Part of Darwin Still Lives!

Word has it that the Houston Texans are planning on starting running back Ron Dayne this weekend for their game against the Wasington Redskins (1:00 PM Eastern on Fox). Dayne, some of you may recall, was part of the "Thunder and Lightning" that the New York Giants tried to create with Tiki Barber in Dayne's rookie season. It was a reasonable expectation, given that Dayne had won the Heisman Trophy coming out of college by basically running into people very quickly and making them regret being born.

That doesn't work well in the pros, and so Dayne had to reinvent himself as a power runner who knew that not running into people unless you have to was a wise career move. The Broncos used him well last season in that role - a goal-line guy who could pound it inside, but was smart enough to know that he couldn't run through the boat-sized defensive players in front of him.

Anyway, this is what Ron Dayne looks like today:


True story*: He uses his goatee as an extra blocker.

*: Not a true story.