TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- Professional stuntman Eddie Braun successfully jumped over the Snake River Canyon Friday afternoon in an ode to his boyhood idol, Evel Knievel.Braun soared over the southern Idaho canyon in a custom-built rocket dubbed Evel Spirit.It launched off a steep ramp on the edge of the canyon rim just before 4 p.m. as hundreds of onlookers watched.The rocket reached an estimated 400 mph (644 kph) before its parachute deployed, allowing Braun and the ship to land safely in fields on the other side of the 1,400 foot-wide (427 meters-wide) canyon.I feel like the no-name, third-string quarterback of a junior-varsity team that just won the Super Bowl. My team got me there. I ran it into the end zone. We scored and won, Braun said in a statement after the jump.Scott Truax, the designer of the rocket, told the Idaho Statesman that after Braun got the OK to launch he didnt hesitate.He was gone in a cloud of steam and I couldnt see anything until just before he pulled his chutes, Truax said.Braun has said the rocket was identical to the model Knievel used for his failed canyon attempt on Sept. 8, 1974. Knievel landed at the bottom of the canyon when his parachute prematurely deployed partway across the canyon, but walked away with only minor injuries. The spot where Knievel jumped was 1,600 feet (488 meters) wide.Braun hoped his effort would prove that Knievel could have made it across the canyon if his parachute had deployed at the correct time.Before the jump, the 54-year-old Braun said he was optimistic he would make it across the canyon.I wouldnt be doing this if I thought it couldnt be done, he said.Still, he had prepared for the worst in the days before the stunt, asking his young son to one day walk his sisters down the aisle at their wedding if Braun died in his attempt.Months of testing was performed on the rocket designed by Scott Truax, whose father constructed the original X2 Skycycle for Knievel.Truax followed his fathers blueprints down to the last bolt and deviated only by updating the parachute system.Braun had trouble finding corporate sponsors for the stunt, and said he spent about $1.5 million of his own money on the jump.He looked at the stunt as a way to pay homage to Knievel, who inspired him to become a stuntman.I like to say Im not doing something that Evel Knievel couldnt do, he told the Statesman before making the jump. Im simply finishing out his dream. How many people get to finish the dream of their hero?Not all in the southern Idaho town of Twin Falls have such fond memories of Knievel. Many residents remember Knievels promise of a weeklong festival complete with celebrities and a golf tournament.Knievels attempt drew plenty of spectators, and the resultant partying, fighting and mischief upset locals. The daredevil was later accused of leaving town without paying debts to area businesses.But the mystique of Knievels failed stunt has lived on, with would-be daredevils showing up every decade or so to propose similar jumps. Knievels son Robbie visited Twin Falls in the 1990s and in 2010 to float the idea of a possible jump, though it never came to fruition.Braun appears to have been the first to actually try the stunt since Knievels attempt. Football Jerseys Sale . 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Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. Cheap Football Jerseys Authentic .C. United of Major League Soccer. United chose the defender in the second round of the 2013 MLS re-entry draft. CLEVELAND -- Ben Roethlisberger was convinced he was going to be a Cleveland Brown. He got lucky.Call it his first escaped sack.Pittsburghs prodigious quarterback grew up in Ohio, and as the 2004 draft neared and after a workout for Cleveland, he thought the Browns would select him in the first round. Instead, Cleveland traded up and took tight end Kellen Winslow with the No. 6 overall pick.I am kind of over that, Big Ben joked this week as the Steelers prepared to face the rival Browns, a team Roethlisberger has dominated like no other during his NFL career.The Browns havent recovered.Roethlisberger, perhaps more than any other player, any failed draft or any miserable season, best symbolizes Clevelands general ineptitude since returning to the league in 1999. While the Steelers have thrived with the sturdy Roethlisberger behind center and won two Super Bowls, the Browns have gone through 26 starting quarterbacks in 17 years and still havent solved their QB riddle.Consider that since 2004, the Steelers are 130-71 in the regular season and have won five division titles, three AFC championships and those two Super Bowls. The Browns are 61-141 and have finished last in the AFC North 10 times.I mean I wasnt here when they made the mistake of not drafting him, obviously, said Browns left tackle and perennial Pro Bowl lock Joe Thomas. But it wouldve been great if we did.Adding insult, Roethlisberger is 20-2 -- 19-2 in games hes started -- against the Browns (0-10), who are off to the worst start in their 66-year history and will be facing a snarling Steelers team that has lost four straight and is desperate for a win.This is still a huge rival for me, especially me personally, Roethlisberger said. It is Ohio. It is the Browns. I thought I was going to go to the Browns. For me, this is AFC North football. This is a huge rivalry for us.The numbers say otherwise. The Steelers are 28-6 against the Browns since 99 and their towel-waving fans are certain to overrun FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday, which has been an annual event on the shores of Lake Erie.The Steelers, though, havent been themselves of late as a 4-1 start has been erased with only the third four-game losing streak in coach Mike Tomlins tenure. They cant afford many more losses, let alone one to the browbeaten Browns.Roethlisberger should be able to fix that.NAME GAME: The Browns have paraded quarterback after quarterback onto the field, so many in fact that Roethlisberger wouldnt even attempt trying to name them all.No chance, he said on aa conference call before playing along and rattling off a buddy of mine Bruce Gradkowski, Josh McCown, Robert Griffin III and Colt McCoy.dddddddddddd.There have been a whole bunch of them that I have faced, he said. I would love to look at the numbers of which quarterback I actually played the most because I feel like it was almost a different one every time.For the record, Derek Anderson (4) faced him more than any other Browns QB.ROAD WOES: The Steelers have been dynamic at home since offensive coordinator Todd Haley came on board in 2012, but have struggled replicating that success on the road. Not even Roethlisberger is immune. Hes thrown 10 touchdown passes against 14 interceptions outside Heinz Field since the start of 2015 and is under .500 (15-18) in road starts since Haley joined the staff, compared to 24-9 at home during that same span.HUE BETTER BELIEVE IT: The Browns may be down for now, but coach Hue Jackson said it wont be for long.The losing has been difficult on Jackson, who said he sometimes wakes up wondering `What am i doing? But as hard as it is for him to lose games to division contemporaries such as Cincinnatis Marvin Lewis, Baltimores John Harbaugh and Tomlin, Jackson is banking on flipping the script.They better enjoy it now, because it is not going to be like this very long, Jackson said, I promise you that.HELP WANTED: While do-everything wide receiver Antonio Brown is on pace for another 120-catch season, hes getting little help. While Brown currently has an NFL-high 69 receptions, no other Pittsburgh wide receiver has more than 23. Injuries to Eli Rogers, Sammie Coates, Markus Wheaton and Darrius Heyward-Bey havent helped, but the inability for anyone other than running back LeVeon Bell to emerge as a consistent receiving threat has created trouble in recent weeks.PRYOR COMMITMENT: Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor grew up in Jeanette, Pennsylvania, the heart of Steelers country. So, of course, he rooted for them?No, he said. Barry Sanders. I was all about Barry.Pryor, though, appreciates the black and gold and what it would mean for the Browns to beat them.It is a great organization, he said. That is somewhere we want to be, and we want to be great and bring championships here, and I think we can, but this is the test, first test. Weve got to beat them.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '
