Warriors in the Pros: Rivers, Samson, Bess

Former UH receiver Jason Rivers has signed with the Spokane Shock of the AF2.

"His numbers are obviously impressive; he is one of the highest-rated players that we have ever signed," Head Coach Adam Shackleford said. "During the recruiting process, we learned that his character is every bit as impressive as his numbers on the field."

According to Rivers, his game is not just about the numbers.

"I am a leader - in a game and in practice I lead by example," Rivers explained. "I'm tenacious - I don't give up. I'm definitely a go-getter on the field."

Congrats to Jason!

Samson Satele is interviewed in this week's "Dolphins Digest" on the Miami Dolphins website. He talks a little about Davone Bess:

2.
How surprised are you by the emergence of your former teammate at Hawaii, Davone Bess, at wide receiver?
He's not surprising me at all. I knew what the guy can do and I think he knows that he can do a lot more. He's just got to learn the game speed and learn this offense, and he'll tell you he can do a lot more than he is doing now. I'm surprised at some of the things that he does, but not everything.

3.
Were you surprised Bess was not drafted?
I was pretty mad (that he didn't get drafted), but there's nothing I can do. I mean, we only had one guy last year that got drafted, Colt Brennan, out of the whole senior group that they had and I thought that they had the best senior group to come out of Hawaii, but anything goes inside that draft room.

Speaking of Bess, here's an excerpt about his chemistry with QB Chad Pennington, from a MiamiDolphins.com article.

Pennington has identified Bess as his go-to guy, especially over the middle on third downs where the small but quick receiver always seems to find open space to be able to run after the catch. The two have grown more and more comfortable with each other and Bess can't stop marveling over his quarterback's calmness in the pocket and ability not only to see the best option on every down but to put the ball exactly where it needs to be in order to get the most yardage out of the play. That's what happened Sunday against Buffalo a few times when the two connected on passes of 13 yards twice and one for 15 yards, all of which involved Bess catching the ball in stride and picking up extra yards.

"They showed that coverage plenty of times on film and Chad did a great job of going through his reads and finding me and seeing me open," Bess said.

And according to Rotoworld.com, Davone Bess has a chance to set a record for the most receptions by an undrafted rookie receiver if he catches 27 passes in Miami's last three games.