With all of the things to take one’s attention last weekend, from the national tragedy that is and was Hurricane Katrina to the start of college football season, many sports fans ? even those that follow the National Football League ? seem to have overlooked the fact that the NFL made its final cuts last weekend.
The cuts were made though and after a much ballyhooed preseason former Citadel running back Nehemiah Broughton made the Washington Redskins’ final cut to their initial 53-man regular season roster that will open play next weekend against the Chicago Bears at FedExField Stadium.
The 2005 seventh-round pick will primarily be used as a short-yardage back and will partake in some special teams play for the NFC East squad.
The cutting process is something that has to be done in the NFL, but according to Redskins’ head coach Joe Gibbs, cutting players is one of the hardest things that coaches do all year.
“I think cutting players is one of the biggest struggles you have as a coach,” remarked Gibbs to Redskins.com writer Gary Fitzgerald. “You watch guys labor, work and fight all camp, and you know how important it is to them.
“Certainly we know how important it is and that's why we spend so much time in meetings."
Keeping Broughton was probably one of the easier decisions that Gibbs had to make, as Nemo was invaluable to the Redskins throughout the preseason.
Nemo’s coming out party was in his contribution in the Redskins’ 28-7 loss to the Panthers on Saturday, Aug., his first preseason game. That was just the beginning.
In fact, the Bulldog was on fire for the Redskins pretty much all preseason, leading all Washington running backs with 113 yards and two touchdowns from the backfield. The 2004 All-SoCon second-team performer also managed to pull in six catches for 60 yards in the games.
The Citadel great showed his fortitude though on special teams in the preseason, making three special teams tackles alone in Washington’s preseason game with the Ravens.
Unfortunately, Nemo was the only Southern Conference alum to play in the 2004 Southern Conference season to make an NFL roster, although former Paladin Cam Newton was signed to the Atlanta Falcons practice squad earlier this week.
Newton was originally cut from the Falcons’ 53-man regular season roster, but after going through Atlanta’s 2005 training camp at its new home in Flowery Branch, GA as an unsigned free agent, the 2004 All-SoCon first-team selection was chosen worthy to represent the Falcons at least on the practice fields.
Newton was given the practice squad slot after a preseason that saw him play pretty well for the franchise in all aspects, using his football savvy to be involved in a plethora of special teams play for Atlanta in his effort to make himself indispensable.
Furman teammate and 2005 Falcons hopeful Brian Bratton was not as lucky. The 2004 second-team All-SoCon performer made the original round of cuts when the teams were trimmed to 65, but was not as fruitful in the final round, as he was outright released by the Falcons.
Broughton, Bratton and Newton were the lucky ones out of the crop of 2004. They at least made it through the first round of cuts.
Chattanooga’s Alonzo Nix, Furman’s Isaac West and Appalachian State’s DaVon Fowlkes were all cut from NFL rosters before the final cuts were even announced over Labor Day weekend.
Fowlkes was cut from the Colts out of NFL mini-camp in the summer, while Nix was cut from the Tennessee Titans when the first round of cuts were made the previous week. West was sent home by the Philadelphia Eagles the same day.