Curry to get plenty of opportunities with Raiders
Coaching staff likes Hampton native's skills

By Warner Hessler
Daily Press

Published July 2, 2002

The defensive coordinator would like to try him at safety. The special teams coach would like for him to return punts and, perhaps, kickoffs. The head coach would like for him to remain in the background for at least one year and learn how to be a professional quarterback.

Everybody connected with the Oakland Raiders, it seems, wants a piece of former Hampton High and University of North Carolina quarterback Ronald Curry.











"We're going to give him every opportunity to make the roster," said head coach Bill Callahan, who selected Curry in the seventh round of the recent college draft. "He's a very interesting athlete."

If Curry makes the 53-man roster, though, it isn't likely to be as a quarterback. And he won't make it as a safety. Defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan did not get a chance to run some plays with Curry at the free safety position during the minicamps this spring.

Curry was drafted as a quarterback but, with five passers on the roster, he saw little practice time at that position. Most days, he only threw before and after practices. He was allowed to return punts and kickoffs.

"You can't just go out on the field here and be a quarterback," Curry said. "While I'm waiting to pay my dues, they're letting me return punts and try kickoffs. I love to do it (return punts) and I missed doing it in college. I have a natural ability for reading blocks, and to be good at it you have to make the first and second guys miss."

Before the draft this past April, Callahan said he, Bresnahan and the scouts obtained his game film from Hampton. Callahan said he watched the film and was amazed that Curry accounted for 186 touchdowns in four years, 90 passing, 74 rushing and 22 on returns.

Bresnahan said he looked at only the defensive game film. "I always do my background work," Bresnahan said. "He played safety in high school."

But defense will have to wait. At least until the coaches are convinced that Curry has the talent to play in the NFL, just not as a quarterback.

Callahan said that the Raiders drafted Curry more on his high school accomplishments that his stormy college career. At UNC, his sophomore season was cut short when he sustained a ruptured Achilles tendon injury. He went through three offensive coordinators in four years, and he played on the basketball team until his senior season.

"He worked under a few coordinators and a few different systems and never got into the flow of a system at UNC," Callahan said. "We went all the way back into his high school career and, coming out of high school, he was exceptional. Outstanding."

That's what intrigues the coaches the most right now. Curry has a lot of catching up to do as a quarterback, and he hasn't played safety since high school. As is the case with most low-round draft picks who are not ready to compete at a position, Curry is going to get his first shot on special teams.

The job returning kickoffs is currently held by Terry Kirby, a former Tabb High and University of Virginia running back, who was fourth in the AFC last season with a 23.2-yard average.

The job returning punts is wide open. David Dunn, who averaged 8.9 yards before being replaced by receiver Tim Brown and cornerback Charles Woodson late in the season, was not resigned.

"I'll probably be able to do it here this year if I show the coaches I can do it," Curry said. "It's all about making the team, and this is one way to get on the field."

That path is murky.

Pro Bowl quarterback Rich Gannon returns as the unquestioned starter, but he is 36 years old and on the final year of his contract. Marques Tuiasosopo, the team's second round pick in 2001, is penciled in as the backup and will likely get first shot at the starting job in 2003 if Gannon doesn't return.

The picture isn't as clear after that as journeymen Bobby Hoying, Rick Mirer and Ted White will compete for the No. 3 job.

Whether he makes the team as a returner or as a member of the practice squad, Curry will likely quarterback the scout team at least twice this coming season because Oakland plays Pittsburgh with Kordell Stewart and Tennessee's Steve McNair, two scrambling quarterbacks whose styles are similar to Curry's.

"He is very similar to (Pittsburgh's) Kordell Stewart and (Tennessee's) Steve McNair," Callahan said. "He has those type of athletic abilities. He has a strong arm and can make all of the different types of throws. We want to give this young man an opportunity to make the roster as a quarterback."