ANDERSON, Ind. -- Robert Mathis makes every word count. Every play, too.When teammates hear the Indianapolis Colts oldest starter bark out instructions or crack pads, they tune in. When they see Mathis hang out in Anderson Universitys dorms or hear him explain how privileged he feels to return each summer, they listen attentively. When they see Mathis take an occasional day off at training camp or run around with his kids after a practice, they realize he is no ordinary 35-year-old linebacker.He is as determined and passionate as he was the day he arrived at his first training camp in 2003.You have to work for everything you get, Mathis said. Anything worth having is worth being worked for.Mathis short, powerful messages have always resonated in the Colts locker room.Indy opened the 2012 season with a new coach, a new general manager, a rookie quarterback, and was ranked last in the NFLs projected power ratings. Mathis responded to the doubters on Twitter: I will not let you forget.Later that season, when things looked bleak and coach Chuck Pagano left the team to battle leukemia, Mathis rallied his teammates with another line: There are no pity parties in football.To Mathis, words and actions mean something.The 6-foot-2, 235-pound defensive end/outside linebacker from Alabama A&M is still motivated by the notion so many scouts wrote him off as too small, too slow and too untested against elite competition when he was coming out of college.Indy saw Mathis a different way. Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy was convinced Mathis could be the perfect complement to Dwight Freeney, so GM Bill Polian traded a future fourth-round pick to Houston for the third pick in Round 5 to snag Mathis.Fourteen years, one position change and 118 sacks later, the Atlanta native remains one of the most feared pass rushers in football when hes healthy.A year ago, he wasnt. It took the NFLs 2013 sacks champ almost half a season to regain his form after missing all of 2014 because of a suspension (performance enhancer) and a torn left Achilles tendon that required 10 surgeries and 12 months to fix. He wound up finishing 2015 with 24 tackles, seven sacks and a lot of momentum heading into this season.Robert is one of our best football players. Were going to have him on the football field as often as he can handle, new defensive coordinator Ted Monachino said. We arent keeping Robert back and we arent reining him in in any way.Mathis has never played the game that way, and hes certainly not going to start now.Yet the spry, six-time Pro Bowler also understands business. His contract expires after this season, and throughout his career in Indy, Mathis has watched longtime friends such as Freeney, Marvin Harrison, Peyton Manning, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne all let go once the Colts deemed it financially or philosophically unfeasible to keep the aging stars.Mathis knows he could be next, though hes not giving any illusion of a decline.Rob is one of the hardest workers Ive been around, Pro Bowl cornerback Vontae Davis said. He is going on his 14th year and it shows you his humbleness and how much he loves and respects the game.Now the Colts need Mathis than ever.He accounted for 20 percent of their 35 sacks last season, and after Indy used three of its eight draft picks on defensive players -- safety T.J. Green, inside linebacker Antonio Morrison and outside linebacker Trevor Bates -- the Colts are asking Mathis to put even more pressure on opposing quarterbacks as the coaches look for ways to help.And theres more at stake, too. He wants to add another Super Bowl ring, could crack the top 10 on the NFLs career sacks chart, and with one or two more really good seasons could even put himself in Hall of Fame consideration.A lot of media said I couldnt do it. I take a lot of pride in (proving them wrong), Mathis said with a laugh. I just appreciate the opportunity to be out there. It was a long road.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFLCheap Shoes From China . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Discount Shoes For Sale . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. https://www.wholesaleshoesusa.com/ . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. Cheap Nike Shoes From China . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. China Shoes 2020 . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. PHILADELPHIA -- A banner will be raised and a video tribute played Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center, where the Philadelphia Flyers will play their first-ever season opener -- a scheduled 7 p.m. start against the Anaheim Ducks -- without their late founder, Ed Snider, who died in April after a long battle with bladder cancer.The Flyers dedicated their playoff series last year to Snider and fought valiantly in a six-game series defeat. They paid tribute to Snider in their home playoff opener and will do so again Thursday.He was the heart and soul of this organization, said suspended defenseman Radko Gudas on Wednesday, according to Calkins Media. We appreciate everything he did for this team. The whole city wants to get another chance to thank him.I think this is a great opportunity to pay our respects to him.Sniders name will live on in the memories of many, and hell have a special place alongside other Flyers banners hanging from the Wells Fargo Center ceiling.Its going to be a big night and Im excited about it, said general manager Ron Hextall, per Calkins Media. He certainly deserves it. Hopefully things go off well. I would like to win a game for him.The Flyers (1-1-1), coming off a 7-4 loss in Chicago, welcome back Brayden Schenn, who was suspended the first three games of the season for a hit he made in the playoffs last season. Schenns return was supposed to help balance out Philadelphias top three lines. But the Flyers learned Wednesday that first-line winger Michael Raffl would 10-14 days with what the team is calling an upper-body injury. It was likely Schenn would take over for Raffl on the top line with CClaude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds anyway, but now coach Dave Hakstol doesnt have to shake up much else with Raffl out.ddddddddddddPhiladelphia hosts a Ducks (0-3-1) team playing their fifth consecutive road game to start the year. Theyre still trying to find their first win after Tuesdays 2-1 loss in New Jersey.And Tuesdays loss was aided by a familiar theme in Anaheim: self-infliction.The Ducks, who have been outscored 12-7 to start the year, committed seven penalties, including five in the second period to drop their fourth straight game.We talked about it from the start of the season, that discipline was going to have to be a focal point for our group, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said, according to the Orange County Register. And if we werent going to be more disciplined -- and our history has been that weve been one of the most penalized or a majority of this group has been one of the most penalized teams minor-wise in the league -- youre not going to be a quality team, a playoff team if youre going to continue to do that.Per the Register, Carlyle put his team through a rough practice Wednesday.I really dont think you can be silent, Carlyle said. You have to be matter of the fact and you have to be about why. What youre presenting. Why? ... The video doesnt lie in what were doing.As we stated this morning, theres some areas that we designated that we want to improve on. Because obviously our offense hasnt been there. To carry our offense, we have to get stingier on the defensive side of it. ' ' '