Location: San Diego, CA | Stadium: Qualcomm Stadium (70,000) | Owner: Alex Spanos | President/CEO: Dean A. Spanos | GM: A.J. Smith Coach: Norv Turner | League Championships: 1
Cornerback Antoine Cason is happy he stayed put. He's even happier he's in San Diego.
The Chargers' recent top draft pick toyed with the idea of ditching the University of Arizona after his junior year. Cason felt he was ready for the NFL and predicted he would have gone in the first round. Some told him otherwise.
"I bet it wouldn't have been before the third," said Mark Stoops, the Wildcats' defensive coordinator.
Cason smiles. He's sticking to his guns.
"I still think first round," Cason said. "I would've ran good (in the 40-yard dash) and I played good. They say if you play too much football, sometimes it hurts you because you get over-evaluated. A lot of juniors coming out can't get over-evaluated."
But the Chargers looked just as hard and after kicking Cason's tires determined he was the fit for a secondary which could feature three No. 1 picks with their top three cornerbacks.
""Antoine made himself a first-round draft pick just with his work ethic," Stoops said. "He came into our program from Day 1 with a good attitude. He was humble, worked hard and tried to correct his mistakes every day."
That's among the qualities the Chargers noticed from the Jim Thorpe Award winner, which goes to college's top cornerback.
In his fourth season as an Arizona starter, he intercepted five passes and scored four touchdowns -- two on pick returns; the others on punt returns.
When waving so-long to Tucson, Cason's 15 interceptions were the fourth-most in team history.
Cason is fortunate to land with the Chargers, as he won't be looked on as a defensive savior right off the bat. If he can settled into the nickel role and earn his stripes there, the Chargers will be happy.
Just like Cason is pleased to look out on the Chargers' practice field and see Cromartie and Jammer.
"It's just a great opportunity for me to come and play behind two great corners," Cason said. "Just to have this opportunity, I'm so excited. I'm at a loss for words -- speechless."
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I hope that your stay at the top was fun. Let me be the first to say that it is about time for it to be over. With Norv at the helm, you had to know that it wasn't going to last for long. I can't wait for your roid boys try and tackle a QB that is bigger than they are. That should be entertaining. I guess we will see how another year removed from the juice doe
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I could feel that false sense of hope you all displayed last year in your playoff run. I hate to tell you, but the wheels are going to fall off this year. LT has already talked of retirement because he can't stomach rehab. Your Roided out LB is without his Roids. And, your big mouthed QB will be hard pressed to come back from his knee
The Patriots never saw the tapes, Walsh admitted that he had them the whole time. Walsh also said that Mr. Belichek also told him not to get caught (when he would record teams). That probably means you were doing something thats not permitted by the NFL. Buts thats ok, because
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4 Braylon Edwards: For years Edwards struggled, but only because he didn’t have a quarterback to throw the ball to him. Now that he has a good player in Anderson tossing balls in his direction, Edwards should rise on your draft boa
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The funniest part of all this is that they say the most scandelous part of the tapes is a segment of the Chargers Girls dancing for a few minutes.... Guess even the Pats know that SoCal girls are the best in the country....
