Chron: Receiver Conway not the quiet type
John Walsh
Onetime star working to regain his place
- Kevin Lynch, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Wide receiver Curtis Conway moves in a stealth-like manner around the
49ers' training camp.
On the field, the 12th-year veteran runs polished routes, makes precise
cuts and rarely misses a pass. Off it, Conway is as inconspicuous as a
roll of tape.
He often exits the locker room alone shortly after practice wearing a
snow-white bucket hat with Michael Jordan's scarlet No. 23 on it, slung
low over his eyes.
Coaches have taken notice of Conway's act and they like what they see.
"He has been a pleasant surprise," coach Dennis Erickson said. "He has a
work ethic. ... He wants to resurface and get back to where he was in
this league. This is his opportunity and he's taking advantage of it."
Conway has won the third-receiver job for now.
Conway signed a three-year deal with the Jets last year for a reported
$2. 5 million a season, but he didn't seem comfortable. He began as a
starter and was benched in October in favor of younger, quicker Santana
Moss.
At the end of the season, Conway was released.
The experience seemed to wound him.
"I think when you are in the NFL for a number of years, you realize
there's a lot of red tape," said former 49ers tackle Derrick Deese, a
lifelong friend who played against Conway in high school and with him at
USC. After his own release in February, Deese signed with Tampa Bay.
Conway was so embittered by his experience with the Jets and his
previous release by the Chargers that he nearly retired.
Then he decided on a different approach, stripping away all he had
endured the previous two years and returning to the football he knew as
an 8- year-old growing up in Los Angeles.
"We got into the street to play the game because we loved it," Conway
said.
As most players do, Conway, 33, fell prey to the huge dollars and the
adulation of becoming the "go-to guy." He was chosen seventh overall in
the 1993 draft by the Bears after a brilliant college career.
Multimillion-dollar contracts followed, along with three seasons of more
than 1,000 receiving yards.
"All of sudden, you got to hold yourself in a certain way. You got to do
this and do that and you got the money involved," Conway said. "Now you
got to block the paycheck out. Now you got to look at it as having fun."
Conway's Zen-like approach doesn't allow for grand designs such as
winning a starting job and leading the league in receptions. His only
expectation is for fun. If the other things follow, all the better.
Also, his return to California might bring peace of mind.
"His kids are really important to him," Deese said of Conway's twin 9-
year-old boys and his 5-year-old daughter.
He's also surrounded by a different kind of youth in the locker room --
his fellow receivers, all of whom are 25 or younger.
"It will be interesting to see when they get to be 30," Conway said.
"Because I know I used to talk about the old guys, I used to say to
those cats, 'Man, (you are) old.' They were getting the massages and
they were getting in the ice tubs. Now here I am (doing the same
thing)."
John Walsh
JVV4sm
Yet he never posts Giants articles to the 49ers group.
A Jaunty One
"JVV4sm" <jvv...@aol.comNOSPAM> wrote in message
news:20040812234558...@mb-m17.aol.com...
Really? That doesn't make sense...
JVV4sm
It makes sense because he's primarily a 49ers fan, and dabbles in baseball.
A Jaunty One
"JVV4sm" <jvv...@aol.comNOSPAM> wrote in message
OK. Let me check.....
john's posts in asbsfg: 4,334 posts
john's posts in asfpsf49ers: 36,456 posts
WOW..... ok, you're right. He's much more of a 49ers fan.
It'd take Gregg 20+ years to make 36,000 posts in here, I believe. How
about it, Gregg, can you do it?
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.sports.football.pro.sf-49ers/about
Fleur
>It makes sense because he's primarily a 49ers
>fan, and dabbles in baseball.
Well, I like to dabble in neo-impressionism but my forte is cubism. {:^)