Spring Break
Sammie the sleeper
Terry Horstman
Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Sports
With the record number of Beavers flying off the draft board this weekend, it was pretty easy to get excited about the future of Oregon State football in the pros. Yet funny enough, the player that most people should be excited for is the one who was picked last.
Everybody's favorite Beaver, Sammie Stroughter was the 233rd pick in the seventh round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There was a multitude of things keeping Sammie off the draft tracker till round seven, including NFL coaches' fears that Stroughter is undersized and his past injuries. Even the family issues that kept Sammie off the field at the start of the 2007 season were rumored to have scared off some teams in the early rounds.
Add all those together and what do you get? You get the biggest sleeper in the 2009 draft, and you don't have to take my word for it.
Out of the 256 players selected in this weekend's draft, ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. chose Sammie Stroughter as his number one sleeper in the whole draft. He's a kid that can do it all and plays faster than he times, makes big plays on special teams, and is a great teammate. This isn't the last you'll hear of Sammie Stroughter.
As much fun as I have making fun of Mel Kiper Jr. for just about everything he does, I couldn't agree with him more about Sammie. The Bucs are in need of a play-maker on special teams and are somewhat thin at the receiver spot, so Sammie will have plenty of opportunities to stand out in Tampa.
On top of that, Sammie joins former Beaver teammate Sabby Piscitelli in South Florida. Sabby has enjoyed a fine pro career with the Bucs as one of their special teams aces, so don't be surprised to see the two old friends making plays on the field at the same time in 2009. You already know there's a lot more subscribers to "NFL Sunday Ticket" in the Willamette Valley wanting to follow two of the more electrifying Beavers from the past decade.
With all this, dropping to 233 actually could be a good thing for Sammie - he fits in well with what the Bucs are trying to do and will have plenty of opportunity. However, cracking the starting lineup on offense will not be easy, and it will be an extremely uphill battle through training camp. But if there's anything we've learned from Sammie in his college career, it is that he's better at fighting through tough situations than he is at playing football, and he's pretty darn good at playing football.
Not to say I wasn't happy about seeing the other Beavers come off the board, but I was most excited about Sammie. He was the player I was happiest to watch and in turn the player I was the saddest to see walk away. Not to mention he went through more issues in the span of a couple months than most people do in their lives. Yet he still returned to the game with the same flash and that smile that could light up Reser stadium on its own.
So Beaver fans, I highly advise to make the investment in "NFL Sunday Ticket" because there's no reason to expect a drop off in Sammie's play-making at the next level. After all, there was another Beaver receiver who fell to the seventh round by the name of T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Last I checked, he was doing pretty okay in the NFL.
Terry Horstman, sports writer
sports@dailybarometer.com
Everybody's favorite Beaver, Sammie Stroughter was the 233rd pick in the seventh round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There was a multitude of things keeping Sammie off the draft tracker till round seven, including NFL coaches' fears that Stroughter is undersized and his past injuries. Even the family issues that kept Sammie off the field at the start of the 2007 season were rumored to have scared off some teams in the early rounds.
Add all those together and what do you get? You get the biggest sleeper in the 2009 draft, and you don't have to take my word for it.
Out of the 256 players selected in this weekend's draft, ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. chose Sammie Stroughter as his number one sleeper in the whole draft. He's a kid that can do it all and plays faster than he times, makes big plays on special teams, and is a great teammate. This isn't the last you'll hear of Sammie Stroughter.
As much fun as I have making fun of Mel Kiper Jr. for just about everything he does, I couldn't agree with him more about Sammie. The Bucs are in need of a play-maker on special teams and are somewhat thin at the receiver spot, so Sammie will have plenty of opportunities to stand out in Tampa.
On top of that, Sammie joins former Beaver teammate Sabby Piscitelli in South Florida. Sabby has enjoyed a fine pro career with the Bucs as one of their special teams aces, so don't be surprised to see the two old friends making plays on the field at the same time in 2009. You already know there's a lot more subscribers to "NFL Sunday Ticket" in the Willamette Valley wanting to follow two of the more electrifying Beavers from the past decade.
With all this, dropping to 233 actually could be a good thing for Sammie - he fits in well with what the Bucs are trying to do and will have plenty of opportunity. However, cracking the starting lineup on offense will not be easy, and it will be an extremely uphill battle through training camp. But if there's anything we've learned from Sammie in his college career, it is that he's better at fighting through tough situations than he is at playing football, and he's pretty darn good at playing football.
Not to say I wasn't happy about seeing the other Beavers come off the board, but I was most excited about Sammie. He was the player I was happiest to watch and in turn the player I was the saddest to see walk away. Not to mention he went through more issues in the span of a couple months than most people do in their lives. Yet he still returned to the game with the same flash and that smile that could light up Reser stadium on its own.
So Beaver fans, I highly advise to make the investment in "NFL Sunday Ticket" because there's no reason to expect a drop off in Sammie's play-making at the next level. After all, there was another Beaver receiver who fell to the seventh round by the name of T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Last I checked, he was doing pretty okay in the NFL.
Terry Horstman, sports writer
sports@dailybarometer.com
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