Carey was a four-year letterman at Norfolk State (2005-08) who was a second-team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selection each of his final two years. He recorded a career-high five interceptions as a senior, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He also scored a touchdown via a fumble return last year. Carey prepped at Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk, Va.

Francies played his final collegiate season of 2008 at San Jose State when he collected 69 tackles and three interceptions. He also played at Oregon State in 2006. He attended Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, Calif.

Davis was a four-year letterman at Clemson (2005-08) where he finished his career as the school’s second all-time leading rusher with 3,881 yards and 47 touchdowns on 753 attempts. He was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference choice as a sophomore and junior, when he ran for more than 1,000 yards both times, including a career-high 1,187 yards and 17 touchdowns as a sophomore. He attended Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta, Ga.

Cribbs has been back and forth with the team, as he skipped some of the teams voluntary workouts, but later on he showed up to some of the OTAs and mandatory minicamp. While it seems that that would mean he would show up, NFL.com’s Steve Wyche says Cribbs is not planning to play under his current contract, which has has four years remaining from the six-year, $6.7 million contract he had signed two years ago.

The big issue seems to stem from the old regime of Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel telling him that a new deal would be done, but now they are gone, and Cribbs and his agent now have to deal with Eric Mangini and George Kokinis. It will be interesting to see what route Cribbs takes, and the end result for he and the Browns.

His attorney, Christopher Lyons, says Stallworth was released from the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center early Friday.

The 28-year-old Stallworth served 24 days of the 30-day jail sentence after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter. Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian in an early morning crash March 14. Police said he had spent the night drinking at a swank Miami Beach nightclub.

Stallworth has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL. He signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns before last season but was injured much of the year, finishing with 17 catches for 170 yards and a touchdown.

He plans to come back ready, though ready to tackle the playbook and training camp, ready for a bigger role individually, ready for whatever his second professional season might entail. In addition to the natural progression a player makes from his rookie season to future ones, Rucker’s readiness includes being prepared from day one of training camp on Aug. 1.

Last year, when Rucker was playing behind three veteran tight ends and suffered a knee injury in the Browns’ first preseason game, he knew his opportunities wouldn’t come until later in the season, if at all. That was unfamiliar territory for a player who started 50 consecutive games — a school record — in his college career at Missouri. He didn’t return to practice until early October, and didn’t make his “real” NFL debut until Nov. 30 against the Colts. Rucker ended up playing in five games with one start; he caught 2 passes for 17 yards.

“I feel like I am ready for more now,” Rucker said. “Being here in the NFL, period, is a great opportunity. I have to seize it.”

The Browns’ OTA sessions and minicamps brought Rucker the kinds of opportunities he hopes he’ll continue to get. With Kellen Winslow traded to Tampa Bay in March, Darnell Dinkins gone to New Orleans and Steve Heiden not participating while recovering from offseason knee surgery, Rucker got plenty of first and second team reps during the spring, often playing along with new veteran acquisition Robert Royal. Rucker said the spring work went “well. I was learning day by day.

I knew what to expect a little (more than in 2008) but getting a new coaching staff is sort of like starting all over again”It’s a process. Every day you messed some things up you have to go back the next day and try not to do it again. You get in the classroom, you ask questions when you need to and you stay focused on what the objectives are.”

“After playing in a spread offense in a variety of roles in college, Rucker had to adjust to being a hand-on-the-ground tight end in the NFL, as well as playing on special teams. Those transitions will continue next month, and Rucker is eager to gauge his progress. “I feel like I’m a better player,” he said. “I got stronger in the weight room and I worked hard on perfecting my craft. I’m a better player in every area. “I’m excited. I’m ready to get going.”

Braylon Edwards and Donte Stallworth, No. 17 and No. 18, respectively, in your Browns program, are friends. Each was also an enabler of sorts for the other. The fatal accident in which a legally drunk Stallworth struck and killed Miami pedestrian Mario Reyes in March followed a night when he and Edwards carried on like “Diamond” Jim Brady.

Edwards spent $3,443, including $1,500 for a bottle of champagne and $695 on vodka. Stallworth, who was celebrating a $4.5 million bonus the Browns had just paid him, bought for Edwards’ table a $375 bottle of tequila. He was also billed $90 for five shots of the stuff.

