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Geregistreerd op: 23 Jun 2018
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BerichtGeplaatst: 26-09-2018 09:37:04    Onderwerp: their final 22 ga Reageren met citaat

FLOWERY BRANCH Thurman Thomas Jersey , Ga. (AP) — Tired of pompous, entitled athletes who don’t seem to realize how good they have it?

Fed up with all the scandals and cheats and scoundrels mucking things up for the rest of us?

Meet Ricardo Allen.

He’ll give you a reason to cheer.

Allen plays for the Atlanta Falcons, a 26-year-old free safety who will readily admit he’s not the fastest, not the strongest, not the biggest guy in the room.

“I won’t be anybody’s first pick,” said Allen, who at 5-foot-9 comes up 3 inches shy of this aging sports scribe.

That’s OK.

He’s so much more than that.

This is a guy who hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be told you’re not good enough — on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” no less, for the whole world to see.

This is a guy who remembers what it’s like to spend a year on the practice squad, putting in as much work as the next guy but knowing he won’t get a chance to shine on Sundays.

So, when word came that Allen had agreed to a contract extension with the Falcons, one that should set him up nicely for the rest of his life if he manages his money right, he didn’t exactly celebrate.

That’s not his style.

Instead, he watched that “Hard Knocks” episode all over again, the one where then-Atlanta coach Mike Smith doles out the pink slip .

“You can kind of see I smiled a little bit,” Allen recalled. “I knew that wasn’t going to be my last straw. I’ve been turned down plenty of times in life, man. That wasn’t the first time I’ve been told I wasn’t good enough.”

Allen’s new contract — $19.5 million for three more seasons — pales in comparison to, say, teammate Matt Ryan, who agreed to a massive deal that averages $30 million a year and guarantees the star quarterback at least $100 million.

But Allen is grateful for his $5.5 million signing bonus. He knows that’s a massive amount of money to just about anyone else. He hopes it sends just the right message to anyone scuffling on the fringes of a roster.

“This wasn’t just a deal for myself,” Allen said. “This was a deal for everybody who has to struggle, who has to fight from the bottom. It’s possible to make it to the top.”

Even now Clayton Geathers Jersey , he has a soft spot for all those guys going through the same struggles.

“When I was in college, I used to work out with the walk-ons,” Allen said. “I was always attracted to hard workers. I was always attracted to the bottom feeders.”

After Dan Quinn took over as Atlanta’s coach in 2015, he was impressed by Allen’s tackling skills but felt he was out of place at cornerback, his position at Purdue and what he started out playing with the Falcons.

Allen was moved to safety. Suddenly, he blossomed. One training camp after being waived, he surged to the top row of the depth chart, going on start 14 games as a de facto rookie in 2015.

But he never got comfortable.

Not then.

Not even now, when he’s so clearly a part of Atlanta’s long-term plans.

“That ain’t in my blood,” Allen said, chuckling at the mere suggestion.

Zealously guarding against those thoughts ever creeping into his head, Allen is always looking for ways to make things harder on himself.

Right down to the smallest details.

If his eggs are too runny, he’s not sending them back. If it gets cold in his room, he’ll turn down the thermostat even more.

“This world is so used to being comfortable all the time,” Allen said. “It’s weird, man, I know. But it’s just something I do so I don’t get complacent, so I never feel like what I’ve done is enough.”

Allen has always worn his emotions on his sleeve, which was never more evident that when I talked with him less than an hour after the Falcons squandered a 25-point lead in the Super Bowl.

While most everyone else did their best to cover up the overwhelming pain, Allen made it clear exactly how he was feeling.

“I’m broken inside,” he said that night in the bowels of Houston’s NRG Stadium . “I’m not a guy that forgets very easy. I’ll probably never forget this. It will always be haunting.”

But Ryan Kerrigan Jersey , like every setback in Allen’s life, pain served a purpose.

He put together another strong season in 2017, though the Falcons were knocked out of the playoffs in the divisional round. He’s one of the leaders on a young, speedy defense, doling out and advice and mentoring anyone who wants to know how to do things the right way.

When the Falcons announced Allen’s new contract, there wasn’t a hint of jealousy from his teammates.

Quite the opposite.

That day, during a meeting with the entire team, Quinn asked, “If you’ve ever been supported or encouraged by Ricardo Allen, please stand up.”

Everyone rose from their seats, from the biggest stars on the team to those who will likely be cut in a week or two.

“You see the impact that a guy like him has on a team,” Quinn marveled.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a Falcons fan.

