Still Invitation Only, but Jets Widen Door for Camp By KAREN CROUSE Published: May 13, 2007 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., May 12 ? The Jets coach who was conducting the position meeting Saturday kept referring to Will, Mike and Sam, and every time he did, Cole Konrad felt more lost, like someone trying to follow a conversation about Tony, Paulie and Christopher despite having never watched ?The Sopranos.? Konrad, one of eight offensive linemen invited to the Jets? rookie/free agent camp, eventually turned to the player seated next to him and asked who this Mike guy was, which is how he came to learn the football terminology for middle linebacker. ?I just have to ask,? Konrad said, ?even if I feel dumb doing it.? Konrad, who was recently named the University of Minnesota?s male athlete of the year, is a freestyle wrestler who is ranked No. 2 in the United States in the 264.5-pound division, according to USA Wrestling. He has not played football since an undistinguished stint on the offensive line of his freshman team in high school. The top-ranked American in Konrad?s weight class is Tommy Rowlands, a four-time all-American at Ohio State who is now an assistant coach for the Buckeyes? wrestling team. Rowlands, who defeated Konrad in the final of the U.S. National Championships last month in Las Vegas, is Konrad?s roommate here this weekend. He received an invitation to try out at linebacker. Addressing reporters before practice Saturday while wearing an Ohio State wrestling T-shirt and a bemused expression, Rowlands said he was floored by the Jets? interest in him. ?I didn?t believe it,? he said. ?I?m training for the Olympics right now. My mind was on completely different things.? Jets Coach Eric Mangini has a soft spot for these rock-hard wrestlers, and not only because he dabbled in the sport in high school. He watched Steve Neal, a world-class wrestler, become a productive guard for the New England Patriots. Mangini also was among the first to encourage Ben Graham, the Jets? punter, to make the switch from Australian Rules Football to the N.F.L. Mangini is a big believer that all successful athletes share certain traits that transcend their sports-specific skill sets. Which explains why, in addition to Konrad and Rowlands, the Jets invited Jesse Pellot-Rosa, a guard on the Virginia Commonwealth basketball team that upset Duke in the first round of this year?s N.C.A.A. tournament, to the camp as a wide receiver. In all, 51 players, including the four players in this year?s draft class, are participating in the three-day camp. ?Whether it be wrestlers, basketball players, track athletes, Australian Rules football players, whoever it is,? Mangini said, ?if they have a good work ethic, intelligence, the things that we look for, then it?s our job to teach them and their job to take advantage of the opportunity.? Konrad, a two-time N.C.A.A. wrestling champion, was at the United States Olympic training center in Colorado, preparing for next month?s world championship trials, when he received a telephone call from the Jets. ?It caught me off guard completely,? he said, adding, ?It was a compliment to be asked, so I thought I would take advantage of it.? Rowlands, who also won two N.C.A.A. titles, has not played football since the eighth grade. So when he retrieved a message Thursday asking him to call Brendan Prophett, the Jets? assistant director for pro scouting, he assumed it was a prank. Just for kicks, he called the number Prophett had left and got the Jets? offices. ?If someone?s pranking me,? Rowlands remembered thinking, ?they?re going to great lengths to make it work.? After talking to Prophett, Rowlands boarded a plane from Ohio to New York the next day. But first, Rowlands and his wife, Elizabeth, had to postpone the baptism of their four-and-a-half-month-old daughter, which was scheduled for Sunday. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing has been Rowlands?s goal for years. Asked why he decided to take a detour that could lead him away from those plans, he said: ?I guess curiosity and the fact that it is the N.F.L. Anybody who?s in America knows this is the grandest stage in sports inside the United States, so I wanted to see how I would stack up.? In Las Vegas in six weeks, Konrad and Rowlands will wrestle each other for a berth on the United States world championship team. But this weekend they both seemed happy to be sharing living quarters. ?Just because the two of us can relate to what the other is going through,? Konrad said. Rowlands added, ?We?re on the same wavelength.? They both reported to the field for the first afternoon of drills with their helmets strapped on correctly. ?Which was a plus,? Mangini deadpanned. By the end of the day, both wrestlers had learned much about football, and presumably about themselves. EXTRA POINTS Jets Coach Eric Mangini said the veteran offensive lineman Pete Kendall, one of the team captains last year, had stopped attending the team?s voluntary workouts. Mangini sidestepped the question of whether Kendall?s absence would adversely affect his standing on the team, saying, ?It?s positive to be here.? Mangini added, ?It?s a voluntary program, but I think it is something that has real value.?
