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LB Na'il Diggs (Official Thread)

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Beason holdout leaves Diggs as starter
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Posted: July 29, 2007

Associated Press


SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Na'il Diggs feels as though he's contending with the supernatural as he seeks to keep his starting job with the Carolina Panthers.

First-round pick Jon Beason was expected to take Diggs' spot at outside linebacker. But with Beason unsigned and holding out, Diggs worked with the first team for the second straight day Sunday.


"It's a ghost. Right now, that's what it is. I'm really competing against a ghost," Diggs said. "What I've got to do is keep making plays on the field, because when the ghost becomes a reality, then it'll be a real person."
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SportingNews.com - NFL - Beason holdout leaves Diggs as starter
 
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Posted on Mon, Jul. 30, 2007r
Panthers' Diggs carted off field in Spartanburg
Update: Linebacker seen walking after injury to right leg
STAN OLSON
solson@charlotteobserver.com


SPARTANBURG, S.C. --Carolina Panthers linebacker Na'il Diggs was carted off the practice field late with an apparent injury to his right leg in today's morning practice.

Later, Diggs was seen walking in the lunchroom without a limp, so the injury appears not to be serious.

If Diggs turns out to be seriously hurt, it will be a huge blow to the team's linebacking corps; Diggs was supposed to be giving top draft pick Jon Beason competition at weakside linebacker. Beason, though, is holding out. If both players are unavailable, second-year player James Anderson becomes the leader at the position.
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Charlotte Observer | 07/30/2007 | Panthers' Diggs carted off field in Spartanburg
 
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Beason to begin practice today
1st-round pick ends holdout, signs 5-year, $12.6 million contract
PAT YASINSKAS
pyasinskas@charlotteobserver.com

Will Beason start?

Jon Beason initially was projected as the starter at weak-side linebacker, but he didn't help his chances by missing roughly one-third of training camp with his holdout. Na'il Diggs was the starter last season and, once he recovers from a hamstring injury, likely will continue in that role as Beason learns the defense. It's not clear if Beason will play in Saturday's preseason opener against the New York Giants.
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Charlotte Observer | 08/06/2007 | Beason to begin practice today
 
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The Fastest Panther Ever
September 18, 2007
Brett Borden
Panthers.com

There are those who would have you believe that Raghib ?Rocket? Ismail was the fastest player to ever put on a Carolina Panthers uniform. Some would suggest that Steve Smith in his early years was the fastest. Still others might say that Drew Carter is the fastest Panther ever. They would all be wrong.

The fastest Panther by far is linebacker Na?il Diggs, who once flew a Navy F-18 Hornet at mach 1.2 in June of 2004. Mach is a number that fluctuates based on atmospheric conditions, but it?s safe to say that Diggs was flying in excess of 700 miles per hour that day.

?The fact that I blacked out four times should tell you something,? said Diggs, who was allowed to fly the plane for long stretches at a time. ?I was up there for an hour. I was in the back seat, but I had controls back there. The pilot in the front was in complete control, but he let me fly the plane quite a bit. We were doing 1.2 mach. You really don?t notice it when you?re up there, to be honest with you. It?s completely unlike what you would think. It?s very tight, and you see everything because you?re in that bubble.?
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Panthers.com
 
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Back to his old Diggs
November 15, 2007
Brett Borden
Panthers.com

What goes around comes around in the NFL. If you play long enough, and for more than one team, there is no escaping this truth. And so it is that linebacker Na?il Diggs, he of the eight-year NFL resume, finds himself playing in the same place he called home for six years, only this time for the visiting team.

?I had a great time up there,? said Diggs of Green Bay, where he wore the yellow helmet and green jersey for 84 games from 2000-2005 before signing with Carolina in the 2006 offseason. ?Does it get cold there? Yes, but there?s not so much to do outside of football, anyway. And I?m not really a big partying guy. So it was a great experience, something I?ll remember forever. I was there for six seasons and I won a lot of games there. We did some really good things.?
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Panthers.com
 
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Sunday, November 18, 2007
Back Home: Diggs will enjoy Lambeau
By John Delong
JOURNAL COLUMNIST


Na?il Diggs played six seasons with the Green Bay Packers before coming to the Carolina Panthers as a free agent last season.

He has experienced frostbite on the Frozen Tundra, and he has seen that playing at Lambeau Field after the winter cold sets in can affect opponents in two distinct ways. Some look forward to playing in one of the NFL?s most storied venues and rise to the occasion. Some freeze up and head for the nearest space heater, counting down the minutes until they can fly home.

