Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 24, 1995 TAG: 9507240102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FROSTBURG, MD. LENGTH: Long
Could Esposito possibly make it to the Frostburg State campus by Friday afternoon to join the Washington Redskins?
Esposito didn't hesitate to recall that the NFL team that wanted him was the same one that had cut him a month earlier. He told Redskins scouting supervisor Scott Cohen he'd be there.
He left about midnight. It took 41/2 hours to drive to the 'Skins' new training site. And 24 hours after his first practice, the running back went 80 yards with a reception for a touchdown in Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage.
NFL camps are dotted with Esposito-type stories. After graduation at Millersville (Pa.) University, the 5-foot-11, 200-pounder was just hoping to be invited to a training camp and stick long enough to maybe get a shot at the World League next spring.
After playing only one year of high school football after moving from Florida to Pennsylvania, Esposito starred in football and track and field at the Division II school. He got his NFL camp invitation from the Redskins.
Then, the June day after Washington signed free agent Terry Allen from Minnesota, Esposito was cut. He planned a sales career. He had that interview Friday with a pharmaceutical company.
Instead, he found himself taking handoffs from Heath Shuler. The Redskins' running back spot is crowded, but it's also hurting with Reggie Brooks and Tyrone Rush sidelined and William Bell having just arrived in camp after recovering from acute bronchitis.
Asked how he views his chances to make the roster, Esposito smiled and said, ``I'll say it like this: Some have the ability to make it, others don't.''
He may not, but his recall to camp was a thrill. ``I didn't start until the second half of the third game of my senior year,'' Esposito said of his 1994 season. ``I got 150 yards in that half.''
He was primarily a third-down back until his senior year, which explains why Esposito says he's ``real comfortable'' with his hands. That's another plus, but maybe still not enough, although he has run the 40 yards in 4.49 seconds.
So, why did he blow off the job interview for a long shot chance with a team that cut him once?
``I've got credit card bills to pay off,'' Esposito said. ``They pay us $400-something per day in camp, and I got money for driving over here, because I didn't take a plane.''
And what if he makes the team?
``It would be a hell of a story,'' Esposito said. ``That's what most people would say.''
POUNDS OUT: Much has been made of the camp absence of the Redskins' top two draft picks - Michael Westbrook and Cory Raymer - but Washington's third selection in the April draft has missed the camp opening, too.
Darryl Pounds, a cornerback from Nicholls State (La.), suffered acute muscle spasms while working out last week at Redskin Park. When Pounds underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test, doctors found two bulging disks.
Redskins trainer Bubba Tyer said Pounds had no history of back problems, and the club has the cornerback on a rehabilitation program. He is likely to report to camp later this week.
TRYOUT: Players - as Esposito proved - are where you find them. The Redskins need help at wide receiver, so Ricky Carrigan, who didn't play football his last three years of college, is in Frostburg for a tryout.
Carrigan had applied for the NFL supplemental draft, but was not taken. Formerly a star receiver at Compton (Calif.) Community College, he missed two years of football with a knee injury. After Compton, he attended Merritt College and San Francisco State, running track for both.
MR. WILSON: The Redskins' concern about defensive tackle Bobby Wilson's recurring back problems continue. Wilson, the team's top draft pick in 1991, is scheduled for an MRI today at Arlington (Va.) Hospital.
Wilson had back surgery after the 1992 season. A knee injury sidelined him for four games in 1993, then he missed half of last season with a broken thumb and a pulled groin.
Wilson's future with the club was tenuous anyway. He's beginning the last year of a four-year contract, and his $1.67 million year is a salary cap drain compared to the $328,000 paid to Marc Boutte, who starts ahead of Wilson.
Another note on Wilson: If he cannot play because of injury or is cut, the only Redskins on the roster from general manager Charley Casserly's first three drafts (1990-92) would be running back-kick returner Brian Mitchell, a fifth-rounder in 1990. Only four of eight picks remain from the '93 draft.
'SKIN FLICKS: Defensive line coach Bob Karmelowicz says one key to his job is being positive: ``A guy may have cleat marks all over him, he may have just been run over and thrown down, but you look at him and say, `Your stance was great.' You hurt all the time. Here's the thing: If you're doing something and it feels lousy, you're probably doing a heckuva job.'' ... Mike McCall, the Redskins' director of media relations and former sports information director at Roanoke College, has been elected to the Clarke County (Va.) School Board. McCall, who lives in Berryville, takes office Jan.1. ... The Redskins will go to Latrobe, Pa., on Tuesday for an afternoon scrimmage with the Pittsburgh Steelers at St.Vincent College. The Steelers will return the trip to Frostburg on Saturday. ... Rookie tight end Jamie Asher, a fifth-round draft pick, knows what he wants to do with part of his three-year, $536,000 contract. He's talking to thoroughbred trainer D. Wayne Lukas about buying into a horse. Asher, a Louisville alumnus, met Lukas at Churchill Downs.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB