Favre on a plane headed to Minnesota, or the story that never ends

The neverending drama surrounding quarterback Brett Favre took another turn minutes ago when he boarded a plane for Minnesota.

Reportedly, he has told a few fellow Minnesota Viking teammates that he is coming back for one more season - at least.

UNC's Boyd running with first team, well aware of opportunity

Jheranie Boyd is well aware of the uncertain status of North Carolina receiver Greg Little as the football season approaches. The preseason depth chart lists Little as the starting receiver and Boyd as No. 2, but in practice again Tuesday, Boyd ran with the first team

That’s a major switch from preseason camp in 2009, when Boyd was a true freshman piling up missed assignments and fumbling his way through the playbook.

UNC receivers coach Charlie Williams charts missed assignments – “MA’s” in the team lexicon – and Boyd had his share last year each week in practice.

“Last year I had at least five to seven missed assignments a week,” Boyd said Tuesday. He also struggled to grasp a UNC playbook that he said runs around 500 pages. Other parts of college football were new and different as well. For example, Boyd didn’t realize the team flew home after road games.

“I thought we’d spend the night,” he said.

Nope – college teams head for the bus and then the airport soon after the game ends.

But that just part of the learning as Boyd and two other true freshmen, Erik Highsmith and Joshua Adams, were thrust onto the field last season. UNC team that had three receivers - Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster – selected in the 2009 NFL Draft and entered last year with a stunning need at that position.

There were some spectacular moments for the freshmen, such as when Highsmith had six catches for 113 yards and Boyd had one for 59 in the 31-17 win over East Carolina. And Boyd had two long catches, both for scores, in the loss to N.C. State.

But overall, Carolina’s offense was marred by inconsistent efforts in 2010. Injuries to the offensive line and inexperience at receiver contributed to an uneven effort by quarterback T.J. Yates. Yates threw 14 touchdown passes but also 15 interceptions. In the ACC, only Jacory Harris of Miami had more, with 17. Carolina ranked 11th in the ACC in total offense (307.8 yards per game) and 10th in passing offense (174.9).

Fast start for UNC in college football recruiting

Romar Morris.

College football recruiting rankings shouldn’t be taken too seriously – after all, Russell Wilson earned a mere two stars out of Richmond, Va. – but even so, North Carolina is off to a fast start this year when it comes to landing football talent.

Committing to UNC Monday was running back Romar Morris of Salisbury, who is listed at 5 feet 10 and 170 pounds. Both The N&O and InsideCarolina are reporting the commitment. Morris ran for 1,300 yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior and also ran the 100-meter dash in 10.54 seconds in the state 2-A championship meet.

The Tar Heels already have 17 commitments before high school football season starts. That’s a huge number, considering that a school can’t sign more than 25 players in a given year and most recruiting classes are around 20-22 prospects.

UNC has commitments from one five-star recruit (offensive lineman Kiaro Holts out of Indianapolis), four four-star recruits and 11 three-star players, according to Scout.com.

The Heels have a whopping 10 players out of North Carolina.

N.C. State, by comparison, has five commitments total. Three are two-star commitments and the other two are not rated.

Keep in mind that players can not sign binding letters of intent until February.

Balmer dealt, but questions remain

Whether the deterioration of Kentwan Balmer’s situation with San Franciso was related to the NCAA investigation of UNC is hard to tell.

Balmer didn’t show up for practice last Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday was the day former UNC player Cam Thomas told The News & Observer’s Joe Giglio that Balmer had paid for the trip Thomas and Marvin Austin took to California in 2009.

Naturally, reporters were eager to ask Balmer what was going on. But by Wednesday, Balmer was a permanent no-show at the 49ers camp. The view from here seem to connect the NCAA investigation and Balmer’s reticence, but that might not have been the driving factor. Balmer, a No. 1 pick in 2008, couldn’t crack the 49ers starting rotation and apparently was unhappy with his status. San Francisco coach Mike Singletary said it was a “personal matter” and didn’t go further.

San Francisco traded Balmer to Seattle Monday for what the Sacramento Bee reported was a mere 6th-round pick. That’s awfully cheap for a decent defensive lineman and former first-rounder.

“We have strong connections to the 49ers and it is our understanding that Kentwan is ready to play football and in need of a fresh start,” Seahawks general manager John Schneider said.

Sounds like he does. But if he thinks he’ll just move on to Seattle and dodge questions, he’s in for a surprise.

UNC player who had scrap at N.C. State finds new maturity

CHAPEL HILL - Donte Paige-Moss has added nearly 40 pounds of muscle from a year ago. But his new strength is only one change for the Northside product as he enters his second football season at the University of North Carolina.

Paige-Moss said some setbacks last season led to a more mature attitude as he expands his role with the Carolina defense.

Paige-Moss, a sophomore, started his UNC career poorly by getting into a dorm-room fight last July. His true freshman season ended when he battled an N.C State player Nov. 28 and was suspended for the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

It was then, Paige-Moss said, that coach Butch Davis called him into his office to review what happened in Raleigh. “Coach Davis told me straight up that if I kept doing those things I wouldn’t be here in any more,” Paige-Moss said Thursday.

From then on, he said, “I changed my attitude on the field and off the field.”
Paige-Moss, sitting Thursday in the swank UNC football offices that overlook Kenan Stadium, knew what was at stake. He would have to harness the fighting instincts he had honed growing up in the Jones County town of Maysville, where he lived before transferring to Jacksonville as a high school junior.

“In that area, it was a lot of negative things,” he said. “Everybody didn’t make it out like I did.”

Many people he knew as a youth, he said, “are either locked up or dead.”

He found an outlet in football, and had a dominant career at Northside High. Scout.com ranked him the No. 1 defensive end prospect in the country, and SuperPrep and Parade picked him to their All-America teams.

“He’s a classic example of a guy who had phenomenal credentials.” Davis said recently. “Guys like him could literally dominate a high school game. He probably never played against somebody on the offensive line who was good enough to block him. But at this level, it’s not enough to rely on God-given ability.”