After reading an account such as this, it’s amazing that anyone could even get behind the wheel of a vehicle, and is amazing that more people were not hurt.

I’m focusing my training on becoming more versatile. As a strong safety you have to play more in the box, cover the tight end and stop the run. The free safety is the last line of defense, the ballhawk in the back.

Personally I don’t care where I play, I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team. Whether I’m starting or coming off the bench, I’m training to be the starter.

Playing strong safety means you have to have a physical, aggressive mentality to get up and stick your nose in. You can’t shy away from contact. The toughest thing is to dodge the offensive linemen. They see a smaller guy and try to push them around. The key is to beat them with agility and speed.

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The latest twist in the Donte’ Stallworth saga is that the now jailed and suspended wide out feels he was not drunk in the morning hours of when he hit and killed a 59-year-old Miami man back in March. Stallworth told police he drank up to four shots of premium tequila while partying with friends at a Miami Beach club.

Stallworth went on to tell police that he met up with fellow Browns WR Braylon Edwards and some others at a hotel after 2 a.m. back on March 14th. Stallworth said in the recorded interview that he drank some tequila from Edwards’ table and later bought some shots himself. “Three, four at the most,” Stallworth said. “I wasn’t really counting.”

Lab tests later showed Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126, above Florida’s .08 limit. He plead guilty to DUI manslaughter, and has also been suspended by the NFL indefinitely.

“I’m glad to be here. I was excited, obviously, that Eric wanted me and went after me. I’m glad to be here, and I’m ready to get it going.”

A fifth-round pick of the Raiders in 2002, Coleman played just one game in Oakland but spent the next three seasons with the Cowboys after being traded to Dallas in the 2003 preseason. With the Cowboys, his first career sack resulted in a safety and he played his only postseason game, recording 4 tackles.

He signed with the Jets in March 2007 and made 12 tackles in his first game there. He finished the season with 90 tackles, and he started 29 of 32 games in his two seasons there.

Though Coleman turned 30 in the spring, he said he’s still learning and improving. With the talent and experience on the Browns’ defensive line, it’s an area that could prove to be a strength of the team — but only if, Coleman said, the entire group takes the challenge and the players push each other to keep improving.

“I’ve had a lot of great coaches with great experience,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot of different philosophies, different techniques. Even things I learned in my rookie year I’m still working on.

“I guess I’m known as a run stopper but I’m working on that, too, going into my eighth year and just working on my craft, working on my run defense and my pass rush. This is a good group. I think we complement each other well and we’ll make each other better at every aspect.

“I don’t label myself as anything but a football player. I’m just a guy that likes to compete, likes to work hard and is glad to be a Cleveland Brown.”

Guys getting locked up, shooting off their mouths about other players in the league, complaining about coaches - this isn’t what I’d want my kids to be following. The game is about passion, hardwork, intelligence, and toughness. The perfect model of those attributes: Steve McNair.

McNair’s love for football, especially the quarterback position, extended beyond all. Right out of high school, Steve was drafted by the Seattle Mariners baseball organization, but wanted to pursue his passion of football instead. He was recruited by many large programs, the likes of Nebraska and The Ohio State University, whom all wanted him to play defensive back.

Instead, he decided to go to Alcorn State where he was offered to play the quarterback position. After setting many records at his Division I-AA school, McNair was drafted third by the Houston Oilers in the 1995 draft making him the highest drafted black quarterback in NFL history at that time.

Through thirteen seasons of hardwork for the Oilers, Titans, and Ravens, McNair established himself as a household name in the NFL. There aren’t many other players, let alone quarterbacks, who could take the type of punishment he did on a regular basis and just keep getting after it. Not only was he a model quarterback, but he was also a model person to the world.

Through acts such as starting The Steve McNair Foundation, donating to the Boys & Girls Club, and his help with Hurricane Katrina relief, he always tried to find a way to bring positive light to our youth and give back everything he had earned.

Over the past few years, the NFL has been in the public’s eye through many negative events. From misdemeanor crimes, felony crimes, players ridiculing each other through the media. All of this has made it hard for anybody to focus on the positive ways the league and players try to reach out to the public. Hopefully the league can start advertising more of the positive before it’s too late for anybody to recognize. Recently the NFL lost a great player and the world lost even a greater man, RIP Steve “Air” McNair.