European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 26, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 50 stars and stripes thursday april 26 2007 rams acquire chiefs Hall the associated press St Louis the St Louis rams Long search for a return Man ended wednesday when the team acquired Dante Hall from Kansas City for a fifth round pick in this weekends draft we have filled a need with one of the top players in football at his specially returning punts and kicks rams coach Scott line ban said Dante will fit nicely on our special teams and can be utilized As a receiver in certain situations the Trade could have draft Day implications the rams had expressed Strong interest in Ohio states Ted Ginn or As much for his return ability As for his ability Las a receiver St Louis also has several needs on defense As part of the Trade the teams swapped positions in the third round the chiefs moving up to 82nd Overall the rams Down to 84th we have to get younger and the Only Way you can do that is through the draft chiefs coach Herm Edwards said youre going to have to give up some thing to get something the 28yearold Hall has re turned 11 kickoffs and punts for in his seven year Ca reer Angelo no talks about Briggs Lake Forest Al Chicago bears general manager Jerry an Gelo denied the team has been involved in Trade talks regarding disgruntled linebacker Lance Briggs Ive not heard anything offi Cial from anybody Angelo said wednesday at a news conference to discuss this weekends nil draft several reports claimed a hand Ful of teams besides the washing ton redskins have talked to the bears about trading for Briggs Briggs wants to be traded or receive a Lon term contract the redskins last month offered the bears their sixth pick Overall in the draft for Briggs and the bears 31st Overall pick the Deal report edly fell through when the bears also wanted another player although Angelo said he Hast heard from the redskins or another team in recent weeks he said such talk usually heats up in the Days preceding the draft could it happen it could Hap pen Angelo said but i cant sit Here and put a percentage on it one Way or another in not in control of that the bears cannot initiate Trade talk for Briggs because he is a franchise player Goodel warns teams about leaking information new teams will be disciplined by commissioner Roger Goodell for leaking any confidential information from interviews with prospective play ers Goodell sent memos to the 32 teams on tuesday warning them that All interviews should be considered confidential and clubs  for conduct detrimental to the league if there Are any leaks a recent Story in pro football weekly identified Georgia tech receiver Calvin Johnson Clem son defensive end Gaines Adams and Louisville defensive tackle Amobi Okoye three highly regarded prospects for saturdays admitting they experimented with marijuana that re port cited unnamed club officials and said the information came from videotaped interviews at february nil Combine Clemson Adams hotter than Ever by Pete Iacobelli the associated press Clemson so it want so Long ago that Al american defensive end Gaines Adams didst want anything to do with football because it was too hot outside now Adams is the hot one poised to become one of the top picks perhaps Clemson High est Ever in the nil draft on saturday Ive worked hard to get where i am Adams said last week in excited for everything thais ahead some draft observers have the Ultra Quick Adams going at no 2 to Detroit that would make him the earliest Tiger Ever taken sur passing do everything world War nera Star Banks Mcfadden who went no 4 to the Brooklyn Dodg ers in 1939 in More modern times tigers cornerback Tye Hill went no 15 Overall last year to St Louis it looked like Adams might join Hill As a first round pick last season until the 6foots 260pounder decided to spend his final season at Clemson if Adams stood out before last fall turned him into a Clemson icon Adams had a stunning 66yard blocked Field goal return that began the tigers comeback to beat Atlantic coast conference champs Wake Forest he led the acc and was third in the country with sacks including a school record Streak of eight games with at least one sack those Are incredible numbers particularly from someone who wanted to concentrate on Basket Ball at Cambridge Academy be cause the gym was air Condi toned and much cooler than the football Field even after football coach Steve Taneyhill a former South Carolina quarterback coaxed Adams onto the Field to play tight end and defensive end an nil future seemed Remote because Cam Bridge played eight Man football it was hard getting people to pay attention Adams said following a productive season at Fork Union Academy with 22 sacks Adams went to Clemson where he gradually became a pass Rushing Force As a freshman in 2003 Adams had four tackles and a sack in Clemson 2610 Victory Over third ranked Florida state a sea son later Adams tied for second on the team with five sacks de spite starting Only one game he led the tigers his Junior year with sacks and is i tackles for loss Back for one More year and clearly the focus of opponents blocking schemes Adams excelled last fall besides leading the team in sacks he had 17v2 tackles behind the line of scrim Mage and six pass breakups Sec Ond on the team seeing him move up the Way he has Ive just been really really pleased Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said Gaines has been such a pleasure to be around Hes probably in my of fice More than anybody just hav ing conversations that Arent foot Ball related and thais the kind of relationships you like to have the Only Downer for Adams last season was that the tigers  fulfil their Early prom ise after opening the season 71 and rising