zero_blitz
New member
Great article in the OWH about Slauson getting his first start tomorrow. Slauson gives his position coach, Bill Callahan, high praise, noting he wouldn't be in the position to start were it not for Callahan. Do Slauson's comments grant Bill any redemption in the heart's of Husker fans for the decade or so he set the program back????????
http://omaha.com/article/20100912/SPORTS/709129846#ex-husker-slauson-excited-ready-for-first-start
This is Matt Slauson's life Monday night at 7:30.
He'll make the first start of his career on Monday Night Football in the media capital of the world for the media darlings of the NFL, the New York Jets.
He'll be replacing Alan Faneca, a six-time All-Pro and one of the best offensive linemen of the past decade, whom the Jets released in April.
He'll try to protect Mark Sanchez, one of the league's brightest young celebrities, from the Baltimore Ravens, one of the league's meanest old defenses.
Ray Lewis will be barking at Slauson from his linebacker post. Haloti Ngata, a 350-pound Pro Bowler, will be itching to tear the former Husker apart.
And if Slauson screws up, Jets coach Rex Ryan will be waiting for him on the sideline with a catalog of four-letter words.
So, Matt, how you feeling?
“I'm super excited. This is a dream come true for me,” Slauson said late Saturday night. “I'm also really nervous, really scared. I've been sleeping (poorly) all week long.”
Rest is hard to come by when you're one of very few question marks for a team that boldly proclaims its 2010 goal:
“Super Bowl or bust,” Slauson said.
The Jets drafted Slauson out of Nebraska in the sixth round of the 2009 draft. Not many sixth-rounders make the roster, let alone earn a starting spot 16 months later for a playoff team.
The Jets led the NFL in rushing in 2009 and it was no fluke. Four of their five offensive linemen had been to a Pro Bowl.
The team was expected to keep that line intact for a Super Bowl run. Instead, it dumped Faneca's big salary.
Slauson, who played just three games in 2009, said he spent countless hours in the weight room and in the film room preparing for training camp.
“I knew when we let go of Alan, this was my shot,” Slauson said. “And I wasn't going to waste it. Shots like this don't come around all the time.”
Slauson is an intriguing name these days not only because of his starting role. He's an inside source on other newsworthy topics, like “Hard Knocks,” Bill Callahan and Danny Woodhead.
• On “Hard Knocks,” the five-part HBO miniseries dedicated to the Jets' training camp:
Slauson said he liked having cameras at camp and watching each week with teammates. The show gave friends and family a glimpse at his world, he said.
Slauson's main contribution to the drama was a fight at Jets practice.
“Fights happen in camp all the time,” he said. “The guy I was fighting with, he's actually one of my best friends on the team.”
• On Bill Callahan, his offensive line coach:
“To have him with me is truly a blessing. I believe if I wasn't with him, I wouldn't be in the NFL right now. ... I feel like I have made so many strides in the past year that I probably wouldn't have made without him.”
Slauson said Callahan acts differently than he did as head coach at Nebraska. He's more relaxed, more “in his element.”
“The guy smiles more than anyone I've ever seen,” Slauson said. “I don't know what it is, if it's just being able to focus on the offensive line or what. I can tell every day he's just having a blast.”
• On Danny Woodhead, a former Chadron State star who was also featured on “Hard Knocks”:
“I tell you what, that guy is an absolute beast. I love hanging out with him. He works so hard. He's so incredibly talented.
“If he was 6-foot-1, he would be an All-Pro already.”
Slauson, who'd rather wear cowboy boots than football cleats, spends a lot of time off the field with Woodhead, a North Platte, Neb., native.
“We don't go in the city much,” Slauson said. “We're both homebodies. We love sitting at home with our wives. We don't really get out much like a lot of people do, just because we aren't comfortable in that atmosphere yet.”
The Big Apple is nothing compared to Monday Night Football.
In August, Slauson's parents told him they wanted to come to New York to see him play.
Not yet, Slauson told them. He intended to win a starting job. And when he did, they could watch him in the regular season.