Mangini sidestepped the question of whether Kendall?s absence would adversely affect his standing on the team, saying, ?It?s positive to be here.? Mangini added, ?It?s a voluntary program, but I think it is something that has real value.?[/QUOTE] Interesting... I'll have him on the Pats any day.. He's nasty and dirty.. That's what we want in Foxboro.. Killas..:lol:
Well, they're leaving no stone unturned. Maybe one of all these reclaims, wishes and projects will work out. That'd be a plus.
He was nasty and dirty two years ago. He's kinda just a guy now. Same age as Mawae and on the same career trend downwards. Mawae was much better than him at the start of course.
Problem is there is no Mangold type behind him. Unless you want to stretch reality and say bender of Jones or another will come in and play at kendall's level. I think it is cool to stick to your guns and all but realeasing or trading the guy right now does not look like a great option even if he is on the downside.
i think we highly over rate kendall because he gives a good interview he is pretty much league average, or lower at this point
I never saw this coming, all those post about Justin Blalock when Mangini would just as easily work out a wrestler at Guard......:lol:
I don't think I'd ever accuse Kendall of being nasty or dirty either,he's not the type to square up to a player once the play is over and he doesn't bend the rules like Mawae did.
Que the adolesent humour. For some reason as soon as I read the thread title I thought of Borats rubber fist hmy:
265 pound wrestlers at their level could absolutely destroy most NFL offensive linemen if they can learn the plays. They already know more technique then anybody in the NFL does.
Have to agree ? I?m an ex-wrestler and I?ve always wondered why coaches don?t take a stab at a few of the national champs each year?what do you have to lose? I know allot of people on this board don?t get it?but until you have been on the mat with a national champ or an all American for that matter?you cant truly understand how bad ass these dudes are.
W/ that said, of the 3 non-football players we brought in...I predict him to have the best chance to stick around at least developmentally. Wrestlers have alot of skills and instinct in terms of hand placement and leverage. That is key along the O-line. Do not be surprised to see him spending some time in NFL europe on our behalf and seeing what he can amount to.
The picking out of high school would be much slimmer; last I checked the biggest you can be in high school would be about 225lbs (maybe 250). So you end up with a much smaller number of big dudes. Plus – if you are good in high school – you are generally recruited into a wrestling program in college. After college – there isn’t really anywhere else to go in wrestling (plus – at that point in your career…you typically hate the sport enough to hang up your shoes). Edit: Plus – I am saying that wrestlers are tremendous athletes; not tremendous football players. To recruit someone out of high school – obviously there is a cost (scholarship dollars) for something that may or may not pan out. Couple that with a stand out wrestler receiving scholarship offers to remain in your sport and how successful are you going to be recruiting? What is the risk in inviting them to camp in the majors.
I love how Mangini will scower the planet to find guys that can make this team. I absolutely love this guy.....
Not to mention the huge year Curtis had in 04, which happened to coincide with Kendall arriving here. I think it had more to do with McKenzie, but Kendall was a huge favorite around these parts after that year.
Yeah, seriously. That's exactly how I feel. If a guy has the raw tools, Mangini is willing to make him a ballplayer. Great stuff. Funny though, when I read the title of the thread, I thought I was going to read something like "Triple H spoke for 20 minutes to the attendees at camp about the importance of taking care of their legs."
