heels in the League” (NFL) and check out the games…

First one with a touch of carolina blue is between the Oakland Raiders (-1) and the Kansas City Chiefs, played in front of 69,169 fans at Arrowhead Stadium. While the home team has no ex Tar Heel on their roster, the visiting Raiders do in th year vet line backer Greg Ellis. The ex Carolina LB has a heck of a game with five tackles (5 solos), two sacks (only 2 that the Raiders had in this game), two tackles for loss and a 3 QB hits. All that work paid off for Ellis and his team mates as Oakland beat Kansas City by a field goal, 13 to 10, and are now 1 and 1 on the season. Over at NFL Gridiron Gab Matt Loede says Winning Ugly – Yeah, the Raiders Do It and Don’t Mind.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

San Francisco 49ers

The next game with a touch of carolina blue is one on the west coast, where the Seattle Seahawks (-1.5) traveled down south to play against the San Francisco 49′ers at Candlestick Park in front of 69,732 fans. While the team from Washington state has no ex Tar Heels, the one from California has not just one, but two, ex UNC players on their roster. The first one is 2nd year defensive end Kentwan Balmer, who had four tackles (2 solos), and a tackle for loss. While the other, 11th year vet Dre’ Bly, playing corner back and registering one tackle (1 solo) and a pass deflected. In the end it was San Francisco winning the game, defeating Seattle by the final 23 to 10 and going 2 and 0 on the season. Tyler Hutson (NFL Gridiron Gab) says the following about the game: Gore Electric in 23-10 Win Over Seattle

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

St. Louis Rams

Last game on this post is one that has both rosters with ex Tar Heels. At FedEx Field, it was the St. Louis Rams (+9) versus the Washington Redskins, with the stadium holding 87,780 fans. For St. Louis, who has two ex on their team, it’s fifth year center Jason Brown, a corner stone for the Rams’ offensive line along with rookie wide out Brooks Foster, who is not listed on the depth chart for now and does not see any playing time in the game. On the other side it’s the oldest ex Heel in the NFL, long snapper Ethan Albright, who has been in the league for 15 years. When it was all said and done, in what you can not call a shoot out, it was Washington squeaking it out by 2 points, beating St. Louis by the final score of 9 to 7. At NFL Gridiron Gab the title of the recap by Matt Loede is Redskins Defense Does Enough to Hold Off the Rams in a 9-7 Win.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

(NFL) Week One

As I keep going in this edition of “Heels in the League” (NFL) I assure you that next week I will be taking the games and splitting them in posts in two days. That is so you do not have to get post after post after post about the ex Carolina players now in the National Football League. All I can do this week is to apologize and hopefully not bore you to death as I give you the third part of Week One. There should be one more, which I will do either later tonight (but more likely tomorrow morning). For now all I can do is to hope you enjoy this next post about the “Heels in the League” (NFL) for the opening week of play…

The first game has a touch of carolina on both squads with the Washington Redskins (-4) came north to take on divisional rivals the New York Giants. In what will be their last season there, the game was played in Giants Stadium in front of 78,206 fans. For the Redskins their ex Tar Heel on the roster is Ethan Albright, a 15 year veteran who does the long snaps for the Washington squad. On the other side, it’s rookie wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, who had two catches (18 yards) before coming out of the game hurt, while the other is Madison Hedgecock, who started for the G-Men at the fullback position but didn’t have any stats for the boxscore. In the end it was the home team taking this game as the Giants came away with a 23 to 17 victory in their first game of the season. At the NFL Gridiron Gab Jeremy Fuchs says Giants Kick Off Season Holding Off Washington 23-17.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

The next game that featured someone that once played at Kenan Stadium is in the game between the San Francisco 49ers (-1) and the Arizona Cardinals. The game was played at Univ. of Phoenix Stadium in 61,981 fans. The home squad doesn’t have any ex Tar Heels, but the visiting team does, not just one, but two of them and both playing on the defensive side of the ball. One is San Fran’s first rounder, defensive end Kentwan Balmer, who had one tackle (one solo) in the game. The other player is eleven year vet Dre Bly’, who plays corner and had a heck of a game with three tackles (3 solos & 1 for a loss) and with three pass deflected. Thanks to this defense the 49′ers beat the Cards by the final score of 20 to 16. Checking once again the great web site NFL Gridiron Gab, here is what the said about this game.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

Finally, the last game in this post that we talk about an ex Carolina player now in the National Football League is in the game between the St. Louis Rams (+6.5) and the Seattle Seahawks. This game was played at Qwest Field in front of 67,610 fans. The team that has ex Heels on it is St. Louis, who carries not just one, but two of them on their roster. Brooks Foster, a rookie wide out, did not touch any pass in this game, while Jason Brown, the first string center for the Rams, started and played well (from what I could see of the game). In the end it was not to be for the Rams, as Seattle shut out St. Louis by the score of 28 to nothing. Devon Heinen at NFL Gridiron Gab entitles his piece on this game Seahawks Open Mora Era w/ Impressive 28-0 Shutout of Rams, and you really can’t disagree with that!

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

Heels in the League (NFL)

With the National Football League opening up its season tonight it is time to check out how many ex Tar Heels will be playing in the NFL. From what I was able to gather (checking the rosters and the official web page of the Tar Heels) there are two dozens in all, of which twenty-three in rosters of 15 teams and one on the practice team of the Dallas Cowboys. That means that each week you can look forward to a very lenghty “Heels in the League” (NFL), and hopefully it will be filled with tidbits of what the ex Carolina players did along with many links to the games they were in. For now enjoy the list of the UNC players that now are at the next level, and with which team:

Garrett Reynolds, OT Atlanta

Julius Peppers, DE Carolina
Hilee Taylor, DE Carolina

Jesse Holley, WR Dallas (practice squad)
Gerald Sensabaugh, S Dallas

Vonnie Holliday, DE Denver
Richard Quinn, TE Denver

Jeff Saturday, C Indianapolis

Willie Parker, TB Pittsburgh
Jeff Reed, PK Pittsburgh
Greg Warren, DS Pittsburgh

Sam Aiken, WR New England
Brandon Tate, WR New England

Madison Hedgecock, FB NY Giants
Hakeem Nicks, WR NY Giants

Wallace Wright, WR NY Jets

Greg Ellis, LB Oakland

Kentwan Balmer, DT San Francisco
Dre’ Bly, CB San Francisco

Jason Brown, C St. Louis
Brooks Foster, WR St. Louis

Ryan Sims, DT Tampa Bay

Alge Crumpler, TE Tennessee
David Thornton, LB Tennessee

Ethan Albright, DS Washington