The grind hit Brown like it meant to knock him out.
Brown hit back.
HURTS SO GOOD
''I was hurting out there, man,'' he said afterward -- but with a wide smile, one of those ones that looks like it might percolate into a giggle at any moment.
One of those bring-it-on smiles.Will a quality blocking fullback in Cory Schlesinger and the ingenuity of Cameron's quick-hit attack help Brown overcome what seems a so-so offensive line?
Green already has counseled Brown about not being overwhelmed by the Tomlinson factor, and Brown is saying all the right things for now. About the shadows that have fed him fuel, about the doubters who have pushed him. He mentions how Rudi Johnson was the star when he first arrived at Auburn, and later how it was Cadillac Williams. He mentions sharing time then with Ricky Williams in Miami.
Now all he has to be is this team's Tomlinson?
''For my name and his name to be in the same sentence is motivation for me,'' Brown said. ``I know my workload is going to be turned up and that expectations are going to be pretty high. I am ready to carry the load.''
All that is easy to say. But Brown's actions have impressed, tooHere's a entertaining read about Schlessinger the guy paving the way for Brown:Ask veteran defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday who he sees working the hardest of any teammate.
''Ronnie Brown, by far,'' he replies.
Unbent. Unhazed. And unknowing that it just got screwed (literally) onto the helmet of the most facemask-abusing player in the Dolphins locker room -- and maybe even the NFL.
''I'm going to go through at least one a game,'' Schlesinger said. ``Sometimes, I go through two a game. They'll switch them out at halftime. They just have to do it pretty fast because those get smashed pretty good. They even carry extra helmets for me.''
No joke, Schlesinger figures he has run through more than 200 facemasks during the past 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions. After the Dolphins signed Schlesinger as a free agent this offseason, an equipment manager from the Lions actually called with a warning.
As a result, Miami equipment manager Joe Cimino ordered more than double the normal amount of facemasks (the same style used by defensive tackle Keith Traylor).Schlesinger even says bent facemasks actually might not be a bad thing, considering the alternative of plowing through a battle at the line of scrimmage. Reason being, the best blockers keep their heads up at impact.
''When you start having marks on the top of your helmet, that's not a good thing,'' he says. ``If you see what you're hitting, and you're bending your facemask, that's perfect.''
Perfect for his neck. And potentially perfect for running back Ronnie Brown. Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Schlesinger's hard-nosed mentality, Brown will have a weapon in front of him that he hasn't had in his first two years in Miami.
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Originally Posted by Bling
