The Toughness Of Beanie
Rookie running back doesn't see the need for questions
By DARREN URBAN
First-round pick Chris "Beanie" Wells holds up his jersey with owner Bill Bidwill (left) and general manager Rod Graves (right) during Thursday's press conference.
Ken Whisenhunt was giving a rundown of all of his team?s draft picks, with video help, to fans at the Cardinals? recent charity coaches breakfast, and first up was highlights of No. 1 draft pick Beanie Wells.
The Cardinals? head coach came to a play between Ohio State ? Wells? school ? and Michigan State. Wells took the handoff and cut up inside, where Spartans linebacker Adam Decker was waiting for him. The two collided. Wells knocked Decker backward and kept moving forward for a few more yards.
?For some reason, people have questioned Beanie?s toughness,? Whisenhunt said, rewinding the video and showing the play once more. ?I think this shows Beanie is pretty tough.?
Wells ? who was introduced at a press conference Thursday, the day before the Cardinals begin their lone mandatory minicamp ? became something of a paradox as the draft approached. There is little question of his production, which included 1,609 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2007 and another 1,197 yards and eight touchdowns in 2008 despite missing three games with a turf toe injury.
Those three games were the only three games Wells missed in three collegiate seasons. But there is also little question some doubt floated around Wells in the months leading to the draft. He was considered by far the top draft-eligible running back in the country when the 2008 season began. He ended up falling to the Cardinals at No. 31 when Georgia?s Knowshon Moreno and Connecticut?s Donald Brown were taken ahead of him.
Wells heard the whispers. He answered the queries from NFL teams. He never thought twice whether he was tough enough.
?It is something you have to deal with,? Wells said. ?The NFL is a big business and guys are going to have to deal with everything you possibly can.
?(I missed) three games in three years, so I don?t understand the durability question. I have been injured, so that?s a gimme. But with durability and toughness, I don?t think that?s a question at all.?