Post by EagleGene on Aug 7, 2006 9:03:31 GMT -5
Baskett Cool As WR Starter
August 6, 2006
By DAVE SPADARO
CANTON, Ohio -- Nerves? Not that many, when it came right down to it for rookie wide receiver Hank Baskett. You would think a kid who just a few months ago was trying to overcome the sting of not being drafted would be nervous about starting a nationally-televised preseason game, his first NFL game of any kind.
Didn't happen.
That was an upset to everybody except Baskett.
"I really wasn't that nervous," said Baskett, who started with Reggie Brown at wide receiver. "I got it all out before the game, and even then it wasn't a big deal.
"I was excited, not nervous I'm having fun doing this. I was more nervous for my first college game than I was for this. I was like, 'It's just catching a football in an NFL game just like catching one in the backyard."
Baskett looked like he was having fun in his brief time on the field. He caught the lone pass thrown to him -- a 7-yard gain on a slant route to the left side -- on the third snap of a 9-play touchdown drive the Eagles offense put together that ended with a touchdown.
After that drive, Baskett stepped on the field for another snap, and that was it.
He watched the rest of the game from the sidelines, a job well done.
Baskett found out he was starting on Saturday when the team told him, and then he phoned his mother with the great news. His mother, who follows her son intently via the Internet, already knew what was going on.
So while Hank played in Ohio, the Baskett family watched from their New Mexico home.
"The Eagles picked up about 40,000 fans," he said. "I know my mom sat in front of the television and didn't move."
That Baskett started wasn't a shock to him because he had seen his reps increase in practice. He was running with the ones in practice, so he knew he was going to be called on to start Sunday night.
"It's just a start, a first step," he said. "We have a long way to go here."
August 6, 2006
By DAVE SPADARO
CANTON, Ohio -- Nerves? Not that many, when it came right down to it for rookie wide receiver Hank Baskett. You would think a kid who just a few months ago was trying to overcome the sting of not being drafted would be nervous about starting a nationally-televised preseason game, his first NFL game of any kind.
Didn't happen.
That was an upset to everybody except Baskett.
"I really wasn't that nervous," said Baskett, who started with Reggie Brown at wide receiver. "I got it all out before the game, and even then it wasn't a big deal.
"I was excited, not nervous I'm having fun doing this. I was more nervous for my first college game than I was for this. I was like, 'It's just catching a football in an NFL game just like catching one in the backyard."
Baskett looked like he was having fun in his brief time on the field. He caught the lone pass thrown to him -- a 7-yard gain on a slant route to the left side -- on the third snap of a 9-play touchdown drive the Eagles offense put together that ended with a touchdown.
After that drive, Baskett stepped on the field for another snap, and that was it.
He watched the rest of the game from the sidelines, a job well done.
Baskett found out he was starting on Saturday when the team told him, and then he phoned his mother with the great news. His mother, who follows her son intently via the Internet, already knew what was going on.
So while Hank played in Ohio, the Baskett family watched from their New Mexico home.
"The Eagles picked up about 40,000 fans," he said. "I know my mom sat in front of the television and didn't move."
That Baskett started wasn't a shock to him because he had seen his reps increase in practice. He was running with the ones in practice, so he knew he was going to be called on to start Sunday night.
"It's just a start, a first step," he said. "We have a long way to go here."
