Bierria feels Katrina’s wrath
While the preseason has reached a point where attention spans get thin, at least one member of the Seattle Seahawks has a good excuse for letting his mind wander.
Safety Terreal Bierria, who was raised outside of New Orleans in Slidell, La., has spent the past two days worrying about friends and relatives affected by Hurricane Katrina.
“It puts everything in perspective,” Bierria said after Seahawks practice Tuesday. “This is just a game, and that’s my family and my home that has been destroyed. My heart goes out to all the families out there that have to deal with the loss of their loved ones from this storm.”
Bierria missed Monday’s practice while trying to track down his immediate family on the telephone. He talked to his mother, who was in a shelter in Shreveport, La., with her husband and Terreal’s daughter and grandmother, but he had still yet to hear from his father or brother as of Tuesday afternoon.
“With the power outage and the phones not working now, it’s kind of tough,” Bierria said. “I thank God for people like Red Cross, the army and all the people there helping. It’s an unfortunate situation. We have a lot of uncertainty right now.”
Bierria’s stepfather recently underwent surgery for a kidney stone, but he was also safe from the storm in a medical facility in Shreveport.
Bierria’s off-season house, which he purchased after signing his first contract in 2002, might not be so lucky. The town of Slidell took a direct hit, so Bierria doesn’t expect it to have survived.
Seattle ends on the light side
Back when size mattered, and they were trying to unearth the next Reggie White, the Seahawks could rest assured that their defensive end position had plenty of bulk.
These days, it doesn’t have a whole lot of width … or depth.
Now that 299-pound Antonio Cochran has been released, the Seahawks’ heaviest defensive end is 272-pound Grant Wistrom, who is an undersized guy by NFL standards. The remaining seven ends on the roster average 6-foot-4 and just 259 pounds.
“When you’re an undersized guy, you tend to play with a chip on your shoulder,” Wistrom said earlier this month. “You always take the field with something to prove.”
But the Seahawks aren’t so much concerned with their lack of size as they are the lack of depth. Despite efforts to shore up the position in the first round of the NFL draft, and during a summer-long courting of former free agent Peter Boulware, Seattle looks like it will enter the 2005 season with little experience behind starters Wistrom and Bryce Fisher.
The five defensive ends fighting for roster spots behind the starters have a combined 38 games of NFL experience, with just 20 tackles and 1/2 sack to show for it.
Favre’s family home destroyed
Packers quarterback Brett Favre spent most of the last two days nervously waiting to hear from family members in his hometown of Kiln, Miss., in the heart of the Gulf Coast area devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
The Packers said Favre finally spoke to his mother, Bonita, late Tuesday afternoon when she was able to reach him with the help of a Houston television station in the area covering hurricane damage.
According to the team, Favre said his mother reported spending Monday night in the family attic, along with his grandmother, after the house filled up with water within a matter of 5-10 minutes.
On Tuesday, the water receded enough that she was able to leave the family home and go to his brother Jeff’s nearby house, which is slightly higher and away from the water.
Bonita Favre told Brett that Hurricane Camille, which the family experienced in 1969, didn’t compare to this one and the damage it caused.
She indicated the family home is destroyed and probably will have to be bulldozed, but everyone in the family appears to be fine.
Colts staying in Indy
The Indianapolis Colts agreed to a new lease with the city that will keep the team in Indianapolis – with a new stadium – for at least the next 30 years.
“We are pleased to have reached agreement on all issues with the CIB (Capital Improvement Board) related to the lease and look forward to the successful completion of all other unfinished agreements,” Colts owner Jim Irsay said in a statement.
Demolition already has started near the downtown RCA Dome to make room for a planned 63,000-seat retractable-roof stadium expected to be finished in time for the 2008 season. The stadium is projected to cost up to $700 million.
The Colts will play in the RCA Dome, their home since the team relocated from Baltimore in 1984, until the new stadium is completed.
“Former Indianapolis wide receivers coach Milt Jackson, 61, died Aug. 23 of a heart attack, the team announced. Jackson, of Roseville, Calif., spent 10 years as an assistant coach in the NFL, including 1989-91 with the Colts.
Vikings claim Lee from Bills
The Minnesota Vikings claimed running back ReShard Lee off waivers, bolstering a banged-up position.
Pro Bowl center Matt Birk was placed on season-ending injured reserve. Birk needs surgery – the fifth operation on his midsection in just more than a year – to repair a torn labrum in his left hip.
He said a date for the surgery had not yet been decided on, but recovery from the operation is expected to take three months. The team can’t afford to keep his roster spot open that long.
Lee, waived by Buffalo this weekend, rushed 27 times for 128 yards for Dallas last year. He was supposed to compete for the Bills’ backup spot behind Willis McGahee, but had a disappointing preseason.
Rams put Butler on IR
The St. Louis Rams cut 13 players and placed cornerback Jerametrius Butler, who had season-ending knee surgery, on injured reserve.
The most notable cuts were sixth-round pick Dante Ridgeway, a wide receiver, and oft-injured offensive tackle Grant Williams, who started 11 games when the Rams were needy at right tackle.