Alumni: August 2008 Archives

The back issues that plagued Naperville North graduate Chris Brown during training camp this fall have landed the Houston Texans running back on injured reserve.

The Texans put Brown on IR on Saturday afternoon (via profootballtalk.com), making the final roster move needed to get down to the mandatory 53 players. This means Chris Brown, who signed a free-agent deal with Houston this spring, will not play this season.

Brown, 27, has battled back problems all through training camp. It became the latest issue in what has been an injury-plagued career for Brown. He averaged 10 appearances a season over five years with the Titans.

So Brown will collect a check and try to get healthy. It's better than getting cut, like fellow North grad Glenn Earl, but it's still a bum deal for Brown.

Naperville North graduate Glenn Earl was cut on Friday. The safety was one of 21 players the Houston Texans let go as they try to get down to their 53-man roster.

This is what Houston Chronicle blogger Lance Zierlein wrote about Earl after the Notre Dame product was sent packing.

Earl didn't have a bad camp and should catch on with another team, but he was a victim of being on a roster with nothing but the same type of box safeties that he is. Earl is physical and has okay instincts so he'll catch on somewhere.

Earl was one of three Naperville products on the Texans roster along with running back Chris Brown (Naperville North) and tight end Owen Daniels (Naperville Central). There was some thought that Brown would be a roster victim because of his balky back. Brown isn't safe yet as the Texans have one more cut to make.

Mike Kraft was rocking kind of a Mohawk look on Wednesday before practice at Naperville Central. One side hinted at it, while the other appeared like more of a buzz.

For the third time in the last year, an NFL team has cut Neuqua Valley alumnus Babatunde Oshinowo.

The Washington Redskins released Oshinowo, a defensive tackle, on Sunday, after signing him less than one month earlier. The Bears cut Oshinowo on May 8 after employing him on the practice squad in 2007.

Oshinowo joined the Bears last season after getting cut by the Browns, following their preseason visit to Chicago. It's late this preseason, but he may have some value to several teams' depth charts.

Central Michigan quarterback and former Benet star Dan LeFevour appeared on ESPN's First Take on Friday morning. Here he talks about facing Georgia, the Heisman and his hole-in-one.

LeFevour also did an online chat with ESPN.com in which he answered questions from fans. You can find it here. Clearly, LeFevour's star is on the rise. These days he seems almost like an ambassador. Is there any doubt that he's the representative of the MAC? Of small conferences everywhere fighting for Top 25 recognition?

Also, let me know if this video actually worked for you. It's the first time we've really posted anything from ESPN.

Central Michigan unveiled a new, gigantic billboard of quarterback Dan LeFevour on Tuesday in Detroit. The former Benet star is now, unquestionably, the face of the program and really, the face of the Mid-American Conference.

LeFevour's success at CMU has thrown his name into the mix as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate this season. Chris Huston, the author of widely respected Heismanpundit blog, thinks LeFevour is a "legitimate darkhorse" for this season, but that he's being promoted for a serious 2009 run. The 60-foot high and 30-foot wide version of LeFevour is plastered on the back of the scoreboard at Comerica Park. The sign faces Ford's Field. LeFevour made a few brief comments about the billboard to ESPN's Graham Watson.

I think the billboard is very telling - the MAC and CMU plan to push LeFevour and a billboard in downtown Detroit will help make him more of a household name. If he's more of a household name, he has even more of a chance of becoming the first non-BCS player to win a Heisman, especially if he has another killer season like the last two. What do you think?

Naperville North and Nebraska graduate Corey McKeon will attend the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' rookie mini-camp on Thursday as an unsigned free agent.

McKeon is trying to become the sixth Naperville native to currently play in the NFL, three of whom in Chris Brown, Justin McCareins and Glenn Earl already hail from his father's North program . The others are Central grad Owen Daniels and Neuqua grad O.J. Oshinowo.

What makes the North program so good at producing NFL-caliber players, or is it just a coincidence?