Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork. Browns Jerseys China .com) - The so-close-and-yet-so-far-away feeling for NFL prospects might be epitomized by Zach Zenners hotel window at the East-West Shrine Game this week. My window looks out on the ocean, the three-time All-American running back from South Dakota State said Wednesday morning from St. Petersburg, Florida, but I havent been there yet. Oh, surely there must be time for some pleasure amid all the business. I just got done taking a Troutwine test, Zenner pointed out. Well then, that fun performance profiling surely reflected Zenners intelligence and intangibles such as competitive desire and mental toughness. Perhaps his reaction time on the test mirrored his acceleration on the field. A color will be spelled out, like the word red, for example, Zenner explained the psychological evaluation. But the color of the word red will be black. And youre supposed to identify the color of the word. You read red, but the color of the word is black, so you need to select black. Its all in a day in the life of a player trying to make a bigger name for himself at a college football all-star games. A player from an FCS program, like Zenner, has been a star for a while, but in the buildup to the NFL Draft in May, he has to overcome the stigma of playing on the smaller-school level. There are so many success stories, of course, but the perception still remains. Just this past Saturday, Coastal Carolina All-American linebacker Quinn Backus represented the FCS level well by claiming American team MVP honors with six tackles and an 87-yard pick-six at the Medal of Honor Bowl in Charleston, South Carolina. The three biggest all-star games are up next. The Shrine Game and the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in Carson, California, will be played Saturday, while the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, will follow on Jan. 24. Zenner will get a long look from NFL teams. What must be particularly intriguing to them is the 6-foot, 220-pound back is the only Division I player, and just the second in NCAA history, to rush for at least 2,000 yards in three different seasons. He has a patient, north-south style, but can find another gear in the open field, as evidenced by five runs of 75 yards or more in his college career. Hes also a solid pass catcher. Zenner is one of 11 FCS players at the Shrine Game. At last years game, an FCS quarterback, 2013 Walter Payton Award winner Jimmy Garoppolo from Eastern Illinois, was named the offensive most valuable player. Its been great being here, its been an honor, its been interesting and a good experience so far, Zenner said. I think Im doing OK. The interviews go pretty fast because I dont have any, like, previous arrests or anything to explain. On the field Monday, I was a little rusty, but yesterday I had a better practice. So, hopefully, Ill have another good one today. It takes a little bit to get used to. I think everyone did well in college. But I was part of a high school all-star team, so Ive been in a similar situation. Its the same thing as getting to a college for the first time. Everyone was the big dude in high school. Its a similar feel except at a higher level. While Zenner is focused on fulfilling his NFL dream - he also will participate at the leagues annual scouting combine in Indianapolis next month - he has a pretty good fallback plan. As part of the National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Class, an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship awaits him for medical school. The inaugural recipient of the Mickey Charles Award, which honors academic achievement by an FCS student-athlete, Zenner carried a 3.86 grade point average before completing his undergraduate work at SDSU last month. But, oh, does the Minnesota native ever wish he could find time to get to the beach this week. I want to take advantage of it, but I wont have time today, he said. Maybe tomorrow, I might. FCS Players in Upcoming All-Star Games All Times ET East-West Shrine Game Saturday, Jan. 17 Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida 4 p.m. (NFL Network) East Roster (head coach Mike Singletary): Derrick Lott, DT, Chattanooga; Dean Marlowe, FS, James Madison; Tre McBride, WR, William & Mary; Davis Tull, DE/OLB, Chattanooga; Tye Smith, CB, Towson West Roster (head coach Jim Zorn): John Crockett, RB, North Dakota State; Kyle Emanuel, DE, North Dakota State; Tevin McDonald, FS, Eastern Washington; MyCole Pruitt, TE, Southern Illinois; Xavier Williams, DT, Northern Iowa; Zach Zenner, RB, South Dakota State NFLPA Collegiate Bowl Saturday, Jan. 17 StubHub Center, Carson, California 4 p.m. (ESPN2) American Roster (Mike Holmgren): Tony Bell, SS, UT Martin; Antoine Everett, OG, McNeese State; Jerry Lovelocke, QB, Prairie View A&M; Zack Wagenmann, DE, Montana National Roster (Mike Martz): Malcolm Agnew, RB, Southern Illinois; DeAndre Carter, WR, Sacramento State; Ace Clark, SS, Western Carolina; Nick Easton, C, Harvard; Channing Fugate, FB, Eastern Kentucky; Jake Rodgers, OT, Eastern Washington; DeAnte Saunders, CB, Tennessee State; Ross Scheuerman, RB, Lafayette; Corey Simmons, TE, Northwestern State Senior Bowl Saturday, Jan. 24 Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama 4 p.m. (NFL Network) Accepted Invites (head coaches Ken Whisenhunt of the North roster and Gus Bradley of the South roster): Nick Boyle, TE, Delaware; Imoan Claiborne, CB, Northwestern State; Zack Hodges, DE, Harvard; David Johnson, RB, Northern Iowa; Dezmin Lewis, WR, Central Arkansas; Kyle Loomis, P, Portland State; Robert Myers, OG, Tennessee State; Jaquiski Tartt, S, Samford; Lynden Trail, OLB, Norfolk State; Tyler Varga, RB, Yale Cheap Browns Jerseys . Marcus Olsson, 23, joins Blackburn on a free transfer from Swedens Halmstads. He made 139 appearances and scored 17 goals in his four years with the club. He earned his first caps for Sweden this month, featuring against Bahrain and Qatar. Bernie Kosar Jersey . Now he can be had by any team willing to pay his salary. According to a report from ESPN, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are shopping the veteran CB and plan on releasing him Wednesday if they cant find a trade partner. http://www.cheapbrownsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-tyrod-taylor-jersey .2 