Warriors in the Pros

Chad Mock had 2 catches for 18 yards and caught his first CFL touchdown for the BC Lions. You can see video highlights of the game here. Mock's TD is the very first play shown.

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Another Warrior in the CFL, Timmy Chang, who hasn't seen playing time in a few weeks, is profiled in the Edmonton Sun. Hamilton Ticats coach Charlie Taafe talks about TC's talent as well as what he still needs to learn.

"He is a gunslinger. He'd throw the ball 80 yards down field every play if he could.

"What he has got to learn ... you got to get it done in two downs. You got to be more willing to be patient and take the throws that are available - the underneath throws - being in a second and manageable situation.

"He struggles with that a little bit.

"But I think he is a real talent."

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Nate Ilaoa is profiled in this Special to the Advertiser article. He's working hard to make the Eagles roster, which is already loaded with running backs.

During drills on Thursday, Ilaoa proved just how ready he is, participating in key plays from quarterbacks Donovan McNabb, A.J. Feeley, Kelly Holcomb and Kevin Kolb.

A quarterback sneak by Kolb that resulted in a gain earned the former Warrior a rarely seen show of positive emotion from head coach Andy Reid, who gestured to Ilaoa with a pumped fist.

With heavy competition at the running back position, Ilaoa also has been training on the Eagles' special teams. He said he could also see himself as one of the special-team aces on punt-return coverage or kickoff coverage.

Here's what Eagles general manager Tom Heckert has to say about Nasti.

“Nate shows up. I'll tell you what, he's not real fast, but he's got real good feet and he's a natural ball carrier and he's tough. We've got a lot of good backs, but he's done some nice things and we're happy with where he is.”

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Former UH linebacker Jeff Ulbrich is featured in this article from the Gilroy Dispatch. He talks about coming back from multiple injuries last year.

"Last year I tore my labrum, and also dislocated my shoulder, and I've had three surgeries on it," Ulbrich said.

Last preseason, before the shoulder injury, Ulbrich was just coming off a biceps tear surgery. Then in week eight, Ulbrich had his right hand surgically repaired due to a broken thumb and ruptured thumb tendons.

Ulbrich wore a thumb cast and a shoulder harness in all of the games he played in last season.

"I took half of last season off, so now it's one of those deals where I can't take time off ... I just have to play with it," Ulbrich said. "I'm just looking forward to being healthy this year."

The 30-year-old linebacker will be in on special teams, and will provide depth to the Niners inside defense.

And the money quote:

Staying consistent, Ulbrich said the quarterback he would most like to sack this season is Arizona's Matt Leinart.

"He (Leinart) gets so much hype, and he's so Hollywood," Ulbrich said.

Haha.

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From Thursday, here's an article, probably the 20th to cover this topic, about the Polynesians Dolphins, including Samson, Tala and Reagan.

Samoan children sometimes sacrifice their sandals for knee pads, share mouthpieces and swap helmets that don't fit. Most don't see a grass field until high school, Satele said.

Think the NFL's physical?

"You're out there getting scraped every day and getting sprayed with the other guys' blood," Satele said. "It makes the NFL sound easy."

Samson and the rest will get a chance to impress when the Dolphins play their first preseason game today.