He doesn\u2019t push a car around with his bare hands anymore as he did during his years at Kentwood High.<\/p>\n
Nor does Mike Karney send fan letters to NFL players like he did as a high school senior. But deep down, 10 years after leaving Kent and five years since being drafted by the New Orleans Saints, Karney is still the same even-keel, level-headed guy who considers himself a \u201cfreak.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which might help explain the 5-foot-11, 255-pound fullback\u2019s reaction to being released by the Saints in March while he was on the way to his own wedding rehearsal. Karney didn\u2019t point fingers or slam the organization that chose him out of Arizona State University in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL draft.<\/p>\n
Instead, Karney did what Karney does: He took it in stride and with class.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had five good years down there,\u201d said Karney, who was a second-team All-Pro selection in 2006. \u201cIt was kind of a deal where I started seeing the writing was on the wall. Things were changing with what we were doing offensively.<\/p>\n
\u201c(When) you have a quarterback (Drew Brees) who can do what he can do and is as accurate as he is, you\u2019re going to throw the ball,\u201d Karney said. \u201cWhen you don\u2019t run the ball much, there\u2019s not a lot of fullback in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, the timing could have been better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just didn\u2019t know it would come the day before my wedding, which I thought was a little odd, more than anything,\u201d Karney admitted.<\/p>\n
Odd, indeed.<\/p>\n
It set off what proved to be a whirlwind stretch of five days for Karney: He was released on March 5, married on March 6, then was in St. Louis on March 10 signing a new three-year, $3 million contract to play for the Rams.<\/p>\n
Yet, for Karney, the hard part wasn\u2019t being released or juggling his schedule while in the middle of one of the biggest moments of his life.<\/p>\n
It was telling new wife Kim that the newlyweds\u2019 honeymoon to the Bahamas would have to be postponed so the big guy could attend the Rams\u2019 early offseason training program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the tough part,\u201d said Karney, who now makes his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., and who returns to Kent every June to run Karney\u2019s 44 Kids Camp at French Field. \u201cBut Kim has been a trooper. It worked out almost to what I wanted it to be. This couldn\u2019t be a better situation for me to be in.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a playing standpoint and what they\u2019re asking me to do, I\u2019m really excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Karney was even more excited for, however, didn\u2019t come until this past Sunday, when he and his new wife finally were able to embark on that long-awaited honeymoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting a while,\u201d Kim said. \u201cBut it has all worked out for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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