Coming thru in crunch time
Former black college football players were at the center of this past weekend's NFL Playoff games.
Cornerback Nick Harper, safety Antoine Bethea and defensive end Robert Mathis all played pivotal roles in the Indianapolis Colts' 15-6 win over the Baltimore Ravens that advanced them to the AFC title game Sunday.
Harper, formerly of Fort Valley
State, Bethea, out of Howard and Mathis, the
bull-rushing product of Alabama A&M, were
the spearheads of a defense that held Baltimore
without a touchdown, picked off two of former
Alcorn State QB Steve McNair's passes, and held
Jamal Lewis to just 51 rushing yards.
Here's how the contributions of the three Colts breaks down:
Harper 1) forced a fumble by Ravens tight end Todd Heap in the first quarter, 2) intercepted a fourth quarter McNair pass at the Indy 23, 3) Finished with 2 tackles, 1 assist, an interception and a forced fumble.
Bethea - 1) Picked off a McNair pass in the second quarter at the Colts' 1-yard line, 2) Forced a third quarter fumble on a hit to Mark Clayton (ruled no play after penalty on Indy, 3) Finished with 4 tackles, 1 assist and an interception
Mathis - 1) Sacked McNair with 18 seconds left in the ball game, forced and recovered a fumble to seal the game, 2) Finished with five solo tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.
McNair, who threw two interceptions and suffered one fumble, completed 18 of 29 passes for 173 yards and no TDs. He also rushed one time for six yards.
The other pivotal player with black college roots was former Tuskegee cornerback Drayton Florence whose unnecessary roughness penalty in the third quarter led to New England driving for a field goal that pulled them to within 14-13. Florence head-butted a New England tight end after the Chargers had stopped the Patriots on a third down at the San Diego 29. The 15-yard penalty put the Patriots at the SD 14.
Florence had intercepted a Brady pass earlier in the third quarter.
Florence was later beaten on a 49-yard pass from Tom Brady to Reche Caldwell that led to a field goal that gave the Patriots the winning 24-21 margin. Drayton finished the game with four solo tackles, two assists and the interception.
Other black college players that played on Sunday were former Arkansas-Pine Bluff cornerback Dante Wesley who had two solo tackles as his Chicago Bears downed the Seattle Seahawks, 27-24.
Seattle defensive tackle Chartric Darby, a South Carolina State product, had three solo tackles and an assist. former Texas Southern DB Oliver Celestin had one solo tackle.
© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.