Beason: Kuechly way ahead of the curve

Posted by Evan Silva on June 10, 2012, 8:12 PM EDT

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Veteran NFL players often feel threatened by rookies, particularly when they’re high draft picks and play the same position. Among vets, there’s frequently a sense that youngsters are there to steal their jobs.

In Carolina, Jon Beason has come to grips with first-round pick Luke Kuechly’s addition to the Panthers’ linebacker corps, and is taking a more optimistic outlook on the rookie.

“I don’t know how it’s all going to unfold, but I understand the draft pick,” Beason told the Associated Press. “I understand the kid was off the charts. So you draft him and it makes your football team better.”

Beason says Kuechly is coming along quickly.

“Oh, he’s great,” Beason said. “A good young kid and very, very instinctive. Wants to get better. Knows how to prepare. Stays late. He’s a good kid and he’s going to be a great player. … He’s way ahead of the curve for rookies just in terms of his football IQ and how he prepares. He’s going to be successful right away.”

With Beason missing all but one game last season, the Panthers finished 28th in total defense and allowed the sixth-most points in the league. Beason’s return and Kuechly’s addition should translate to much improved 2012 performance.

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Ziggy Hood shapes up, and get's on YouTube

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 10, 2012, 6:55 PM EDT

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Steelers defensive lineman Ziggy Hood says he’s gained two pounds this offseason, from 305 to 307. But through intense workouts, Hood says he has radically transformed himself from a fat 300-pounder to a muscular 300-pounder.

According to Hood, his offseason workouts and an improved diet led to him losing 18 pounds of fat and gaining 20 pounds of muscle, and he’s going to be a much different player on the field as a result.

“What better way to help my speed and help my agility but to lose body fat?” Hood told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I play better when I feel good. When I don’t feel good, I don’t do as well as I want, and I didn’t feel good all the time last year.”

Hood and the gym where he’s been working out this offseason have posted videos of his feats of strength on YouTube, including a 50-inch box jump, a 700-pound deadlift and a 1,210-pound sled drag.

Hood said he wants to dispel any notion that defensive linemen need to be fat.

“You can be big and lean and still do your job correctly,” Hood said. “That’s what I am trying to do here. . . . All that big and looking sloppy, that’s out the window,” Hood said. “We are sexy now.

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Suh helps teach youth life skills

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 10, 2012, 3:56 PM EDT

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A handful of incidents have earned Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh a reputation for being a dirty player and one of the NFL’s bad boys, but most of the time Suh comes across as a thoughtful man and a person who has a passion both for playing football and for giving back to the community.

The latest example of how there’s more to Suh’s personality than meets the eye comes from Carlos Monarrez of theDetroit Free Press, who tells the story of the youth football camp Suh is putting on in the Detroit area.

“Everybody obviously knows we want to teach them football and little nuances they can learn growing up,” Suh said of his camp. “But the biggest thing is the life skills, understanding that the biggest part of this is learning how to be a young woman or a young man and the dedication and hard work and competing. Just things that transfer to their normal lives, like when they’ve got to grow up and get into high school and college.”

Suh’s camp draws about 250 children, and in addition to Suh the coaches include fellow Lions defensive linemen Cliff Avril and Lawrence Jackson Hall of Fame former Lion Charlie Sanders and former Nebraska players Cody Glenn and Tommie Frazier.

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