As I said yet another great class of great college football players and coaches will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and this class will be the first to be enshrined in the bran new Hall building being erected in Atlanta with an August 2014 opening date.
It is hard to get two better representatives for an incoming class of Hall of Famers than Tedy Bruschi and Danny Wuerffel, who were both in attendance yesterday at the announcing ceremony at the NASDAQ building in Times Square. Both of course mentioned that the Hall vote was a great honor. Bruschi talked about being a freshman in high school and seeing some friends sitting in a group waiting. He asked them about it and they mentioned football tryouts and that he should join them. He did, despite having never played organized football and being more suited then for the band, and fortunately received some great coaching. Bruschi first day of practice with pads was somewhat humorous as everyone split into groups and he did not know where to go. A coach took one look at him and sent him to the linemen group and that proved to be a good decision. At Arizona he became an AA defensive end despite being overlooked as a recruit. Bruschi praised coach Dick Tomey as a needed father figure and mentioned that the group that became the Desert Swarm defense used a sense of being disrespected as recruits into the needed chip on their shoulders that helped them achieve a high level of play.
Wuerffel talked about how in synch he was to the vision that coach Steve Spurrier wanted in a QB. Wuerffel greatest strength may have been that he processed everything Spurrier threw at the QBs at a quick pace. A fellow reporter forced the modest Wuerffel to admit that he was a tough SOB and his ability to get up after continued hits in games like the loss to FSU in the 1996 regular season endeared him forever to Gator fans. Being able to avenge that loss and the previous year's loss in the de facto national title contest with Nebraska was a great way to end his college career.
In December I will get to hear from the rest of the group, including a representative for the late Rod Shoate. I look forward to it.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
New College Football Hall of Fame Class
Yet another outstanding group of college football greats have been elected to the Hall as announced today live from New York City. I will list them now and then weigh in later.
Ted Brown, the great RB from NC State in the late 1970s
Tedy Bruschi, who is now known as a broadcaster and former Patriot LB but is honored for his great work for Arizona as a DE.
Ron Dayne, the all-time great RB from Wisconsin and first college football player to rush for 7,000y.
Tommie Frazier, the QB and electric leader of the great Nebraska squads from the early to mid 1990s.
Jerry Gray, the brilliant safety from Texas.
Steve Meilinger, a multi-purpose star from Kentucky who played in the early 1950s.
Orlando Pace, one of the greatest all-time offensive tackles from OSU.
Rod Shoate, a star from my youth as a LB for OU.
Percy Snow, the tackle machine for MSU in the 1980s.
Vinny Testaverde, the 1986 Heisman winner from Miami.
Don Trull, an accomplished QB from Baylor from 50 years ago.
Danny Wuerffel, the 1996 Heisman winner from Florida.
plus coaches Wayne Hardin, who won 118 games total at Navy and Temple and Bill McCartney, the architect of the great Colorado teams from the late 1980s-early 90s.
Ted Brown, the great RB from NC State in the late 1970s
Tedy Bruschi, who is now known as a broadcaster and former Patriot LB but is honored for his great work for Arizona as a DE.
Ron Dayne, the all-time great RB from Wisconsin and first college football player to rush for 7,000y.
Tommie Frazier, the QB and electric leader of the great Nebraska squads from the early to mid 1990s.
Jerry Gray, the brilliant safety from Texas.
Steve Meilinger, a multi-purpose star from Kentucky who played in the early 1950s.
Orlando Pace, one of the greatest all-time offensive tackles from OSU.
Rod Shoate, a star from my youth as a LB for OU.
Percy Snow, the tackle machine for MSU in the 1980s.
Vinny Testaverde, the 1986 Heisman winner from Miami.
Don Trull, an accomplished QB from Baylor from 50 years ago.
Danny Wuerffel, the 1996 Heisman winner from Florida.
plus coaches Wayne Hardin, who won 118 games total at Navy and Temple and Bill McCartney, the architect of the great Colorado teams from the late 1980s-early 90s.
College Football Hall of Fame Announcement
I am off to the NFF announcement of the next class of players and coaches elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. I am looking forward to hearing from a couple of the new enshrines--as they always bring some in for the announcement--and to see the list. Every year a great group of players get in and it is amazing to think that some of these guys had to wait. But unlike any other sport college football has an enormous number of great retired players and they cannot all get in. And remember that some chapters of the National Football Foundation are bigger and more powerful than others and get the vote out. I will update you all later today.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Big Ten Gets It Right
The Legends and Leaders idea was a failure from the start. Only the biggest fans could sort out the standings without looking at them and the desire to have Michigan and Ohio State play in the regular season and then meet in every other conference title game was misguided. Not only is that type of thinking usually fail--see the ACC with Miami versus Florida State-but you do not preserve the beauty and importance of the regular season rivalry. Once again the SEC got that right by making games like LSU-Alabama and Florida-Georgia meaningful as rivalries and for their impact on the conference divisional races.
