Guard Marshal Yanda A Perfect Fit For Ravens And Baltimore

By Joe Platania

September 26, 2013

OWINGS MILLS -- Marshal Yanda comes from Iowa, a long way from Baltimore's more urban setting and busier lifestyle.

But Yanda, a bearded, seventh-year right guard, has a no-nonsense-oriented work ethic, which has fit in well with a town and a team that doesn't believe in doing things pretty, only in doing them well.

Yanda has managed to shrug off and overcome obstacles placed in his way, including being drafted in relative third-round obscurity (86th overall) in 2007 and fighting through knee, ankle, chest, leg and shoulder injuries. His shoulder injury required offseason surgery and kept him off the field for most of this year's preseason period.

Despite those ailments, Yanda -- one of a league-high three rookies to start along the Ravens' offensive line in 2007 -- has put together consecutive-game streaks of 21 and 45 games during his career, the latter ending in December 2012, when he didn't take the field against Denver (ankle).

The second of those streaks could have ended earlier thanks to the chest and leg injuries, but Yanda fought through those to help the team clinch the 2011 AFC North Division title with a season-ending win at Cincinnati.

But it's no big deal to Yanda, for no matter how the Ravens may look during any given game, it's a given that Yanda -- who switched to right tackle in a pinch in 2010 because of Jared Gaither's training camp back injury -- won't have much of an extreme reaction either way. Check out these postgame quotes:

Following his 2013 preseason debut against Carolina Aug. 22: "I just try to go out there and do my part and help the team."

After the Ravens' sputtering win against Cleveland Sept. 15: "We said, just take it one play at a time."

Following the team's 30-9 victory against previously unbeaten Houston Sept. 22: "We did what we needed to do to win the game."

But it must be said that Yanda's blunt characterization of the team's offensive line play through three games is spot-on: rough.

Despite the 6-foot-3, 315-pound Yanda's presence, the Ravens are averaging 2.6 yards per carry, and only winless Jacksonville's 2.4-yard rate is worse. To be fair, the team has gone up against top 10 rush defense teams in top-ranked Denver, seventh-ranked Cleveland and ninth-ranked Houston.

But a reprieve may be in the offing Sept. 29, for the same can't be said for Buffalo, a squad tied for third worst in the league by virtue of allowing more than 150 rush yards per game.

"We're going to be able to run the ball here," head coach John Harbaugh said. "It is a part of our DNA. We have the people to do it. We've got some big, strong, tough offensive linemen, and we have really good backs. Our fullback, Vonta Leach, is the best blocking fullback in the league. The run game is something that has to happen for us."

Even though second-year left guard Kelechi Osemele has impressed leaguewide observers to the point that some consider the Osemele-Yanda tandem one of the NFL's best, the integration of Osemele and new center Gino Gradkowski could be part of the reason things have yet to mesh so far this year.

"He's still a young player," Yanda said of Osemele. "But he's a tough, nasty guy. … All five of us have to improve as a group. We want to excel together."

That's where Yanda's leadership, experience and effectiveness come in.

Yanda has not been charged with a penalty in 215 offensive snaps this year. Also, during six previous campaigns, he has been hit with seven total accepted holding calls and 14 false-start violations.

On top of that, in the world of the trenches, where post-whistle altercations can lead to even more penalties, Yanda has been tagged with just one 15-yard penalty during his career.

Such controlled effectiveness led to Yanda being one of the first Ravens guards to ever make the Pro Bowl in 2011. He repeated the feat last year, but naturally had to decline the invitation because he and his teammates were busy preparing for the Super Bowl.

For Yanda, preparation merely means reinforcing those qualities that have made him one of the league's best.

"It's a combination of speed and power, quickness, the ability to stop bull rushes," Yanda said of his technique.

Given the laid-back way he acts off the field -- not to mention his no-frills way on it -- stopping bull is something at which Yanda excels.

And fans in Baltimore can't help but love him for it.

With two 40-yard TDs already, Panthers’ Ted Ginn Jr. has speed to burn

Carolina Panthers' Ted Ginn, Jr. (19) crosses into the endzone for a 47-yard touchdown against the New York Giants in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium on September 22, 2013 The Panthers won 38-0.

By Scott Fowler

September 25, 2013

As Panthers quarterback Cam Newton fired the ball deep to receiver Ted Ginn Jr. on Sunday, the fans in Bank of America Stadium hushed expectantly.

Ginn was on a full-out sprint, and that is always a sight to behold. But Newton had really flung it – the ball went 54 yards in the air.

“I thought I overthrew him,” Newton said.

Watching the ball descend, Ginn had the opposite reaction.

“Oh yeah, I had it,” he said Wednesday. “But I had to slow down two or three steps.”

Ginn caught the ball, scoring on a 47-yard touchdown to match the 40-yard TD he had grabbed from Newton the week before against Buffalo. Ginn is now the only NFL offensive player with two touchdowns of at least 40 yards so far this season.

Playing on a one-year contract he signed in March that pays him $1.1 million – a lot by normal standards, but not much by the NFL’s – Ginn has already become a serious short-term bargain for Carolina.

Long-term? Ginn, 28, said he’s not thinking about it (“That’s what agents are for”), although he would like to stay in Charlotte. The Panthers undoubtedly will want him back for 2014, too, if he keeps producing like this.

At one point, Ginn was just part of the cast competing for the No.3 wideout role behind Steve Smith and Brandon LaFell, including Armanti Edwards and Domenik Hixon. But for now, Ginn has run away with that job.

Said coach Ron Rivera: “Quite honestly, to Domenik and Armanti’s detriment, when they both got hurt the one guy who stood out and took advantage of it was Ted. He started the next few games as our third receiver and really established himself.”

