Life in the NFL

By Ashley Lelie

Lelie hopes to earn
starting job next season

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IT'S a horrible feeling, not making the playoffs, especially since we were 6-2 at our midseason bye week.

But it felt good to get another touchdown in the win over Arizona. On that slant play, I slipped a little coming off the line of scrimmage and I didn't think I was going to make it inside, but I gained my balance and got by the defender. Once I did, Steve Beuerlein stuck it right in my chest. I didn't have to reach out and that was a really good thing, because if I had to reach out, I probably wouldn't have been able to grasp it.

I got hit pretty hard on the play, but it didn't hurt that much because I scored. It was a good way to end my rookie season.

The ball came to me one other time, but it was underthrown and the defender held me a little bit and they threw a flag on him.

Nobody was really vocally showing their disappointment at not making the playoffs, because we knew we didn't make it before the game started. We just wanted to go out and play with pride and character and heart, and that's what everybody did.

The season as a whole was a lot like my freshman year at Hawaii, 500-something yards and 30-something catches. I contributed enough, put up good numbers, especially coming off the bench as the No. 3 receiver and not getting a lot of playing time until late in the season. It was nice to get a 100-yard game ... and I just had a lot of fun out there.

It's kind of funny, looking back to early in the season when I didn't think I was going to get a lot of playing time. It reminds me of the lack of confidence I had then. But I have confidence now and I'll definitely have confidence next season.

Ashley Lelie's final stats Receiving No. Yds Avg Long TD 2002 35 525 15.0 48 2

I want to try to move into a starting spot and I'm going to come back bigger, faster, stronger. This year, I played behind people. Next year, I don't want to play behind people anymore. Hopefully, it will go like it did in college my second year at Hawaii -- get a starting position and get over 1,000 yards. I'm going to try to be as good as I can be and even if I don't start, I'll still be pushing Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey to get better. It will make the whole receivers squad better.

The best thing that was written about me in the press this year was that I was an intelligent player and picked up a lot of things really fast. The worst thing was during camp about my hamstring injury when I wasn't able to practice. They were questioning my heart and if I was tough enough.

The best thing that happened to me was when I started getting more playing time and was put into the offense with plays designed for me. The worst thing was when I injured my hamstring. It set me back a bit and made my progress go a little slower than I wanted.

Now that the season is over, I'll be relaxing and getting a lot of things done on the side -- like getting my home situation settled -- in Colorado for a couple of weeks.

Eventually, I'll probably be getting back to Hawaii to work out with Channon Harris and Nick Rolovich, running routes and lifting and staying in shape.

Our offensive coordinator basically has guaranteed Nick of going to NFL Europe for the spring season, and when he's done there, he'll be on the camp roster. He was going to try out for the Arena Football League, but the offensive coordinator told him not to.

My work with the Denver Broncos Academy -- a high-school dropout prevention program -- will heat up in April. That's when I'll go and hang out with the kids and do some programs with them and see how they're doing.

I'm done watching pro football this season, for the most part. I don't even want to say the word football for the next two months. I might catch the playoffs and Super Bowl, but it won't be anything big because it will just irritate me and piss me off that we're not in there.

It was cool to have a diary in the Star-Bulletin and tell people in Hawaii how I'm doing.

The best Christmas present I gave out was when Clinton Portis, Willie Middlebrooks and I took 15 kids from broken homes -- five each -- to Toys 'R' Us for a shopping spree.

The best Christmas present I got was from my girlfriend. She gave me a frame with individual slots for all my 25 rookie cards. It's a really nice showcase and it's something I will keep forever.

I'll be driving up to Aspen to celebrate New Year's.

I'd like to say thanks to all of the fans for their support and for following me and thanks for reading my diary.