NFL Combine: Bradford expresses confidence
Sam Bradford sported a new look. But the same attitude.
Bradford appeared Saturday in the NFL Combine media room with a short haircut but the same no-nonsense, confident persona he had before a shoulder injury threatened his status as the top player in the draft.
Bradford said he’s 85 percent recovered from reconstructive surgery and expects to be 100 percent by March 25, when he’ll throw for NFL scouts at his personal pro day in Norman.
Bradford said he had a long day Friday, being evaluated by teams’ medical personnel, and “no one found anything they weren’t expecting to find. It feels real good. I’m happy with where it’s at.”
Bradford said he’s throwing every other day, 20- to 40-yard passes, and hopes to start throwing every day when he returns from the Combine. “I’m putting as much as I can on it,” Bradford said. “It’s getting stronger every time.”
Increasing speculation has the Rams picking Bradford No. 1 overall, provided his shoulder is deemed healthy. Bradford was expected to be the No. 1 overall prospect before he suffered the shoulder injury against Brigham Young last September. His status tumbled, but he appears to have climbed almost all the way back.
“I never really felt that way,” Bradford said of thinking his draft stock had been damaged. “I knew nothing had changed concerning the player I was. Doesn’t change my work ethic.”
Bradford said renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews “feels I’m ahead of schedule. With another month’s work, I’ll be able to make all the throws I was making before.”
On how he would rate himself among QB prospects: “I’m not going to compare myself to them.”
On being measured at 6-foot-4, 236 pounds: “I came in at a good weight. People thought I was too small to come out last year.”
On if teams have questioned OU’s system: “I haven’t heard any of those questions.”
On his leadership skills: “I think I’m a great leader. I can be vocal. People don’t see our practices. They’re not in our locker room. I’m vocal. I can get after it. I believe I have all the different leadership styles needed.”
On quarterbacking under center instead of the shotgun: “I’m very confident under center.” Bradford said OU runs its practice drills in both shotgun and under center. “If I threw two out routes, the first was from under center, the other from the shotgun.”
NFL Combine: Clausen says he’s misunderstood
Jimmy Clausen says he went to Notre Dame because it would prepare him for this. Being an NFL rookie.
“That’s the best way to replicate what it was going to be like as an NFL rookie,” said Clausen, who is expected to be the second quarterback picked, behind Sam Bradford. “Charlie Weis is the reason I went to Notre Dame.”
Weis is out as the Irish coach; he’s now the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs. And Clausen is about to enter the NFL and wants people to know he’s misunderstood. That the perception is wrong that he’s cocky, arrogant, not a good leader, not a good teammate.
“I’m a humble kid, love to hang out,” the Notre Dame quarterback said Saturday on the Combine podium. “Watch a lot of film with receivers. Guys stay at the house with my family.
“I realize in the fish bowl at Notre Dame, being the quarterback at Notre Dame, you have to act a certain way. I knew Notre Dame was really big, but until I had to deal with it a little bit … I’m a better person, a better player because of that.”
Clausen said his strengths are “taking care of the football, accuracy, playing under center. Durability, playing while hurt. Bringing my team back to the fourth quarter.”
Clausen said he wants to become more of a “gym rat in the filmroom. In college there are only so many hours. You hear about Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees watching 20 hours a day. This is my profession now. That’s what I want to do.”
NFL Combine: Rex Ryan steals the show
Rex Ryan stole the show. In the button-down world of the NFL, the New York Jets coach stands alone as an entertaining personality. Ryan took the podium Saturday at the NFL Combine and regaled the media with his self-deprecation.
Since coaching the Jets to the AFC title game with the Ryan brand of bravado and bluster, Ryan has made news for flipping off the crowd at a Mixed Martial Arts fight in Miami and wearing a Philadelphia Flyers jersey at a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game, drawing boos.
“I appreciate everybody’s interest in making sure I was still in the papers,” Ryan said. “And the video.”
Ryan was talking about switching jerseys at the hockey game, when his gut was exposed for all to see.
“I’m watching ESPN, ooh, that’s not a real good shot,” Ryan said. “Don’t get me wrong. I get hit on all the time by women.”
But Ryan refuses to apologize for his antics.
“I’m just going to be myself,” Ryan said. “Maybe I have unique way of doing things. But I have to be that way.
“Last year, I would go into New York all the time and was never recognized. Maybe people don’t expect the Jets coach to wear a throwback. But that’s just who I am. I’m still going to take the train into the city. I’m going to go to sporting events. I’m going to be true to myself.”
Ryan said his middle finger salute in Miami was “a mistake. I’ve made a bunch of mistakes in my life. Just add that to the list. I’ll learn from it. I’m no boy scout. Don’t pretend to be.”
Ryan attended Southwestern State University and was OU’s defensive coordinator in 1998. He’s produced big-time defenses everywhere he’s gone, and now he’s got a winner with the Jets.
“For whatever reasons, guys do like playing for me,” Ryan said.
NFL Combine: Will Chiefs go for Bryant?
The Chiefs are expected to take an offensive tackle at No. 5 overall in the NFL Draft, which means Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung is in play. But Kansas City could be tempted to take a wide receiver, which brings OSU’s Dez Bryant into the picture.
“The wide receiver position, we have to be better,” said Chiefs coach Todd Haley. “If you could go through our season, dropped balls were a major issue.