No. 37 is a guy we can all root for.
After missing the playoffs for the second straight year, and eighth time in the last 11, the New York Islanders head into the offseason with much work to be done.

The most important task is signing captain John Tavares, who is set to be a free agent this summer.

Tavares has said all along he hopes to be back with the only franchise he’s played for, but doesn’t know what will happen. However, with the season having ended less than 48 hours ago, he needs to take a breather first.

”Take some time to not even think about hockey for a few days,” Tavares said Monday. ”And then prepare for the offseason and training, and obviously the contract will come up here as well.”

Tavares, 27 Kyle Williams Jersey , just wrapped up the final year of a six-year, $33 million contract, and would be the top free agent available July 1. The face of the Islanders since they selected him No. 1 overall in the 2009 draft, Tavares had 37 goals and 47 assists this season, finishing a goal and an assist shy of the career highs he set in 2014-15.

”This is where I hope to be and I’ve stated that,” he said. ”Just have to take some time and figure out what I want to do.”

Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky and general manager Garth Snow have both repeatedly said they want Tavares to return, and Snow reiterated that Monday.

”We want to be in a situation where he has the Stanley Cup in his hand, wearing an Islanders jersey, and we want him to retire as an Islander,” Snow said.

Ledecky read a statement in which he declined to address the futures of any player, or the statuses of Snow and coach Doug Weight, saying the team was ”committed to long-term success,” and defined that as ”competing every year for the Stanley Cup and eventually winning a fifth ring.”

He added: ”For the past season, as owners we have failed. We sincerely apologize to our fans. We want to express that our ownership group is totally committed to winning and providing the resources to do just that.”

The Islanders finished 35-37-10 despite getting off to a strong start in which they won 15 of their first 24 games.

However, injuries to defensemen Calvin de Haan and Johnny Boychuk started them on a tailspin in which they lost 30 of their final 45 games (15-24-6).

There were some bright spots, led by Mathew Barzal’s 22 goals and 63 assists that make him the leading candidate for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie. Also, Anders Lee had the franchise’s first 40-goal season since Jason Blake in 2006-07, and Josh Bailey had career bests of 18 goals and 53 assists.

Some other things to know as the Islanders head into the offseason:

IMPROVING THE DEFENSE

Finding a way to improve the defense needs to be the second priority this summer – after retaining Tavares. The Islanders finished eighth in the league in scoring with 261 goals, but gave up a league-worst 293. They were also last in shots allowed and penalty-killing,

Nick Leddy had an unseemly minus-42 rating, the league’s worst since Pittsburgh’s Rico Fata (minus-46) in 2003-04. Calvin de Haan was lost for the season in December and is also set to be free agent. On the bright side Kyle Fuller Jersey , Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech, both 23, established themselves as solid young defensemen.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier, both 20, formed a solid second line with Jordan Eberle, 27, combining for 180 points to complement the top line of Lee-Tavares-Bailey (217).

Eberle had 25 goals and 34 assists in his first season in New York, and Beauvillier had a breakout second season in the NHL with 21 goals and 15 assists.

WHO’S IN GOAL?

Thomas Greiss is the only goalie signed for next season, with Jaroslav Halak set to be an unrestricted free agent. Greiss dealt with an injury down the stretch and finished 13-8-2 with one shutout and a 3.82 goals-against average.

Halak was 20-26-6 with a shutout and a 3.16 GAA in the final season of a four-year deal. The 32-year-old had a solid first season, going 38-17-4 with a 2.43 GAA in 2014-15, but totaled just 50 wins the last three years.

SNOW’S JOB

With the Islanders having made the playoffs just four times in 12 years since Snow was hired as the GM, he was asked if he deserved to stay on the job.

”Yeah,” he said. ”When I took over this position it was a situation where it was an all-out rebuild. … Now we’re in a situation where we feel we can compete for a Stanley Cup.

”You can go through the lineup and have a pretty common theme of successful stories of where we’ve built through the draft. And I think our prospect pool at this point in time is impressive as well.”

HOME AND HOME

The team’s struggles this season were punctuated by losses at Barclays Center, where they were 59-26-16 since moving to the Brooklyn arena before the 2015-16 season.

However, they lost 15 of their final 22 games there to finish with a losing record on home ice for the first time since 2013-14.

Now, the Islanders will be splitting home games between Barclays Center and the Nassau Coliseum – their former home – for at least the next three seasons until a new arena is built at Belmont Park.

—-

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