The upside of Ginn on the field is that he can “blow the top off the coverage,” to use Rivera’s term. Defensive backs are so worried about him going deep that the rest of the field opens up.

Newton threw five deep balls to Ginn against Buffalo – a couple of them were overthrown, and Ginn short-armed another – before finally connecting on a fifth. He is getting very used to taking chances with Ginn. After the Panthers barely threw the ball downfield in their first game, a loss to Seattle, they have changed that dramatically.

In the 38-0 win against the Giants, Newton targeted receivers 20 or more yards downfield on 30 percent of his throws, according to Pro Football Focus – the highest downfield attempt percentage of any NFL quarterback for Week 3.

“A guy like Cam, he’s got a big arm and he’s not scared of the speed,” Ginn said. “You get a guy who doesn’t have a big arm sometimes and after you get two steps on a guy, he is scared he might underthrow you and the defensive back might pick it off.”

Ginn isn’t just a receiver, of course. He has been one of the best kickoff and punt returners in the NFL since entering the league in 2007. He once returned a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the same game, and in another game he took two kickoffs back for TDs. The first time he touched a return for the Panthers, in the preseason, he went 74 yards for a touchdown.

San Francisco kept Ginn around primarily as a returner the past three years. He averaged only 11 catches per season from 2010-12. He ached to be a receiver again, though. He had averaged a respectable 42.7 catches per season with the Miami Dolphins from 2007-09, although he never turned into the No.1 receiver the Dolphins envisioned when they drafted him No.9 overall in 2007.

“I’ve been labeled a specialist, but my whole goal is to be a receiver,” Ginn said. “I’m getting my opportunity now and showing what people missed out on.”

Although the temptation with Ginn’s speed is to say, as Rivera put it, “Line him up wide, tell him to run as fast as you can and then we’ll throw it once in a while,” the Panthers are not using him purely to stretch the field.

One of Ginn’s most significant plays of the season came with two minutes left in the second quarter Sunday. With Steve Smith briefly out due to a hip injury, the Panthers faced third-and-11 at the Carolina 46.

Ginn ran a slant route, caught the ball in traffic and gained exactly 11 yards, extending a drive that ended with a Newton pass to Brandon LaFell for a touchdown.

This is not to say Ginn is perfect. In the past, he has been criticized for dropped passes, his relatively small stature and his lack of physicality. The 49ers basically gave up on him as a receiver.

But for the 1-2 Panthers, Ginn has been awfully good so far – a big-play weapon in a sport where you simply can’t have enough of those.

Katie Smith lived the dream, is ready for next one

Katie Smith hugs her father, John, during a ceremony honoring her before her final home game with the New York Liberty. She retired as the career scoring leader in women’s pro basketball.

By Michael Arace

September 25, 2013

The New York Liberty paid tribute to Katie Smith on the occasion of the final home game of her WNBA career. This was two weeks ago, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

A team official stood before the crowd and said, “It is absolutely my honor to be center court with Katie. I’m going to recite a couple of the hallmarks of her career…”

Then she turned to Smith and said, “I’m sorry to have to publicly do this, but it’s my job.”

Odd choice of words? Or, perfect?

“I’m sorry to have to publicly do this, but it’s my job.” That is how Smith played her whole career, and became one of the most highly decorated athletes of her generation, male or female. That is how she barely caused a ripple in the national media when she tiptoed away earlier this month. Excuse me, thank you and have a nice day.

“Nike threw a nice party for my family and friends,” Smith said yesterday. “It was enough. I don’t like to be, I don’t need to be, constantly acknowledged. I’ve done the job — hopefully, I did a good job — but it didn’t put my name in lights.”

Smith did a good job in the way Oscar Robertson did a good job. She was the national high-school player of the year at Logan and the Big Ten player of the year at Ohio State. She won a WNBA scoring title (2001) at a time when Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Lisa Leslie were the recognized stars. Ultimately, she retired as the career scoring leader in women’s professional basketball.

She made more three-pointers than any other woman. She could guard all five positions and was the most feared defender of her time. And she won. She won two American Basketball League titles in two years with the Columbus Quest before the league folded and two titles in 15 years in the WNBA. She won three Olympic gold medals in a two-decade-long association with the U.S. national team.

This was the farewell tour: Smith played her last two WNBA games on the road, at Indiana and Washington, and was acknowledged by the PA announcers and patted on the back by some fans. She smiled and waved and headed back to Columbus. Perfect.

“Olympic gold, championships; yeah, all that stuff was great,” Smith said. “But it was really about the people I met along the way, all the experiences I had travelling all over the world. I step back now and say, ‘Really? I did all this playing basketball?’ It has been pretty cool. I’ve pretty much lived the dream. Now, I’ve just got to find the next dream.”

Smith marvels at how, when she was a child, she never even thought about playing professional basketball — mostly because the WNBA did not exist. She helped establish the league. She is proud of that. Next dream?

Smith is doing some in-studio work for NBA TV during the WNBA playoffs. She is in her third and final year of graduate school at Ohio State, on course for a master’s in dietary science. Although details have yet to be completed, the plan is for her to join Bill Laimbeer’s coaching staff with the Liberty next year.

Sooner or later, the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., will call.

“People talk about that — Dawn Staley just went in this year — and of course, it would be cool,” Smith said. “Looking back, though, I didn’t play for the Hall or any of that other stuff. The journey has just been surreal, you know? I started playing the game, and I continued to play the game — and it felt like a game. It was fun.

“I didn’t set out to do all this, I just tried to do my job well, and do it with some consistency. I wound up playing a long time at a high level.”

Nobody longer, nobody higher, and excuse me for publicly doing this.