Combined feed (RSS)
Football: A couple combine links
By Jonathan Okanes
Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 4:46 pm in Football, off-season stuff.
- By all accounts, Jahvid Best stood out in Indianapolis, especially with his top running back time of 4.35 in the 40. There is growing speculation that the San Diego Chargers might be interested in taking Best at No. 28, as this report suggests.
- Nyan Boateng is trying to open some eyes at the combine.
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March 2nd, 2010 at 5:20 am
Where I would like to see him go in order.
1. San Diego – they are my fav team
2. Dallas- Texans can hear about Cal maybe help recruiting
3. Houston – same as above
4. Green Bay – so Cal stars can dominate an offense
5. Philly – similar
6. NY Giants – good media atten
7. NY Jets – same
—–
30 St Louis – Kansas City – Everyone knows this is nowhere.
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:13 am
how about the niners or raiders so we can watch him right here?
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:32 am
How about the Niners so that his career doesn’t go splat?
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:32 am
(as opposed to the raiders)
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:48 am
Good quote and a little perspective from the Boateng article-
“Boateng stayed clean at Cal, thanks largely to a books-first culture he said was the polar opposite of Florida’s football-crazy hothouse, but the off-field troubles have been a big topic in his interviews with scouts. ”
This quote to me shines a positive light on Tedford- he gains respect in my eyes. I know that academics are highly stressed and I am well aware of the programs he has in place. But reading this quote and the contrast to a football factory such as Florida, well it just reminds me that this is Cal and Tedford is doing a great job in so many ways.
I have been vocal, including here, in my criticism of Tedford, based primarily on the under-achieving on the field on Saturdays. I still think that he can improve that by being more aggressive, and that seems so plain and clear to me. I hope he does.
But this quote just raises Tedford’s esteem and respect in my eyes, and also surely increases his equity in the program.
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:59 am
Article says the S.D. Chargers need to replace LT and also maybe tailback Sproules. How about if they draft Best at the end of the 1st, and then Gerhardt in the 3rd or 4th? Thunder and Lightning from up north.
That would be fun for us. As much as we Bear fans love to hate on the Furd, who can have anything bad to say about Toby? If you were rooting for anyone else to have won the Heisman then you’re just a warped old Bear.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:31 am
i guess it all depends on the team’s needs, but if i needed a bruiser who’s going to get me 4 yards a carry, i’d take toby over jahvid. they’ll both have pretty awesome careers if they stay healthy.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:33 am
Uh Oh, did you plead that everyone is a winner during recess? There’s nothing wrong with not wanting a rival to win a Heisman, especially, if it is going to give that rival school an advantage in recruitment. Is this a warped reality in that Tedford ‘n Company competes with Hairball in recruitment? Me don’t think so…
However, if Toby and Jahvid are playing for San Diego, I’ll be happy when my Steelers shut them both down.
Give ‘em the AX!
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:35 am
Dan – Glad to see you are coming around, his concentrations on academics and being a humble/successful person are of the many reasons Tedford’s supporters enjoy his dedication to improving Cal football
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:13 am
jko, didn’t know you were a steelers fan, too. solid! i think i’m the only one who’d rather have dennis dixon taking the snaps, though. lots of potential, rotting on the pine.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:48 am
SD is the perfect place for Jahvid. The way they use Sproles as a “change up” back, along with a big back, is perfect. Frankly that’s how Best should have been used at Cal…but so it goes.
re: Tedford…indeed the academics at Cal are important (like duh), it keeps the antagonistic faculty at bay but it’s the right thing to do. Tedford not only has his kids graduating at a rate of private school programs but he’s doing so with little drama or mention of the Academic Game Plan which has kept kids on track.
It sounds counter-intuitive but I think the Academic Game Plan is a big recruiting element to Cal…i.e., we’ll keep your kid on track, out of trouble and if he works hard he’ll get a degree from a great university.
In this sense Tedford is perfect for Cal. Winning program, winning academics, kids out of trouble, new facilities on the way. This would be a big order at any school but to pull this off at Berkeley, yeah it’s a big deal.
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:16 am
Jan:
Toby seems like a real nice kid. And would you rather boring non-descript athletic programs like Alabama or Florida get the accolades? Over a fine academic school like Stanford from the Pac 10?
