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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Jerious’ chance to ‘go the distance’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Flowery Branch — The name’s Jerious. Rhymes with “various,” which represents the number of ways Bobby Petrino plans to deploy him. In the exhibition opener Friday, the coach wants to see his tailback run between the tackles. Back in training camp next week, the schedule calls for a heavier regimen of pass-catching.
The coach, see, is intrigued. The coach has never coached a running back who can run like Jerious Norwood. “Once you see his speed and his ability to cut, it excites you,” Petrino said Wednesday. “He can go the distance. It’s hard to have long drives, so you need big plays. He gives us that chance.”
The name’s Jerious. Doesn’t rhyme with “serious,” but it very well could. On a team in almost daily flux, Jerious Norwood is about to become a seriously stabilizing force. He gave indications as a rookie; in Year 2, he should provide living proof.
“Everyone on the team is important right now,” Norwood said, but that’s modesty talking. With Michael Vick elsewhere, Warrick Dunn rehabbing his realigned back and Alge Crumpler hurting, the Falcons’ offense looks understaffed. Norwood could change that perception in a hurry, and he’s pretty good at hurrying.
The name’s Jerious. Rhymes with “nefarious,” which is how opposing defenses figure to regard him in Petrino’s offense. For reasons best known to Greg Knapp, Norwood was limited to 12 catches — and Dunn to 22 — in 2006. This despite Norwood’s conspicuous capacity to run fast in open spaces. This despite Norwood’s assertion that “my hands are some of my best aspects.”
Be advised this won’t happen again. Of Petrino’s sounder, saner scheme, Norwood said: “I like it. … It’s a spread offense. We’ll throw the ball to the backs and throw it deep.”
The name’s Jerious. Doesn’t rhyme with “delirious,” though the man himself plays football in something approaching a giddy state. “Every time I go out on the field, I try to make things happen,” he said. “I’m a playmaker.” Also this: “I don’t think about missing a protection or a read — I go out there to have fun.”
Norwood concedes his blocking needs a little work, but he’s working. And if he can demonstrate the capacity to pick off blitzing linebackers, there’s no reason he won’t be on the field an awful lot this autumn. Even when Dunn is fully healed, Petrino envisions his tailbacks not just as a tag team but as a tandem.
The name’s Jerious. Rhymes with “hilarious,” and if you’re a Falcons fan you should roundly enjoy the sight of two swift backs fanning out in pass routes. (Funny how the West Coast Offense never seemed to allow for such a double-up concept.) If you’re a Falcons fan and you’ve suffered through this deflating offseason, Norwood and his inherent potential remain reasons to keep hope alive.
Aspirations? Norwood cited these: “Hopefully I’ll break 1,200 yards [rushing], and the ultimate goal is to go to the Super Bowl.”
The name’s Jerious. Doesn’t rhyme with “imperious,” nor should it. Norwood is an upbeat and unadorned guy who doesn’t think it’s all that hot — he’s from Mississippi, where it likewise can get steamy — and who recognizes the opportunity at hand.
From a Round 3 draftee by a team that already had Dunn and T.J. Duckett, Norwood is, as he said, “as of right now the starting man.” Petrino won’t commit to him remaining the No. 1 tailback when Dunn returns — the 32-year-old has a mighty impressive body of work - but this savvy coach clearly sees the younger man as a massive asset in 2007 and beyond.
The name’s Jerious. Doesn’t really rhyme with much else. But his middle name rhymes with “breakout fall,” which is what Jerious Montreal Norwood is primed to have.
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Baseball’s fickle, cyclical
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
No sport ranks with baseball in providing an eerie dose of symmetry when it comes to historical moments. For instance: Tuesday night in San Francisco was September 1985 all over again. That’s because Barry Bonds was Pete Rose.
As for September 1985, I was there when a highly emotional Rose became the all-time hits leader over Ty Cobb.
Somehow, the baseball gods allowed Rose to break the record in his hometown of Cincinnati.
Afterward, with Rose standing at first base following his Ty-breaking single, the Cincinnati Reds icon looked toward the sky, pointed in acknowledgement of his deceased father and cried in the arms of his son who served as a bat boy for the game.
Wow. You know where I’m going. I wasn’t there Tuesday night at AT&T Park, but that’s where the baseball gods allowed a highly emotional Bond to break the all-time record for home runs for the hometown Giants.
Not only that, the San Francisco Bay Area is where Bonds was raised.
After No. 756 sailed into legend, Bonds shouted thanks to his deceased father while glancing upward and fighting back tears. And, yes, Bonds’ son served as a bat boy for the game and shared sobs with his father while they embraced on the field.
Cue “The Twilight Zone” music.
Or maybe just “Take me out to the ballgame.”
Permalink | Comments (48) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
