(NFL) Week Four - Part One

Like every Tuesday during the National Football League season it’s time to get going with the three/four part post about the ex Carolina players in the NFL, which I call “Heels in the League” (NFL). As I do all the time I divide this into many posts so that it is not overwhelming to read. Look for the second part of this post to be put on The Fifth Corner later today and the other two to be post tomorrow during the day. But for now enjoy this edition of “Heels in the League” (NFL) for the fourth week of playing…

First game with a touch of carolina blue is the one that has the Seattle Seahawks (+9.5) going east to take on the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium, in front of 66,112 fans. For the home team it’s ex Heel starting center Jeff Saturday, an eleven year veteran, who is the corner stone of the line that protects Peyton Manning. As far as the game is concerned Indy beat Seattle by the final score of 34 to 17. This puts the Colts at 4 and 0, while the Seahawks slide to 1 and 3. Over at the NFL Gridiron Gab Stephen Rhodes says Colts Successful Despite Absence Of Harrison. On the same site, they have Week Five’s Power Ranking, where they ranked the Colts second, behind the New Orleans Saints.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

The next game with some ex Tar Heels in it is the one between the New York Giants (-10) and the Kansas City Chiefs, played at Arrowhead Stadium in front of 69,238 fans. For the G Men there are two ex Heels on their roster, fullback Madison Hedgecock, a five year veteran who has the starting role at the position and had one catch for nine yards, plus rookie wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, who had one catch (3 ball thrown at him) for 54 yards and his first touchdown in the NFL. In the end it was New York winning the game by 11 points, defeating Kansas City 27 to 16. With the win the Giants still undefeated at 4 and 0, while the Chiefs are still winless at 0 and 4. Over at Giant Football Blog there is a small post about the road win. At the Giants Gab the title of the post says it all: Giants Beat Chiefs 27-16. And at the NFL Gridiron Gab, where they have Week Five’s Power Ranking, the Giants are ranked third on it.

Hakeem Nicks celebrates his 1st NFL touchdown (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

In the last game for this post it’s a game where both squads, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+6) and the Washington Redskins, have ex Carolina players on their rosters. Played at FedEx Field, in front of 86,412 fans, in all there are two ex players from Chapel Hill. For the visiting team it’s Ryan Sims, an eight veteran at the defensive tackle position, who had five tackles (4 solos) and a quarterback hit. While for the Redskins it’s their long snapper, fifteen year veteran Ethan Albright, playing on special teams. When it was all said and done it was Washington defeating Tampa Bay by a field goal, with the final score being 16 to 13. Washington goes back to .500 at 2 and 2, while Tampa Bay stays winless at 0 and 4. From the NFL Gridiron Gab, their thoughts are Campbell Rallies Redskins, Edge Winless Buccaneers 16-13, while at the Power Rankings Washington is 27th and Tampa Bay is 30th.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

(NFL) Week Three

Time for part two of the “Heels in the League” (NFL) post for Week Three. In this one I believe we won’t be as lucky, as all of the games featured will have an ex Carolina player on one team, and not both like the first post I did yesterday. Once again, I will do three games in this one and then finish the post up with another post later tonight (which should cover all of the games). But for now enjoy this edition of “Heels in the League” (NFL)…

First game on tap is the one that has the Washington Redskins (-1.5) going to Ford Field to take on the Detroit Lions in front of 46,896 fans. For the Lions there are no ex Tar Heels on the roster, while for the Redskins there is one ex UNC player. It’s deep snapper Ethan Albright, a fifteen year veteran in the league. And even after being in the league this long losing to a team with such a bad losing streak can not be easy, but that is exactly what happened as Detroit beat Washington 19 to 14. The win snaps a 19 game slide for the Lions and both them and the Redskins are now 1 and 2 on the season. Jason Matzler at NFL Gridiron Gab say that With a Win Under Their Belts; Lions Starting to Look Like a Real Team Again

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

The next game is the one between the Super Bowl Champs Pittsburgh Steelers (even) going to play the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in front of 64,538 fans. For the Bengals there are no ex Tar Heels, while the Steelers have three (the most on any NFL roster). First one is running back Willie Parker, who has been in the league for six years, and in this game got 93 yards on 25 carries (3.7 yd avg) while his longest run was of 24 yards. The second player is long snapper Greg Warren, a 5 year veteran, and the last member of the trio is 8th year man kicker Jeff Reed, who went 2 for 3 on the day (long being 24 yards) and 2 for 2 in extra points. In the end, maybe less than last week, that missed field goal might come back to haunt him again, as Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh by 3 points, with the final score being 23 to 20. Matt Loede of the NFL Gridiron Gab entitles his piece Steelers Defense Scratching Their Heads After Two Huge Losses. More than anyone I would say that the head coach is scratching his head.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

The last game of this post is about the game between the Denver Broncos (-1.5) and the Oakland Raiders. The game was held at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in front of 45,602 fans. For Oakland no players from Chapel Hill are on the roster, but on Denver’s side there are two of them. For the Broncos, the first one is tight end Richard Quinn, a rookie, does not see any action on offense, while defensive end Vonnie Holliday, who has been in the NFL for a dozen years, had a pair of tackles (1 solo) and one for a loss. In the end, in this game, it was no real match as Denver clobbered Oakland by the final score of 23 to 3. With the win the Broncos are still undefeated at 3 and 0, while the Raiders slide down below .500 at 1 and 2. Kim Constantinesco of Predominantly Orange wrote her recap of the game. And here is the highlight reel for the game:

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

(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