Post by EagleGene on May 25, 2005 16:04:08 GMT -5
BACK ON FIELD, KALU IS ALL SMILES
May 25, 2005
By DAVE SPADARO
It was just a rookie camp, one that players who have been in the league for nine seasons yawn about.
Go out, break a sweat, laugh with the guys and then enjoy the rest of the days. That's the general tone.
Not for N.D. Kalu.
Not on Wednesday.
"It's crazy. It's just a rookie camp, but last night I couldn't sleep," said Kalu. "I called my parents because I was all excited and I was little bit nervous. I didn't know what to expect (because) it was the first time I went one-on-one against somebody.
"It felt good. I'm happy right now."
Kalu was injured last August 17 during a non-contact drill at the NovaCare Complex. You know the story: He wanted to take an extra rep, so he subbed in for a third-team defensive end and went down in a heap and his season was over.
The hard part was making it through the next nine months before stepping back on the field.
"It was very difficult mentally," said Kalu. "Watching my guys make it to the Super Bowl -- I was happy for them but it was eating me up inside. That is the biggest sporting event in the world, and I had to stand there and watch. It gives me that much more incentive to be part of the effort to get to Detroit.
"Right now, getting back out there was just great. I felt like a rookie out there. My leg felt so much better than I expected it to feel. I'm on Cloud 9 right now."
Kalu is a level-headed guy and he understands the changes that have occurred up front since the last time he was healthy. Hugh Douglas, for one, is back in town. Douglas was signed, as timing would have it, after Kalu's injury and then re-upped with the Eagles in March.
Derrick Burgess, the starter last year at right defensive end after Kalu's injury, moved on to Oakland as a free agent. In his place on the depth chart, right now, is third-year man Jerome McDougle, who has apparently taken this off-season very seriously in his quest to live up to his first-round draft status. McDougle's body is sculpted and his post-draft mini-camp performance raised eyebrows and his confidence level.
Where does Kalu, who plans to play this year at about 255 to 260 pounds, fit in? He knows he has to re-establish himself all over again.
"That's the way it is. That's what happens after you miss a whole year. I like it. I like being the underdog," said Kalu, who said he felt no pain in his leg, but that he believes his surgically-repaired leg is just a bit behind his other leg in terms of strength. "Every year, I'm always counted out. When you see the depth chart, I'm never up there. Right now, they've got me buried, probably, on the fourth team. That's what I like. It gives me more incentive to prove everybody wrong.
"As far as the coaches, they've been great. Coach (Jim) Johnson, coach (Tommy) Brasher, they've all been positive and have told me to come back at my own speed.
"I feel like I'm back now and I'm fighting for that starting position. It's no more just trying to make the team and trying to help the team out. I want to start and I want to earn. If somebody beats me out, then good for him. I'll come in as a backup.
"I felt like I could play a game, so that's good. That's the best feeling in the world right now."
May 25, 2005
By DAVE SPADARO
It was just a rookie camp, one that players who have been in the league for nine seasons yawn about.
Go out, break a sweat, laugh with the guys and then enjoy the rest of the days. That's the general tone.
Not for N.D. Kalu.
Not on Wednesday.
"It's crazy. It's just a rookie camp, but last night I couldn't sleep," said Kalu. "I called my parents because I was all excited and I was little bit nervous. I didn't know what to expect (because) it was the first time I went one-on-one against somebody.
"It felt good. I'm happy right now."
Kalu was injured last August 17 during a non-contact drill at the NovaCare Complex. You know the story: He wanted to take an extra rep, so he subbed in for a third-team defensive end and went down in a heap and his season was over.
The hard part was making it through the next nine months before stepping back on the field.
"It was very difficult mentally," said Kalu. "Watching my guys make it to the Super Bowl -- I was happy for them but it was eating me up inside. That is the biggest sporting event in the world, and I had to stand there and watch. It gives me that much more incentive to be part of the effort to get to Detroit.
"Right now, getting back out there was just great. I felt like a rookie out there. My leg felt so much better than I expected it to feel. I'm on Cloud 9 right now."
Kalu is a level-headed guy and he understands the changes that have occurred up front since the last time he was healthy. Hugh Douglas, for one, is back in town. Douglas was signed, as timing would have it, after Kalu's injury and then re-upped with the Eagles in March.
Derrick Burgess, the starter last year at right defensive end after Kalu's injury, moved on to Oakland as a free agent. In his place on the depth chart, right now, is third-year man Jerome McDougle, who has apparently taken this off-season very seriously in his quest to live up to his first-round draft status. McDougle's body is sculpted and his post-draft mini-camp performance raised eyebrows and his confidence level.
Where does Kalu, who plans to play this year at about 255 to 260 pounds, fit in? He knows he has to re-establish himself all over again.
"That's the way it is. That's what happens after you miss a whole year. I like it. I like being the underdog," said Kalu, who said he felt no pain in his leg, but that he believes his surgically-repaired leg is just a bit behind his other leg in terms of strength. "Every year, I'm always counted out. When you see the depth chart, I'm never up there. Right now, they've got me buried, probably, on the fourth team. That's what I like. It gives me more incentive to prove everybody wrong.
"As far as the coaches, they've been great. Coach (Jim) Johnson, coach (Tommy) Brasher, they've all been positive and have told me to come back at my own speed.
"I feel like I'm back now and I'm fighting for that starting position. It's no more just trying to make the team and trying to help the team out. I want to start and I want to earn. If somebody beats me out, then good for him. I'll come in as a backup.
"I felt like I could play a game, so that's good. That's the best feeling in the world right now."