I think we can all step outside of rivalry mode and say that there are times when it’s okay to root for the Furd. One would be if they are going to bring honor to the Pac10. I always rooted for UCLA in the NCAA tournament! And all other Pac10 schools. We should also all root for Pac10 schools in bowl games and in Heisman trophy awards. Okay, never mind USC. I simply can’t root for them because they suck – and cheat. But, hey, Furd is actually a great school, and if they can produce a Heisman winner while we are still kicking their arse all over the field, then good for them!
Jan: I do not agree with your assumption that Furd is going to suddenly out-recruit us b/c once every 40 years they have an athlete who wins the Heisman. I’d be more concerned with them out-recruiting us based upon all the other reasons they could out-recruit us – points I won’t give weight to by discussing here.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Milo – well said…
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Milo – well said…
Uh Oh – I am going to have to respectfully disagree, although I agree that having other Pac-10 players excel is good for the conference, it is never ok to root for Stanfurd
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:31 pm
I was rooting against Gerhardt in the Heisman race. Him winning a Heisman is not going to help us recruit against Stanford.
The last thing we need is an NFL star from Stanford. I don’t think this has been the case since Elway?
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:36 pm
The only time I rooted for Stanford this year was when they played Notre Dame. At the time, I was happy to see WEIS lose again and get beat physically by a Pac-10 team.
What I didn’t know was that Chris Martin decommitted from ND shortly after the loss. And if you know who Chris Martin is…then…the rest is history.
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Davidson, Martin decommited to ND, because Weiss stepped down. If Weiss was still at ND, Martin would be in Indiana instead of Cal, right now. But, frankly, who cares about the past? I’ll be the first to say it that Martin will be instrumental in bringing Roses to Cal.
Rollon, I’m a 3rd generation Steeler fan. My family has such diehards that my cousin’s living room is covered with Steeler stuff, and there’s one section of 3 Rivers that is mostly filled with family members.
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Jan, that’s what I meant, DUH
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:42 pm
CruzinBears-
Thanks for the good words. Please know that I have always known that Tedford does so many things right, and then some. That is why when I have criticized him in some areas, and I have definitely done that, I have never said he should be fired, as many have done. Aside from all the great things he’s done and all the equity he deservedly has, I want the guy to be successful because I think he is just the right guy for Cal and he has class. The thing that changes that is if the team starts losing, which is not what anyone wants to see.
With that said, in my opinion, which I hope I’m entitled, the team has under-performed and under-achieved quite a bit. I know they have way more talent than has manifested itself on the field the past few seasons. So when I point that out, I don’t think I am out of line to do so. It doesn’t mean I have lost sight of not only what he has done well, but also the importance of what he does well. I continue to be reminded that Cal is not and never should aspire to be SC.
So I do greatly appreciate Coach and genuinely and desperately want him to do what we all want him to do, what he no doubt wants to do, which is play to potential and play to expectations. I believe that he has everything in place to do so other than what has become his conservative, predictable, play what I will call a “not-to-lose” style of football. To “fix” this will require a change in philosophy, a change in strategy, game planning and gameday playcalling on both sides of the ball. It shouldn’t be too hard to do it, the hard part is realizing it, accepting it, and deciding to change it. So it can be really easy, real hard, or impossible. He has to see it. I hope he will.
But to me, reading Boateng’s quote spoke volumes about Tedford and also about Florida and schools like Florida- like USC. To me, that was a loud, positive, endorsement of Tedford- I am happy about that. I think Boateng is happy he came to Cal despite the up and mostly down on field experiences. Someday, with his Cal degree, he will be very happy.
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Can’t argue with ya there Dan, but I think that tedfords finally going trough what most coaches do during thier careers, and that’s a bumpy road. I think we should be mostly thankful that he’s going trough this and still managing to keep the team at a +.500 state and top 15 recruting classes.
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:17 pm
If you read the article from the link, IF boateng’s accounts are all correct, he definitely went through a very tough and very unfair road to get to where he is now.
Sounds like he played the role of a scapegoat as a young kid with huge dreams to a hotshot coach and others trying to make a story out of a big name prospect…but still stuck around to get to where he is today instead of giving up and taking his life down a bad road.
Good luck to Boateng with his future.