SUNDAY MORNING NOTES
I'm going to start off this morning with the Heisman Trophy presentation. RG3 is The Man. Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III brought home the 25-pound trophy, the first ever for a Baylor player. I loved every minute of the 1-hour show. Thru all the video profiles of the five finalists, RG3 stood head & shoulders above his competition. Chris Fowler kinda mocked Griffin when he said the quarterback had over 1,000 action figures & his real fetish was socks. Griffin took it all in stride, even showing the socks he was wearing, superman socks with little capes on them. Both of Griffin's parents were career NCO's in the U.S. Military, which usually ensures a couple of things, a superior education in grades 1-12, discipline & the ability to adapt to new surroundings since they move every few years. Griffin is a class act & if he chooses to stay in school, he'll enter law school to keep his eligibility for his senior season, but I'll be shocked if he & Andrew Luck don't elect to come out for the NFL.
Griffin won the award by winning 5 of the 6 regions nationally & the margin wasn't as close as originally thought. His 405 first-place votes far exceeded Andrew Luck's 247. Trent Richardson finished 3rd with 138 first place votes, Wisconsin's Montee Ball was 4th & LSU CB/PR was fifth. If you'll look back at my predictions last Saturday night, even before the five finalists were announced I called the order of finish to be 1. Griffin 2. Luck 3. Ball 4. Trent Richardson 5. Tyrann Mathieu. I got them all right with the exception of the RB's, their order was flip-flopped, Richardson was 3rd, Ball 4th.
This is a major deal for the Baylor football program. Head coach Art Briles has done an outstanding job slowly building this program up & with this award, recruiting 4 & 5-star prospects became attainable. Another thing that boosts your recruiting, players being selected in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. Last year it was NT Phil Taylor & OG Danny Watkins, both 1st round selections. Now RG3, WR Kendall Wright & RB Terrence Ganaway will also soar in the draft process. Baylor could be on their way to becoming the second most viable program in the state of Texas.
UCLA & Texas A&M have new head coaches. The Bruins agreed to a deal with Jim Mora Jr. who was formally head coach for the Seattle Seahawks. He's been an analyst for FOXSports NFL coverage the past two seasons. The Aggies chose former Houston coach Kevin Sumlin as I predicted sometime back. Sumlin is taking a high-risk job now that A&M will begin play in the SEC Western Division, home to Alabama, LSU, Arkansas & Auburn.
The Oklahoma Sooners got more bad news on the injury front for their upcoming Insight Bowl appearance against Iowa. Starting WR Jaz Reynolds has already been ruled out. He was hospitalized last Sunday after OU's beatdown in Stillwater to Big-12 Champs Oklahoma State. Reynold has an undisclosed kidney injury & will remain in the hospital for a while. Doesn't sound good does it? OU already lost the NCAA all-time leading receiver, Ryan Broyles, to a torn MCL back in October. The only starter who remains is speedster Kenny Stills.
The Oakland trio of WR's Danarius Moore & Jacoby Ford & RB Darren McFragile will sit again this afternoon. McFragile hasn't played in six weeks, he had a history of nagging injuries coming out of Arkansas & has done little to fight off that tag. Philly WR Jeremy Maclin had practiced all week after missing two games with a bruised shoulder & hamstring strain, but he was downgraded to questionable last night for their game in Miami. Detroit RB Kevin Smith is not expected to play today vs. Minnesota. Tampa QB Josh Freeman is better than a 50-50 chance to start.
From last night's Heisman Trophy ceremonies:
"I ain't got nothin' but a few hours left to graduate" Trent Richardson, Alabama
Maybe he should use a couple of those remaining hours to revisit English 101.
Griffin won the award by winning 5 of the 6 regions nationally & the margin wasn't as close as originally thought. His 405 first-place votes far exceeded Andrew Luck's 247. Trent Richardson finished 3rd with 138 first place votes, Wisconsin's Montee Ball was 4th & LSU CB/PR was fifth. If you'll look back at my predictions last Saturday night, even before the five finalists were announced I called the order of finish to be 1. Griffin 2. Luck 3. Ball 4. Trent Richardson 5. Tyrann Mathieu. I got them all right with the exception of the RB's, their order was flip-flopped, Richardson was 3rd, Ball 4th.
This is a major deal for the Baylor football program. Head coach Art Briles has done an outstanding job slowly building this program up & with this award, recruiting 4 & 5-star prospects became attainable. Another thing that boosts your recruiting, players being selected in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. Last year it was NT Phil Taylor & OG Danny Watkins, both 1st round selections. Now RG3, WR Kendall Wright & RB Terrence Ganaway will also soar in the draft process. Baylor could be on their way to becoming the second most viable program in the state of Texas.
UCLA & Texas A&M have new head coaches. The Bruins agreed to a deal with Jim Mora Jr. who was formally head coach for the Seattle Seahawks. He's been an analyst for FOXSports NFL coverage the past two seasons. The Aggies chose former Houston coach Kevin Sumlin as I predicted sometime back. Sumlin is taking a high-risk job now that A&M will begin play in the SEC Western Division, home to Alabama, LSU, Arkansas & Auburn.
The Oklahoma Sooners got more bad news on the injury front for their upcoming Insight Bowl appearance against Iowa. Starting WR Jaz Reynolds has already been ruled out. He was hospitalized last Sunday after OU's beatdown in Stillwater to Big-12 Champs Oklahoma State. Reynold has an undisclosed kidney injury & will remain in the hospital for a while. Doesn't sound good does it? OU already lost the NCAA all-time leading receiver, Ryan Broyles, to a torn MCL back in October. The only starter who remains is speedster Kenny Stills.
The Oakland trio of WR's Danarius Moore & Jacoby Ford & RB Darren McFragile will sit again this afternoon. McFragile hasn't played in six weeks, he had a history of nagging injuries coming out of Arkansas & has done little to fight off that tag. Philly WR Jeremy Maclin had practiced all week after missing two games with a bruised shoulder & hamstring strain, but he was downgraded to questionable last night for their game in Miami. Detroit RB Kevin Smith is not expected to play today vs. Minnesota. Tampa QB Josh Freeman is better than a 50-50 chance to start.
From last night's Heisman Trophy ceremonies:
"I ain't got nothin' but a few hours left to graduate" Trent Richardson, Alabama
Maybe he should use a couple of those remaining hours to revisit English 101.
Comments