2112
09-02-2006, 01:14 PM
Broncos Cut Ron Dayne
Associated Press 9/2/2006
DENVER -- The Denver Broncos' cuts ranged from the expected -- running back Ron Dayne -- to the unexpected -- wide receiver Darius Watts.
Both players left team headquarters Saturday saying they'd been told they wouldn't make the 53-man roster.
"I kind of understand. Once I got hurt, the other guys stepped up," said Dayne, who began training camp as the starting tailback but quickly was surpassed by undrafted rookie Mike Bell and then suffered turf toe in the preseason opener and didn't play again.
Dayne missed 12 days of practices and the final three exhibition games, sealing his fate. In his absence, Bell, Cedric Cobbs and Tatum Bell all performed well.
Dayne, who won the Heisman Trophy at Wisconsin in 1999, when he finished his career as the NCAA's all-time leading rusher, finished with just 12 yards on five carries in the preseason.
He had leapfrogged Tatum Bell over the winter when Mike Anderson was waived in a salary cap move.
Watts' departure was more of a surprise. The Broncos had praised him all offseason for his improved play and he was in position to serve as the third or fourth wide receiver following Ashley Lelie's trade to Atlanta.
"I didn't see it coming," Watts said. "Tell me if anybody did."
Watts, a second-round pick out of Marshall in 2004 whose career was marked more by his big drops than his sensational skills, said his stock might have fallen because he didn't do anything on special teams this summer.
"All I can think of now is rolling on," he said.
On Friday, the Broncos informed offensive lineman Dwayne Carswell that he hadn't made the team. The 12-year veteran and one-time Pro Bowl tight end was trying to return from a life-threatening auto accident that cut short his 2005 season.
All NFL teams must trim their rosters to 53 by Saturday afternoon. Broncos punter Todd Sauerbrun will begin serving his monthlong suspension for using ephedra, a dietary supplement banned by the league, in offseason workouts.
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Associated Press 9/2/2006
DENVER -- The Denver Broncos' cuts ranged from the expected -- running back Ron Dayne -- to the unexpected -- wide receiver Darius Watts.
Both players left team headquarters Saturday saying they'd been told they wouldn't make the 53-man roster.
"I kind of understand. Once I got hurt, the other guys stepped up," said Dayne, who began training camp as the starting tailback but quickly was surpassed by undrafted rookie Mike Bell and then suffered turf toe in the preseason opener and didn't play again.
Dayne missed 12 days of practices and the final three exhibition games, sealing his fate. In his absence, Bell, Cedric Cobbs and Tatum Bell all performed well.
Dayne, who won the Heisman Trophy at Wisconsin in 1999, when he finished his career as the NCAA's all-time leading rusher, finished with just 12 yards on five carries in the preseason.
He had leapfrogged Tatum Bell over the winter when Mike Anderson was waived in a salary cap move.
Watts' departure was more of a surprise. The Broncos had praised him all offseason for his improved play and he was in position to serve as the third or fourth wide receiver following Ashley Lelie's trade to Atlanta.
"I didn't see it coming," Watts said. "Tell me if anybody did."
Watts, a second-round pick out of Marshall in 2004 whose career was marked more by his big drops than his sensational skills, said his stock might have fallen because he didn't do anything on special teams this summer.
"All I can think of now is rolling on," he said.
On Friday, the Broncos informed offensive lineman Dwayne Carswell that he hadn't made the team. The 12-year veteran and one-time Pro Bowl tight end was trying to return from a life-threatening auto accident that cut short his 2005 season.
All NFL teams must trim their rosters to 53 by Saturday afternoon. Broncos punter Todd Sauerbrun will begin serving his monthlong suspension for using ephedra, a dietary supplement banned by the league, in offseason workouts.
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