Sunday, September 14, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

It was bad enough when quarterbacks ballooned to 260 pounds, now receivers are growing into linemen proportions.

David Boston not only left Arizona for San Diego this year, he picked up some baggage along the way. ESPN The Magazine wrote a story recently about Boston and showed photos that made him look like The Rock.

He stands 6 feet 2. In 2001, the Cardinals listed him as 210 pounds. The Chargers list him today at 245. After he caught two passes for 20 yards against the Chiefs last week, Kansas City cornerback Eric Warfield said, "Boston may have done too much off-season working out. He's huge, but he's lost a few steps. He beat me off the line once, but I was able to catch up with him pretty easy, and I'm not a 4.3 guy.

"Everybody's read the stories and heard about his size and all the weight he's put on and all the speed he supposedly still has. Honestly, I didn't see it. I saw the weight he had and the so-called big pipes he has, but he didn't have the speed to go along with it."

The NFL has banned the use of steroids, and tests players for it. But there is no reliable test to show the presence of human growth hormone. The test supposedly is about two years away.

Ageless kickers

Steelers kicker Jeff Reed will be watching two of the next three games a little differently when the opposing kickers are Morten Andersen of Kansas City today and Gary Anderson of Tennessee in two weeks. They are 43 and 44, respectively. Reed is 24. "If there were three guys I look up to, I'd say John Carney, Morten Andersen and Gary Anderson," Reed said. "You go out for warmups, they swing their leg maybe 10 times and they're all just solid right down the middle. It's such a routine for them now. It's so incredible to watch that and realize, hopefully, one day I'll be in their shoes."

Something in common

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, today marks the first time in 71 years that teams will meet in their second game of the season after being shut out in the opener when New England plays at Philadelphia. The last time it happened, the Chicago Bears played the Staten Island Stapletons Oct. 1, 1932. Fittingly, after not scoring in their openers, they played a scoreless tie. The Bears went on to tie six games that season, but finished with the league's best winning percentage, .875, with a 7-1-6 record.

Playoffs unlikely for rookie QB

Baltimore must fight long odds if it believes it can make the playoffs behind rookie quarterback Kyle Boller. Since Bernie Kosar did it with Cleveland in 1985, 21 other rookie quarterbacks have started at least half their team's games and not made the playoffs. Kosar's Browns did it without a winning record. They won the AFC Central Division at 8-8 in 1985, when Kosar was 4-6 as the starter. The Rams made the playoffs in 1986 when quarterback Jim Everett was a rookie, but he started only five games.

What's wrong with Brady?

The post-Super Bowl headache gets worse for New England quarterback Tom Brady. In his past 18 quarters -- or 4 1/2 games -- the MVP of Super Bowl XXXVI has completed 76 of 150 passes for 633 yards, two touchdowns, seven interceptions with a passer rating of 46.7. In those 18 quarters, the Patriots scored 51 points.

Plummer wins ugly

Denver quarterback Jake Plummer had a worse day than Kordell Stewart -- and his team won by 20 points. In fact, the Broncos scored more points than Plummer's passer rating -- Denver had 30, Plummer 21.7.

Home hasn't been sweet

Paul Brown Stadium has done for the Bengals what PNC Park has done for the Pirates. Nothing. The Bengals sold out their opener against Denver last week -- marking only their ninth sellout in 25 games in the new place. They'll have sellout No. 10 next week when the Steelers come to town, but don't expect another until Cleveland closes the season there Dec. 28.

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