But I give the Big Ten credit for righting a wrong. The new divisions are designated geographically and will make it easier for newcomers Rutgers and Maryland to develop rivalries with each other and probably Penn State. Meanwhile the notion that the East is difficult because of the presence of Michigan, Ohio state and Penn State and the West is easier is absurd. First of all, many of the same experts lamenting this predicted that Penn State would be dreadful for ten years. So since they were wrong on that one they now feel that Wisconsin has it easy despite the fact that they did not win anything last year and that Nebraska and Iowa and Northwestern etc will all be pretty good in the near future. We have seen in other conferences that the fortunes of divisions change. The SEC West is a beast now while the East was considered the tougher division 7-10 years ago. The old Big 12 power base shifted from Kansas State and Nebraska in the late 90s to Texas and OU in the 2000s.
The key for the conference is to reestablish itself as the preeminent one on the field. It can deliver plenty of television sets but can it deliver national championship contenders?
But I give the Big Ten credit for righting a wrong. The new divisions are designated geographically and will make it easier for newcomers Rutgers and Maryland to develop rivalries with each other and probably Penn State. Meanwhile the notion that the East is difficult because of the presence of Michigan, Ohio state and Penn State and the West is easier is absurd. First of all, many of the same experts lamenting this predicted that Penn State would be dreadful for ten years. So since they were wrong on that one they now feel that Wisconsin has it easy despite the fact that they did not win anything last year and that Nebraska and Iowa and Northwestern etc will all be pretty good in the near future. We have seen in other conferences that the fortunes of divisions change. The SEC West is a beast now while the East was considered the tougher division 7-10 years ago. The old Big 12 power base shifted from Kansas State and Nebraska in the late 90s to Texas and OU in the 2000s.
The key for the conference is to reestablish itself as the preeminent one on the field. It can deliver plenty of television sets but can it deliver national championship contenders?
Friday, April 26, 2013
Lessons From the Draft Part Three
This post is focused on a bit of common sense. I know common sense rarely comes into play on draft week, but here goes. Are you sitting down? Okay. Here goes. There is no magic list that correctly ranks the hundreds of draft eligible players. So when the guy the experts had going 10 drops to your team at 30, but they pass and take some guy you never heard of, it does not mean that they are wrong. They liked that guy at 30 better than the guy expected to go 10. Or he fits the system better. Or the other guy has a screw loose. Is injury prone. Or just does not fill a certain need.
Take the Giants, since I know them best. The fans are upset because they took a guy that hadn't heard being mentioned in the first round in the Cuse lineman Justin Pugh. On the board at the time were a couple of players that had dropped--dropped from the position placed on them by experts. But because that really does not mean anything, being that the experts do not have access to the teams' boards, you cannot compare say Shariff Floyd to Pugh. So you may have Floyd ranked higher than Pugh based on what some experts say, you probably have not seen either player live and certainly have not tested them and scouted them the way the teams do. So shut up already since you are totally ignorant.
Now don't get me wrong. Some picks are so dumb that they are worth negative attention. But to rip an offensive lineman that you have not seen when the Giants are desperate for offensive linemen is just stupid. And your wanting him in the second round is wonderful except for one thing. He would not have been there. My guess is that if the Bears did not take him instead of Long at 20, the Cowboys would have since he is exactly what they need. And not one lineman expected to go from the Giants pick in the second round on down would have been a big help next year. This was the last chance to help the 2013 O-Line. And as for the 2014 line, Pugh can pick any spot he wants to the right of left tackle. And as for his short arms they are similar in length to Joe Thomas so it is not impossible that he sticks at RT.
That is enough venting for now.
Take the Giants, since I know them best. The fans are upset because they took a guy that hadn't heard being mentioned in the first round in the Cuse lineman Justin Pugh. On the board at the time were a couple of players that had dropped--dropped from the position placed on them by experts. But because that really does not mean anything, being that the experts do not have access to the teams' boards, you cannot compare say Shariff Floyd to Pugh. So you may have Floyd ranked higher than Pugh based on what some experts say, you probably have not seen either player live and certainly have not tested them and scouted them the way the teams do. So shut up already since you are totally ignorant.
