How to Turn it on, go deep, haul it in

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2004 | by Larry Weisman

The crowd noise swells as 65,000 partisans try to drown out the snap count. A cornerback runs his mouth, promising a smack upside the head and in-your-shirt coverage. Amid the cacophony, a single voice speaks quietly, and it's the only one Torry Holt really hears.

It is his. It's the sound of sanity in a violent world of action and reaction. He trots to the line of scrimmage and listens to himself. So much to think about, so little time between the frenzied bursts of activity, such a need for clarity.

"You don't have long before the ball is snapped and you're into the play. Your mind is going at a fast pace. Sometimes you have to slow yourself down. I actually talk to myself. I have to talk to myself to slow myself down," the St. Louis Rams receiver says.

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