Dislocation was troubling

Just a year ago, Rosevelt Colvin was one of the hottest commodities in the NFL, a free agent linebacker with 21 sacks the previous two seasons. When the Patriots outbid the competition and signed him to a $25 million deal, it appeared they had landed the big playmaker they were seeking. It looked that way right up to the second game of the season, when he bent down to scoop up a fumble and his hip fell apart.

Colvin still isn't sure how that happened because he never got touched on the play. He just reached down and heard something crack. Next thing he knew, his season was over and his future was in doubt.

"My first year here was crazy," Colvin said last week after one of his daily rehab sessions with the Patriots' training staff. "It was everything I could ask for and everything you wouldn't want to happen."

What you would ask for is a huge contract, a massive signing bonus, and a new team that wins the Super Bowl. What you wouldn't want to happen is a career-threatening injury.

Many things result from a man fracturing and dislocating his hip. Initially the fear was that Colvin had suffered an injury similar to the one that ended Bo Jackson's career. But he has been told he need not fear avascular necrosis, which is bone death resulting from the hip joint not receiving sufficient blood flow. That lack of blood causes the bone to collapse and usually results in hip replacement surgery, which was Jackson's fate. Colvin has been an elite athlete most of his life. He has been able to ask almost anything of his body and never had it failed him. Even his injuries had been minimal, so to suddenly have his body desert him was shocking, although the shock was cushioned by his family and his faith. "When they told me it was my hip, the first thing I thought of was Bo Jackson," said Colvin. "The doctor said it looked like I'd been in a car accident. What was encouraging was there've been guys who had this and came back, so I had cases to look at and see that it could be done." For nearly three months, not much could be done by Colvin. He was bedridden while his teammates were marching toward their second Super Bowl in three years. He was happy for their success but he was not part of it. For the first time in his life, while his team played, he watched. And wondered.

"It was tough," Colvin said. "I've been hurt before but I'd never been injured. It was the first time I had to take a step back from what I was doing. I confided in my wife and I put it all in prayer.

"I couldn't do the simplest things. It made me really understand what a disabled person goes through. I see someone on crutches now, I always ask what happened and help them with the door. It was a tough time but it made me understand some things. But I never felt like I didn't want to do this."

What Colvin wanted to do has changed over the months. At first, he just wanted to sit in a chair without discomfort. He wanted to be able to get a bowl of cereal without it taking 15 minutes to maneuver around the kitchen. He wanted to get out of bed without having to put on an elaborate brace that swung around his waist and hip and left his left leg dangling. Most of all, one of the NFL's most athletic linebackers just wanted to walk.

"Your mind says just take a step but your muscles have been asleep for a while," Colvin said. "I had to get used to just putting one leg in front of the other. It's not like riding a bicycle. With walking again, it's totally different. Those muscles had to get used to doing things again. It was frustrating.

"After I started walking, the goal was to walk without a limp. Then it was to jog five or 10 minutes. Then it was jog without a limp. People get on Bill [Belichick] about `everybody's day to day,' but in my case it is day to day. The only thing I can really do is try to get back. When you try to think `why?' it makes the struggle harder, so I try to remember I'm not the only person who's ever gone through this."

As the weather warms and Colvin's teammates return to Foxborough for offseason conditioning, he will more and more feel like a member of the Patriots again. He will continue to rehab, hoping that soon enough he can begin doing an activity he claims to hate (running) while reaching small goals along the way until the day comes when he can return to the field. "Three months ago, my goal was to sit in a chair and be comfortable," Colvin said. "Now it's to get ready to pass the conditioning test, because until I do, I can't get on the field. You have to be patient."

