Browns boast four former Buffaloes

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Oct 13, 2000 by John Branch

ENGLEWOOD - A few years ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers had the league's largest share of University of Colorado alums, with Kordell Stewart, Chad Brown, Charles Johnson, Joel Steed and others.

Now Cleveland is Colorado East. The Browns have four ex- Buffaloes on their roster: defensive tackle Darius Holland, receiver Darrin Chiaverini, rookie safety Rashidi Barnes and rookie guard Brad Bedell.

Holland arrived as a free agent last year. The others have been drafted by the Browns the past two years.

Coach Chris Palmer gave this rundown on each of the former CU players:

Darrius Holland is one of our defensive tackles who rotates in and plays about 30 plays a game. Does a good job for us there. He's a big physical guy that holds the point very, very well.

Rashidi Barnes is a backup safety right now. He contributes on special teams, and he's in certain packages that we have based on the team we're playing. He's got a bright future here in the NFL. He's got good range, he's a smart guy, real physical. He's done an excellent job.

Brad Bedell has not gotten much playing time. He's one of our backup guards, he dresses for the games, is on our special teams. We think that with time he's going to be a fine offensive lineman in this league.

Darrin Chiaverini is a guy who contributed a great deal for us last year. He had 44 catches, he's involved in our three- and four- wide (receiver) packages, helps out on special teams. He's a tough, physical guy who makes the physical catches.

The Browns also feature Ray Jackson, a defensive back from Colorado State in his fifth NFL season. Jackson has played mostly on special teams and in nickel and dime defenses.

He'll likely have a light practice today, but don't expect many long kicks. Elam broke two small bones in his back Sept. 10.

Running back KaRon Coleman jogged on his sore foot, but is expected to play. Fullback Detron Smith, the likely starter in the wake of a knee injury to Howard Griffith, is still struggling with a sore knee and calf muscle but did practice.

OLD FRIENDS: Denver tight end Billy Miller reached into his locker and retrieved an envelope. Inside were 23 tickets to Sunday's game. Twenty of them are for the family of Browns cornerback Daylon McCutcheon.

Miller and McCutcheon were roommates at Southern California for four years. Just before this season, Miller was in McCutcheon's wedding, and the two still talk constantly.

"He's my man," said Miller, who plans on going out with McCutcheon on Saturday after the Browns arrive in Denver. "I call him every day to make sure he's not too nervous about playing us."

KEEP IT SIMPLE: Coordinator Greg Robinson simplified his defense last week, nixing some of the complex stunts and zone coverages the Broncos employed earlier in the season.

The idea is to let the players react on instinct, rather than thinking things through as they happen. The Broncos responded with their best defensive game, beating the Chargers 21-7.

"I think we had three coverages," cornerback Terrell Buckley said. "And it's hard to mess up a lot of things when you have three coverages. Then it comes down to one-on-one battles. As a player, you don't have a problem with a guy if he just flat-out beats you, which is going to happen in this league."