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Y! MyWebRucker determined to make a good impression
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
You often hear about the troubled players associated with the Cincinnati Bengals, linebacker Odell Thurman and wide receiver Chris Henry, just to name a few. But at least one member of this notorious group is ready to shake the "bad-boy" label, and that's defensive end Frostee Rucker.
That's right, Frostee is ready to put a deep freeze on all the negative talk of his past and prove to the team what he's truly worth on the field.
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During a conversation with Rucker on March 29, the defensive end expressed his desire to compete for a starting position and his approach to this season.
"I have to go out there and win a job for myself," he said. "I've been sitting here for two years, and things really haven't gone my way. I can't point the finger at anyone, but at this point in time I'm healthy, in shape and hungry. There is an opportunity with Justin Smith leaving. The team brought in another guy, but I'm still competing to be a starter eventually, and I'm not settling for anything less than that."
You could feel the fire that burns within Rucker, who is planning to turn things up a notch this season. This should make for interesting competition at the defensive end position between Rucker, newcomer Antwan Odom and others during training camp.
Right now, they're all playing in rotation, fighting for the starting spot opposite DE Robert Geathers.
Rucker, 6-foot-3, 280-pound pass-rusher is good holding down the edge and rushes the passer well. He has a quick first step and the ability to be a complete every-down defensive end. Rucker is a young player that hasn't reached his full potential. The Bengals coaching staff is counting on him to make great strides this season and contribute.
There is no doubt that Rucker has turned things around off the field overcoming adversity. He has been on the straight and narrow since his past troubles and is looking to change people's perception of him both as a player and person.
"With the negative publicity, it hurts you, but it makes you want to try that much harder to prove to everyone that you're really not like that," Rucker said. "The people who truly know you know different, and through your actions the people who don't know you will soon find out that you are not like that."
When Rucker is not on the field wreaking havoc, he can be found doing community work and charity events with teammates. He even finds time in his busy schedule to get out in the community to read to children during the football season. Teammates voted Rucker as the player who did the most community service for the team last year.
Rucker said helping people makes him feel good, and he's learned a valuable lesson from the experience.
Rucker's goal is to make his presence felt this season and beyond. He said he worked his tail off over the off-season in preparation for training camp, and he is ready to bring the noise. Rucker is practicing every day, running fast, feeling good and wants to be the player the Bengals selected with the No. 91 overall pick of the 2006 draft.
Bottom line, Rucker hopes to translate all the work in the off-season to the playing field on Sundays and help the Bengals to a winning season.
Carlos "Big C" Holmes covers the NFL for the Dayton Daily News. Catch the latest NFL news, subscribe to the RSS feed, or get automatic e-mail notification of the latest news for your teams at BigCProFootball.com and DaytonDailyNews.com/BigC.
