Tuesday, April 10, 2012

UCLA Football: Slurpee Swag

Sinbad & Keyshawn Johnson at UCLA's Spaulding Field

Scott Robinson

With his head swung around over his left shoulder, WR Jerry Johnson reached out with one arm in an attempt to reel in a poorly thrown ball.

Running what looked like a 10-yard out during a 7-on-5, the ball came his way, he reached and touched it, but didn’t have it.

As it is with most drills these days at UCLA, the next wave of Bruins jumped into place, only seconds after Johnson ran off to the sidelines.

One moment later, none other than Keyshawn Johnson, three-time NFL Pro-Bowler, got into Number Nine’s ear.

The very next chance Jerry jumped in, two hands were used and a catch was made.

I asked Johnson about what knowledge Mr. Seven-Eleven imparted:

“[He said] go for the ball with both hands, instead of trying to be spectacular and make a one-handed catch. Do what’s necessary to make the play.”

Makes you wonder what the Trojan fan-base has to say about their alumni tipping off pointers to what appears to be an up-and-coming program.

“It was good hearing from a person like him,” continued Jerry Johnson, “He knows the game, he’s been through it before, you know, he’s a veteran.”

Tackle This

With hits left and right, physical play was constant. As players collided, especially with Pauley in the backdrop, echoes of helmets cracking smacked in the air throughout all of practice.

With this marking the second day in pads, the energy on the field continued to stay up. Perhaps the best indicator of this high-energy is the fact that the defense and offense are barking at each other through-out their scrimmaging drills.

On one particular play, where WR Johnson faced up against DC Aaron Hester, a pass from QB TJ Millweard sailed low and away; Johnson pointed as if to tell Millweard to get it higher and he’ll catch it.

Hester thought otherwise—He spat out in defiance: “NO, NO, NO, NO!”