Now don't get me wrong. Some picks are so dumb that they are worth negative attention. But to rip an offensive lineman that you have not seen when the Giants are desperate for offensive linemen is just stupid. And your wanting him in the second round is wonderful except for one thing. He would not have been there. My guess is that if the Bears did not take him instead of Long at 20, the Cowboys would have since he is exactly what they need. And not one lineman expected to go from the Giants pick in the second round on down would have been a big help next year. This was the last chance to help the 2013 O-Line. And as for the 2014 line, Pugh can pick any spot he wants to the right of left tackle. And as for his short arms they are similar in length to Joe Thomas so it is not impossible that he sticks at RT.
That is enough venting for now.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Lessons From The Draft Part 2
When I was a kid there was a lot less college football on television but a lot more coverage in the press. There was also more in-depth discussion of the sport with college football as a whole being a topic followed by the major programs and coaches and then the top players. Don't get me wrong, the blocking schemes at Syracuse were never a topic of discussion, but fans knew who the top players were in the country.
Now? College football's television ratings are through the roof. We fans can watch our fair share of games on TV even if we go to games on Saturday afternoon. We think we have a good grasp of the sport and the players who lead the best teams.
But then the draft rolls around in the spring, like Christmas the anticipation and coverage begins earlier and earlier every year. But coverage of the draft uncovers a problem. Why are the draft experts talking about a player that we barely know as if he is the second coming? If ESPN and other media outlets did their jobs from May until March, why is it that we are now being introduced to key players from major college programs?
Part of the problem of course is that they are over-hyping these guys prior to the draft. And some guys project to be better pros than college players. Take Shariff Floyd of Florida who may go as high as number three tonight. A huge recruit out of Philadelphia Floyd has had a solid but underwhelming career in Gainesville. He did make All American teams this past year but he is being drafted on his size and speed combination and not his production (31 tackles in 2012 including 8.5 for a loss).
But the player who really sticks out for me is Oregon defender Dion Jordan who is being compared to Jason Taylor and Aldon Smith. How does a guy who has been recognized as an All Pac 12 performer and praised by scouts for his physical skills and play on the field go virtually unknown while playing for a school that is usually ranked in the top ten? That would not have been possible in any other time in American sport.
Who is to blame? The American sports public cannot be taken off the hook. They demand coverage of celebrity and a guy who was excellent at dropping back into coverage was never going to become one of those. ESPN is a major factor here, which is ironic as it then over reacts to anyone who is a draft prospect. So Dion Jordan gets ignored until this spring then gets covered as future star and then goes to the pros while Collin Klein gets press while KSU is undefeated but then gets ignored now as he is not expected to be drafted too high if at all and then hopefully goes to the pros. Sadly guys who are very good college players but not pro prospects tend to get ignored all the time unless they are, like Klein, the QB for a top team.
ESPN is to blame because they have adopted a policy that it is better to talk non-stop about one player, say Johnny Manziel or Manti Te'o, than to mention anyone else. I guess this began with Michael Jordan and some meeting in Bristol, Connecticut at which a producer was dressed down for a piece on Mitch Richmond that was done before the network had reached its 100-per-week segments quota on MJ. While that is a really bad way to cover the NBA and its dozens of stars it is an impossible way to cover college football and its hundreds of major players. ESPN is also to blame because they break sports coverage down to quick hits. Once they establish a story line it is easier to just run with that than delve deeper. Oregon is know for a speedy offense. So why bother mentioning Jordan?
And major newspapers fall into the same stupid trap based on laziness. They will over-cover the stars and provide coverage of their area of interest but do not even bother with the nation as a whole. If you polled 100 college football fans from throughout the country, how many members of the 2012 AP All America first team could they name? Sure Manziel and Te'o would be easy. So too Marqise Lee and some of the many Alabama players that earned the recognition. But Terrance Williams, Will Sutton or Phillip Thomas? How about a first team AA RB who topped 1,900 yards? Of the 100 fans polled how many know Ka'Deem Carey of Arizona? But how many of those polled could rattle off the names of the first team AA RBs from earlier generations? When did rushing for that many yards in a major conference not earn you some press?
So do not be surprised when your favorite pro team drafts guys you never heard of even if they are from big-time programs. It is not that they are not good players. They were just not as good a story as Johnny Football.
Now? College football's television ratings are through the roof. We fans can watch our fair share of games on TV even if we go to games on Saturday afternoon. We think we have a good grasp of the sport and the players who lead the best teams.
But then the draft rolls around in the spring, like Christmas the anticipation and coverage begins earlier and earlier every year. But coverage of the draft uncovers a problem. Why are the draft experts talking about a player that we barely know as if he is the second coming? If ESPN and other media outlets did their jobs from May until March, why is it that we are now being introduced to key players from major college programs?
