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Anquan Boldin to Lions


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http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000676848/article/veteran-receiver-anquan-boldin-to-join-detroit-lions

 

Anquan Boldin wasn't going to be on the market for long, especially with so many teams struggling to find depth at wide receiver.

In the end, it was Jim Caldwell and the Lions who made the strongest push, according to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport.

The 35-year-old will be signing with his former coordinator, now the head coach of the Calvin Johnson-less Lions. Amid an offseason where the club scrambled to make up for the loss ofMegatron, it was perhaps their last move that will have the most immediate impact.

Boldin joins a group of receivers currently led by Golden Tate,Marvin Jones, T.J. Jones and Jeremy Kerley. Boldin caught 69 passes for 789 yards and four touchdowns a year ago.

The remarkably consistent veteran will enter his 14th NFL season having played a majority of his games in each campaign. In all but one season -- 2007 with the Arizona Cardinals -- Boldin was targeted over 100 times. Entering the downside of his 30s, Boldin caught 237 passes for 3,030 yards and 16 touchdowns over his age 33, 34 and 35 seasons.

The signing gives another nod to the Lions' plan post-Megatron: Replace production with possession. While the Lions might never be able to adequately recover from the loss of a 6-foot-6 behemoth and once-in-a-generation matchup nightmare, they have lined up a solid three-tiered receiving corps that should keep momentum moving in the right direction. Per Rapoport, the Philadelphia Eagles andNew Orleans Saints also showed interest.

 

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20 minutes ago, RutgersJetFan said:

I was at the Favre/Warner aerial show where Eric Smith cheap shotted him and broke his face. We were all the way towards the opposite end zone and still heard it too. Guy came back the next week if I remember correctly. Tough mother ****er.

I think if he played next week,he didnt actually break any face

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26 minutes ago, RutgersJetFan said:

I was at the Favre/Warner aerial show where Eric Smith cheap shotted him and broke his face. We were all the way towards the opposite end zone and still heard it too. Guy came back the next week if I remember correctly. Tough mother ****er.

Wasnt a cheap shot, Boldin got hit by Zipperhead if I recall.

 

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http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2008/11/06/boldin-talks-about-horrific-injury/

 

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Boldin talks about horrific injury

Anquan Boldin knows his stats right off the top of his head: Seven plates. Forty-screws.

That’s what it took to put his face back in order after a hellacious helmet-to-helmet collision with New York Jets safety Eric Smith.

Remarkably, the Arizona Cardinals reciever missed just two games and looks like his old self as he prepares to face the 49ers on Monday Night Football next week.

 

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Boldin has had games of 63 yards and 85 yards upon his return. He is the fastest player in the history of the NFL to amass 450 career catches. He did it in 74 games, seven games faster than Lionel Taylor and eight games faster than Marvin Harrison.

On Thursday, Boldin discussed his injury with 49ers beat writers. The team’s media relations staff was kind enough to transcribe the interview. Here are some highlights:

Q: You’ve been back now for two games. How do you feel physically?

Boldin: “I feel pretty good. Nothing…no ill effects from the injury or anything like that.”

Q: What about mentally? That was a hellacious hit you took – both the concussion and the facial damage you had. Any reservations about coming back?

Boldin: “None at all. If I felt like I had some reservations I wouldn’t be on the field so I felt like when I got cleared I felt good enough to play that I’d be back to myself playing like I normally play.”

Q: Do you think you’ve gained more respect around the league for coming back from that hit and picking up where you left off?

Boldin: “Honestly, I don’t know. And that’s not why I came back. The thing I was looking at was coming back and helping my team. I think at the time we were 4-4. We were in the spot where we could go up or down. After I went out they won two big games against Buffalo and against Dallas and for me I just wanted to get back on the field and help my teammates out as much as possible. So I wasn’t really thinking about coming back and earning everybody’s respect.”

Q: After all you’ve been through with the Cardinals, what’s it like to be in first place by three games at the mid-point of the season?

Boldin: “At this point it feels good. This is my sixth year and this is foreign territory. Most of the time we’ve been out of it or struggling or fighting or trying to go in a better direction. But at this point, this year, we’re playing a lot better. We’re playing a lot better as a team. All three phases of the game: special teams, offense and defense. I know right now it feels good but the thing is we still have eight more games left and we can’t just rest on what we’ve done in the first half of the season because we know as good as anyone – last year we had a team come here, Detroit, who was 6-2 and they lost to us and didn’t win a game after that. It’d be easy to sit back and relax and get caught up in the accomplishments you had in the first part of the season, but the first part of the season – it helps get you to the playoffs but it doesn’t get you there.”