“That’s an area we have to improve. We led the league in drops. When you have that amount of drops, it has an affect on everybody, but it has a direct effect on the quarterback.”
Matt Cassell, signed a year ago away from New England, actually is a Kansas City strength. A young quarterback who played reasonably well. Of course, protecting that asset is important, too.
“When you win four games, you have needs in a lot of areas,” Haley said. “We just want to add good football players.”
McCluster says he’ll play anywhere
My favorite college football player to watch, Ole Miss scatback Dexter McCluster, is at the Combine and is pleasantly surprised. Some teams are talking to him about running back.
“Which I love,” McCluster said. Some teams want the smallish McCluster to be a wide receiver; 190-pound running backs don’t last in the NFL.
But McCluster is a special talent, as Oklahoma State fans know from the Cotton Bowl. He said he’s comfortable at running back or wide receiver. “I tell ‘em all the same thing,” McCluster said. “Punt return, kick return, gunner (on punts). It’s going to help me do a lot of different things.”
NFL Combine: Spagnuolo talks McCoy, Bradford
Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo is a defensive guy. Coordinated the Giants’ Super Bowl-champion defense before jumping aboard the St. Louis ship of misery.
But Spagnuolo says that doesn’t mean he’ll campaign for St. Louis to draft a defensive tackle (Ndamokung Suh or Gerald McCoy) over a quarterback (Sam Bradford).
“I know we all get labeled,” Spagnuolo said. “You gotta look at it as what’s best for the team.”
Spagnuolo did offer the following thoughts:
On the differences between OU’s McCoy and Nebraska’s Suh. “I’m always the type of person to say you haven’t watched enough tape. But it’s two great football players that are going to be great in this league. Dominant defensive tackles, somebody who’s going to change the game. Give offensive coordinators around the league headaches.”
On whether the beleaguered Rams, 1-15 last year and undergoing an ownership change, will feel pressure to take a quarterback: “I don’t know that we’ll get wrapped up in that. Any picks takes a risk.”
On what he looks for in a quarterback: “Leadership-type guys. I don’t know if you can define it. It’s sort of like the ‘it’ factor. See how guys react in different situations. Hopefully get good information. Anybody can fool anybody in 15 minutes (at the Combine). But it’s more than that. It’s digging deep.”
On whether he’s ready to hand over the reins to a rookie quarterback: “Unless you’re forced into it, it’s better to ease the guys in. I think it depends on the person you’ve got.”
On whether the Rams might trade the first pick: “If it’s the right thing to do, nobody’s stuck on not trading down.”
Emails in on Big 12 realignment
The new emails are in, and lots of talk about conference realignment, college hoops and the draft.
Bill wrote about the future of the Big 12: “I’m a Cowboy and here are my admittedly ignorant opinions on conference re-alignment possibilities. If the Pac-10 takes Utah, they will take BYU as well. BYU is a much larger school than Utah and they command attention in Utah like OU does in Oklahoma. Can you imagine the OU alumni and fans if OSU wanted to leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten and leave OU behind? This would be similar. BYU is the OU of Utah. The Utah legislature won’t allow Utah to leave without having BYU attached to the deal. Besides, would you really prefer Colorado to BYU? The same thing applies to Texas and its schools. The four Texas institutions in the Big 12 taken as a whole benefit from being together in one conference. Even if UT, with or without A&M, were to gain from joining the Big Ten or Pac-10, the others would suffer greatly. As a legislator in Texas, if the aggregate benefit of the four together is more than the aggregate benefit of UT leaving for another conference, you would force them to stay together.”
No way will the Pac-10 take BYU, under any circumstances. The Pac-10 is run by a bunch of elitists. And those elitists want no part of a fundamentalist university like BYU. You might be right that Utah politicians wouldn’t let Utah leave without BYU having a place to go, but that place to go could be the Big 12, which wouldn’t mind BYU’s politics. As far as Texas, that’s an interesting point. There was a time when Baylor and Tech had to be considered by UT. No way could Texas leave without A&M, but I’m not sure if Texas AND the Aggies now could leave without Baylor and Tech. The political leadership has changed from the ’90s. Enough to screw Baylor and Tech? I don’t know.
Clay: “I agree the Big 12 would lose Texas in a heart beat if they change the revenue stream. Previously it was said that our TV contracts haven’t been real good, but it should change when they are renewed in a couple of years. It would seem your argument for better scheduling in football nonconference games would allow for a bigger payday for the conference. Last year there were weekends with no attractive games for the networks.”
You’re exactly right. And by the way, Texas might be turning around a little, playing a little better schedule. The Longhorns have UCLA this season, UCLA and BYU in 2011, and Ole Miss in 2012.
Kevin, a Nebraska fan: “Just something I wanted to ask you about Texas being the engine that runs the B12. I wanted to point out one thing that I completely disagree with you on. Our TV market. In the 2009 Gator Bowl, NU/Clemson produced a 4.1 rating, or a 58% increase from the previous year’s game. And in the 2009 Holiday Bowl, the game had a 3.7 rating with 4.2 million viewers and I could argue a majority was Nebraska, since Arizona doesn’t have much of a following for football, as compared to 2007 when UT played ASU and drew 4.2 million viewers as well. It should also be noted, since maybe you don’t know, that NU is the No. 4 most profitable football team in college football (according to Forbes) behind UT, Notre Dame and Penn State with a $49 million dollar profit in 2009. So while I am not in any way saying UT is not a big driving force, NU is right there with them. I mean, a large amount of our fan-base DOESN’T stay in the state of Nebraska. We’ve become spread out across the entire U.S. Anything to assist in the debate AGAINST the TV ratings thing. I really just can’t see our ratings being THAT bad when we have such a large fan base.”
