Tashard Choice Youth Camp Media Coverage (via TChoice23)
Tashard Choice coached up some 300 kids he invited to attend his football camp at Sam Houston High School in Arlington. Choice couldn't do it all by his lonesome, though. He had help from backfield buds Marion Barber and Felix Jones.
Miles Austin talked to The Sporting News about the team dedication he senses from quarterback Tony Romo.
"He's taking more of a leadership role, and you can see how excited he is," Austin told SportingNews.com. "He'd already been doing that -- he's a tremendous competitor -- but he's trying to be even more of that kind of asset to our team.
"You can tell. It goes without words. It's a feeling you get."
The article goes on to discuss three reasons why Romo will either improve or regress.
If he improves, TSN says that it will be because 1) T.O. is gone, 2) Roy Williams will return to being a productive receiver, and 3) an explosive running game.
If he regresses, they say it will be because 1) T.O. is gone, 2) the O-line needs a bounce-back season, and 3) the team lacks depth at positions other than tailback.
Where will you be looking to draft Romo on your fantasy football weekend? David Kendrick at The San Antonio Express-News ranks the Top 30 QBs, with Romo coming in at #7. He also sticks Romo in his Question Marks section.
Tony Romo, Cowboys: While Edwards gets the T.O. bump, Romo must adjust to life after Owens. He may be happier now, but expect his stats to suffer this season.
More VRR after the jump.
The Cowboys' pro scout Keith O'Quinn is leaving the team to take over as the Cleveland Browns' director of pro scouting. O'Quinn has been a part of Dallas' scouting department for the past three seasons.
O'Quinn would spend numerous hours in the scouting department evaluating film of pro players, assistant college and pro scouting director Tom Ciskowski and assistant director of pro scouting Judd Garrett. Q'Quinn's departure means Will McClay, the former Desperados head coach, is the only other pro scout on the staff.
Mark Eckel lists Anthony Spencer as one of his players "who should step forward in ‘09".
Former Wade Phillips protégé Brian Stewart will join the staff of the Philadelphia Eagles sometime next week. The details of his role are still undetermined.
Stewart's official role as not been announced, though it's likely he could take over at secondary for Sean McDermott, who has assumed Jim Johnson's responsibilities as defensive coordinator. Johnson has taken an indefinite leave of absence as he undergoes treatment for cancer.
Hat tip to DaveTroll for the FanShot.
Former Dallas defensive end Chris Canty is making a home with the New York Giants and is excited to be part of their highly talented defense.
He is working at both tackle and end, but is expected to play primarily at tackle, where Fred Robbins and Cofield both have had off-season knee surgery.
"Obviously, there's an opportunity to be part of a tremendous team, a tremendous defense and particularly the ... When you have those kind of guys on defensive line," Canty said. " your front, you give yourself an opportunity to be successful. They really can't key in on one particular player. So that was something that was definitely attractive for me."
And as for leaving the Cowboys to join their NFC East rival:
"It wasn't particularly hard [to leave]," Canty said. "I did enjoy playing with that group of guys down there. It's a great group of guys on that defense. Business is business, and you've got to be where they want you. Dallas pretty much said, by their non-action, that they didn't want me there anymore. That's fine. I understand it's a business.
"I'm just excited to be a part of the Giants. It's a football team that really wanted me to come up here and be a part of it."
During last weekend's 32nd annual Babe Zaharias/Holiday Inn Beaumont Plaza golf tournament, Wade Phillips shared his personal account of what happened the day of the practice facility collapse.
The Cowboys coach talked about being in the middle of the field, seeing things on the roof starting to sway, the realization it was coming down and everybody running as fast as they could to try and get out. Phillips, who didn't make it to the door in time, said his biggest fear soon became electrocution because of all the water on the ground from the raging storm. Fortunately breaker switches were tripped when the structure came down.
Let's play "What-if?" for a moment. What if...one of the guys from Michael Irvin's show makes the squad? Do you think he can be a contributor on the field? On this week's episode of 4th and Long, Jerry Jones suggests that there could be a chance of that happening (spoiler alert!).
"I know they can come in and make a difference in us winning a championship and having a great team."
Jones is talking about the 10 remaining wannabe Cowboys free agents. And then he mentions the success of past free agents Mark Tuinei and Tony Romo.
Finally, Jones tells Irvin, "You guys could really be something special for the future success of the Dallas Cowboys."
If you plan on attending a game at the new Cowboys Stadium, check out the team website's interactive map. It not only gives ticket prices, but also provides you a virtual view of the stadium from your selected section.