?I?ve seen guys - Keyshawn (Johnson) for one, when he was in Tampa - they would come up there and they did not want any part of that cold,? Diggs said. ?Man, I?ve seen it in their face. You can see the teams that are like, ?Nah, I?m not playing today.?

?But then there are some teams that look forward to it and are fired up because they?re playing in Lambeau. And especially now that the Packers are playing well. There are teams that want to go up there and beat them in the cold.?
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Diggs has started the past five games, and has been solid in each. He had a season-high eight tackles at Tennessee two weeks ago, and had four tackles, including a sack, last week in a home loss to Atlanta.

He said he was patient throughout the process because he learned long ago that situations can change quickly in the NFL.

?One thing that I?ve learned playing eight years in the NFL is, everything happens for a reason and timing is everything,? he said. ?Was I disappointed at the start of the season? Of course I was disappointed. But then again, I didn?t give up on myself. I knew who I was as a player, and I think everybody else knew who I was as a player. It?s unfortunate that we had to lose a player in order for guys to move around in the spots we are in now. I feel bad for Dan, I wish he was here and I wish he was healthy.

?But this just reiterates what we said back in training camp. You can never put your head down or say, ?I?m not going to play anymore? because like the coaches say, you?re an ankle sprain away, and you?ve got to be able to run out on the field and be able to pick up where he left off. I feel like I kept a straight head and a good attitude through that whole process. I wasn?t throwing papers, I wasn?t going crazy. And they didn?t expect me to. I?m just not that type of person.?
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Winston-Salem Journal | Back Home: Diggs will enjoy Lambeau
 
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No 'might have beens' for Diggs
December 14, 2007
Brett Borden
Panthers.com

?Of all the saddest words of tongue and pen, the saddest are ?It might have been.??

Panthers linebacker Na?il Diggs doesn?t want to hear the words, ?It might have been.? He wants to go all out on every play so that he never has to hear them, in fact.

?You never want to say, ?I wish I would have made that play? or ?I wish I would have practiced harder or played harder,?? said Diggs. ?The biggest regret is having regrets in this business. If you go day to day or year to year like that, everything works out for you in a positive way.?

Diggs played in the postseason four consecutive seasons (2001-2004) while with the Green Bay Packers. He signed with the Carolina Panthers, a team that had made the NFC Championship two of the previous three seasons, after the 2005 campaign. But the Panthers have struggled to live up to their expectations the past two seasons, and Diggs says there really isn?t one thing that can explain it.

?I think every week it?s something new,? he said. ?Nobody really has something to put a finger on to say, ?This is the hole we have to fix.? Each and every one of us has our own sets of holes we need to fix and work on. We have to stop worrying about what we think is the problem and start worrying about our own.?
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Panthers.com
 
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BACK IN THE GROOVE: The Panthers had two of their starting linebackers back on the field Wednesday, one of which was a mild surprise.

Middle linebacker Jon Beason (wrist) and weakside incumbent Na'il Diggs (ankle) were back after missing minicamp earlier this month.

While Beason's a rising star, that Diggs was still on the field was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser. The Panthers gave their biggest free agent contract this offseason to Landon Johnson, a three-year, $10 million acquisition. The thought was he'd displace Diggs, but Wednesday suggested the veteran may not be out of the mix yet.
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The Herald - Life. Captured Every Day. - Serving York, Chester, and Lancaster Counties.
 
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Panthers Team Report
Posted: June 30, 2008
Darin Gantt
For Sporting News

PERSONNEL ANALYSIS: Even though the Panthers spent money and picks on linebackers (free agent Landon Johnson and third-rounder Dan Connor), they're still giving first crack at the starting weak side job to veteran Na'il Diggs. He's a solid player, very good against the run, but he's far from a track star. They signed him to a three-year extension last December, but it's hard to imagine the soon-to-be 30-year-old as more than a short-term fix, given the other expenditures. However, their schematic changes up front are going to put more pressure on linebackers, putting a premium on reliable players. They're going to play DT Damione Lewis as a one-gap pass rusher, and sink Maake Kemoeatu down over the nose, which will mean more blockers with clean runs on the second level. Having Diggs gives them a guy they know will be in the right place at the right time, which you can't assume with a new guy or a rookie.
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