Then you need to get your eyes checked. Fan base and television market are not anything close to the same. Need a bowl team? Need a sold-out stadium? Nebraska’s your man. Need a TV market that will boost your network contracts by tens of millions of dollars? You won’t find it in middle America, other than Texas. This is the way the world works. TV sets are like the Chinese army; they overwhelm you with numbers. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois. Those are huge states, and the Big East is looking to add even more, like New Jersey or New York. Not Nebraska. Nebraska offers the TV markets of Omaha and Lincoln. Texas offers the TV markets of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin. And draws the same kind of national crowd that Nebraska would draw. The Big 12′s network contracts would be cut severely without Texas. They would not be significantly impacted without Nebraska.
Larry, a Texas Tech fan: “Feudalism worked well for a long time, for the guys in the big houses. I have always considered the Big 12 to be an oligarchy run by and for the benefit of three schools. Any pecuniary benefits accruing to the other nine of us are just whore’s pay. If ever the Mountain West were to be admitted to the BCS party, I’d vote for my school joining without a backward glance (assuming the Texas Legislature, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the UT Law School Alumni Association, would allow it). Does DeLoss Dodds realize that he is not going to be able to bring the Austin Mafia with him if they go to the Big 10?”
Yes, I think Dodds realizes it.
Toby: “I enjoyed your articles on the Big 12. I am native Okie living in SEC country. Regarding your list of possible schools to join the conference, I think BYU may have a broader appeal than just TV sets in Utah, because of the presence of Mormons throughout the western U.S. and California. Also, I recently read an article in the Salt Lake Tribune that said there is a strong sense in Provo that the liberal Pac-10 schools would oppose BYU because of the ultra-conservative politics of the LDS. I have always thought Arkansas was a better fit for the Big 12 than the SEC (and their recruiting has never been the same since they no longer play games in Texas like they used to), but I know it is highly unlikely they would leave the SEC. So, if CU makes the unwise move of bolting for the Pac-10, my vote is to add BYU.”
I agree completely. Heck, I’d probably vote BYU over Iowa State right now.
Bruce: “With the news of UT seeking greener pastures, I see a decent chance OU gets screwed, especially considering that OSU is likely going to be a millstone hanging from OU’s neck. The Big 12 in its current form is only going to last at most 10 years but more likely no more than five. There are already too many schools in it resentful of the power that UT wields and the big ado that has arisen in the past two weeks only enhances it. Even though fans of every other school hate it, if they are honest with themselves they know that losing UT destroys the conference in terms of national image. The two killers for OU are if UT goes to the Big Ten and that is the sole addition. I have doubts that UT would be able to leave A&M in that kind of bind, since the Texas legislator is controlled by former Aggies. The worst scenario is UT and A&M leave for the Pac-10 and the Big Ten snares NU or MU. Under the first scenario you can go on with Utah, TCU or New Mexico and move on after taking a pretty damaging hit and an especially bad one for OU because UT would be more likely to drop OU than A&M as a nonconference game. Under the second scenario, there is nothing outside of the 20 million or so people in its footprint that anyone cares about watching on TV. OU would still have a national name but they aren’t playing anyone in conference games that the nation is going to really care about seeing. They basically become the Big East 1500 miles west. No way OU stays nationally relevant for very long in football and it happens even faster if UT decides to end the OU series. The best that OU can hope for with that is that the SEC sees value in adding them and three other schools (Mizzou, Miami, FSU, Georgia Tech, OSU or Clemson) to make a 16-team conference, however unlikely that may be. Short of that pipe dream, the best for the remaining Big 12 is for it to become a nine-team Big East Western division and plays the Big East Eastern division in a title game but not in any interdivisional games. I won’t even attempt to think about how that basketball tourney would work. For OU, the best scenario outside of complete madness if UT leaves is that the Big Ten or Pac-10 decides to go beyond 12 schools. If we start under that pretense that save Utah or BYU no non-BCS team is going to get a call. Why would the Pac-10 whore itself out to Boise with their 35k stadium and 10 years of I-A tradition just to add a title game and divide the pie by another slice, especially considering how bad they are in every other sport? Then the list of viable candidates for Big Ten and Pac-10 expansion come from either the Big 12 or Big East. I doubt any team from the Big East is a primary target of the Big Ten. Pitt is not a bad fallback option but doesn’t add to the footprint of the conference and though it is a national name adding it to the conference doesn’t make the cable company in say, Tucson, we have to add the Big Ten Network to our basic lineup without other schools being added as well. So most of the new blood for each of these conferences would come from the Big 12. If the Pac-10 goes beyond 12 schools, it’s likely to go to 16 schools, assuming it keeps up with the tradition of traveling partners, which wouldn’t be a terrible idea since basketball can now easily have weeknight doubleheaders with teams in the central time zone.”