Saturday night, he picked up his folks at LaGuardia. Took them out to dinner, then went home and prepared for his first night on the job.
It gets easier Tuesday morning.
Contact the writer:
649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com
http://omaha.com/article/20100912/SPORTS/709129846#ex-husker-slauson-excited-ready-for-first-start
This is Matt Slauson's life Monday night at 7:30.
He'll make the first start of his career on Monday Night Football in the media capital of the world for the media darlings of the NFL, the New York Jets.
He'll be replacing Alan Faneca, a six-time All-Pro and one of the best offensive linemen of the past decade, whom the Jets released in April.
He'll try to protect Mark Sanchez, one of the league's brightest young celebrities, from the Baltimore Ravens, one of the league's meanest old defenses.
Ray Lewis will be barking at Slauson from his linebacker post. Haloti Ngata, a 350-pound Pro Bowler, will be itching to tear the former Husker apart.
And if Slauson screws up, Jets coach Rex Ryan will be waiting for him on the sideline with a catalog of four-letter words.
So, Matt, how you feeling?
“I'm super excited. This is a dream come true for me,” Slauson said late Saturday night. “I'm also really nervous, really scared. I've been sleeping (poorly) all week long.”
Rest is hard to come by when you're one of very few question marks for a team that boldly proclaims its 2010 goal:
“Super Bowl or bust,” Slauson said.
The Jets drafted Slauson out of Nebraska in the sixth round of the 2009 draft. Not many sixth-rounders make the roster, let alone earn a starting spot 16 months later for a playoff team.
The Jets led the NFL in rushing in 2009 and it was no fluke. Four of their five offensive linemen had been to a Pro Bowl.
The team was expected to keep that line intact for a Super Bowl run. Instead, it dumped Faneca's big salary.
Slauson, who played just three games in 2009, said he spent countless hours in the weight room and in the film room preparing for training camp.
“I knew when we let go of Alan, this was my shot,” Slauson said. “And I wasn't going to waste it. Shots like this don't come around all the time.”
Slauson is an intriguing name these days not only because of his starting role. He's an inside source on other newsworthy topics, like “Hard Knocks,” Bill Callahan and Danny Woodhead.
• On “Hard Knocks,” the five-part HBO miniseries dedicated to the Jets' training camp:
Slauson said he liked having cameras at camp and watching each week with teammates. The show gave friends and family a glimpse at his world, he said.
Slauson's main contribution to the drama was a fight at Jets practice.
“Fights happen in camp all the time,” he said. “The guy I was fighting with, he's actually one of my best friends on the team.”
• On Bill Callahan, his offensive line coach:
“To have him with me is truly a blessing. I believe if I wasn't with him, I wouldn't be in the NFL right now. ... I feel like I have made so many strides in the past year that I probably wouldn't have made without him.”
Slauson said Callahan acts differently than he did as head coach at Nebraska. He's more relaxed, more “in his element.”
“The guy smiles more than anyone I've ever seen,” Slauson said. “I don't know what it is, if it's just being able to focus on the offensive line or what. I can tell every day he's just having a blast.”
• On Danny Woodhead, a former Chadron State star who was also featured on “Hard Knocks”:
“I tell you what, that guy is an absolute beast. I love hanging out with him. He works so hard. He's so incredibly talented.
“If he was 6-foot-1, he would be an All-Pro already.”
Slauson, who'd rather wear cowboy boots than football cleats, spends a lot of time off the field with Woodhead, a North Platte, Neb., native.
“We don't go in the city much,” Slauson said. “We're both homebodies. We love sitting at home with our wives. We don't really get out much like a lot of people do, just because we aren't comfortable in that atmosphere yet.”
The Big Apple is nothing compared to Monday Night Football.
In August, Slauson's parents told him they wanted to come to New York to see him play.
Not yet, Slauson told them. He intended to win a starting job. And when he did, they could watch him in the regular season.
Saturday night, he picked up his folks at LaGuardia. Took them out to dinner, then went home and prepared for his first night on the job.
It gets easier Tuesday morning.
Contact the writer:
649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com
