keg in kc
08-24-2006, 02:09 AM
Chiefs' Croyle shows color (http://cjonline.com/stories/082406/chi_croyle.shtml)
Rookie quarterback fighting for No. 3 in Chiefs camp
By Tully Corcoran
The Capital-Journal
Published Thursday, August 24, 2006
Ladies, in case you were wondering, it's boxers for Brodie Croyle.
"I got 'em with frogs, some with dogs, bananas, you name it," Croyle said in a response to teammate Jeff Webb's public criticism of Croyle undergarments. "I don't go for the regular Hanes, light blue. I'm a colorful kind of guy."
This is the kind of information that somehow sees daylight during long days at training camp. Maybe a few years from now it will be a quaint analogy for Croyle's personality. Maybe it's just underwear.
What's interesting isn't so much the color of Croyle's undies, it's the comfort with which he talks about them. It's the ease with which he talks about everything, in a lazy southern drawl that makes words curl from his mouth like pipe smoke.
He's had that same type of ease on the football field his entire life. He was a high school All-American in Rainbow City, Ala. His father John won a national title at Alabama in 1973 and Junior -- his name is actually John Brodie Croyle -- followed him to the Tide and became Alabama's all-time leader in passing yards.
The Chiefs took Croyle in the third round of this year's draft, putting him in a battle for the third quarterback spot and making him Trent Green's understudy.
Or annoying little brother.
"I think I was getting on his nerves in OTAs, asking so many questions," Croyle said. "Now it's gotten to the point, after every series, he'll come back there and tell me what he saw, why he saw it, all the tricks of the trade he's learned."
It has been a new role for Green, who spent the majority of his five years in Kansas City with veterans behind him. This season, in Croyle and Casey Printers, Green spends as much time teaching the offense as he does running it.
"There's so much terminology and they keep asking me over and over again how do you just rattle that fifteen-word play off so fast," Green said. "It's just repetition. You've got to do it over and over, sit in your rooms and do it over and over, watch film, and they're growing well."
Green's two Pro Bowls, his franchise passing records and his career longevity appeal to Croyle. But if history is any indication, Green's five consecutive healthy seasons might be the feat Croyle struggles most to replicate.
At a slight 206 pounds and a tendency to hang in the pocket, Croyle has taken more crushing blows than Kevin Federline's rap career.
And he's paid for it. Croyle tore his left ACL as a senior in high school, and ripped the other one as a junior in college, which was the same year he separated his shoulder.
He hasn't practiced the majority of training camp with another shoulder injury, though he's scheduled to make his debut at home against the Rams on Saturday.
He admits he doesn't know the offense like Green does, and, though he'd like to compete for the No. 2 job, that's almost certainly veteran Damon Huard's gig.
The battle for No. 3 is between Croyle, Printers and Jeff Smoker. Loser goes home.
Not that Croyle sounds worried. He never does.
"If they call my number," he said, "then I'll be ready to go."
Rookie quarterback fighting for No. 3 in Chiefs camp
By Tully Corcoran
The Capital-Journal
Published Thursday, August 24, 2006
Ladies, in case you were wondering, it's boxers for Brodie Croyle.
"I got 'em with frogs, some with dogs, bananas, you name it," Croyle said in a response to teammate Jeff Webb's public criticism of Croyle undergarments. "I don't go for the regular Hanes, light blue. I'm a colorful kind of guy."
This is the kind of information that somehow sees daylight during long days at training camp. Maybe a few years from now it will be a quaint analogy for Croyle's personality. Maybe it's just underwear.
What's interesting isn't so much the color of Croyle's undies, it's the comfort with which he talks about them. It's the ease with which he talks about everything, in a lazy southern drawl that makes words curl from his mouth like pipe smoke.
He's had that same type of ease on the football field his entire life. He was a high school All-American in Rainbow City, Ala. His father John won a national title at Alabama in 1973 and Junior -- his name is actually John Brodie Croyle -- followed him to the Tide and became Alabama's all-time leader in passing yards.
The Chiefs took Croyle in the third round of this year's draft, putting him in a battle for the third quarterback spot and making him Trent Green's understudy.
Or annoying little brother.
"I think I was getting on his nerves in OTAs, asking so many questions," Croyle said. "Now it's gotten to the point, after every series, he'll come back there and tell me what he saw, why he saw it, all the tricks of the trade he's learned."
It has been a new role for Green, who spent the majority of his five years in Kansas City with veterans behind him. This season, in Croyle and Casey Printers, Green spends as much time teaching the offense as he does running it.
"There's so much terminology and they keep asking me over and over again how do you just rattle that fifteen-word play off so fast," Green said. "It's just repetition. You've got to do it over and over, sit in your rooms and do it over and over, watch film, and they're growing well."
Green's two Pro Bowls, his franchise passing records and his career longevity appeal to Croyle. But if history is any indication, Green's five consecutive healthy seasons might be the feat Croyle struggles most to replicate.
At a slight 206 pounds and a tendency to hang in the pocket, Croyle has taken more crushing blows than Kevin Federline's rap career.
And he's paid for it. Croyle tore his left ACL as a senior in high school, and ripped the other one as a junior in college, which was the same year he separated his shoulder.
He hasn't practiced the majority of training camp with another shoulder injury, though he's scheduled to make his debut at home against the Rams on Saturday.
He admits he doesn't know the offense like Green does, and, though he'd like to compete for the No. 2 job, that's almost certainly veteran Damon Huard's gig.
The battle for No. 3 is between Croyle, Printers and Jeff Smoker. Loser goes home.
Not that Croyle sounds worried. He never does.
"If they call my number," he said, "then I'll be ready to go."