Thanks, Bruce. And go stretch your legs. I actually cut this email more than half. It was 1,450 words originally. Amazing how people can get so worked up. I think, Bruce, that you are too pessimistic. I think Texas is with the Big 12 for a long while. I think the other league members know Texas steers the boat. And if the Big Ten can’t get Notre Dame, it very well could come after Texas. But it might not, and even if it does and UT rejects the Big Ten, the Big Ten almost certainly next would look East, toward Syracuse or Boston College or Rutgers. They would bring more television sets than Nebraska, Missouri or Kansas, and that’s what it’s all about. I sort of like the Pac-10 Eastern Division concept. That would be kind of cool.
Edgar: “Texas wasn’t going anywhere. They would never have abandoned the SWC castoffs. The Big Eight bailed out the old SWC. If the league lets UT bully them out of lunch money, wusses. By far the NFL is the most successful sports enterprise in America and it practices good old-fashioned socialist revenue sharing. In MLB’s unfettered winner-take-all free market, all yawn as the Yankees win a title.
I think Texas would and could leave Tech and Baylor, if it served the ‘Horns’ purpose. And in the last nine years, nine franchises have won the World Series and 14 have made the World Series. In the last nine years, six NFL franchises have won the Super Bowl and 13 have made a Super Bowl. I don’t like baseball any more than the next guy, but at some point we’ve got to quit talking about the NFL’s parity and ignoring baseball’s.
Mel, a Mizzou grad: “Your assertions about Texas/Big 12 revenue sharing are all just fine and the old Big Eight schools know/recognize all about the Texas/OU side of things. But there are two things that are really off base in your article. Believing anything Dan Beebe says in support of anyone other than Texas is like believing Nancy Pelosi. Do you really think anybody (even the people whose puppet he is) takes him seriously?? What a joke! And if MU likes what it hears from the Big Ten, it is a strong entity to step away from Texas. If that happens, Colorado will seriously welcome Pac-10 conversations, and at that point, Nebraska will weigh its options as well. No matter how much Nebraska may benefit from its alliance with Texas and OU, it does not like playing little brother to those schools. It wants respect and I have a feeling they will consider jumping if MU does. Let’s be honest. The Big 12 has catered to certain schools at the expense of MU (can you say KU in the Orange Bowl after losing to MU?) . There are certain things that MU will always allow to the Bigger Boys, but letting KU football (and Lew Perkins) walk over an MU presence will not be tolerated without long-term consequences. There is a political presence in the state of Missouri that is highly independent, and when it comes to a league insulting this school with its strongest rival, that does not go away ever!”
Let me get this straight. Missouri is still sore at Kansas for going to the Orange Bowl, so it’s going to stand up to Texas? That’s nonsense. It’s getting old, hearing the North talk about puppet commissioners. Missouri is not in any kind of position of strength. Missouri will not “like” what it hears from the Big Ten. Missouri is on the Big Ten’s doorstep, begging, with hat in hand. And Missouri is a last-ditch option for the Big Ten. Mizzou, and to a lesser degree Nebraska, has no political pull. Missouri adds nothing to the Big Ten. Nebraska adds good football but is the worst kind of conference addition. They bring no TV sets and they will beat your butt. Meanwhile, Colorado doesn’t have the money to do anything, including leave. You’re right. Texas has been calling the shots in this league. For one reason. Because it can.
Jay wrote about OU’s desire to produce a DVD series on its history: “I can tell you what OU should be doing – whatever Notre Dame does, because ND is the only collegiate football power with 2,000 years of experience in promoting itself. It is a place where religion and football have been intentionally intertwined. Just like OU.”
You know, here’s one thing I thought about on all this conference alignment. What if OU went independent? And here’s what I think. I think Sooner football would be OK. I think it could put together a solid schedule and still be a national contender. But basketball would get murdered. Absolutely murdered. Basketball would fall off the face of the Earth.
Jason wrote about my use of Boomers as a Thunder side name: “If the Boomer nickname truly bothers Okie State alums so much, why haven’t they done anything about Boomer Lake in Stillwater?”
Because it’s not Boomers that really bothers people. It’s having nothing to bitch about.
Mark wrote about my Mike Holder column: “I agree with you that Mike Holder probably made the right call in firing Sean, but he carried it out in an extremely poor fashion. You rightly credit Holder for fracturing the fan base. But it wasn’t because he fired Sean that fractured the fan base, it was the reasons Holder publicly gave for firing Sean that fractured the fan base. Basically, what you’ve said is Holder lied about why he fired Sean. I agree. Publicly Holder only said that Sean was a victim of Eddie’s success; that not making the NCAA tournament three years in a row was unacceptable; every reason given basically pointed to the won/loss record. I know this because I’m one of the fractured fans. I read every article, watched the new conference, read the transcript of the news conference and no reasons were ever given other than on-court performance. Sure there were rumors of other reasons, but the rumors went both ways. So I tried to stick with official public statements. Based on what was announced, the decision to fire Sean was completely wrong, unjust, unfair and totally unacceptable. Therefore, I could no longer support OSU basketball. I had been an avid Cowboy fan since I attended OSU in the late ’70s. I have rarely missed attending, watching or listening to Cowboys basketball in the last 20 years. I used to plan my schedule around Cowboy basketball. But in the last two seasons, I haven’t watched more than three or four games. I’ve turned down several opportunities to use our company’s season tickets, all because of the way Holder and OSU administration handled Sean’s dismissal. I used to think OSU had great integrity. I can’t tell you how pleased I was when Leonard Hamilton suspended Richard Dumas two years in a row from post-season play. Our best player suspended. Hamilton could have easily dragged his feet, let him play, then handled it internally during the off-season. But Hamilton made the right decision for Dumas and OSU, he had great integrity. Bottom line, Sean Sutton was OSU family and you don’t treat family the way OSU treated Sean. All this misperception is because Holder decided to lie. If Holder had just told the truth, stating that his decision to fire Sean was primarily due to factors other than Sean’s won/loss record, but for privacy reasons he was not willing to talk about it publicly, I would have accepted that decision and statement. But Holder was deceived into thinking that lying would be the best way to handle the firing. In reality he was trying to take the easy way out. By blaming Sean’s firing on his won/loss record, publicly it would blow over faster and the fractured fan base would come back once OSU started winning again. But that’s the deception of lie. I believe Holder has done far greater damage to OSU than he would have if he’d only told the truth. I also wonder if Sean would have received help sooner if Holder had told the truth. I guess that’s something we’ll never know, but I must say, I’m surprised that you’re letting Holder skate on this issue. I’ve listened/read enough to know that you know the importance of being truthful. I’m surprised you missed the mark with this column.”
