tk13
05-02-2005, 01:06 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/11540134.htm
Injury costly to receiver
But the Chiefs hope Thorpe is a bargain
By ELIZABETH MERRILL The Kansas City Star
It was a simple choice of words. “Craphonso Thorpe Shatters Leg.” Thorpe was lying on the field, with 83,000 watching, and he just didn't get up. A teammate motioned for his parents to come. His mom sprinted down the bleachers.
Michelle Thorpe said those words probably cost her son millions.
“It was never a shatter,” she said. “We heard that's how he dropped. His leg. The media said it was shattered, but it was a clean break.”
Never argue with an NFL mom holding a large camera. The Thorpes were in Kansas City over the weekend watching Craphonso, a fourth-round draft pick, work in his first NFL camp. They love Kansas City.
They say the Chiefs got a steal.
Thorpe was considered one of the top wide receiver prospects in the country before he shattered — er, broke — his leg at the end of his junior season at Florida State. With blazing speed, two Atlantic Coast Conference sprint titles and two healthy legs, he was tabbed as a first-rounder. Thorpe took just nine months to come back after the injury and eagerly anticipated a first-day, late-afternoon call. It didn't come — perhaps because of the “S” word — but he's not bitter.
“Craphonso's attitude is, God doesn't make mistakes,” Michelle Thorpe said. “This is where Craphonso is supposed to have been all the time. Whether first or fourth, this is where he's supposed to be.”
Excuse Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil if he holds off on assessing Thorpe's draft value. After three days of rookie camp, it was hard to tell. Two nervous quarterbacks — James Kilian and Jason White — spent part of the weekend off target. Thorpe, like most rookie receivers, struggled to run different routes.
“He'll be OK,” Vermeil said after Sunday's final workout. “He's got a lot of work to do, though. It's hard to go full speed and think at the same time when you're not sure you're going the right direction and doing the right thing.”
The 6-foot, 187-pound Thorpe compared the playbook to math: Get the basic stuff down, and keep adding. Thorpe calls Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders a “football mastermind.” He says the offense, which ranked No. 1 in the NFL last year, is a perfect fit.
Thorpe was master of another high-powered offense in 2003 when had 51 catches for 994 yards at Florida State. He was blocking a North Carolina State defender on an overtime play when he broke both major bones in his right leg. The Chiefs' draft media packet called the injury “gruesome.” The word “shattered” was also used.
Whatever it was, Thorpe is ready for the questions to end.
“I'm just trying to show everybody I'm healthy,” Thorpe said. “That was the biggest question about me coming in.
“I think I have more of a drive, more of a hunger. It was tough getting that confidence back, but I had a whole season to work through it.”
Thorpe was held out of preseason camp last year, and the quick rehab undoubtedly hampered his senior season. He had half as many receiving yards (496) on 40 catches. But he gained 10 pounds of muscle during the rehab — Thorpe has added 30 pounds to his wiry frame since coming to Florida State — and his mom insists that before the leg injury, “Cro” had never been hurt before.
“That's my support system right there,” Thorpe said, referring to his parents, who were in full tourist mode and ready to raid the Chiefs' fan shops.
“I don't think I would've made it without them.”
Thorpe doesn't talk much, but his parents make up for it. When they tell people about Craphonso's speed, they debate about where he got it. His mother, a former hurdler, says it's her. His father, a sprinter, disagrees.
There's one thing they don't argue about, the draft.
“First round,” Michelle said. “Definitely.”
http://www.kansascity.com/images/kansascity/kansascitystar/news/ChiefsCamp_SP125_042905_JFS.jpg
JOHN SLEEZER/The Kansas City Star
Chiefs fourth-round draft pick Craphonso Thorpe got to show off his pass-catching ability at a minicamp over the weekend at the team's indoor practice facility.
Injury costly to receiver
But the Chiefs hope Thorpe is a bargain
By ELIZABETH MERRILL The Kansas City Star
It was a simple choice of words. “Craphonso Thorpe Shatters Leg.” Thorpe was lying on the field, with 83,000 watching, and he just didn't get up. A teammate motioned for his parents to come. His mom sprinted down the bleachers.
Michelle Thorpe said those words probably cost her son millions.
“It was never a shatter,” she said. “We heard that's how he dropped. His leg. The media said it was shattered, but it was a clean break.”
Never argue with an NFL mom holding a large camera. The Thorpes were in Kansas City over the weekend watching Craphonso, a fourth-round draft pick, work in his first NFL camp. They love Kansas City.
They say the Chiefs got a steal.
Thorpe was considered one of the top wide receiver prospects in the country before he shattered — er, broke — his leg at the end of his junior season at Florida State. With blazing speed, two Atlantic Coast Conference sprint titles and two healthy legs, he was tabbed as a first-rounder. Thorpe took just nine months to come back after the injury and eagerly anticipated a first-day, late-afternoon call. It didn't come — perhaps because of the “S” word — but he's not bitter.
“Craphonso's attitude is, God doesn't make mistakes,” Michelle Thorpe said. “This is where Craphonso is supposed to have been all the time. Whether first or fourth, this is where he's supposed to be.”
Excuse Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil if he holds off on assessing Thorpe's draft value. After three days of rookie camp, it was hard to tell. Two nervous quarterbacks — James Kilian and Jason White — spent part of the weekend off target. Thorpe, like most rookie receivers, struggled to run different routes.
“He'll be OK,” Vermeil said after Sunday's final workout. “He's got a lot of work to do, though. It's hard to go full speed and think at the same time when you're not sure you're going the right direction and doing the right thing.”
The 6-foot, 187-pound Thorpe compared the playbook to math: Get the basic stuff down, and keep adding. Thorpe calls Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders a “football mastermind.” He says the offense, which ranked No. 1 in the NFL last year, is a perfect fit.
Thorpe was master of another high-powered offense in 2003 when had 51 catches for 994 yards at Florida State. He was blocking a North Carolina State defender on an overtime play when he broke both major bones in his right leg. The Chiefs' draft media packet called the injury “gruesome.” The word “shattered” was also used.
Whatever it was, Thorpe is ready for the questions to end.
“I'm just trying to show everybody I'm healthy,” Thorpe said. “That was the biggest question about me coming in.
“I think I have more of a drive, more of a hunger. It was tough getting that confidence back, but I had a whole season to work through it.”
Thorpe was held out of preseason camp last year, and the quick rehab undoubtedly hampered his senior season. He had half as many receiving yards (496) on 40 catches. But he gained 10 pounds of muscle during the rehab — Thorpe has added 30 pounds to his wiry frame since coming to Florida State — and his mom insists that before the leg injury, “Cro” had never been hurt before.
“That's my support system right there,” Thorpe said, referring to his parents, who were in full tourist mode and ready to raid the Chiefs' fan shops.
“I don't think I would've made it without them.”
Thorpe doesn't talk much, but his parents make up for it. When they tell people about Craphonso's speed, they debate about where he got it. His mother, a former hurdler, says it's her. His father, a sprinter, disagrees.
There's one thing they don't argue about, the draft.
“First round,” Michelle said. “Definitely.”
http://www.kansascity.com/images/kansascity/kansascitystar/news/ChiefsCamp_SP125_042905_JFS.jpg
JOHN SLEEZER/The Kansas City Star
Chiefs fourth-round draft pick Craphonso Thorpe got to show off his pass-catching ability at a minicamp over the weekend at the team's indoor practice facility.