Bart Scott made 135 tackles and 9 1/2 sacks lastyear and finished his sixth season playing in his first Pro Bowl ? not bad for someone very few teams thought would be good enough play in the National Football League.
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker was an afterthought during the 2002 draft, in which he went undrafted before signing as a free agent with the Ravens. But now he?s one of the league?s premier players ? so good the Ravens allowed fellow linebacker Adalius Thomas to sign with the New England Patriots during the offseason.
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Scott said he is confident defensive coordinator Rex Ryan will find the best way to utilize him and fellow linebacker Jarret Johnson in Thomas? absence just as the team altered its schemes two years ago when Scott stepped in for an injured Ray Lewis at middle linebacker.
“One thing I can say that makes Rex a great coordinator is that he adjusts to the personnel he has,” said Scott, who mainly played special teams prior to the 2005 season. “He?ll use the talents that Jarret has and that maybe [Thomas] didn?t possess and will highlight those things and put him in situations to make plays. That?s what he does with all of players.”
Ryan said Scott success is a source of pride for the entire organization.
“We?ll play the best 11 guys,” Ryan said. “If we see a guy that has the athleticism and the passion to play and plays with his hair on fire we can teach him the rest if he has the desire. Bart clearly has that.”
Scott?s skyrocketing status on the team and in the league began after he recorded 119 tackles in 2005, a performance the team rewarded with a three-year contract prior to last season. He did even better last year, as he made the Pro Bowl.
Still, even with his higher profile Scott said he hasn?t forgotten where he was just a few years ago. He said uses his story to motivate other players facing the same long odds he overcame.
“I like to lead from the back,” Scott said. “We?ve got Ray and Ed [Reed] and [Todd] Heap leading from the front and if you?ve got those guys leading and pulling then I can push from the back. I can really teach those guys in the back who think they don?t matter and push them and let them know they are one injury away from becoming a superstar. It happened to me and it can happen for them.”
Scott notes
» Scott won AFC Player of the Month honors last September after recording 23 tackles, five sacks and five pass deflections over three games.
» He was a three-year starter at Southern Illinois and finished with 352 career tackles.
» He is married to the former Darnesha Harper and has a 2-year-old son, Bartholomew.