to no 10 in the coun try Clemson lost four of its final five games while it want the ending Adams hoped for he didst regret waiting a year More for his pro Ca reer to Start theres no Point looking Back he said i did what i wanted to do and if s turned out great particularly when it comes to his education Taneyhill said Adams partly wanted to return to get his degree in sports management something the player accomplished this past december a couple of weeks later Adams made his Mark with six tackles and his final two sacks in the tigers 2820 loss to Ken Tucky at the music City bowl Adams caused a stir last week when reports had him and two Fel Low elite prospects wide receiver Calvin Johnson of Georgia tech and defensive end Amobi Okoye of Louisville admitting to nil teams that they had used marijuana Adams agent Fletcher Smith has not returned phone Calls seek ing comment but Bowden didst think the admission would damage Adams draft status or reputation i Haven been around Marqua a very much but i would say the percentage of people who have tried it in College football would be substantial the coach said the fact that he was honest hey i tried it to me says a lot about him Adams spent the past few months working out and preparing for this weekend hell be in new York on draft Day ready to pose in his new team hat its something you dream about All your life Adams said now to play alongside the greats of the game thais the exciting part Middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu was drafted by the sea Hawks in the second round and started on a team that went to the super bowl second some succeed to prove teams missed second from Back Page Hes one of these kids who has spent his whole life learning foot Ball As Well As playing it says Gil Brandt the Nils draft consult ant at Alabama he did it All year round that kind of thing makes you better than players with More ability he had it in Side him not just on the outside intelligence is often the secret to second rounders successes but some fall beneath the first round radar for other Rea sons ranging from behavioural questions Corey Dillon to late maturation Strahan to Small col Leges Strahan and Darren sharper to size that Doest meet Posi Tion specifications Strahan Branch and Abdrew if s also attitude after there drafted says Charley Casserly who was the general manager of the texans when they took will iams and ryans last year and re signed less than two weeks later first rounders get big Money and a lot of them hold out Sec on rounders Are in Camp right away and Start working a lot of them want to prove that they de served to be in the first round or that they Are better than the Guys with the big names who got the big Money ask the 5foot9 Branch the last pick of the second round by new England in 2002 my year there were 10 wide receivers picked ahead of me be cause i was supposed to be too Small he says i wanted to prove i was every bit As Good As any of them i think i have indeed he has one reason he was traded by the patriots to Seattle last season was his demand for the Money he missed by not being a first Rounder the receiver who replaced him with the patriots Reche Cald Well was taken 17 picks earlier and int close in achievements to him in five seasons Branch has 266 catches for 3469 Yards and 18 ads the of injured Caldwell drafted by san Diego has 137 for 1710 and 11 Favre was acknowledged to be talented by everyone in the nil when he was drafted in 1991 but he had been seriously injured in a car Accident while at Southern Mississippi and carried a de served reputation As a Guy who liked to party so he lasted until the second round taken 33rd by Atlanta while Seattle was Choos ing Dan brother of Mark mag wire with the 16th Overall pick and Oakland took the troubled Todd Marinovich at 24th Overall those two were certified busts which was what coach Jerry Glan Ville of the Falcons considered Favre Glanville traded him the next season to Green Bay and new general manager Ron Wolf who had coveted Favre in 1991 when he was personnel director of the jets but missed getting Favre by one pick Strahan almost surely would have been the first pick in 1993 if teams knew then what they know now instead no 1 was Drew Bledsoe who just announced his retirement after a Good career with new England Buffalo and Dallas no 2 Rick Mirer one of the names that comes Leaf second Overall in 1998 is the undisputed no 1 when first round quarterback busts Are discussed the giants had their own fail ure there when they took Dave Brown in the first round of a supplemental draft in the summer of 1992 so Strahan was their first pick when they took him 40th Overall in 1993 a 240pound defensive end from Texas Southern that was one of the few schools interested in Strahan because As an army brat he had lived nowhere Long enough to establish a reputation in High school so Strahan grew late went to a non big time College and was too Small for his projected position he hit the trifecta dropping him to the second round he also got a break that he didst know was a break when the giants took Jones with that fifth Overall pick in 96 not knowing he was Blind in one Eye Strahan was shifted from right defensive end to the left Side generally the off Side for pass rushers i took the bit for that said san Francisco coach Mike Nolan then new Yorks defensive coordinator under Dan Reeves Michael didst want to do it he was hopping mad it worked out Fine going against right tackles nor Mally not the pass blockers that left tackles Are Strahan got 119 of his 132v2 sacks on the left Side Favre Strahan Branch Brees and ryans there Arent Many sure things in the draft one is mat at least a couple of second rounders will turn out better than a whole lot of Guys taken in the first