ESPN Insider Peep Show 5-4-04

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Peep Show

By Darrell Trimble

ESPN Insider

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/story?id=1794920

New York Giants: Quaterback Neil O'Donnell doesn't want to play for the Giants in 2004. In fact, he's not interested in playing for anyone. "Neil is not actively pursuing any other opportunities in the league, and after long discussions with his family, he feels pretty good about what type of NFL career he's had," O'Donnell's agent, Steve Rosner, told the Tennessean. The Giants had been pursuing O'Donnell to serve as a mentor for Eli Manning, but O'Donnell informed Giants GM Ernie Accorsi over the weekend that he intends to remain retired. According to Rosner, O'Donnell, who started 100 games in his career, is finalizing plans to be part of a Nashville TV news team this fall.

Jesse Palmer earned fame this offseason by starring in the TV reality show, The Bachelor. Now he's focused on earning a backup QB role with the Giants. "Ideally, [The Bachelor] is a footnote somewhere along the way," Palmer told the Florida Times-Union. "I'd much rather be remembered for this game that I've been playing since I was 7 years old than a TV show that I did for two months. Football is my passion." Palmer, who started three games for New York in Kerry Collins' absence last season, is no lock to make the Giants' roster. The team traded for No. 1 pick Eli Manning, signed Kentucky's Jared Lorenzen and is expected to sign another veteran before training camp.

Detroit Lions: Any chance that someone will seriously challenge QB Joey Harrington for the starting job this year was virtually eliminated over the weekend. Harrington was easily the sharpest QB at the team's minicamp that ended on Sunday, according to the Detroit News. Fourth-year QB Mike McMahon, who has expressed frustration with his role in the past, appears to have accepted his fate as Harrington's backup. "When I first came in here, he wanted to compete for the job even up," coach Steve Mariucci said. "That's what his hope was -- he would have an equal chance to compete. That has kind of sorted itself out now. Joey's our starter. Mike's our backup." Rick Mirer and Curt Anes, Harrington's college backup, are also on the Lions' roster.

Seattle Seahawks: Dropped passes were a problem that the Seahawks carried all the way into the playoffs last season. Determined to correct their mistakes, Seattle WRs have come up with a way to help them focus. If a receiver drops a pass, it's down on the ground for 10 self-imposed pushups. The same goes for running backs. "They all have really fine hands, and they worked really hard, and yesterday we went through a drill in the morning where it might have been the best of that kind we've ever had," coach Mike Holmgren, referring to a drill the receivers did on Saturday morning, told the Seattle Times. "They caught everything, touch catches, easy catches with tempo and speed, very confident. They were embarrassed a little bit about some of that stuff that happened last year, and they have a lot of pride and they don't want that to happen again."

Oakland Raiders: Head coach Norv Turner dumped a lot of information on his players during the team's first mandatory minicamp over the weekend. "In these three days we probably gave them as much as we'll give them the first 10 days of training camp," Turner told the San Francisco Chronicle. "We really threw a lot at them and they handled it well. We had sessions in a lot of different situations." The only notable absence from minicamp was franchise player Charles Woodson, who appeared at a meeting on Friday but skipped the three days of workouts. Turner will begin conducting OTAs (organized team activities) on Tuesday, and he said every veteran is expected to participate unless there is a prior engagement.