Spring Break
No-Go For Joe?
Sean McLean
Issue date: 5/3/07 Section: Sports
It just goes to show that one glitch in your resume can have a lasting effect on your chance of getting selected. Newton's injuries probably proved to be the reason, all the way to the point where no one wanted him.
And then there are the guys that shouldn't have been drafted. I really hate the fact that you can be the sixth wide receiver on your school's depth chart, but with a good nine-yard cone drill can be a fifth round choice. Look at former Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards. The guy was simply a highly touted high school prospect that was hurt the entire time he was with the Cardinal. And when he was healthy, he was a complete non-factor, hence his team's four losing seasons when he was there. Despite this, Edwards was a first day draft pick, and two other teammates of his were taken.
So if Stanford has more picks than we do this year, how come they only won one game last year? There has to be some loopholes here somewhere! I'm losing it!
Well, it all comes back to my point in my column last week. Former OSU football players getting selected late or not at all, and still manage to find a home and being an impact player. Here we are again ladies and gentleman with Newton. Teams passing on him to take a guy that had a good 40-time. I mean, how do you think Jordan Kent got drafted?
That is how the NFL has become in this modern era. Where college statistics and productivity are being replaced by guys that hardly smell the turf, but are freaks of nature athletically. So he can run a sub 4.3 40-yard time or jump 38 inches, big freaking deal. The real question is, has he ever caught a football or made a tackle, or actually played football longer then two years (cough), Jordan Kent. Can you see the NFL in 10 years being a bunch of guys that don't even know how to play the game? It's a funny visual, but also a scary one in that regard.
The good news is with Mr. Newton is that he has a little more motivation now to prove the naysayers wrong. He's also on a team where they have a starter who is now in his 13th season. Dare I say…has-been? Joe has a great chance and I hope he makes Seattle or another team. The ultimate would be Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren watching him in practice and saying to the coaches, "this kid is good, how the freak did no one drafted him?"
We may never find the real answer to that dilemma, but when Newton makes a team, he will be the first to say, "I told you so." And believe me, he won't be the first nor last Beaver to say that to an NFL G.M. or coach.
And then there are the guys that shouldn't have been drafted. I really hate the fact that you can be the sixth wide receiver on your school's depth chart, but with a good nine-yard cone drill can be a fifth round choice. Look at former Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards. The guy was simply a highly touted high school prospect that was hurt the entire time he was with the Cardinal. And when he was healthy, he was a complete non-factor, hence his team's four losing seasons when he was there. Despite this, Edwards was a first day draft pick, and two other teammates of his were taken.
So if Stanford has more picks than we do this year, how come they only won one game last year? There has to be some loopholes here somewhere! I'm losing it!
Well, it all comes back to my point in my column last week. Former OSU football players getting selected late or not at all, and still manage to find a home and being an impact player. Here we are again ladies and gentleman with Newton. Teams passing on him to take a guy that had a good 40-time. I mean, how do you think Jordan Kent got drafted?
That is how the NFL has become in this modern era. Where college statistics and productivity are being replaced by guys that hardly smell the turf, but are freaks of nature athletically. So he can run a sub 4.3 40-yard time or jump 38 inches, big freaking deal. The real question is, has he ever caught a football or made a tackle, or actually played football longer then two years (cough), Jordan Kent. Can you see the NFL in 10 years being a bunch of guys that don't even know how to play the game? It's a funny visual, but also a scary one in that regard.
The good news is with Mr. Newton is that he has a little more motivation now to prove the naysayers wrong. He's also on a team where they have a starter who is now in his 13th season. Dare I say…has-been? Joe has a great chance and I hope he makes Seattle or another team. The ultimate would be Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren watching him in practice and saying to the coaches, "this kid is good, how the freak did no one drafted him?"
We may never find the real answer to that dilemma, but when Newton makes a team, he will be the first to say, "I told you so." And believe me, he won't be the first nor last Beaver to say that to an NFL G.M. or coach.
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