You’ve got to be kidding. You say Sean was family, and you don’t treat family the way OSU treated Sean? What do you with family? Throw them under the bus and then back over them? You wanted Holder to say Sean was fired for reasons he couldn’t talk about? Sean’s career would have ended right there. The way Holder handled it, he gave Sean a shot at straightening up. Holder took the bullet, took the criticism for firing a coach whose record wasn’t that bad. And he let Sean keep his dignity and, if he wanted, try to get clean in private. We now know that Sean squandered that chance, but that’s not Holder’s fault. And while Holder didn’t come completely clean, he wasn’t outright lying. Here’s the telling quote from Holder: “Whether it’s right or wrong, we have high expectations of our basketball program. We felt like we could do better and hopefully we will do better. Only time will tell. I feel like this is the best decision for us going forward.” But you’d rather Holder have said Sean was fired for reasons that have to remain private. Which means imaginations can run wild. Substance abuse. Chasing coeds. Embezzling funds. Turns out, it WAS that bad. But Holder spared Sean. There was no good way to handle it, thanks to Sean himself. I think Holder handled it in about the best way possible.
Brad: “How long has it been since OU football and basketball was this bad? The combined record of 2009 football (8-5) and 2009-10 men’s basketball (13-14) will be the worst since 1980-81, when the teams combined for a 19-20 record (10-2 football, 9-18 Basketball). Thank goodness for gymnastics.”
You know, this season could surpass 1980-81. If Capel’s squad loses out, it will finish 13-18, making a combined record of 21-23. Which will be worse than 1980-81 and send us back to, I don’t know, the mid-’60s to find a worse athletic year for the flagship sports.
Doug wrote about my blog chastising Jeff Capel for some of his actions this season: “I support Jeff Capel’s program. That said, anyone remotely associated with Oklahoma basketball this year would have a very difficult time arguing against this latest posting.”
Here’s my main point. Why are college coaches so off limits? They control their environment, from players to largely schedules, too, and yet if things go south, it’s never their fault. Until they’re fired. Why can’t we have solid dialogue about a coach’s fallacies, without lopping his head?
Jeff: “Your truthful inference provides a depth to the otherwise static nature of stats and promotional lit. In my neighborhood, we have a garage association. Nearly all of us being Sooners, conversation often turns to OU sports and the like. I find myself defending your work because my die-hard buddies think you’re an OU-hater. Of course that’s not the case. Mentioned to my wife last night while catching about three minutes of the OU-KU game that it was time the men’s coach was publicly questioned.”
Either I’m an OU hater or an OU homer. The difference is small. Two little letters in the middle.
Douglas: “I’ve been saying this for six weeks. He’s paid the big bucks to figure it out and properly motivate everyone. I don’t expect to make the Great Eight every year, but missing the tournament is unacceptable.”
I would disagree. I don’t think missing the tournament is unacceptable. Sometimes things happen. But OU is about to finish 4-12, 13-18, something like that. That’s getting unacceptable. And let me say something about the NCAA Tournament. When a traditional tournament team misses March Madness, there’s a trend that argues, see, it’s not as easy as everyone thinks. Yes it is. For a good basketball school in a major conference, the NCAA Tournament is very easy to make. A school like Oklahoma (and Oklahoma State) has to play its way out of the tournament, not in.
Bob: “Is Capel showing signs of being John Blake-like? Great recruiter but low to average coaching skills. Too early to tell?”
No, it’s not too early to tell. Capel is nothing like Blake. Blake was clueless. Capel is not.
Kent: “Good article on Capel. The first year wasn’t on him. This year is on him. Next year, he will be under heavy pressure. It’s like OU football. A bad year coaching. Injuries happen. Line up and play.”
I don’t think there will be any heavy pressure on Capel next season. But Capel has nowhere near the injuries football had. This team stunk before Warren got hurt.
Jim: “Good to see you and your paper chastising someone who needs it. Sometime I wonder why the paper is not tougher on some sports figures in the state. I also think Capel will become a better coach, but his decision on not letting the players dress in OU garb and not using the dressing room was just plain stupid. How do you back down from that if it doesn’t work? Which apparently it did not and only served to further alienate his team.”
