April 11, 2007 12:01 AM

Looking to go into the great outdoors

In the lull before the draft storm, it's short and sweet.

Robert Reinhardt leads off with . . .

Q: Something has bothered me the last couple of years, and I was wondering if you could shed some light on this for me. I really do like the young receiving corps the Broncos now have. The last few years, however, they've had problems finding a true No. 3 receiver or a receiver who could even challenge for the No. 2 spot. Damian Harrell has the height and has been rumored to have a pair of the best hands in all of football. I understand his weight and maybe age could be an issue, but here's what I don't truly understand. I've never read anything from any reporter for either paper wonder why the Broncos never gave Damian a shot. I would have thought this subject would come up yearly, given the status of Bronco receivers. I also don't understand why the Broncos never brought him in and gave him a shot. I understand the sports world looks down upon players being a certain age and not wanting them on the team for that reason alone. What I've never understood is if a player is good enough to give you one to three years, why wouldn't you want that one or two years?

A: There are parts of the pursuit of football dreams that can be cruel. And certainly, Harrell, who has carved out a superb career in the Arena Football League, has had to make peace with that aspect of the NFL.

Nobody in the NFL can question what he's done in the Arena league, how he has gone about his business and the numbers he's put up -- he has been the league's Offensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons.

But he, it seems, has usually been on the wrong side of good timing when it comes to the NFL.

Pro scouts have always said he isn't fast enough to play on the bigger outdoor field and get the separation he needs to make plays. Because of the makeup of the indoor game, they say, Harrell gets a running start at the line of scrimmage before the snap to negate that as he charges into -- at full speed at the snap -- what is largely a static defensive formation.

However, in the NFL he would have to get off the jam from a standing start with enough strength and quickness to give himself room to then catch the ball. That first five yards are all the more important for receivers without top end speed because they often lose the separation they gained as the play goes on.

A player with elite speed, by contrast, can create more separation as the play develops.

Now, there are receivers in every draft who don't run as well as scouts think they need to who get the chance because their production in college was so compelling teams simply have to take a look.

Harrell missed out on that chance as well before the '98 draft because of injuries. His career at Florida State amounted to basically two years on the field for 36 catches, 466 yards and four touchdowns. And two of those touchdowns came in the Seminoles' 72-13 win over Wake Forest in 1995.

Injuries have also been a problem.

He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in both knees during his college career -- the left before the '96 season and the right in the '97 regular-season finale against Florida. Now, this is almost 10 years ago when people weren't nearly as confident, and rehabs weren't nearly as advanced, about players' recoveries from ACL surgeries.

In '97 he also found himself on a Seminoles depth chart at receiver that included E.G. Green, Ron Dugans, Peter Warrick and Laveranues Coles. That certainly made playing time hard to come by, especially for a player coming off a serious injury the year before.

So, the fact he had two reconstructive surgeries made people in the draft rooms far more skeptical than it would now. It would affect a player's draft standing now, but teams are far more willing to let players like Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, for example -- he's had ACL surgeries on both knees -- to keep on playing.

And those players tend to recover better now, often maintaining their speed better after surgery than they did in years past.

Harrell's '97 injury also prevented him from working out before the '98 draft. So teams, already having questions about his health, were in a position to have to sign him not knowing how he would be physically for over a year.

It all converged and limited what his NFL opportunities would be.

He will be 32 in September and most pro personnel executives say they have reviewed him over the years as he continually set record after record in the indoor game, but none have been willing to take a longer look.

All of that said, Harrell has constructed a quality career, made a good living and seems publicly at peace with the way things have gone. He is, after all, a man who survived a lightning strike in high school to keep on playing.

And Russell Dillard, a regular, in Richmond, Va., wonders . . .

Q: Do you have any information on David Terrell? I was really hoping he would catch on with the team being that he is from my hometown. He would be nice insurance if Rod (Smith) and Brandon (Marshall) can't go. Also, I have heard the Broncos staff is high on Dominik Hixon. Is he fully healed from his broken foot? I am excited to see him play. Could he be a secret weapon like Devin Hester was last year, or am I reaching?

A: On Terrell, he is another who is a tight squeeze timing-wise. It's one thing a for a former first-rounder not to stick with the team that drafted him -- Terrell was the Bears' first-round pick in '01 -- but it's another for two additional teams (Patriots and Broncos) to send Terrell on his way after having him around for a while.

The Broncos wanted him to play, they wanted him to progress up the depth chart, but he simply never got comfortable in the offense, and some of the coaches believe he made too many mistakes during the week to play on Sundays.

He turned 28 last month so his career clock is ticking. After the Broncos released him, Edmonton in the CFL had some passing interest but wasn't able to convince him to move north.

As far as Hixon, he certainly will get a long look at returner in the preseason. He already has a fan in new special teams coach Scott O'Brien, who has looked at Hixon's work at Akron.

Hixon, who started 20 games at free safety for the Zips until he moved over to offense for the final two years of his collegiate career, returned both a punt and kickoff for touchdowns in the '05 season and was ranked in the nation's top 25 in both kickoff and punt returns in '04.

He was close to returning last season -- the Broncos put him through plenty of practice before deciding to keep him on injured reserve -- so they expect him to be full speed this year. By most accounts, he has been going through the team's conditioning program without any problems.

That’s it, and thanks.

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