Cleveland to Baltimore Alexander Mattison Jersey , a young intern joined the Ravens with hopes of learning enough to fulfill his lifelong quest of becoming an NFL general manager.Eric DeCosta was little more than an errand boy back then. Working at an entry level position, his responsibilities included taking coach Ted Marchibroda’s car for an oil change. It was a task he was more than willing to tackle, in part because he was given $100, purchased the $9.99 special and pocketed the rest of the cash.The most rewarding aspect of the job was working under Ozzie Newsome, then the vice president of player personnel. Newsome, who would ultimately become the first African American general manager in NFL history, was in charge of acquiring talent via the draft and free agency.“In 1996 when I was sitting there in my office — well, I didn’t have an office, I had a card table in the hallway — Ozzie would call me in,” DeCosta recalled.“That was one of the joys in my life, sitting down and watching tape with him. He would show me plays and players, we would talk about techniques.”The 48-year-old DeCosta now resides in a lavish office in the team’s training complex. After working his way up the team’s corporate ladder, he took over for Newsome as Baltimore’s general manager in January and this week, for the first time in franchise history, someone other than Newsome will be in charge of the Ravens draft.DeCosta’s first draft-day decision will come Thursday, when it’s time for Baltimore — barring a trade — to make the No. 22 overall pick.He can’t wait.“I wake up early in the morning thinking about the draft,” said DeCosta http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dru-samia-jersey , a Massachusetts native. “It’s been like that since I was 10 years old. I used to sit on the couch and read Will McDonough’s column and look at his mock draft in The Boston Globe. I get excited. It gives me a sense of energy, and I’m going to approach this draft as if it’s the most important thing in my life.”Newsome will serve as an adviser to DeCosta, who is thankful to have learned under a man who built two Super Bowl champions by studying countless hours of game film before drafting shrewdly and wisely.“He’s valuable. His wisdom, his expertise, his relationship with certain people in the league and agents is critical to me,” DeCosta said.“We’re so different, but he can look at me and I can look at him and we know what each other is thinking. I can say to him, ‘Ozzie, I’m uncertain about this. I don’t know which way to go. I’m here at the crossroads,’ and he’ll give me an honest opinion. Just like, when he was the GM, I could walk into his office and say, “Ozzie, we shouldn’t do this.’ And he would say, ‘OK.'”The teacher is now assisting his former student, and their chemistry should make it a seamless transition.“I’ve always seen those guys just work well together,” coach John Harbaugh said. “So Daniel Jones Jersey , to me, it works the same way, except now Eric is in the seat. Eric is the decision-maker, and he’ll be the guy making that final call.”DeCosta was promoted to Ravens’ Midwest area scout in 1998, became director of college scouting in 2003, was named director player personnel in 2008 and ascended to assistant general manager in 2012.As word of DeCosta’s ability leaked outside Baltimore, several teams were interested in interviewing him for the GM job. So in 2007, owner Steve Bisciotti promised DeCosta that he would succeed Newsome when the time was right.After ignoring overtures from several teams, including the New York Jets, Green Bay and Seattle, DeCosta ended up with the only job he really wanted.“Did I have chances? Yeah. Did I have a lot? Yeah. Did I ever really consider it? Not really,” DeCosta said. “Because every time I’d go to bed thinking that maybe I would consider something, I’d wake up and say, ‘What are you, crazy? You know you’re going to have the job someday that you’ve dreamed about, so just wait and make it perfect.'”The wait, in effect Ed Oliver Jersey , took more than two decades. Those oil changes, that card table that served as his office and his gig as an understudy to Newsome were all part of it, and DeCosta really wouldn’t have it any other way.“Some people would think maybe that I would be embarrassed that I started off as an intern now that I’m a GM, that I want to forget that,” he said.“But to be honest with you, I cherish that, the fact that I could start out as a young person and really had to do a lot of different things. I’m proud of that. I understand what a lot of people do in this organization, because in some instances, I did those jobs.” HOUSTON (AP) — With the defense forcing a season-high four turnovers, the Houston Texans extended their winning streak to nine games with a win over the Browns.But as good as the unit has been, the Texans believe they can get much better down the stretch with the first test coming on Sunday against Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts.“We can tackle better,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “I think we can communicate better. I think there’s a lot of things that we can improve on in all three phases, but I think they’re playing hard. They’re playing with really good effort.”That effort was highlighted on Sunday when rookie safety Justin Reid chased down Antonio Callaway after a long catch and forced a fumble just before he crossed the goal line to prevent a touchdown.It was just the latest big play for the third-round pick, who helped Houston to a 23-21 victory over Washington on Nov. 18 by returning an interception 101 yards for a touchdown.“He’s really improved every week,” O’Brien said. “He really works hard to improve. He’s a very smart guy, works very hard in practice, instinctive player http://www.billscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-cody-ford-jersey , good speed, good size. He’s come a long way. He really understands the importance of practice and he tries to get better every day.”Reid’s emergence illustrates the fact that Houston’s defense has succeeded this year because it has received important contributions from several players. While the return of three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt and the solid play of 2014 top overall pick Jadeveon Clowney has led the unit, the Texans have also seen plenty of other players step up to make big plays as they’ve piled up win after win.On Sunday, Andre Hal had one of three interceptions of Baker Mayfield. It was the first interception of the year for Hal, who missed the first six games of the season recovering from cancer after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in May.Zach Cunningham made another big play for the defense when the second-year player grabbed his first career interception and returned it for a touchdown against the Browns.“You’re always looking to try to figure out, as you get ready for the next team, what does this individual player need to improve on,” O’Brien said. “What does this unit need to improve on? What does the team need to improve on? What do I need to improve on? I think that’s been a big theme for us and our players are doing a good job of taking that to heart.”The Texans are also careful not to get too caught up in the streak. They know that if they don’t focus on their next opponent that things could go wrong quickly.“I don’t even think about it anymore,” 13-year veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph said of the winning streak. “It’s almost boring to talk about because … it doesn’t really mean anything. We have to go out and play the next game whether we’re on a win streak or we lost the week before. So, it’s all good for everything other than the people in this locker room because if we buy into it too much that’s when we get smacked in the face.”Houston is allowing the third-fewest points in the NFL (19.6), ranks 10th in yards allowed (341.5) and its rush defense ranks fifth by allowing just 91.3 yards rushing a game.This week the group will face a team that is averaging more than 27 points and 377 yards a game. Indianapolis scored 34 points in an overtime loss to Houston in Week 4 where Luck threw for a season-high 464 yards with four touchdowns.“He can make every throw,” defensive back Kareem Jackson said. “He can definitely buy time for guys to get open so … with him you know a play is never over. So we’ve definitely got to be (solid) in coverage and play to the whistle.”