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Q: With the kind of season that Kurt Warner has had, how much fun is it to play in that offense?

Boldin: “It’s been fun, especially with the way we ran the ball like last week. It’s been a situation where we’ve been able to keep defenses on their heels, like I said, especially when we’re running the ball. They really have to pick and choose what they’re trying to stop. I think we have a real diverse offense. We have a lot of guys who have stepped up to the challenge as far as making plays, so it’s been fun.”

Q: Does the vibe around the team feel different than in years past?

Boldin: “Most definitely. And I think the biggest difference is on the sidelines when we’re in the game. As opposed to past years, when we’re on the sideline now no matter what goes on on the field we always feel like we can win. That’s if we turn the ball over, if we get stopped on a fourth-and-short, or whatever. If diversity comes to us, we kind of shake it off and feel like we can overcome it. Like I said, in the past, we’ve gone through some things and I think guys kind of held their heads down and probably felt like, ‘Oh, that’s it.’ But, it’s a lot different this year.”

Q: Are you wearing any kind of a different face mask to protect your jaw?

Boldin: “No, I’m just wearing a mouth piece now.”

RE: You didn’t wear one before?

Boldin: “No, I’ve never worn one before.”

Q: And after the hit what were the consequences of not wearing one?

Boldin: “I don’t know if that was the consequences but I had fractures in my face obviously. I have seven plates, 40 screws and all of that so I’m not sure if it was a direct result of not wearing a mouthpiece but I’m not taking the risk anymore.”

Q: What does it mean for this organization to get the opportunity to play on Monday Night Football?

Boldin: “I think it means a lot. Obviously any time you get the opportunity to play on Monday Night it’s a big deal. This is my sixth year and third time I’m going to be playing on Monday Night. The first three times didn’t go too well, didn’t go the way we planned. But hopefully this week will be different.”

RE: While your mouth was wired shut, did you drop much weight? Was that an issue?

Boldin: “Yeah. Right after the surgery I lost 10 pounds. But I was able to gain back my weight before I got back on the field.”

“I just know that they’re a disciplined secondary. You have Walt Harris, a guy that’s been in the league, been to the Pro Bowl with me, and he’s real solid in what he does. [He will] give you different looks. You have [Mark] Roman who’s back there along with [Michael] Lewis, Lewis being one of the more physical safeties in the league. A guy that we really have to account for in the run game. Like I said, Roman – he’s a veteran as well. They have some guys back there who have knowledge of the game. You really don’t see them out of place often. They’re a really solid defense.”

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2 minutes ago, BUM-KNEE said:

Boldin gets hit in the back by Rhodes (Zipperhead), and SMith is right there.

NOT A CHEAP SHOT by any means.

 

Yup...good, clean hit.

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1 hour ago, RutgersJetFan said:

I was at the Favre/Warner aerial show where Eric Smith cheap shotted him and broke his face. We were all the way towards the opposite end zone and still heard it too. Guy came back the next week if I remember correctly. Tough mother ****er.

Cheap shot? Not even close, though it did prompt Kurt Warner to hang it up. 

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Other crazy thing about that game, aside from it being the best performance from a Jets QB that I've ever seen in person and the Smith hit, is that one of the tubes that launched the pyrotechnics during intros actually fell on its side and launched a firework into the ******* stands. Went right into my section and missed us by about 20 feet and went straight into a bunch of empty chairs. Was a straight-up miracle that it didn't hit a fan and blind someone. After it happened I remember everyone in our section debating if they'd take a few million from the lawsuit in exchange for losing an eye.

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9 hours ago, RutgersJetFan said:

I was at the Favre/Warner aerial show where Eric Smith cheap shotted him and broke his face. We were all the way towards the opposite end zone and still heard it too. Guy came back the next week if I remember correctly. Tough mother ****er.

Agree, lot of respect for what he did and continues to do.  Still will go over the middle and make the catch.

9 hours ago, Hackenberg said:

I think if he played next week,he didnt actually break any face

he absolutely did.  Not sure how many screws to put his face back together but if you look at pictures before and after, his face is way different.

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