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11:30 a.m., July 15, 2003--With National Football League Most Valuable Player Rich Gannon leading the way, five former University of Delaware football players are preparing to enter summer training camps.

Gannon will lead the defending American Football Conference champion Oakland Raiders into camp in California’s Napa Valley on Thursday, July 24.

Gannon, who was a standout quarterback at UD from 1984-86, broke or threatened a host of NFL passing records last season as the Raiders put in place a high-octane offense and reached the Super Bowl. He ranked first in the NFL in passing (4,689 yards), pass attempts (618) and pass completions (418, an NFL record).

In addition to establishing a new NFL mark for completions, Gannon set NFL records for most 300-yard passing games in a single season (10), most consecutive 300-yard passing games (6) and consecutive completions in a single game (21 on Nov. 11 at Denver).

Former UD wide receiver Jamin Elliott will begin his second training camp with the Chicago Bears on July 24 at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill.

Defensive lineman Mike Cecere will report to the Washington Redskins training camp on Sunday, July 27, at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va. Cecere, a four-time All-Atlantic 10 Football Conference selection who graduated in 2001, spent the summer playing for the Amsterdam Admirals in the NFL Europe.

Keith Burnell will report to the Green Bay Packers training camp on Friday, July 18, at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis. A running back for the Hens, Burnell signed a free agent contract as a defensive back.

He will work closely with another former Hen, Bob Slowik, who is the defensive backs coach and assistant head coach for the Packers. Slowik was a standout defensive back for UD in the 1970s and began his coaching career as a Blue Hen graduate assistant in 1977.

Joe Minucci, a defensive lineman, will report to the New York Jets training camp on Monday, July 21, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Minucci was an All-Atlantic 10 selection in 2002. He signed a free agent contract with the Jets.