Herzlich excerpt and other links

Mark Herzlich's new book is about to be released and with it comes a timely excerpt in the New York Post. I know we feel like we all know Mark's story, but in the excerpt he starts to get more personal and share more of the fear that he and his family hid so well during his fight. I look forward to reading more.

Former Eagle Eric Campbell is making the most of his time with the Mets.

The Chargers cut Ian White already.

Former Eagles settling into their new teams

With ten players signing deals this past weekend, plenty of BC guys made news in their hometowns or with their new teams. Here are just a few of the articles.

As we've been saying, the Packers viewed Rettig's multiple OCs as a positive. He's knows how to learn a new offense quickly.

Nate Freese was the first kicker drafted by the Lions since 1992. Detroit is hoping he's a long-term solution.

People back in Pennsylvania were happy for Andre Williams.

Divitto hopes to make the Jets' roster.

Patchan wasn't the only Tampa native the Bucs signed as undrafted free agents.

Ian White's hometown wrote a long feature on him prior to getting drafted. The San Diego deal will be a nice post script.

NFL Draft ends with a run on BC players

No one really knew where Andre Williams was headed, but in the end if was very predictable. The Giants -- a team with a rich BC tradition -- took Williams in the Fourth Round. The Giants are changing their offense, but I don't think they are going to ask Andre to be a pass catcher. He's going to be about pounding the ball and establishing play action for Eli. I don't think Andre is a fit everywhere, so I am glad he went to a team that will use him well and be patient.

Williams got things started and then what could have been a slow day, quickly became a great day for Eagles. The Seahawks took KPL in the Fourth Round. I think that's a great fit for him as they like to use players in multiple roles, and he has the speed to play a small end but also cover TEs and RBs. The Lions drafted Freese in the Seventh Round and the 49ers used their last pick on Kaleb Ramsey. Freese should be a sure thing for Detroit. If Ramsey can stay healthy, he should also make the 49ers roster.

After the Draft ended, the undrafted guys quickly found teams. Divitto signed with the Jets, Edebali signed with the Saints, Sinkovec signed with the Ravens, White signed with the Chargers, and Rettig signed with the Packers. The Packer-Rettig situation reminded me so much of Matt Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck went through multiple coaches and coordinators and dealt with a lot of losses while at BC. But the Packers proved to be the perfect situation to become an NFL QB. Rettig has the same chance now.

The one surprise is that Matt Patchan has not signed with any team yet. Given the number of private workouts Patchan had, I think he'll catch on with some team soon, unless there is an issue we are not aware off. UPDATE: Patchan signed with Tampa.

I don't know if any of these guys will be stars, but they are all getting a chance. That's what matters.

Captains announced

BC announced that Ian White and Kasim Edebali will be team Captains this season. No explanation was given for how they were selected or why Addazio limited it to two. What I appreciate about these two though is that they are not expected to be our best players. Perhaps the team and the coaches expect them to perform above expectations. Congrats to both.

Key Players for 2012: Ian White

This is a series on the key players for the 2012 season. Big things are expected for some, while others will need to improve over their previous performances. If 2012 is a good year, it will be in part due to the key players overachieving.

Junior Center, Ian White

What he's been: The redshirt JR has played a lot and almost all of it at guard. What's been frustrating is that White would be very, very good in some games and then off in others. Because he is playing primarily inside, the issues usually involve getting overpowered by bigger DTs. Like most of the olinemen the past few years, White's flashed moments of greatness but lacked consistency.

What he needs to be: In my opinion the offensive line play really started falling apart after Matt Tennant left. I think Centers are underappreciated...at times even by their own coaches. It seems like the Spaz/Devine MO was to put the best five on the field regardless of positional fit and not to worry about rejiggering the lineup. The way the staff yo-yo'd Mark Spinney and others at Center the past two years hurt our consistency. And it impacts the QB position too. White's new to the role, so this could lead to more chaos. I hope not. We need him to be good from Day 1. He needs to set the tone for the OL and communicate with Rettig. Other players are important, but White -- or whoever starts at Center -- will be the keystone to the offense.

Why I like his chances to shine: Like Cleary, I think White is one of those guys who would have thrived under old BC regimes. He's been smart and tough from the minute he was eligible to play. He might not be as powerful as needed, but now as a redshirt JR, he should be fully matured. Plus playing Center doesn't require as much power and is more reliant on smarts and quickness.

I don't know if White will be our starting Center for Miami or even later into the season. Under Devine positions and the depth chart were constantly being tweaked. I pray things are different with Bollman. Let White learned to be a Center. He has a chance to be a great one.