A Giant and a Saint come home to train

NEW YORK GIANT DELVIN JOYCE ('00) AND NEW ORLEANS SAINT CURTIS KEATON ('00) came home this summer to train with JMU strength coach Greg Werner in preparation for the NFL's preseason training camps.

It's been an annual return for Keaton since being selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 2000 draft. "Hands down, Greg is the best trainer out there," says ESPN's 2002 "fastest man in the NFL." Last season, Keaton was traded just before opening day to the Saints as a reserve running back, and he had to learn the Saints' playbook as the season progressed. "I did more watching than anything," he says. "But now it's time to buckle down; I'd like to rush for at least 500 yards this season."

The Giants signed punt returner Joyce as a free agent in February 2002. Last season he returned 33 kickoffs for 776 yards and 25 punts for 210 yards. Joyce says the workouts with Werner were all about "professionalism and hanging in there." After the Giants 39-38 loss to San Francisco in last season's NFC wild-card game, Joyce says, "I saw what professionalism was all about. [The 49ers] just went about their business, hung in there and came back and won the game."

Werner says that it was an honor to work out with the NFL players. "I was asked by a current JMU athlete how much these guys pay me; and I said, 'These are my boys, you don't charge those you love when they want to come home and spend time with you. It's not a business deal, it's a relationship.' Curtis and Delvin are great athletes, but more importantly they're great role models and men."

http://orgs.jmu.edu/strength

-- Michelle Hite ('88)