Still Saturday in Our Hearts: Tigers in the pros, Sept. 6-12

This week the NFL required every team to get their roster down to 53 players. Twenty-five Tigers fared well by securing an active roster spot, two were put on injured reserve, and one grabbed a practice squad spot. [Ed’s Note: And Devin “The Aroma” Aromashodu, with friendly first-string affection, sent Bears’ coaches flowers.]There are also four former Tigers playing north of the border in the Canadian Football League. These numbers and spots are up to date as of this posting and may (and probably will) change before the majority of this season’s games get under way this Sunday.

Quarterbacks

• Jason Campbell, #17, starter for the Washington Redskins

Running Backs

• Ronnie Brown, #23, starting tailback for the Miami Dolphins

• Heath Evans, #44, starting fullback for the New Orleans Saints

• Tony Richardson, #49, starting fullback for the New York Jets

• Carnell Williams, #24, starting tailback, despite coming off two severe knee injuries, for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Rudi Johnson, free agent who some people think can still play

• Tre Smith, #32, on injured reserve with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Wide Receivers

• Devin Aromashodu, #19, second string behind Earl Bennett for the Chicago Bears

• Ben Obamanu, #87, third string for the Seattle Seahawks

• Prechae Rodriguez, #85, starter for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats; 40 catches for 456 yards and 3 TDs this season

• Courtney Taylor, cut by the Seattle Seahawks

• Robert Johnson, tight end, was cut by the New Orleans Saints

Offensive Lineman

• Ben Grubbs, #66, starting left guard for the Baltimore Ravens

• Marcus McNeill, #73, starting left tackle for the San Diego Chargers

• King Dunlap, #65, second string left tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles

• Tyronne Green, #69, second string for the San Diego Chargers, who are only carrying eight offensive lineman at the moment

• Kendall Simmons, signed a three-year deal with the New England Patriots and looks to start the season on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list. Kendall is the Patriot’s fifth guard and may not get much playing time this year, coming off of an injury that cost him his job in Pittsburgh the Patriots are showing a lot of respect for Simmons with a three-year deal.

• Tim Duckworth, #75, signed to the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad

Defensive Lineman

• Jay Ratliff, #90, starting nose tackle for the Dallas Cowboys

• Quentin Groves, #54, looks to be a second string defensive end with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Jags are very secretive about their depth chart even this late in the week

• Spencer Johnson, #91, second string defensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills

• Pat Sims, #90, surprising second string defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals, surprising because it looked like Sims would be a starter.

• Sen’Derrick Marks, #94, currently listed third at his defensive tackle spot with the Tennessee Titans

• Stanley McClover, #75, has been placed on the injured reserve/waived list for the Houston Texans. This means McClover cannot be cut due to his injury and will continue to be under contract until he has healed. Then he will be cut, kind of a crappy deal huh?

Linebackers

• Karlos Dansby, #58, starter in the middle for the Arizona Cardinals

• Takeo Spikes, #51, starter for at one of the middle LB spots for the San Francisco 49ers (not official as of this post)

• Will Herring, #54, second string with the Seattle Seahawks at the outside LB spot behind veteran Leroy Hill

• Reggie Torbor, #53, second string at one of the middle LB spots for the Miami Dolphins

• Tray Blackmon, #30, remains No. 5 in tackles for the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL despite being on (surprise) injured reserve

• Dontarrious Thomas was cut by the Minnesota Vikings but has worked out for both the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions and could be picked up soon due to his versatility and speed.

Cornerbacks

• Carlos Rogers, #22, first team with the Washington Redskins

• Jonathan Wilhite, #24, second string with the New England Patriots but has pushed for a starting spot

• Jerraud Powers, #25 (wore both #43 and #49 in preseason), third string with the Indianapolis Colts but may see a lot of time at the starting nickelback spot

• Pat Lee, #22, placed on injured reserve by the Green Bay Packers

• Kevin Hobbs, #23, has been picked up by the Detroit Lions but it is unknown at this time whether he will be active or on the practice squad.

• David Irons, cut by the Atlanta Falcons and Oakland Raiders

• Rod Hood, after starting for the Super Bowl runner-up Arizona Cardinals, is at this time out of a job. He was with the Cleveland Brown this off-season but was cut and promptly picked up by the Chicago Bears who then cut him last Friday. Expect Hood to catch on somewhere, maybe with the New Orleans Saints.

Kickers

• Damon Duval, kicking and punting for the Montreal Alouettes (yes, I spelled it right) and is a perfect 27/27 on PATs and 23/29 on field goals this year with a long of 48. Punting stats are not available.

Questions, comments, anyone you want to know about that’s not listed? Let me know at [email protected] and I’ll have it up next week!

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Thor Burk came to Auburn as a young man in ’97 and never left. He’s an Auburn fan, a professional BBQ judge (Memphis certified), and all around foodie.