Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, July 28, 2004 9 ifeTiA-nmrN FIGURE OF THE WEEK CONTACT US MiYR^Tn! $60,000: Ricky Williams’ severance pay E-mailusatgamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu "”^1/ I \ / | j | after retiring from the Miami Dolphins this week. Robinson inks deal with Texans BY JOEL ANDERSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HOUSTON — Dunta Robinson tried to keep his head from spin ning as he thumbed through the Houston Texans’ nearly four-inch thick defensive playbook. And, much to the rookie cor nerback’s dismay, the playbook gets bigger with each passing day. “It’s so big and they throw so much at you,” Robinson said Saturday, minutes after signing a six-year deal worth about $10.7 mil lion with the Texans. “The play book is overwhelming. By the end of the day, you can barely close it.” Koomson, the 10th overall pick in the NFL draft, is the highest se lection of any team to agree to terms this offseason. His contract includes signing bonuses of $8 mil lion and is voidable after five years if Robinson reaches certain incentives. The Texans have now signed both top first-round picks, the oth er being outside linebacker Jason Babin, who was taken 27th over all. Houston will be one of the NFL’s few teams to have its first rounders in the fold once training camp starts next week — Tampa Bay receiver Michael Clayton and New England defensive tackle Vince Wilfork were the only oth ers to have agreed to terms. The Texans’ rush to complete those deals was in part because of the daunting task of grasping their complicated defensive schemes. Much is expected of Robinson and Babin. “I’d hate to be in Dunta’s posi tion if he hadn’t signed yet,” said Jason Chayut, Robinson’s agent. “That would a tough position for him to be in. These contract talks have been going on longer than you really want to know. We were just trying to get these things wrapped us as soon as possible.” Robinson and Babin both enter training camp as starters in an ef fort to improve a defense that ranked 31st out of 32 teams in 2003, including a pass defense that was the NFL’s worst. The 5-foot-lO, 174-pound Robinson was considered one of the top defensive backs in the draft coming out of South Carolina, where he tallied 50 tack les and one interception last sea son. Robinson will likely start at right comerback opposite veter an Aaron Glenn, and the coaches have moved last season’s starter at the position, Marcus Coleman, to free safety. The Texans expect — and need — an immediate con tribution from Robinson, who will almost certainly be the target of offenses looking to pick on the smallish rookie. “We feel good about where Dunta will be,” Texans coach Dom Capers said. “We realize there’s going to be bumps in the road, but Dunta has the athletic ability and the attitude to play that position.” Robinson spent much of the minicamps shadowing Glenn, a three-time Pro Bowler and 11-year veteran, to pepper him with ques tions about the playbook. The Texans can only hope Robinson is as lucky keeping up with oppos ing receivers as he was with Glenn. 1 would say Aaron probably gets tired of me because I’m al ways asking him questions,” Robinson said. “Sometimes I see Aaron doing something and I’m like, ‘How did he do that?’ But he’s been real helpful to me. He knows that I’ve got a lot to learn and I’ve got a short time to learn it.” The Texans also were close to an agreement with sixth-round draft choice Charlie Anderson, a linebacker. Anderson, safety Glenn Earl and cornerback Vontez Duff are the only other draftees who remained unsigned. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu RLE PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK Ex-Gamecock cornerback and first-rounder Dunta Robinson signed a six-year, $10.7 million deal with the Houston Texans. Losing season could spell program’s doom With this being my final col umn as a member of The Gamecock staff, as well as a stu dent, I thought I’d cover a very sensitive yet thrilling topic: the 2004 USC football team. In recent years, i ve sniea away from writing opinions and columns about the football team and head coach Lou Holtz — not because I don’t like controversy, but be cause it seems to be the same blah written every time someone else does it. But times have changed, and the 2004 season may have im plications far beyond the first game at Vanderbilt. For the Gamecock football pro gram, the 2004 season could lead to years of improvement and suc cess or the end of an era, placing Carolina in the basement of the SEC once again. If you think the days of 0-21 are far from over, think again. It was only six seasons ago that Holtz took over the program and went winless himself. After a spectacu lar turnaround that led to two bowl game wins, the Gamecocks have been very mediocre. With the way the teams are re gressing in spite of better recruit ing, the Gamecocks could easily win two games just as they could win six or seven. The excitement and hype of past seasons is long gone from the Gamecock faithful. I’ve heard ru mors that ticket sales have fallen compared to other seasons, and more fans are criticizing quarter back Dondrial Pinkins than root ing for him. It’s going to be a lit tle difficult for Holtz’s choice be hind center to succeed if fans con tinually call for Syvelle Newton at quarterback. Just a few years ago, everyone thought Phil Petty was a joke. Holtz instilled confi dence in the then-junior signal caller, and before you knew it, Carolina had back-to-back win ning seasons. Maybe it’s time Gamecock fans put down fantasy — like having Newton save the day or Demetris Summers rush for 1,500 yards — and turn to reality. It will take a total group effort like it did a cou ple years back for Carolina to be successful. There are too many players with their own agenda on the field nowadays. Yes, the talent is superior to even the bowl teams of two years ago, but if these play ers believe the team can only suc ceed if they are the stars, they’re in trouble. The players are going to have to i;ely on each other’s tal ents. Now let us turn to fearing the ♦ SENKIW, SEE PAGE 10 BRAD SENKIW Fourth-year print journalism student