I have just put up my post about Robert Quinn, the defensive end who didn’t play last season for head coach Butch Davis, being taken 14th in the first round of the NFL Draft. But there are plenty more stories out there and I am going list what I have found so far (and will try to add as I keep finding more as the day goes on). First off UNC’s Athletic Web Site, Tar Heel Blue, as a post on it. Then Yahoo! Sports talks about it as well, as does the N.C. local web site WRAL Sports Fan. Raleigh News & Observer also has its take on the story of the DE from UNC. On the blog level, Carolina March chimes in on the happenings. And finally, at least for now, on ACC Sports there is an interview by David Glenn with coach Davis, talking about what else? The draft!

Last night, on the world leader in sports, the National Football League held the first round of their draft. Let me first say that the three day event, from Thursday (round one), Friday (2nd & 3rd) and Saturday (4th-7th) is not as much fun for me as it was when it was a Sat/Sun line-up. For those of you that tuned in early you saw that the fans let Commissioner Roger Goodell know how they felt about the current state of the league by first booing and then chanting “we want football”. I have to say that in my opinion that was not the place for it, but I am sure that I am in the minority in saying this. But, since this is a North Carolina blog, let’s check out how the first round was to any Tar Heel.

As I had checked in the last couple of days in one of my posts, it seemed that Robert Quinn would be picked anywhere from 5th to 12th, with the thought pre-draft being that the defensive lineman would be a Top 10 pick. As I watched the draft unfold I felt that he would slip as the run on quarterback came a lot sooner than most experts thought (three taken in the first 10 picks and a fourth going 12th). When it was all said and done 6’5″/265 lbs Quinn would end up as the 14th selection of the 1st round, going to the St. Louis Rams, becoming the first defensive end from UNC being chosen in the first round since Julius Peppers in 2002. Quinn will join another Tar Heel, Jason Brown. He is also the 31st player coached or recruited by head coach Butch Davis to go in the first round.

But what happened in the next few minutes would make you see how things can turn for anyone at the draft. First the quote by ESPN’s Mel Kiper…

“He would have maybe been one, two, or three overall (before the NCAA suspension). It makes sense. Its value (for the Rams),” said analyst Mel Kiper moments after the selection.

Looking back at 2009, the DE earned first-team All-ACC honors and finished second in the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year vote. CBSsports.com had him as a second-squad All-American and was a candidate for the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s top defensive end. His numbers spoke for themselves, as the young man was ranked 1st in the ACC and 15th in the country in tackles for losses with 19.0 and was 2nd in the league and 16th in the nation in sacks with 11.0.

It was interesting reading on ESPN.com that in their opinion the Rams took Robert Quinn as a value pick, meaning that the defensive line wasn’t their top priority but felt that the DE was the best player on the board. I think that speaks for itself, and when you look at what St. Louis has on the DLine already, taking another man for the line shows that they truly believe in someone like Quinn.

With the team that coach Davis had going into last year there is nothing to make me think that Quinn could not have equaled (if not improved) the numbers from a year before. From what the head coach of the Rams said it echos what most of us that watched the young man play feel…

“(The mistakes in college) are out of character for him. This is a kid that is from a great family, and a great upbringing. He’s a quality guy there. We all make mistakes. He made one. He’s paid for it and he’s ready to move on.”

But then something else came up about Robert Quinn, after seeing it on twitter and reading it on Tar Heel Illustrated, that blew my mind…

(On a side note: If you can not follow the draft on tv check out the coverage on Tar Heel Illustrated)

“Three teams at least, including two in the top fifteen, had Robert Quinn off their board due to a brain tumor that he had in high school. There were three Doctors at least that refused to clear Quinn to their respective teams.”

That quote came from Adam Schefter, who said right after the young man from Chapel Hill was picked. I know that there is nothing to joke around when it comes to something like tumors, but I also know that no program would let any player go on the field if not 100% able to do so. I feel that in this day and age using that as an excuse is a bit of a cop out and just proves to me once again that the drafts (for whatever sports) are more of a meat market than anything else. I know I wish every single Tar Heel that moves to the next level, but here I am really pushing for Quinn to do outstandingly well, to prove these 2-3 team wrong!

