Cardinals' Dave Zastudil makes big contribution to week 9 win

By Elyssa Gutbrod

November 7, 2011

Arizona Cardinals: 6 Players That Made the Biggest Contributions in Week 9 Win

Led by backup quarterback John Skelton, the Arizona Cardinals managed to eke out a win against the resurgent St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

In a game where the Cardinals surrendered not one, but two safeties to the Rams and where points were nearly impossible to come by, a victory seemed almost too good to be true.

However, with the win, the Cardinals snap their six-game losing streak and move to 2-6 for the season.

In the interest of rewarding good behavior, over the next six slides we’ll give some kudos to the Cardinals players who made Sunday’s victory possible.

Dave Zastudil

How often do NFL punters get acknowledged for their contributions to a team’s success? After all, they only come on the field when a team’s offense has failed to perform.

On Sunday, Dave Zastudil took the field on six different occasions against the Rams. On three of those punts, he managed to pin them inside their own 20-yard line. He averaged 42 yards per punt.

In addition to his contributions at the end of drives, he was called upon twice to deliver the ball to the Rams after safeties. Both times, he sent the ball sailing deep into Rams territory.

In all, Zastudil played a crucial role for the Cardinals defense by helping to keep the field long and forcing the Rams to earn their scores.

Super Bowl champion Don Davis calls for students to "achieve greatness"

November 2, 2011

By Olivia Witherite/Liberty University News Service

Two-time Super Bowl champion Don Davis spoke to a packed crowd at Liberty University’s Williams Stadium tower Tuesday, where he talked about his football career and learning to live a Christian life largely from his role model, head coach Tony Dungy.

Davis spent 11 years in the NFL playing for the St. Louis Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the New England Patriots. It was in New England where he won Super Bowl rings in 2003 and 2004. He later served as a strength coach and chaplain for the Patriots.

Don Davis spoke to a packed crowd of students in Liberty's Williams Stadium tower on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Davis spoke on perseverance to Liberty students and community members, many donning Patriots jerseys and caps. He said after a strong career at the University of Kansas, multiple NFL teams cut him before he was picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was there where he met Dungy, became a Christian and began to regularly read the Bible.

He said Dungy led by example.

“He never preached to me once,” Davis said. Instead, Davis learned by watching Dungy as a coach, husband and father. “His life was preaching to me in my life.”

Currently, Davis is a self-described “life coach” for the NFL Players Association. He works for all NFL teams and helps build relationships with players to assist them with their benefits and finances.

Weaved into Davis’ story was his advice to follow “four Cs” for success – Commitment, Confidence, Consistency and Character – and the three flaws necessary to overcome to reach it: not trading away future blessings for temporary pleasures; not putting passion ahead of principles; and if you find something you love, it doesn’t matter how much you get paid.

“I hope that a lot of the students will just kind of realize my story, realizing … there are characteristics you need to achieve greatness,” Davis said.

After his speech, he turned the microphone over to the audience for a question-and-answer session mediated by Psychology Department Chairman Dr. Dan Logan. Questions ranged from specific games he had played to details of his testimony. He also signed autographs, posed for pictures and talked with students.

“I thought that he was amazing. He was hilarious, and the way that he used his lifestyle as a ministry is fantastic,” said freshman communications student Amanda Bess.

This was Davis’ first time at Liberty, and he said he hopes to return soon.

“This is a beautiful facility,” he said. “I am very impressed with this athletic center. I’m impressed with the buildings that are coming up and all the building that you guys are doing. … I am very, very impressed with Liberty University.”

Titans' Karl Klug making an impact

Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Karl Klug (97) sacks Indianapolis Colts quarterback Curtis Painter during the second quarter at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. (JAE S. LEE / THE TENNESSEAN)

AFC South Stock Watch
November, 1, 2011

By Paul Kuharsky

FALLING

1. Blaine Gabbert, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback: It’s baby steps for the rookie quarterback, who isn’t the root cause of the team's losing but isn’t doing nearly enough for the team to win with any regularity. I don’t like to read too much into body language, but it’s hard for a guy who’s not productive to give a team much moxie. And more than moxie, the team needs a couple touchdown passes from its quarterback. In the same game. No, he doesn’t have great weapons or protection, but we need to see him elevate his game, at least at times. It may not be fair to measure him against Andy Dalton, Cam Newton andChristian Ponder, but he's not off to the same caliber of start to his career.

2. Confidence in the Titans’ ability to solve problems: Never mind a debate about Chris Johnson versus Javon Ringer. Johnson’s going to start, but Ringer will continue to get work if he’s the hotter hand when he gets his chances. We’re seven games into the season, and two Hall of Fame offensive linemen -- Mike Munchak and Bruce Matthews -- clearly don’t have the horses to get effective run-blocking consistently. That’s a big problem for a team that’s supposed to have a run-based offense. The head coach and his offensive line coach wanted these guys, now they are on the hook for fixing things with what they have.

3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts coach: A second consecutive appearance! Congrats. Bill Polian keeps talking about the great job Caldwell’s doing, and he has done well to keep things from fracturing. But there is only so much value in that when there are no wins. Caldwell and his staff don’t have enough talent to work with, but they also haven't adjusted their plan and approach enough to reflect what they are working with. It shouldn’t be a surprise that they can’t block up a great return. Points are tough to get so they have to be more aggressive at chances to get them. Caldwell looks like things are wearing on him.

RISING

1. Joel Dreessen, Houston Texans tight end: He’s got a touchdown catch in two consecutive games and three in the last four. Even without Andre Johnson playing, defenses don’t put a priority on covering the Texans’ second tight end. Owen Daniels, Arian Foster,Jacoby Jones, Kevin Walter and even a healthy James Casey all probably qualify as more threatening. But Dreessen’s got the confidence of Matt Schaub and has a knack for taking advantage of what a defense allows him to do. Gary Kubiak said Monday you can be sure Dreessen’s not undervalued in Texans headquarters.

2. Karl Klug, Tennessee Titans defensive tackle: The high-motor rookie’s been an impact guy for the Titans so far and put together a very nice game against the Colts. He had a sack of Curtis Painter, a tackle for a loss and a deflected pass. He’s a key guy in Tennessee’s defensive line rotation and looks to be a real find as a fifth-round draft pick out of Iowa. The team made a push to get bigger on the defensive front. Klug is the tallest tackle at 6-foot-3, but the lightest at 275 pounds. Light is just fine if he produces like this.

3. Optimism in Houston: It’s always a bit dangerous to get excited about the Texans because they’ve been so consistent at suffering letdowns right when it appears they are ready to make a big step. But they’ve found their balance in a lot of ways over the past two weeks. The division is bad. The schedule is favorable. It’s there for the taking and it’s understandable if, no matter how careful history suggests we need to be, big expectations are building.