Willis Is Defensive Rookie Of The Year

One NFL scout called linebacker Patrick Willis "a beast." And that was before Willis won The Associated Press 2007 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Willis' dominant performance could have been overlooked because his San Francisco 49ers went 5-11 in a mediocre division. Instead, his league-leading 174 tackles and presence all over the field made him a runaway winner and the fifth straight linebacker to take the honor. Willis earned 48 votes Friday from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. Only Carolina linebacker Jon Beason, with two, also received votes. "It's confirmation of what you've been doing as an individual," Willis said. "From an individual perspective, it would be good for people that doubted, or didn't know if you could be a No. 1 draft pick, or if you could come into the league and do well because of your size or where you might have played ball at ... and show them that if you put your mind to it, you're capable of anything." Willis certainly looked capable of just about anything as he did just about everything in 2007. The 11th overall draft pick from Mississippi was a dynamic presence from the first practice with the 49ers, and by season's end, opponents were scheming to avoid him. AP

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Warren Sapp Retires

Warren Sapp told the Oakland Raiders on Thursday that he was retiring, ending the career of one of the best defensive tackles to play in the NFL. Sapp told the Contra Costa Times that he phoned Raiders owner Al Davis with the news Thursday. The Raiders had no official comment, but coach Lane Kiffin hinted at Sapp's decision earlier this week. Sapp, 35, was the quintessential "three technique" tackle during his 13-year career, lining up between the guard and tackle and splitting that gap. Few did it better than Sapp, who made seven Pro Bowls, won the AP Defensive Player of the Year award in 1999, and was a key cog in Tampa Bay's Super Bowl winning defense in the 2002 season.

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Keshawn Comeback?

Former Pro Bowl wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson has not ruled out the possibility of making a comeback to play specifically for the Miami Dolphins and for Bill Parcells, a mentor and close friend. In an e-mail to The Miami Herald, agent Jerome Stanley said Johnson remains in ''great shape'' while also remaining close to Parcells, who coached Johnson with the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys.''I speak to Keyshawn daily about all aspects of his career, he is very close to Coach Parcells and is in great shape IF he chose to play next year,'' Stanley wrote, responding to an e-mail from The Miami Herald about Johnson's potential interest in returning to play for Parcells. ``Miami could use a good tough veteran like Key to help the current crop of young receivers develop.'' Source: Miami Herald, Yahoo Article

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Ravens Will Try To Get Cowher

Citing sources close to the team, the Baltimore Sun reported, the Baltimore Ravens were expected to take a run at former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, a CBS television analyst. One source said the Ravens were planning to meet with Cowher this weekend, but a team official said that is untrue. The Ravens, however, have not removed Cowher from consideration. Cowher has said on previous occasions he wants to take at least one more year off from coaching. Source: Baltimore Sun

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Cameron Fired

Cam Cameron was fired as the Miami Dolphins' coach Thursday by new boss Bill Parcells after plunging to an 0-13 start in his first year on the job and finishing with just one victory. The dismissal comes three days after Parcells ousted general manager Randy Mueller and means the reeling franchise will have its fifth coach in five seasons. Parcells began work Dec. 27 as executive vice president of football operations and quickly concluded the Dolphins need another fresh start. It has been 37 years since the Dolphins fired a coach. But they never finished 1-15 before. All but two members of Cameron's coaching staff were also fired, but some might be rehired by the new head coach, the Dolphins said. Retained were assistant special teams coach Steve Hoffman and linebackers coach George Edwards. Parcells made the decisions in consultation with new general manager Jeff Ireland, hired Wednesday after seven years in player personnel with the Dallas Cowboys. Ireland replaced Mueller, who was fired Monday after three seasons with Miami. The early front-runner to replace Cameron is another Cowboys employee, assistant head coach Tony Sparano. He's scheduled to interview Friday for the head coaching vacancy in Atlanta. AP

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