FAMU finds solid lineman in Fuse

TALLAHASSEE, Florida --Despite being a key player on an undefeated state championship team, Daikwon Fuse didn't get too many offers to play college football.

While he and the Dwyer High School Panthers were blowing over the competition, the Rattlers were struggling to a 3-9 record last season. Even so, he didn't hesitate to take the offer to become a Rattler.

He figured the combination of FAMU needing to win and his familiarity with winning was a good match.

"Who doesn't like to win," Fuse said, explaining his decision. "I'm coming to win. I want to be a competitor. I'm going to bust my behind until we win.

"Coming from a winning team to a team that's struggling, I have nothing but time to help turn everything around."

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FAMU coaches participate in NFL minority internship

HEAD COACH EARL HOLMES
Florida A&M University
(Photo Courtesy: FAMU Athletics)

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Don't be surprised to see Quinn Gray, offensive coordinator for FAMU's football team, being a little more creative on short yardage plays than he's been in the past.

What he's experienced during the recent NFL Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship Program, has given him a new perspective on play-calling, Gray said.

Especially on second or third down with short yards to go, he said Saturday.

"It gave me the opportunity to just sit back and better understand play-calling in situations, understand why you do certain things in a situation," Gray said of the stint he had with the Detroit Lions' coaching staff. "It gave me a better overall understand on being able to lead a group of men."

Secondary coach Corey Fuller also participated in the program at Minnesota, while linebacker's coach Levon Kirkland spent time with the Tennessee Titans. Walsh initiated the program while with the 49ers in 1987, before the entire league adopted it for the last 25 years.

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Claude Humphrey, from Hazzard County to the Hall of Fame

CANTON, Ohio  -- Atlanta fans don't get to do this often. There's Deion Sanders, but the team's three other enshrinees -- Eric Dickerson, Chris Doleman, and Tommy McDonald -- played a combined five years in Atlanta. Even Deion played only five, though Falcons fans can fully claim every bit of him without thinking twice.

Humphrey, the imposing former Tennessee State Tiger, played 11 of his 14 seasons in Atlanta. That includes starring on the 1977 Falcons, the lunatic "Grits Blitz" that often blitzed nine of 11 defenders and gave up the fewest points in NFL history.

(That means he also played a major role in changing all of football, as the NFL swung its rules in the offenses' favor the following year. Don't like defense-free shootouts? Blame Claude Humphrey and company for being too good at stopping them.)

And even though he briefly retired mid-career and lobbied for a trade, ending up with theEagles, one cannot be blamed for wanting to leave the pre-Arthur Blank Falcons. "Pre-Arthur Blank" is a really spacious-sounding era and must describe a whole lot of years as being bad years, you say, and you are right. He then helped the Eagles reach Super Bowl XV, where he threw a penalty flag back at a ref.

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Didinger: TSU's Humphrey Takes His Rightful Place

CANTON, Ohio --The head slap was a devastating weapon for a defensive lineman, the football equivalent of a Joe Frazier left hook.

At the snap of the ball the lineman would come out of his stance and club the blocker upside the head with his forearm. Done with sufficient force, it could knock an opponent off-balance or even off his feet.

The NFL eventually outlawed the head slap because it was deemed too dangerous, but in the 1960s and ‘70s it was the go-to move for pass rushers and none used it better than Claude Humphrey. 



When the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Humphrey slammed his hand against the helmet of an offensive lineman, it sounded like a sledgehammer hitting a rock. There were times when Humphrey landed a blow and the opponent’s knees would buckle. The poor guy’s ears would be ringing the rest of the day.

“Deacon Jones (Rams Hall of Famer) may have invented the head slap, but Claude Humphrey got it outlawed,” said former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil. “Claude’s head slap was devastating.”

Humphrey VIDEO 

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Claude Humphrey got head start to Hall of Fame at TSU

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Playing for Tennessee State gave Claude Humphrey a head start on what turned out to be a legendary NFL career.

The preparation from TSU coach John Merritt and his staff left the 6-foot-4, 252-pound defensive end with little to learn after the Atlanta Falcons made him the third overall pick of the 1968 draft.



So began a run that would last 14 years and include the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, five first-team All-Pro selections and six Pro Bowls. The 70-year-old Humphrey will receive his greatest honor on Saturday with enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Everything I did my first year in professional football was stuff I had learned at Tennessee State," Humphrey said. "I did it in a Falcons uniform and a Falcons helmet, but it was all Tennessee State. The stuff that I was learning at Tennessee State, the pros hadn't caught onto it yet."


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Texas Southern's Michael Strahan ranks right below Lawrence Taylor amongst NY Giant greats

CANTON, Ohio − He sat in a locker room as a rookie, taking orders from Lawrence Taylor. He spent so much time during his career with Harry Carson (S.C. State) that he considers him “my big brother.” He is enough of a student of history that Michael Strahan can list all the greatest defensive players in Giants history.

It still seems strange to him that his name is placed so prominently on that list.

“To hear names like that and think I’m in that same group is unbelievable,” Strahan said on Friday. “Because I never planned on it. The fact it came down to this, being mentioned in that (group), it’s something. I mean, LT? Are you kidding me? Harry Carson? These guys are guys that I grew up watching and I loved and appreciated them.”

And they appreciate him, and have accepted the soon-to-be Hall of Famer into their notable group of former Giants. Yes, when discussing the list of greatest Giants defenders, it starts with Taylor and there’s a gap before anyone else. But on that next tier of names, Strahan − who will be inducted into the Hall on Saturday night − has to be included.

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Texas Southern's Michael Strahan: Pro Football Hall of Fame where he belongs

CANTON, Ohio  -- Michael Strahan takes his rightful place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Enshrinement comes a year later than it should have for the gap-toothed former New York Giants great, who missed out in his first year on the ballot. It is, however, an honor that is richly deserved for Strahan, probably the second-best defensive player in Giants history behind Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor.

Strahan's 15-year career with the Giants ended when he helped them defeat the New England Patriots, 17-14, in Super Bowl XLII. There were many, many great moments during a career that began in 1993 and ended in 2007.  The video below illustrates many of hem.

When we put together the '2014 New York Giants Almanac' I asked Big Blue View contributors for their favorite Strahan memories. Here are a couple of them.

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