Veteran tight end Anthony Becht, a first-round pick in the 2000 draft and a former West Virginia Mountainer who, unlike several of those who followed his path from Morgantown to the NFL, has gotten in no trouble on or off the field during his pro football career, returned to West Virginia this week for his third annual youth football camp.
And that’s Florio Jr. with Becht after the conclusion of the three-day event, which featured six hours per day of activities.
Becht was joined by several other current and former NFL players, including Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington, Rams quarterback Marc Bulger, Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, running back Terry Kirby, running back Quincy Wilson, and running back Ki-Jana Carter, the first overall pick in the 1995 draft.
Though neither Pacman Jones nor Chris Henry attended any of the sessions (and that should be regarded as a good thing), Seahawks fullback Owen Schmitt was present for two days, less than two weeks after being arrested for DUI.
According to our newest correspondent (i.e., Florio Jr.), Schmitt addressed the 85 campers on Tuesday, and Schmitt said that everyone makes mistakes, that he recently made a mistake of his own, and that he’s not proud of it.
Despite the fact that we continue to believe it was incredibly stupid for Schmitt to drive drunk only two days after Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended receiver Donte’ Stallworth for pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter, we admire Schmitt for acknowledging his error -- and for accepting responsibility for it.
As to the host of the camp, Becht is entering his tenth NFL season, and his first with the defending NFC champions, the Cardinals. Becht previously played five years for the Jets, three with the Buccaneers, and one with the Rams.
From 2001 through 2006, Becht started all but two of the games his teams played.
And he’s a card-carrying member of PFT Planet; he said he checks the site six times per day.
Becht also acknowledged that one of the major challenges this year for the Cardinals will be to forget about last year’s success and to focus on getting back to the top of the NFC West. Given that stirring playoff run, it’s easy to forget that the Cardinals were only 9-7 during the regular season.
And given the significant turnover in the coaching staff, the Cardinals could be facing an uphill climb to duplicate last year’s feat -- especially since they’ll enter the season as the hunted for the first time since the Oval Office was occupied by a desk on which the proverbial buck stopped.