million in 2012, according to tax returns the league has submitted.The Oakland As were already the team to beat before making a blockbuster deal to add two starting pitchers from the Chicago Cubs. Numbers Game looks into the As giving up their top prospect in order to acquire Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. The Athletics Get: RHP Jeff Samardzija and RHP Jason Hammel. Samardzija, 29, has become a first-rate starting pitcher, even if his win totals dont make that readily apparent. In 78 starts for the Cubs over the past three years, Samardzija has a 19-33 record, but has a 3.83 ERA and 1.27 WHIP are respectable and he struck out 497 batters in 496 1/3 innings, a rate surpassed by eight qualified starters in the past three years. This season alone, Samardzija was 2-7 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with 103 strikeouts in 108 innings with the Cubs. While Samardzijas mid-90s fastball drives his results, hes throwing a harder slider than ever before and its been an out pitch for him. Moving to Oakland is a great opportunity for Samardzija to be a rotation anchor for a World Series contender. He had never pitched in Oakland, prior to his As debut Sunday, but Oaklands park has been pitcher-friendly for years, so that ought to keep Samardzijas numbers strong. Hell be arbitration-eligible at the end of the season, due for a good raise on his $5.345-million salary, but Samardzija is under organizational control for another season beyond 2014. Hammel is a 31-year-old who was hanging around on the free agent market until the end of January, when he settled on a one-year, $6-million deal with the Cubs. That lack of interest was justified, to some degree, by Hammels 2013 season, during which he posted a 4.97 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. This year, its been a different story, as Hammel posted a career-best 2.98 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 17 starts with the Cubs, striking out 104 in 108 2/3 innings in the process. For such a marked difference, there ought to be some tangible differences in Hammels game. His home run rate is down and hes leaving a greater percentage of base-runners on, but Hammels real improvement is that his walk rate is under 2.0 for the first time in his career. Hes reduced the percentage of curve balls and change-ups that he throws, focusing on his fastball and slider and, like Samardzija, Hammels slider has been especially devastating this season. In fact, according to Fan Graphs, Hammel has the most effective slider in baseball this season. If Hammel continues the way hes pitched this season, hell be able to cash in as a free agent in the offseason. Getting Hammel in addition to Samardzija is really a power move by the As. Instead of settling for the upgrade that Samardzija provides, they also have enough depth with Hammel that LHP Tommy Milone (3.55 ERA in 16 starts) could lose his spot in the rotation. This gives Oakland insurance for injuries to their other starters and, perhaps even better (if not outright done deliberately), prevents Hammel from going to another contending team thaat is looking to shore up its pitching staff. Briean Boddy-Calhoun Jersey. Before making this trade, the As were the top team in baseball and they just added to quality starting pitchers, both of whom are having excellent seasons, so consider this trade to be the equivalent of the As pushing their chips to the middle of the table. Theyre all in. The Cubs Get: SS Addison Russell, RHP Dan Straily, CF Billy McKinney and a player to be named later. Russell, 20, was the 11th overall pick in the 2012 Draft and, while hes missed a couple months due to a hamstring injury this season, hes shown that he has the bat to be a star in the major leagues, posting an .899 OPS in 185 games in the minors. Russell has played a total of 20 games this season, 15 since being promoted to Double-A, so he could still use time to develop, but he should be knocking on the Cubs door by next season. This presents something of an enviable problem for Chicago as one of their many great prospects is shortstop Javier Baez and they have incumbent starter Starlin Castro with the big-league club. Either some players are getting traded or there will be some position changes coming, but Russell is a great get for Chicago -- hes one of the top position player prospects in the game. 25-year-old Straily got roughed up a bit early this season (4.93 ERA in seven starts), losing his spot in the As rotation, but that was a case of surrendering too many home runs (nine in 38 1/3 IP) as his 1.25 WHIP was pretty much in line with his career average. Straily doesnt throw hard at the best of times, but he lost a couple miles per hour off all of his pitches and that can make a difference for guys with overpowering stuff. Nevertheless, a 25-year-old with a good slider who has managed a 4.11 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 41 major-league starts (with slightly better numbers on the road) is worth a look for the Cubs. The 24th pick in the 2013 Draft, McKinney is a 19-year-old centre fielder climbing his way up the minor-league ladder after coming out of Texas high school ball. Overall, the left-handed hitter has a .278 average and .769 OPS in 132 minor-league games, but is hitting .243 with a .729 OPS in 77 games at Advanced Class-A ball. Hell need a little time to develop and the Cubs have other strong outfield prospects on the way too, but add a quality bat to the organization and see where he is in a couple of years. As much as the Cubs are giving up a couple of quality starting pitchers, players that give the As an immediate shot in the arm heading into the second half of the season, they got quality assets in return. If Russell does make it as even an above-average starter at shortstop, and one of Straily or McKinney provides some kind of value, then the Cubs will eventually reap the rewards of this deal. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Heat Jerseys Cheap Bucks Jerseys Cheap Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Pelicans Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Cheap Thunder Jerseys Cheap Magic Jerseys Cheap 76ers Jerseys Cheap Suns Jerseys Cheap Blazers Jerseys Cheap Sacramento Kings Jerseys Cheap Spurs Jerseys Cheap Raptors Jerseys Cheap Jazz Jerseys Cheap Wizards Jerseys ' ' '