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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Marvin Austin was an afterthought in the Denver Broncos $110 million defensive makeover this off-season. Long after fellow free agents DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward signed their mega deals and posed with their orange jerseys, Austin slipped into town in May and quietly began his latest comeback. The fourth-year defensive tackle who signed a one-year, $570,000 contract might just prove to be general manager John Elways latest rummage-sale find to produce a big payoff. "Camp has gone pretty good," said Austin, who moved up Tuesday to take snaps with the starters. "Most importantly I feel great, healthy, just going out there and playing with the guys. Its great to be back in football, back able to move around like Im supposed to, like people know I can. "And the coaches just want to see what I can do out there against the 1s. Weve got the top offence in the league and they just wanted to see can I bring that tenacity and fire against the 1s." He did, the latest step in his return from career-saving back surgery last November that he feared at first would end his playing days. "Oh, my spine works now," Austin said. "It feels great. Ive been humbled throughout my career, so I know what type of opportunity I have. So, Im just grateful to be here. Im grateful to be able to say that I can still play football and especially at the NFL level." Austin (6-foot-2 and 319 pounds) said this is as good as hes ever felt, and the Broncos believe he looks better than ever, too. "He was a good acquisition," coach John Fox said. "I think John and his staff did a good job in that evaluation process. He has come off of a fairly significant injury and he looks like hes got that explosiveness and quickness he had when he came out of Chapel Hill." Funny that Fox should say that because Austin said, "I feel like college again." He was a second-round draft choice of the New York Giants in 2011 but he missed his rookie season with a torn chest muscle. He played in eight games in 2012 while dealing with a bad back that resulted in a weak right leg. And he played in a total of three games last season for Miami and Dallas. The Cowboys released him after just one game and one tackle when his bad back acted up in practice. Told he needed surgery, "I just cried my eyes out," Austin said. "I knew my career was over, being a second-round pick, being cut, and then coming back to that situation. It was over with for me in my mind." He underwent surgery to remove a herniated disc in his lower back and to take out part of the vertebral arch in order to decompress the corresponding spinal cord or spinal nerve root. The surgeon also "took out some of the bone in my spine to open up my spinal canal because I was born with a little bit of stenosis," Austin said. "I feel 10 million times better now," he said. He said his surgeon told him his back was in such bad shape its a wonder he wasnt paralyzed. "And I played with that for two years," Austin said. Able to work out as feverishly as he once did, he attacked his latest comeback dripping with gusto. "Now, to be out here playing and feel good, this is easy," he said as sweat drenched him after Tuesday mornings practice. "I was out there playing with a bum back, a bad leg. Im a grinder. At the end of the day, they aint going to say I didnt work. Regardless of whatever happens, if Im here or if Im not, if Im playing football or if Im not, youre not going to be able to say that Marvin Austin is lazy." He said he looked out at the crowd during the Broncos stadium scrimmage last weekend "and I was like, I love football again. I had lost the love for it, man, because I was dealing with so many injuries and they were so frustrating." 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The alleged sexual assault is believed to have happened over the weekend of Feb. 1, when the hockey team was in Thunder Bay for two games against Lakehead University. The criminal investigation branch of the Thunder Bay Police Service is leading the investigation with help from Ottawa police.The Golden State Warriors shrugged off the absence of the injured Steph Curry with an emphatic 114-81 victory over the Houston Rockets to book their place in the second round of the Western Conference play-offs. The Warriors lost Curry after he suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament during Game Four against Houston on Sunday. However the reigning NBA champions dispelled the gloom as they routed the Rockets to complete a 4-1 series victory over the Texas outfit.The Warriors will now play either the Portland Trail Blazers or the injury-ravaged Los Angeles Clippers in the next round, with the opening game in the best-of-seven series set for Sunday.Curry is likely to miss all of that series as he struggles to recover from his knee injury.The star point guards place in the starting line-up was taken by veteran Shaun Livingston and the 30-year-old scored 16 points with seven-for-eight shooting against the Rockets.The template for the game was set early in the first quarter, with the Warriors jumpinng out to a 37-20 lead that they never looked like relinquishing.ddddddddddddRockets star James Harden had 18 points in the quarter but his team-mates never made a hoop in 12 minutes, with the only other Houston points coming from Dwight Howards two free throws.Harden top scored with 35 points, six rebounds and six assists, but it was not enough against the Warriors all-round game.Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 27 points, including seven of 11 three-point attempts.Draymond Green added 15 points with nine rebounds and eight assists.The Trail Blazers lead the Clippers 3-2 in their first-round series after claiming a 108-98 victory in Game Five at the Staples Center.CJ McCollum scored 27 points for Portland, while Damian Lillard bagged 16 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter against the Clippers who were without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.In the Eastern Conference, the Charlotte Hornets notched their third straight win as they defeated the Miami Heat 90-88 to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series. 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