Part of the problem of course is that they are over-hyping these guys prior to the draft. And some guys project to be better pros than college players. Take Shariff Floyd of Florida who may go as high as number three tonight. A huge recruit out of Philadelphia Floyd has had a solid but underwhelming career in Gainesville. He did make All American teams this past year but he is being drafted on his size and speed combination and not his production (31 tackles in 2012 including 8.5 for a loss).
But the player who really sticks out for me is Oregon defender Dion Jordan who is being compared to Jason Taylor and Aldon Smith. How does a guy who has been recognized as an All Pac 12 performer and praised by scouts for his physical skills and play on the field go virtually unknown while playing for a school that is usually ranked in the top ten? That would not have been possible in any other time in American sport.
Who is to blame? The American sports public cannot be taken off the hook. They demand coverage of celebrity and a guy who was excellent at dropping back into coverage was never going to become one of those. ESPN is a major factor here, which is ironic as it then over reacts to anyone who is a draft prospect. So Dion Jordan gets ignored until this spring then gets covered as future star and then goes to the pros while Collin Klein gets press while KSU is undefeated but then gets ignored now as he is not expected to be drafted too high if at all and then hopefully goes to the pros. Sadly guys who are very good college players but not pro prospects tend to get ignored all the time unless they are, like Klein, the QB for a top team.
ESPN is to blame because they have adopted a policy that it is better to talk non-stop about one player, say Johnny Manziel or Manti Te'o, than to mention anyone else. I guess this began with Michael Jordan and some meeting in Bristol, Connecticut at which a producer was dressed down for a piece on Mitch Richmond that was done before the network had reached its 100-per-week segments quota on MJ. While that is a really bad way to cover the NBA and its dozens of stars it is an impossible way to cover college football and its hundreds of major players. ESPN is also to blame because they break sports coverage down to quick hits. Once they establish a story line it is easier to just run with that than delve deeper. Oregon is know for a speedy offense. So why bother mentioning Jordan?
And major newspapers fall into the same stupid trap based on laziness. They will over-cover the stars and provide coverage of their area of interest but do not even bother with the nation as a whole. If you polled 100 college football fans from throughout the country, how many members of the 2012 AP All America first team could they name? Sure Manziel and Te'o would be easy. So too Marqise Lee and some of the many Alabama players that earned the recognition. But Terrance Williams, Will Sutton or Phillip Thomas? How about a first team AA RB who topped 1,900 yards? Of the 100 fans polled how many know Ka'Deem Carey of Arizona? But how many of those polled could rattle off the names of the first team AA RBs from earlier generations? When did rushing for that many yards in a major conference not earn you some press?
So do not be surprised when your favorite pro team drafts guys you never heard of even if they are from big-time programs. It is not that they are not good players. They were just not as good a story as Johnny Football.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Lessons From Draft Part 1
You are a college football fan, right? And you watch a fair share of the sport. And being a football fan you pay attention to the NFL draft. But with all of the hype poured into that event you find yourself confused. Who are half of these guys and why are we so interested in them?
There are many reasons as to why some very productive college players get drafted lower than expected and some not drafted at all and why some not too productive guys go very high. The answer generally shoved down our throat concerns speed--that the NFL demands it and some very talented college stars do not have enough of it to be anything more than a sub. Of course it is more complicated than that as smarts, football and otherwise, height, scheme played, coaching and myriad other factors help determine a players lot.
And the experts get the placing of players incredibly wrong so often it is difficult to understand why they are experts. But the inability to rank players by experts and general mangers alike then allows some drafted-too-high players to lose their edge while inspiring some low-drafted players. And that makes the experts look even worse. It is a vicious cycle.
As for productivity, I am a big believer in the reality that good players make plays. I want my favorite football team to focus on talented football players that fit their system. I am really not interested in "projects" and I want guys who are team-first players. I would take a chance on an injured guy before a guy falling for off-the-field issues.
More to follow.
There are many reasons as to why some very productive college players get drafted lower than expected and some not drafted at all and why some not too productive guys go very high. The answer generally shoved down our throat concerns speed--that the NFL demands it and some very talented college stars do not have enough of it to be anything more than a sub. Of course it is more complicated than that as smarts, football and otherwise, height, scheme played, coaching and myriad other factors help determine a players lot.
And the experts get the placing of players incredibly wrong so often it is difficult to understand why they are experts. But the inability to rank players by experts and general mangers alike then allows some drafted-too-high players to lose their edge while inspiring some low-drafted players. And that makes the experts look even worse. It is a vicious cycle.
As for productivity, I am a big believer in the reality that good players make plays. I want my favorite football team to focus on talented football players that fit their system. I am really not interested in "projects" and I want guys who are team-first players. I would take a chance on an injured guy before a guy falling for off-the-field issues.
More to follow.
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