Excellent point. Capel left himself no wiggle room.
Mitchell wrote about the NFL Draft: “As to Dez Bryant and his NFL future, I am not as optimistic as you and most the other pundits predicting greatness. Of course, he may wind up with 1,000 catches and I will eat my favorite dish, stuffed crow. But until I see it, here is my exhibit list: 1. Hart Lee Dykes: After getting every school from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast on probation, the highly over-rated one from Bay City flopped in the NFL. While he had great hands, he was no blazer and couldn’t run routes to save his life. But we were told he was going to be a superstar. 2. Rashaun Woods. This OKC product had flypaper hands and the speed of Alex Karras. His NFL career was el-busto. If he were a baseball player his patron saint would have been Clint Hartung or Clint Hurdle. We were told he was going to be a great ” NFL receiver, something akin to Jerry Rice. He played more like Anne Rice. 3. Adarius Bowman: Boy was he going to be a great pro, we were told. Best receiver in the Big 12. Big, fast and physical. Look out NFL, here comes the next Paul Warfield. So far, Bowman’s career makes Malcolm Kelly, by comparison, look like Don Hutson. Based on the above, I am skeptical about OSU ends at the next level. OSU receivers are like Texas Tech quarterbacks. They are best undrafted and products of the system. Throw in Bryant’s other issues, and I’m not buying this hype. And not to pick on the Aggies too much, I must also say that anyone who thinks Zac Robinson is an NFL quarterback should be forced to watch old Randy Dean highlights from Northwestern.”
Who in the heck is Randy Dean? And by your theory, Sam Bradford has no chance in the pros, since OU hasn’t had a quarterback throw an NFL pass since before World War II. I think Dez will break the OSU mold. And Dykes was not a bust. He had 49 catches for 795 yards (16.2 yards per catch) and five TDs as a rookie. In Year 2, he had 34 catches through 10 games, for 549 yards (16.1 yards per catch). Then he got hurt and never played again.
Karan: “A talented, law-abiding, normal and decent athlete was a delightful read over breakfast. Thanks for an encouraging and uplifting column. I wish Russell Okung much future success.”
Here’s an untold story. Athletes of Nigerian descent. They seem to be pretty solid citizens. I go to church with a couple of Nigerian families, and they’re high achievers.
Jeff wrote about Tiger Woods: “How come the PGA Tour suspended John Daly for ‘unwanted publicity?’ But yet, they don’t fine Tiger Woods? I guess this isn’t ‘unwanted publicity?’ I mean he disgraced his family, and his sponsors, and even made the world make fun of the PGA. So why doesn’t he get suspended, too?”
John Daly’s antics made Tiger look like Andy Griffith. But Daly still didn’t get suspended. Only when his behavior carried over to the course. Not showing up. Walking off. Being a goofball in the middle of a round. That’s when he got suspended. If you started suspending people for private-life nonsense, our society would crumble.
Bill Hancock’s Olympic adventure: Day 18
Old pal Bill Hancock, executive director of the BCS, on his 18th day in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics, where he is a media volunteer:
“Breakfast: Banana. Peanut butter crackers. Factoid from Olympic historian extraordinaire Jim Constandt who ably staffs the help desk: Albert Spaulding, 1900 shooting Olympian, founded the sporting goods company.
“I have traded books with my friend Jim, a volunteer for the USOC. Jim wrote a report about the Olympic trees—oak seedlings that were given to the gold medalists at Hitler’s 1936 games. I love the idea of the trees. Jim exhaustively researched what happened to each of those saplings. Several are still living. The whereabouts of most is unknown. Several were thrown away by athletes who didn’t quite understand that trees are lovelier than poems. Others were confiscated by customs officials who were worried about strange diseases like oak-steoporosis. One tree, won by wrestler Frank Lewis, lived many years in Stillwater. Here’s what Jim wrote about the Oklahoma oak, which was in bad shape when Lewis got home: ‘(Lewis) turned it over to the (OSU) college of forestry to see if the tree could be nursed back to health. A year or two later, it had grown so tall that it was too big for the greenhouse. Frank decided to have it transplanted in front of his fraternity, Sigma Chi, on the OSU campus, where a plaque identified the tree. The Olympic Oak grew to be tall, healthy and beautiful. However, it died in 1990 after being struck by lightning several times.’ How about that!
“Lunch: cookie, M&M’s, Triscuit. Still no McDonald’s. Will make it. The big McDonald’s in the Main Press Center is pretty comfortable; there’s even an electric-log fireplace surrounded by comfortable chairs where folks can pretend they’re in a warm ski lodge. There’s also a fireplace in Hudson’s Pub, the watering hole near our hotel where writers have begun to meet and greet nightly.
“I did an Uncle Billy this morning: walked to the USA Today office with tickets and left the tickets on a desk. Fortunately Mister Potter was not the attendant and I got my tickets back without the help of Clarence. Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!
“Weather: Rained all day. ‘It’s pouring out there,’ a British woman said as we looked at the bay. Pouring? This was a gentle shower. Clearly they don’t have good ol’ Kansas-Oklahoma thunderstorms in England. Our rain is like castor oil: nasty, but over quickly. This rain brought out the smell of piney woods and ocean, like Cripple Creek meets Coney Island. High 48, low 44. No seagull. No mountains. A few bits of Angel hair in the valleys. If I lived here, I would get a balcony and sit there and look at these mountains 24 hours a day, with an hour or two out for college football in season.
