Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO AP. CAROLINA
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER|
DATELINE: SPARTANBURG, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
Gregory Clifton is doing the same thing he was two summers ago.
He's looking for a job.
Clifton, a former wide receiver and Southern Conference track champion at VMI, really would like to spend Christmas Eve at RFK Stadium.
That would mean he'd be on the roster of the Carolina Panthers, who finish their first NFL season against Washington that afternoon.
``I've gone into every season pretty much the same, and this one is no different,'' said Clifton, one of the 90 serious sweaters in the first Panthers' training camp at Wofford College. ``I want people to look at me as someone who can play at this level.
``I think this is a serious opportunity for me to make a team and stick. This is different than it was in Washington. There are no Art Monks or Desmond Howards here. Everyone is starting at Square One with a new team.''
What is different for Clifton is that the Panthers' are his hometown team. The Charlotte native played his last three college football seasons locally at Johnson C. Smith after becoming an academic casualty at VMI.
Clifton, 27, is the lone Charlotte resident on the expansion club's roster.
Between his two years at VMI - he was a medical redshirt for his second football season (1988) - and his days at the CIAA school, he worked days as a plumber's aide and nights unloading trucks for a Charlotte department store. He also had enrolled at Maryville (Tenn.), College, but left before attending classes.
The Redskins signed Clifton as a free agent before camp in 1993. He was cut, but stayed with the club's practice squad, then was activated for the final two games of the year.
In a late December loss to Dallas, Clifton caught his only two NFL passes for 15 yards. He returned to Washington, but was waived near the end of camp last year. In early October, he was signed by Philadelphia, and finished the season on the practice squad.
``It's been `almost' for me two years in a row,'' said Clifton, likely a third-stringer as the Panthers have just started two-a-day workouts. ``It's nice being with a new team and my hometown team, but the important thing is it's just football.
``If I got a chance to play for an NFL team in Iraq, I'd be there tomorrow. I have the speed and ability to play in the NFL, but it takes some experience. You're just not going to run by these [cornerbacks] here.
``The thing that I'm getting down is reading defenses. When you're from a smaller program like I was, ability can be enough.
``The NFL is so complex defensively, and coaches are trying to disguise things, that you have to learn what's there. I used to look at a defensive script and say, `What's that?'''
Clifton had a chance to return to Philadelphia, but chose a new opportunity. He said his best offer, besides the one he took, came from Kansas City.
``That was interesting, because the Chiefs wanted me to sign and then they were going to loan me to the World League, and that experience would have been good,'' he said. ``But I think I'm a lot more comfortable here.''
Name-dropping NFL fans figure veterans Don Beebe, Mark Carrier and Dwight Stone as the Panthers' top three receivers, but Clifton feels better about his opportunity than he did the past two camps with the Redskins.
``I got a lot more comfortable as camp went on in Carlisle [Pa., the Redskins' former training site], but you could see the writing on the wall there,'' he said. ``It's a tough business, and every team is different, but I just feel good about it this time.''
by CNB