Ken O'Brien wasn't just on the Carson Palmer bandwagon – he was steering it.
O'Brien, the former Jesuit High School and UC Davis quarterback who had two Pro Bowl seasons with the New York Jets, worked out Palmer in recent months to keep the "retired" quarterback's joints from rusting.
After learning of Palmer's acquisition by the Raiders, O'Brien beamed and said he backed Raiders coach Hue Jackson's claim that Oakland had pulled off "the greatest trade in football."
"The Raiders are going to love Carson," O'Brien said by phone. "Working him out, he looked great. He got beat up a little in Cincinnati, and it takes time to heal, and he's healthy now. It's a bold move, the greatest trade I've seen. To get a quarterback of that caliber is really something."
O'Brien's relationship with Palmer dates to their USC days. During Palmer's first two seasons at USC (1998-99), O'Brien coached the quarterbacks. They remained close through the years, with O'Brien saying Palmer "is like family."
Beavers' sigh of relief
It was an anxious moment for American River College last week when Samson Faifili was injured in a pileup for a fumble late in a 36-21 football victory at College of the Siskiyous. The freshman linebacker was strapped to a stretcher and taken to a hospital.
"First time in my 25 years in coaching I'd seen one of our players taken away like that," ARC coach Jerry Haflich said. "It was very scary and emotional, but he was OK. He was squeezing the heck out of my hand."
Faifili has been cleared to return to the 6-0 Beavers, ranked third in Northern California, for the 1 p.m. game today at Contra Costa College (5-1).
Haflich has ties to Faifili. Faifili's uncle – Switch Gago – was a Sacramento State defensive lineman in the mid-1980s when Haflich was an assistant coach.
Crabtree pride
Sheldon High football coach Josh Crabtree will miss his first practice today, but he's doing so in the name of love and loyalty.
Crabtree is jetting to St. Paul, Minn., where he'll attend the Macalester College Athletic Hall of Fame induction for his wife Onalee's 1998 NCAA Division III championship soccer team. She was named to two All-Final Four Teams (1998-99).
"My wife is competitive, a shark," Crabtree said. "I'm hopeful our children inherit her athleticism. If our children have any slow-twitch muscle fiber, it's my fault."
Latest La Salle inductees
Seven retired coaches will be inducted into the Christian Brothers High School La Salle Club Coaches' Hall of Fame on Oct. 29. They are John Fletcher (CBS and Del Oro football), Jackie Gabriel (Casa Roble softball), John Hoagland (Foothill basketball), Terry Ray (Rio Linda basketball and softball), Bob Sandoval (McClatchy football), Wayne Hironaka (numerous stops) and Gary Kerns (numerous stops).
For information, call Jack Witry at (916) 442-4222 or (916) 457-5268.
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Joe Davidson joins Mike Finnerty on the SureWest Sports Radio Show each Saturday from 9-10 a.m. on ESPN1320.
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