“Took two nice little walks downtown in the rain, which doesn’t seem to bother the local folks. They get by just fine with umbrellas and parkas. I guess they’ve grown accustomed to this place. And to wet feet.
“They say queue; we say line. Watched a double queue a block long today, people waiting in the rain to touch an Olympic medal. I can’t think of anything I’d wait in line three hours to touch. Actually they brought three medals to the Main Press Center this morning and I rushed down for the photo op. Only two guys were in line in front of me; one of them got a photo made of himself grinning with a gold medal, then the guards said, ‘sorry, no more’ and I was shut out. Bronze medal. Rats.
“Went into the Roots store near Commerce and Akard, er, Robson and Granville. Cute stuff, hordes of people. I touched a $500 windbreaker. Walked in the rain to the cauldron. People continue to flock there. It’s a steady, happy, respectful procession.
“Tough decision tonight: medals ceremony (oh, excuse me, ‘victory ceremony’) or Apollo Ono. Chose the medals. Every night there’s a ceremony in the domed stadium where yesterday’s winners get their hardware. Basically they’ve curtained off the stadium, Final Four style. Fans sat on three sides of a big stage. I guess 15,000 people were there. The announcers in the big ol’ dome kept the crowd posted as to the score of the Canada hockey game.
“Two of us were on the bus: me and a photographer from Belarus who spoke about as much English as I speak Martian. ‘Medals,’ he sort of kept saying as we walked through the back hallways of the stadium looking for our place. The volunteers thought he was saying ‘media’ and kept pushing us up, up, up. ‘You cannot get near the athletes,’ they said. My pal was sweating mightily and I’m pretty sure he was cussing in severe Belarusian. I had a feeling we were walking away from where we needed to be. You know, like some dream where you’re in Texas driving to New Mexico and find yourself in New Hampshire? I grabbed a smart-looking volunteer and said, ‘this guy needs help; his countryman won the gold medal in freestyle skiing and he wants to take a photo. It may be the most important moment in both of their lives. Can you help him?’ She nodded gamely and whisked him away. I spotted him later in the front row of the teeming photo bay while I watched happily from the press seating area upstairs. Sometimes everything comes together.
“I didn’t know who would be receiving medals. Like at the NCAA Tournament where I always cheered inside for the team with the best fight song, I was pulling for some country with a singable anthem, like England or Canada, or best yet, the USA. No luck. The Belarus aerialist appeared confused by his, but the Finns in Whistler belted theirs out like actors in a Gilbert and Sullivan production.
“The splendid German anthem made me cry because I am so glad that young people can ski together and raise glasses together and what would our grandparents think about that? It’s pretty slick: there’s a ceremony in Whistler every day and one at Vancouver and they’re choreographed together. They gave the aerials medals in Vancouver, then the big TV screen on the domed stadium showed the biathlon ceremony from Whistler. The ceremony really is terrific. After the medalists leave, the dignity is loaded up on a truck, a rock band comes out and the audience goes nuts. Never having been to a rock concert, I stayed a while while Great Big Sea performed. The bass made my socks quake but the singing was excellent and I could actually hear myself think and, my goodness, the crowd loved the whole thing. My favorite part was the accordion player. I wish I could have understood the words; they could have been singing in Belarusian for all I know. To get more into my comfort zone, I tried to find hockey on the TV at my seat in the press area, but Great Big Sea was on every channel. I think a domed stadium is the best place to listen to loud music.
“The door broke and I couldn’t get out of the dome for a while, which gave me a chance to meet Lakshmi, a pretty and polite security guard at the domed stadium. She came here from India 22 years ago. She said they’re going to get rid of the air-supported roof on the stadium and stick on a retractable one in a couple of years.
“My Belarus photographer friend was waiting for the bus when I finally escaped the stadium. He didn’t recognize me. I had committed a perfect RAK, because the recipient was unaware. There was no traffic on the ride back to the press center — pedestrian nor vehicular. After all, it’s hockey night in Canada.
“Dinner: Molson, nacho, Molson, chicken wing, potato skin. I missed seeing Apollo get disqualified. Dang.
“That explosion at 9 p.m. every day? It’s a Vancouver tradition, a cannon fired in Stanley Park. Volunteer du jour: Tiffany, 20, transportation coordinator at the curling venue. Not exactly a volunteer; she’s paid by the hour. Works from Feb.17 to Feb. 27. Graduated from college in November, looking for real work now. She counts the people getting on the bus and tells the bus driver. ‘I will always remember that I worked at the Olympics,’ she said. ‘The people I work with are great. The days go quickly.’
“These people are SO friendly. What a privilege to be here! Every day is an adventure. With glowing hearts, eh?”
NFL Combine: Keith Toston interview
Oklahoma State tailback Keith Toston stopped by the NFL Combine media room Friday. Here is a transcript of his interview.
Is it tough balancing school and football?
“Yes it’s tough. I have a little bit of work to graduate, but I’m going to get there. I think I’m going to have come back and take a couple of classes this summer and finish up.”
What’s the week been like?
“Tough. Slow-paced. Any guy who’s trained as hard as we have to get started, you’re ready to get to running.”
What have you done so far?
