PA Season Ticket Holder
04-06-2003, 04:56 PM
In the personnel departments of all 32 teams last week, the fax machines spit out a letter from renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews, apprising the franchises that Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich has been now cleared to participate in any on-field football drills.
With apologies to Dr. Andrews, a skilled orthopedist in whose hands most teams would want any player with a torn knee ligament or damaged rotator cuff, the personnel directors want to see Leftwich's viability for themselves. That's how things are, of course, when a club is preparing to open its coffers and invest an eight-figure signing bonus in a quarterback.
So on Monday, representatives from virtually every franchise will convene at Manatee High School in Sarasota, Fla., to scrutinize an audition which figures to shape the composition of the first 10 picks in the 2003 draft.
And after rehabilitating for several months, and testing a left leg that has been fractured each of the past two seasons, Leftwich is prepared to play the role of a germ for all the figurative microscopes to which he'll be subjected.
"If you think the teams are anxious to see me," Leftwich said, "I've got them all beat in terms of how eager I am to show them that I'm all healthy."
His impressive statistics aside -- Leftwich has passed for nearly 12,000 yards and 89 touchdowns in three seasons as the Marshall starter -- the quarterback still has much to demonstrate to the hundreds of pairs of eyes that will be on hand for his first offseason workout.
Few doubt his arm strength or accuracy or grasp of the passing game.
"I mean, hell, it's hard to find 6-foot-5, 238-pounders with arms that are like rockets," said Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden. "It's hard to find them, man."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfldraft/columnist?id=1534678
With apologies to Dr. Andrews, a skilled orthopedist in whose hands most teams would want any player with a torn knee ligament or damaged rotator cuff, the personnel directors want to see Leftwich's viability for themselves. That's how things are, of course, when a club is preparing to open its coffers and invest an eight-figure signing bonus in a quarterback.
So on Monday, representatives from virtually every franchise will convene at Manatee High School in Sarasota, Fla., to scrutinize an audition which figures to shape the composition of the first 10 picks in the 2003 draft.
And after rehabilitating for several months, and testing a left leg that has been fractured each of the past two seasons, Leftwich is prepared to play the role of a germ for all the figurative microscopes to which he'll be subjected.
"If you think the teams are anxious to see me," Leftwich said, "I've got them all beat in terms of how eager I am to show them that I'm all healthy."
His impressive statistics aside -- Leftwich has passed for nearly 12,000 yards and 89 touchdowns in three seasons as the Marshall starter -- the quarterback still has much to demonstrate to the hundreds of pairs of eyes that will be on hand for his first offseason workout.
Few doubt his arm strength or accuracy or grasp of the passing game.
"I mean, hell, it's hard to find 6-foot-5, 238-pounders with arms that are like rockets," said Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden. "It's hard to find them, man."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfldraft/columnist?id=1534678