Brunell Provides His Inspiration

Every day, for the first six months of this year, Denver Bronco linebacker Bill Romanowski drew inspiration for his morning workouts from one vision: a photo of his tormentor, Mark Brunell.

Whether he planned to lift weights or run, Romanowski got motivated by looking at Brunell’s photo, which was hanging in the weight room of Romanowski’s home in San Martin, Calif.

It triggered painful memories of the Broncos’ 30-27 loss to Jacksonville at Denver in the playoffs Jan. 4--and in particular of two situations in which a blitzing Romanowski tried to tackle Brunell and was left grabbing air.

Romanowski doesn’t need the visual aid this week, since Brunell and the Jaguars will be making another visit to Denver on Saturday for a wild-card playoff game.

“I had a picture of him hanging in my weight room,” Romanowski said. “I looked at him every morning when I walked into the room.

“That game fueled my off-season training. Whenever I would think about that game, I got fired up, ticked off and had a great workout.”

Romanowski most vividly remembers his two failed blitzes.

“I was unblocked on both of them,” he said. “One time I came off the defensive right side and he got away from me. Another time I came up the middle and he sidestepped me, and I think he ended up throwing a touchdown pass.”

The nimble Brunell scrambled for 44 yards in that game and threw two touchdown passes.

Romanowski promised it will be different this time.

“What I learned is that I was coming too fast,” he said. “I was trying to just really nail him. When you blitz, you have to blitz under control, and I wasn’t under control a couple of times.

“If I get the opportunity again, I’m going to break down and make the play. Now we realize what kind of player he is in the pocket and how he can make you miss.”

Romanowski, thankful that he no longer is being asked about his spitting incident Dec. 15 in San Francisco, called the loss to Jacksonville one of the most frustrating games of his 10-year NFL career.

“Personally, I felt like I was trying too hard,” he said. “Maybe we all were. If everyone just relaxes and takes care of their responsibilities and tries not to do too much, good things will happen. That’s when we get hurt--when we try to do too much.”

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Dick Jamieson was fired as offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals after a season in which the team was last in the NFL in rushing, averaging 78.4 yards a game, and 24th in total offense.

Jamieson replaced Jim Fassel last January after Fassel was named coach of the New York Giants. Jamieson was previously the running backs coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.

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On his first full day as Indianapolis Colt president, Bill Polian met with his assistant coaches and laid a foundation for the rebuilding of the franchise, but said he is not ready to hire a coach.

Polian, who signed a six-year contract Monday, doesn’t expect to make a decision on the new coach until early next year.

“It’s very much a priority. I don’t expect that it will be done very quickly,” he said.

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Peter Boulware, who made the difficult switch from defensive end to linebacker to become a pass-rushing standout for the Baltimore Ravens, was selected defensive rookie of the year by the Associated Press.

Boulware, the fourth pick in this year’s draft, finished with 11.5 sacks--second in the AFC--and overcame his early struggles in pass coverage.