Warner on the outs? The St. Louis Rams continue to insist that two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner will be given a chance to compete with Marc Bulger for the starting job this summer, but an industry source said last week it's more likely Warner will be released in June, in part because the organization has lost faith in him. Although Bulger did little last year to indicate that he is the long-term answer, the concern in St. Louis is that Warner has never fully recovered from the beating he's taken the last few years. "It's a mistake but they're going to dump him," the source said. The Rams signed veteran Chris Chandler last Monday to a three-year, $2.6 million deal, but coach Mike Martz claimed he was being brought in to take over the third-string slot even though he'd be among the highest-paid third-string quarterbacks in football. If Warner is released, it won't happen until after June 1, when St. Louis can spread the $10 million cap hit over two seasons, with $4.6 million counting this year and $5.4 million next . . . Five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Pace has been the Rams' franchise player for two straight years, but Pace said last week that if they would pay him a signing bonus between $15 million and $17 million, as the Rams have indicated a willingness to do, he believed a deal could be struck despite his initial demand for a seven-year, $71 million deal with nearly $34 million in guaranteed money. Pace's words seemed to defy those of his agents, the Poston brothers, who are quickly becoming as popular among NFL management as Howard Slusher used to be. Twenty years ago, the red-headed Slusher was so reviled that he was known as "Agent Orange." With the Postons representing half of the six franchised players unable to make a deal with their present teams, as well as disgruntled Ty Law in New England, they are being seen by many teams as more obstructionists than negotiators. Add to their problems the battle between the Redskins and LaVar Arrington over a $6.5 million roster bonus due in 2006 that Arrington was led to believe was in the contract but that the Redskins say was never part of the final negotiations. The Postons have conceded that at best they didn't carefully read the final draft of the contract, which did not contain the roster bonus. None of their clients has deserted them yet, but at least one, Seattle tackle Walter Jones, sought advice from another agent last week after facing his third straight season as the Seahawks' franchise player . . . Jerry Sullivan's presence on the Dolphins' coaching staff was a key element in the decision to bring talented but often troubling wide receiver David Boston to Miami. Sullivan developed a close relationship with Boston in Arizona and convinced him that this was his last chance to shine. He's now working on his third NFL team after having nothing but problems last year in San Diego. Sullivan reportedly convinced Boston he would be their go-to guy but that he had to accept, as one industry source put it, "It can't be Diana Ross and the Supremes." The worry for Boston has to be who is throwing to him. Although there are some skeptics who fear A.J. Feeley might not be able to beat out incumbent Jay Fiedler in a fair training camp competition, few believe there will be any such competition because newly elevated personnel man Rick Spielman has invested his reputation to bring in the former Eagles backup who has played in a total of just six NFL games. Anyone remember Scott Mitchell? Anyone remember Rob Johnson?

News on Shipp Former University of Massachusetts running back Marcel Shipp has had a wild 10 days. A little more than a week ago, new Cardinals coach Dennis Green announced that Shipp would be his starting running back going into training camp, moving him ahead of future Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith. Frankly, it was a move that should have been made a year ago despite Smith's celebrity. Barely 24 hours later, Shipp's former girlfriend accused him of assaulting her during a dispute in his driveway. Arizona police have been investigating her claims for nine days but no charges have been brought. An eyewitness claims she was the one attacking Shipp, who was in his car. The police took photographs of scratches on Shipp's neck as well as pictures of his convertible, which had a broken windshield and broken mirror, allegedly from stones thrown by the woman in question. Shipp has admitted to police that he pushed her away as he tried to back the car out of the driveway and she fell, but insisted he assaulted no one. Green and the Cardinals are supporting Shipp, both in the investigation and in what could become a touchy situation with Smith. Green has been delicate in his public remarks, but industry sources claim his real position is that Smith can either choose to be content backing up Shipp or he can retire . . . Count on Al Davis to look out for members of what he considers the Raiders family. Barely a month after ex-Northeastern and former Raider defensive end Sean Jones's certification as a player agent was suspended by the NFL Players Association for two years for alleged improprieties involving several clients, Davis hired Jones to work in the Raiders' personnel department . . . Speaking of agents, although many teams and even more fans dislike them, their job is becoming ever more difficult because of the proliferation of them. There are now more certified agents than there are NFL players, and that has led to a lot of needless firing of agents by players who believe promises no one could fulfill. There are many examples, but here's one from former Patriot safety Chris Akins. According to NFLPA records, Akins has had six agents in his five seasons in the league. This for a minimum-wage player whose latest contract carried with it only a $165,000 signing bonus. Go figure . . . Jacksonville defensive end Hugh Douglas may have learned his lesson after his 3 1/2-sack season in his first year with the Jaguars. Douglas, who signed a five-year, $27 million contract with a $6 million signing bonus last offseason, was a disappointment, and coach Jack Del Rio felt one reason was a lack of conditioning. Douglas disagreed publicly but also said he would take part in the team's offseason workout program that began last week, as he did after working out in the offseason last year in Atlanta. Del Rio claims Douglas was overweight when he reported to training camp, and his game never surfaced. One reason Douglas showed up Monday is that he knows because of some intricate accounting the team can release him this summer with only a $255,000 salary cap hit.

New guy optimistic Joe Gibbs returned to the practice field with the Washington Redskins for the first time in 12 years Friday. The night before, he held a dinner with his team during which he said that he believed that even with the present salary cap restrictions, a core group of players could be retained . . . Houston Texans coach Dom Capers is considering shifting veteran corner Marcus Coleman to safety . . . The Green Bay Packers received permission last week to meet with Cleveland Browns quarterback Tim Couch for the purposes of working out a trade to acquire the former No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 draft. Cleveland told Couch's agent, Tom Condon, he was free to try to come up with a deal the Browns would approve, but there had been minimal interest until the Packers expressed interest in bringing Couch in to back up Brett Favre and become their quarterback of the future . . . Anyone looking for Super Bowl security should consider signing free agent linebacker Kole Ayi. Since coming into the NFL, Ayi has been on three teams that played in the Super Bowl. He spent time with the Patriots and the Rams three seasons ago, the year they faced each other in the Super Bowl, and last season he was on the NFC champion Carolina Panthers most of the year.

Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.