Crouch was the 2001 Heisman Trophy winner as a senior at the University of Nebraska, and ended his Cornhusker career with 3,434 rushing yards (and 59 touchdowns) and 4,481 passing yards (and 29 touchdowns). As a senior, he passed for 1,510 yards and seven touchdowns and ran for 1,115 yards and 18 scores.

A third-round pick as a wide receiver by the St. Louis Rams in the 2002 National Football League Draft, Crouch has seen professional regular-season action in NFL Europe with the Hamburg Sea Devils as a safety in 2005 and with the Toronto Argonauts as a quarterback in 2006.

Crouch answered seven questions, and those questions were about everything from the United Football League to where he keeps his Heisman Trophy.

The first question came, fittingly, from Omaha, and centered around if Crouch plans to play any other position for the Nighthawks than quarterback.

“The competition is going to be great at QB,” Crouch replied, adding that returnee D.J. Shockley has experience and rookie Jeremiah Masoli is young, talented and has a lot of potential. “They’ll hopefully make me a better QB. I have to have a vision of being the guy at QB. I don’t go in with a thought of being second or third team.”

Nighthawks can get excited by Crouch, answering a question about how things are going with the team, saying, “I think this will be a system where they like to do some different things. You’re not going to see an offense that you haven’t seen before. I like them thinking outside of the box.”

Crouch said his Heisman is kept “in a secure place” in his house. And asked of his thoughts about his alma mater joining the Big 10, Crouch said, “Nebraska will do very well in the Big 10. It was a great move. I think the biggest reason they moved was just the stability of the conference. It seemed like the best place to be.”

As for the future of the UFL, Crouch said, “I think if they keep finding talented players and coaches, I do think they’ll succeed. … There are quite a few teams that will make this league successful. They seem to be on the right track.”

For the entire chat, go to espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/39063/ufl-eric-crouch

Photo Courtesy of UFL-football.com

Source: http://www.ufl-football.com/news/nighthawks-qb-crouch-chats-fans-espncom

Now they get to take on the defending Super Bowl champions.

NFC WILD CARD

New Orleans Saints (5) at SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (4)

Qwest Field has what is called ‘the 12th man,’ but more importantly for Seattle is the return of starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. The veteran missed the Ram game with a hip injury and his experience will at least give the Seahawks a fighter’s chance on Saturday afternoon. That’s not to say that they will win, but they will at least be within two scores before it’s too late. If Leon Washington can break a punt or kick return to the end zone, then things will actually become interesting.

The New Orleans Saints will have to win three road games in order to get back to the Super Bowl, something that they did not have to do a year ago. A huge hurdle will be in their backfield, where both Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory were placed on injured reserve. Reggie Bush and Julius Jones will have to pick up the slack in a big way.

Drew Brees will be the difference in this game. His experience and poise will pay dividends and the Saints will go marchin’ in for at least another week.

PREDICTION

Saints – 28, SEAHAWKS – 17

There is also those who say to trade down and stock up on mid-round picks. Back in 1997, Bill Parcells was running the Jets, who owned the first pick courtesy of a one-win campaign courtesy of Rich Kotite. There was no slam dunk name out there because Peyton Manning decided to stay at Tennessee. The Tuna moved down twice and eventually drafted linebacker James Farrior. The Rams, who moved all the way up, picked OL Orlando Pace.

Would the Rams have been better off trading down and letting Feeley take his lumps? Looking at the board, both Detroit (#2) and Tampa Bay (#3) chose signal-callers in the first round a year ago, and Washington (#4) and Kansas City (#5) are set with Donovan McNabb and Matt Cassel. So realistically, the closest team looking for a franchise quarterback would have been Seattle at number six, and the few teams following them wouldn’t mind an upgrade.

Because the Rams didn’t negotiate a contract with Bradford before the draft, in all likelihood they explored some trade opportunities. The biggest question mark surrounding the Oklahoma product is his health and ability to withstand the physical aspect of playing in the NFL. Bradford injured his throwing shoulder in last year’s season opener versus BYU and had AC joint surgery in October, ending his college career on the sidelines after winning the Heisman Trophy a year earlier.

Is Bradford going to be that franchise quarterback the Rams can build around? With an offense line that had Mark Bulger running for his life last season, they hopefully can keep him upright long enough to find that out. When asked if he though that being the first pick was possible after getting hurt, Bradford humbly replied, “No, I didn’t.” He himself had doubts crossing his mind, so it is not out of the question to point them out and debate whether he will live up to the hype.