Here is the rest of the NFL Draft round one…

#1 (Carolina Panthers) Cam Newton, QB Auburn
#2 (Denver Broncos) Von Miller, LB Texas A&M
#3 (Buffalo Bills) Marcel Dareus, DT Alabama
#4 (Cincinnati Bengals) A.J. Green, WR Georgia
#5 (Arizona Cardinals) Patrick Peterson, CB LSU
#6 (Atlanta Falcons) [trade from Cleveland Browns] Julio Jones, WR Alabama
#7 (San Francisco 49ers) Aldon Smith, DE Missouri
#8 (Tennessee Titans) Jake Locker, QB Washington
#9 (Dallas Cowboys) Tyron Smith, OT Southern Cal
#10 (Jacksonville Jaguars) [trade from Washington Redskins] Blaine Gabbert, QB Missouri
#11 (Houston Texans) J.J. Watt, DE Wisconsin
#12 (Minnesota Vikings) Christian Ponder, QB Florida State
#13 (Detroit Lions) Nick Fairley, DT Auburn
#14 (St. Louis Rams) Robert Quinn, DE North Carolina
#15 (Miami Dolphins) Mike Pouncey, C Florida
#16 (Washington Redskins) [trade with Jacksonville Jaguars] Ryan Kerrigan, LB Purdue
#17 (New England Patriots) Nate Solder, OT Colorado
#18 (San Diego Chargers) Corey Liuget, DT Illinois
#19 (New York Giants) Prince Amukamara, CB Nebraska
#20 (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) Adrian Clayborn, DE Iowa
#21 (Cleveland Browns via trade with Kansas City Chiefs) Phil Taylor, DT Baylor
#22 (Indianapolis Colts) Anthony Castonzo, OT Boston College
#23 (Philadelphia Eagles) Danny Watkins, OG Baylor
#24 (New Orleans Saints) Cameron Jordan, DE California
#25 (Seattle Seahawks) James Carpenter, OL Alabama
#26 (Kansas City Chiefs) [trade with Cleveland Browns ~ trade with Atlanta Falcons] Jonathan Baldwin, WR Pittsburgh
#27 (Baltimore Ravens) Jimmy Smith, CB Colorado
#28 (New Orleans Saints via New England Patriots) Mark Ingram, RB Alabama
#29 (Chicago Bears) Gabe Carimi, OT Wisconsin
#30 (New York Jets) Muhammad Wilkerson, DT Temple
#31 (Pittsburgh Steelers) Cameron Heyward, DE Ohio State
#32 (Green Bay Packers) Derek Sherrod, OT Mississippi State

The draft will continue tonight at 6:00 pm EST on ESPN and will have the second and third round picks including an compensatory pick. Here is the draft order for both rounds. While I root for no team, other than UNC, I do enjoy things like the drafts when it comes to the middle rounds, and I am always fascinated by the New England Patriots and how they always have a boat load of picks. This year is not different as they will have four of the first 42 picks on Friday, which basically means, if no trades happen, just under 10% of the 2nd round will be headed to Boston. On the other hand, my first concern will be when the next Tar Heel will be called. I have to believe it’s going to be another D Lineman, Marvin Austin, who should be called in the mid-late second round, followed by wide out Greg Little, who we could see him going late tonight, or Saturday.

#1(33) New England (from Carolina)
#2(34) Buffalo
#3(35) Cincinnati
#4(36) Denver
#5(37) Cleveland
#6(38) Arizona
#7(39) Tennessee
#8(40) Dallas
#9(41) Washington
#10(42) Houston
#11(43) Minnesota
#12(44) Detroit
#13(45) San Francisco
#14(46) Denver (from Miami)
#15(47) St. Louis
#16(48) Oakland
#17(49) Washington (from Jacksonville)
#18(50) San Diego
#19(51) Tampa Bay
#20(52) NY Giants
#21(53) Indianapolis
#22(54) Philadelphia
#23(55) Kansas City
#24(56) New England (from New Orleans)
#25(57) Seattle
#26(58) Baltimore
#27(59) Cleveland (from Atlanta)
#28(60) New England
#29(61) San Diego (from NY Jets)
#30(62) Chicago
#31(63) Pittsburgh
#32(64) Green Bay

#1(65) Carolina
#2(66) Cincinnati
#3(67) Denver
#4(68) Buffalo
#5(69) Arizona
#6(70) Kansas City (from Cleveland)
#7(71) Dallas
#8(72) New Orleans (from Washington)
#9(73) Houston
#10(74) New England (from Minnesota)
#11(75) Detroit
#12(76) San Francisco
#13(77) Tennessee
#14(78) St. Louis
#15(79) Miami
#16(80) Jacksonville
#17(81) Oakland
#18(82) San Diego
#19(83) NY Giants
#20(84) Tampa Bay
#21(85) Philadelphia
#22(86) Kansas City
#23(87) Indianapolis
#24(88) New Orleans
#25(89) San Diego (from Seattle)
#26(90) Baltimore
#27(91) Atlanta
#28(92) New England
#29(93) Chicago
#30(94) NY Jets
#31(95) Pittsburgh
#32(96) Green Bay
#33(97) Carolina (Compensatory)

(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

A quick note about another ex Tar Heel being signed with the National Football League team that drafted him. A very small online article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that ex Carolina wide out Brooks Foster has signed with the Saint Louis Rams. The senior from Chapel Hill was the franchise’s fifth round pick (160th overall), and while the details of the deal were not revealed, it’s reported that it is a four year deal for the young receiver. All of this works out well for both the player and the team as the Rams will begin their training camp 10 days from today. For those that remember this past NFL Draft Foster was the third wide receiver from North Carolina to be picked, going after Hakeem Nicks (1st round – NY Giants) and Brandon Tate (3rd round – NE Patriots)

Brooks Foster

And while most will think of Foster as the third option until Brandon Tate went down with a season ending injury that needed surgery to repair an ACL and MCL. After that it was Hakeem Nicks, who led the ACC in total yards this season with over 1,200 receiving yards while adding 12 touchdowns and Foster, who had 30 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns while playing in 13 games. I am of the opinion that some of those yards that Nicks got is because Foster had to be looked at as well on the field. In other words, do not think for a minute that Foster is only good for a decoy or to give the starters a breather. He can make the plays (see pic) and he can help his team to win games.

In the end I believe that in the coming years we will hear the name “Brooks Foster” often on Sunday. Maybe not in the way that the big wide outs, but definitely contributing to his St. Louis Rams. All I can do now is wish the wide out out of Boiling Springs, South Carolina all the best as he begins a new journey in his football career.