PLAYER TO WATCH

Michael Silver

August 30, 1999

He showed up for training camp with a skateboard slung over one shoulder and a chip on the other. After experiencing an extreme degree of frustration during an injury-ravaged 1998 season, wideout Rae Carruth plans to get rad in '99. "I don't think people even know who I am anymore," says Carruth, a '97 first-round pick who led all rookies with 44 catches and 545 receiving yards that year. "I'm sick of watching others succeed. This is my time." Carruth broke his right foot while making a 47-yard catch in last season's opener against the Falcons, and Rocket Ismail, who replaced him in the lineup, went on to catch 69 passes for 1,024 yards. Restless from the prolonged inactivity, Carruth took up skateboarding this spring. Ismail, a free agent in the off-season, signed a seven-year, $21.5 million deal with Dallas, setting the stage for Carruth's reemergence as a marquee deep threat.