Sure, Bradford was the so-called ‘safe’ pick for the Rams. No one will bash them if he turns out to be a bust and the organization will not have to keep hearing ‘I told you so’ years from now. But if they could have swung a deal to move down and pick up a 2011 first round pick from a team desperate for a big splash, they could have ended up with someone such as tackle Russell Okung and two high selections a year from now.

C’mon…do you think the Rams will really win more than four games this year even if everything breaks right for them?

2010 NFL DRAFT TOP 10 SELECTIONS

1 – St. Louis Rams – Sam Bradford, QB Oklahoma

2 – Detroit Lions – Ndamukong Suh, DT Nebraska

3 – Tampa Bay Bucs – Gerald McCoy, DT Oklahoma

4 – Washington Redskins – Trent Williams, T Oklahoma

5 – Kansas City Chiefs – Eric Berry, S Tennessee

6 – Seattle Seahawks – Russell Okung, T Oklahoma State

7 – Cleveand Brown – Joe Haden, CB Florida

8 – Oakland Raiders – Rolando McClain, LB Alabama

9 – Buffalo Bills – CJ Spiller, RB Clemson

10 – Jacksonville Jaguars – Tyson Aluala, DE California

Originally a seventh-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2003, Johnson has also spent time with the St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs before coming to Oakland in 2007.

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CHRIS JOHNSON CAREER STATS

According to a report by Adam Schefter, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has been signed to a four-year, $11.5 million contract by the St. Louis Rams. The NFL Network’s super sleuth has been on the pulse of practically every move in football, so you can take this to the bank.

With ‘Spags’ off the market, the New York Jets will in all likelihood choose Rex Ryan as their next head coach. With Baltimore playing tomorrow in the AFC Championship Game, teams cannot hire an employee of another organization, but the Ravens defensive coordinator met with the Jets for five hours recently. Coupled with the fact that Spagnuolo, another favorite to land the Jets job, is headed to St. Louis, Ryan coming to New York looks to be a given.

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Spagnuolo has been one of the ‘hot’ coordinator candidates and rumored to be in line for a number of jobs last offseason and ever since the regular season concluded last month. After being given accolades for his game plan in Super Bowl XLII, it was merely a matter of time before someone tabbed him as their head man.

Spagnuolo going to the Rams may reveal many things. For one, the obvious is that the Jets informed him they were going in a different direction. If they had made an offer to Spagnuolo and he spurned them for the hapless Rams, then that says volumes of what he thinks of the Jets organization.

Everything will fall into place by next month. If Baltimore defeats Pittsburgh and earns a spot in Tampa Bay on February 1, then the Jets have to show some patience before parading out their new man. That is, unless a new available candidate such as John Gruden fits into their plans.

Try earning a living in a workplace where you’re considered one of the ‘small guys.’ And this isn’t some 9-to-5 office with a bunch of cubicles, a mailroom and a secretary that is the apple of everyone’s eye. No, this is survival of the fittest, where every yard counts.

Leon Washington may be only 200 pounds in an occupation where 300 is common, but he doesn’t take the easy way out. Being a punt and kick returner in the National Football League is an occupation that doesn’t find health insurance salesman knocking at their front doors. When Washington wants to ‘take it easy’ on himself, he is the third-down running back who has a knack for moving the chains.

His secret? Working out his lower body in the offseason, enough to max out at an incredible 525 pounds on the squat rack.

“I really got stronger in the weight room with Sal (Alosi, team head strength and conditioning coach),” said Washington in the locker room following the Jets’ 47-3 victory over the St. Louis Rams. “I won an offseason award in the weight room – the Iron Brigade – and really prepared myself with a healthy body and a healthy mind.”

Although Washington had a very productive season in 2007, he has taken it to another level this year. One play that has made the rounds on the Internet came against the Kansas City Chiefs’ punter Dustin Colquitt, who Washington dragged on his back during a tackle. It appeared as if Colquitt was giving number 29 a ‘horsy-ride.’

“The base foundation of any football player, especially in a contact sport like this, is your lower body,” Washington said. “That’s something that I concentrated on in the offseason. Working the squats and trying to get stronger. I added muscle mass and got stronger in all of my lifts.

“If you have a strong lower body adn a big heart, you’re going to be hard to stop.”

Photo credit: Al Pereira (January 2008 issue of New York Sportscene magazine)