Bengals hoping to take Edge from Colts

[LolaMoon]

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/cont...y/1117arch.html

Bengals hoping to take Edge from Colts

By Tom Archdeacon

Dayton Daily News

CINCINNATI — It was just a few minutes before their lunch period would end and the Cincinnati Bengals would tromp off to team meetings to prepare for Sunday's showdown with the 9-0 Indianapolis Colts.

And that's when Brian Robinson reached into a tin of snuff and pinched out a dip of damp, dark tobacco that he wedged down between his bottom lip and gum.

"Started doing this rookie year," the ninth-year defensive tackle said with a now swollen-lipped smile. "I used to fall asleep in meetings, and finally one of our vets, Leslie O'Neal, says, 'Here Rook, put this in your mouth.' He tossed me a can of dip and said, 'This will keep you from falling asleep.'

"Man, he was right. The first time I put it in my mouth, my head was spinning, and I thought, 'What in the hell did he just give me? Is this a rookie joke?' But I got used to it, and it does keep me awake."

That said, Robinson would be the first to admit he didn't really need that dip on Wednesday. Not when you're about to turn your attention to the gold-toothed, dreadlocked, tattooed visage of Edgerrin James.

Talk about a wake-up call.

The Colts running back — who his friend Chad Johnson simply calls Edge — leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,234. He leads the AFC in rushing with 1,027 yards in nine games and he's the conference's second-leading scorer with 10 touchdowns.

Sunday, he will be The Edge in more ways than one.

He's the key to the game, and the Bengals all know it.

"When you look at the Colts, everyone always talks about Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and those other guys," Robinson said. "(James) kind of goes under the radar. But to me, he's the ace. He's the wild card. He's the guy we have to contain.

Whether that happens is another matter.

Although the Bengals are 7-2, their run defense is 30th of the NFL's 32 teams in yards allowed per carry (4.7). They are 24th in rushing yards (124.2) given up per game. They were especially porous against Jacksonville (181 yards) and Pittsburgh (221 yards) — both losses. The Jaguars' Fred Taylor burned them for 132 yards, and the Steelers' Willie Parker ran for 131.

And James not only is better than both of them, but he's complemented by the best quarterback and receivers corps in the NFL.

Bengals players couldn't say enough about him Wednesday.

"He just plays so hard, and I think he has the best vision in the league," said Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer. "I've seen him run a lot because I've watched a lot of Peyton. He's not the fastest, most powerful back, but his vision and ability to see blocks that are going to happen within the next two steps are (unmatched)."

That James is able to pick his way through trouble shouldn't be that surprising. He's done it his entire life.

He grew up in the poorest of circumstances in Immokalee, Fla., a small, hardscrabble town on the edge of the Everglades.

He'll tell you he lived with his mother and four brothers and sisters in a one-room efficiency with a stove and toilet. He said they almost never celebrated Christmas because there was no money. He tells of aunts and uncles who were, in his words, "crack heads." Some of his brothers spent time in jail. An uncle and a cousin died of AIDS, and another uncle died mysteriously in his grandmother's backyard.

By his early teen years, James spent his summers picking watermelons for $20 a truckload in Georgia. By 15, he was yearning for some sparkle in his life and went to one of the roughest of neighborhoods in Miami's Liberty City and got five of his teeth filed down and fitted with gold caps.

Football, though, was his real golden promise. He played three seasons for the University of Miami Hurricanes, became their second all-time leading rusher and then jumped to the pros. When the Colts made him the fourth pick in the 1999 draft — choosing him above Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams — they were ridiculed by some. Johnson said the critics had it all wrong.

"Edge is someone who always pushes to get better," the Bengals receiver said. "I met him a long time ago. He was at UM and I might still have been in high school down there. Everybody was in one circle. I don't want to say it's just the ballers, but all of us who played in the city — Nate Webster, Reggie (Wayne), Santana (Moss), Edge, Clinton Portis, Ray Lewis — we all kind of grew up together. We were family.

"And every summer now, Edge challenges me. Keeps me on my toes telling me what I can't do. It keeps me hungry showing him otherwise."

It was the same when James entered the league. His first season, he was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he led the league in rushing his first two years. A knee injury cut short season three, but he's managed to rush for more than 1,000 yards in five of his seven NFL years.

When his $49 million deal ended after last season, he sought a long-term contract similar to the ones Indianapolis gave Manning and Harrison in 2004. Instead, the Colts slapped the "franchise player" tag on him in order to retain him for just the 2005 season.

Not that you should feel sorry for him. His one-year deal is worth $8.1 million, and if he rushes for 1,400 yards, he makes another $1 million.

Still, considering the attitudes of so many marquee stars in the NFL — and considering his agent is Drew Rosenhaus, the same grandstanding front man who represents Terrell Owens — many wrongly figured James would become a problem child.

"A lot of guys say because you have the same agent, you're going to respond the same way," he explained Sunday after rushing for 122 yards against Houston. "But it's like me and some of my brothers — we got the same mama, but we don't all act the same way.''

He said he's learned a lot from Colts coach Tony Dungy: "I looked at his situation in Tampa. What more could he have done? He was a top coach and deserved to be there. But it didn't work out. But he didn't pout. I look at that and say you can't go into everything so negative. So I ain't really stressing. That's (even) the name of my boat — Stress Free."

Robinson sensed that as he headed to his meeting: "The guy is really impressive this year. He's making everything happen for them. And that's why he's the one we need to stop."

From the look on Robinson's face, his head may have been spinning once again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought it was a good read.

[Stripes]

That was a good read. Tom Archdeacon is always a reliable source for a good sporting article in the Dayton Daily News. I never knew Edge has that sort of upbringing, though such stories seem all to comon nowadays. More power to him.

[LolaMoon]

That was a good read. Tom Archdeacon is always a reliable source for a good sporting article in the Dayton Daily News. I never knew Edge has that sort of upbringing, though such stories seem all to comon nowadays. More power to him.

I live about 30 minutes from Immokalee... I grew up here and have met Edge many times through the years. I was a cheerleader for my High School and we played Immokalee a lot and he was amazing to watch. It was hard to cheer for your team knowing he was going to be out there.

He comes into town on his BYE every year and he is here off and on through the off season. His old HighSchool went to the National Championships and as you read... Immokalee is a very poor area. If you have ever seen Shanty towns in third world Countries... that is what it looks like. Well, the team did not have the money to go... he paid for it all. When they won... he paid for all the players, cheerleaders and coaches to get their National Championship rings. He also just donated 100,000 dollars to the school this summer and when Wilma hit the area about a month ago... when the Colts were on their BYE he brought in a truckload of food, water and baby items and had the football team from his old Highschool help him hand it all out.

He looks scary.. with all those gold teeth and dreads... but, he is a very quiet person. Very giving and an all around good guy. I go to his Basketball Charity Fundraiser every year and he brings players from all over the NFL mostly those from the U... But, also Javon Kearse, Anthony Henry, Greg Spires and others that are from our area too. It is a lot of fun!