Aside from some famous/infamous owners such as Oakland's Al Davis and Dallas' Jerry Jones, few NFL rookies could be expected to identify their team's owner on sight. And there's no newer entrant to the NFL owners' club than Dolphins half-owner Stephen Ross, who attended Friday's practice.
But when University of Michigan man Jake Long, the top overall draft pick with a fat contract, couldn't identify the guy who's helping pay his guaranteed $30 million and who donated $100 million to Michigan's business school, he couldn't escape some ridicule.
''Coach [ Tony] Sparano was talking to Jake about [Ross],'' offensive guard Shawn Murphy said. ``He was giving Jake a hard time because Jake didn't know who he was.''
The Michigan business school has been the ''Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan'' since Ross handed over $100 million in 2004. There's also the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center for Michigan's athletes. Long was in the College of Literature, Science and Arts.
Ross stood on the sideline Friday with a yellow shirt tucked into khaki pants, often talking on his cellphone as he watched his newly purchased team.
INDIANA CONNECTION
Last season saw several rookies from Hawaii and American Samoa. This year's favored locale among those in this rookie minicamp -- Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Northeast Indiana city that's home to four rookie free agents.
Two players, cornerback Aaron Lane and wide receiver Selwyn Lymon, both played at Purdue, the same school where Fort Wayne Snider High graduate Rod Woodson starred as a cornerback and occasional running back. Lane, cornerback Will Billingsley (North Carolina A&T) and wide receiver Justin Wynn (Grand Rapids Community College) all went to Snider.
''Selwyn Lymon, we played against him,'' Wynn said. ``I grew up with Selmon.''
Perhaps the most important element connecting the four and getting their toes in the Dolphins' door is longtime NFL agent Eugene Parker, a Fort Wayne-based Purdue graduate who has counted Deion Sanders and Emmitt Smith among his clients.
''He told us we've got the talent to do it and good things are going to come,'' Wynn said. ``And God has blessed us.''
FOSTER'S ROLE
As the number of quarterbacks on the roster and his past dictated, last season's Georgia Southern quarterback, darting 5-7, 170-pounder Jayson Foster, took all his practice snaps at the receiver position he played in college until 2007. Foster also fielded punts, another task he excelled at in college before being asked to play quarterback.
''Anything to help the team win -- play receiver, play special teams,'' Foster said in a speech pattern that parallels his movements on the field -- crisp, but so quick that sometimes it's tough to catch even on tape.
Foster explained he completed 64.1 percent of his passes last year because, ``When you throw screens and stuff like that, it moves your completion percentage a little bit.''
-- DAVID J. NEAL
