I sort of recall Del Rio making the Pro Bowl when he was well into his thirties and I don't remember the guy seeming especially ultra-athletic...just a sort of tough, smart journeyman with pretty middle-of-the-road physical tools who happened into the right defensive scheme in Minni. I'd have characterized the guy as less athletic than, say, Ted Bruschi or Zach Thomas, who've gone multiple times, and those guys aren't really the sort of gifted specimens along the lines of an Urlacher or even a Brooking or Simoneau.
Fisher has consistently given White dudes fighting chances at WR, LB and DB for years, and during Ditka's short tenure in NO I recall him having guys like Keith Poole, Rob Kelly, Jared Tomich, Chad Cota, Kyle Turley, Brady Smith, Cam Cleeland and even Brett Bech (and a couple others who's named elude me now, maybe LBs or DTs.)
I always thought something kind of strange happend in NO after Ditka left, beyond the normal purging of a former Coach's marginal players...Poole, Kelly, Tomich and Bech were pretty much run out of the league instantly and Turley soon after. Some sort of internal NFL politics, I suppose?Edited by: JerveyGotGypped