“Whole lot of medical work. Papers. Get blood taken. Get our height and weight. Saw a lot of doctors.”
What are you hearing about where you might be drafted?
“At the earliest, third round. Worst case, fifth round. Anywhere between third and fifth.”
What kind of practice player was Russell Okung?
“He’s aggressive. Very aggressive. He always hits. I just watched him earlier do his bench. I was peeking behind one of the curtains. I wanted to get a chance to watch him. When he started benching, he did a lot of reps. Even when he got up, since I watched him, he had the most yet. He jumped up a little mad at himself. Thought he had a couple more reps. He’s a leader vocally. He helped us tremendously, the entire team, going through all the tribulations we’ve been through this year.”
You seemed to make the most of your opportunity, with Kendall Hunter getting hurt this year?
“God works in mysterious ways. Just one of those things. A guy went down and I had to step up. One of those things I was waiting on for awhile. Gives me opportunity to make a future in football. I’m proud to be here. But it’s a business trip.”
You were a good passcatcher at OSU? Will that help you in the NFL?
“I hope so. To me, two things I try to do tremendously is pass block and catch the ball well. Any running back that’s considered a pretty good running back can run the ball. I’m trying to catch the ball and pass protect as best I can. Go the NFL, they have guys that can run the ball already. I’m looking for any little thing that can get me a heads up and get me on somebody’s team.”
Will you go through all the drills?
“Yes sir, I will. I expect to do everything.”
Who’s your agent?
“Jordan Woy, Dallas, Texas.”
NFL Combine: Jermaine Gresham interview
OU tight end Jermaine Gresham, who missed his senior season with a knee injury, came to the podium at the NFL Combine on Friday. Here is a transcript of his interview.
What did the doctors tell you or ask you about your knees?
“It was a basic check-up. They asked about how it was going, how did it feel. They pulled it, yanked on it and it turned out good.”
What did they know, or did they ask any questions beforehand?
“They really didn’t ask no questions. They were just checking to see where it is right now, and it’s back to 100 percent. So everything’s good on it.”
When the knee was injured last August, did you make a decision then to hang up college football, or was it medically impossible for you to play all of last year?
“It was an injury which kept recurring. It required surgery, so I got it fixed and just looked long term-wise. I mean, I missed playing with my guys at OU, but it was something that needed to be done.”
Did they express concern about the ACL you had in high school?
“No. No problem at all.”
Did you consider coming out last year?
“It was something that was thought about, but I wanted to come back for my guys and win a national championship with my guys at OU.”
Did you regret it?
“No sir, I don’t regret it at all.”
What type of practice player is Sam Bradford?
“The best. He goes out there every day and he competes. So you know, no matter what the circumstances may be, practice or game, you’re gonna get the best out of Sam Bradford.”
What do you want to be as a tight end prospect?
“I want to be everything. I want to be a guy that, you know, the greatest player, if not one of the greats, that played it. So hopefully I can be a great blocker, great pass catcher, great route runner, everything.”
Did you meet with the Ravens, or are you going to?
“I met with a couple teams. I can’t remember exactly. I know the Rams, the Bills, Vikings, just to name a few.”
What are teams getting out of Gerald McCoy?
“A great player. A great, great player.”
What’s he capable of doing?
“Anything he wants. He’s a dominant player. I haven’t seen many people line up in front of him and block him. I mean, he’s just a dominant player at that position.”
You going through all the workouts here?
“Yeah, I’m doing everything.”
From a blocking standpoint, do teams tell you they still want to see certain things, or do you feel like you still have a lot of room to grow as a blocker?
“Teams haven’t told me anything. At all. I think that’s a personal goal for myself. I want to be a complete tight end. I want to be on the field every down and I want to compete. I want to block, I want to catch, I want to do everything.”
What was your conversation like with the Rams?
“We talked about football, really. We had film and went over plays and coverages, and they kind of tested my knowledge of my game?”
Was it coach Leonard?
“I think all the coaches were there, offense-wise.”
What NFL player do you emulate?
“I’d like to be like a Tony Gonzalez, just be great like that, in a sense. You know, he played in so many Pro Bowls year in and year out. He’s a great player, he puts numbers up, he’s productive. I’d like to be something like that.”
Is proving your knee is OK your biggest goal out of this whole experience?
“No, my biggest goal is to come out here and compete. All the best tight ends that were coming out came here, and I want to compare myself to them. So my main goal here is to compete and try to be the best at everything.”
The real doubts about you has been your knee or knees. You’re saying you’re medically cleared and good to go and you feel good about that situation?
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve been yanked and tugged on and not one doctor said anything bad about it. They said the knee’s great and I’m good to go. I haven’t got any problem with it at all.”
You said recurring, can you describe that?
“Yeah, the knee was locking up because the meniscus was folding over. It was sublexing, and that forced it to lock. When it locks like that, the trainers can twist it back in, but when they do, it swells up, which leaves me out for two or three practices. And there wasn’t any use in missing two or three practices when it happens.”
Can you describe how it happened in practice, whether you were blocking, running, standing?
“I was just running. I was running a route. No helmet or anything. Freak accident, I guess. I think it tore before, but I kept playing on it. But that’s when it locked up on me.”
What are your expectations for the draft?
“My expectation is to get on a team. I don’t allow my agents to tell me that. I don’t really listen to it. My goal is to get on team anywhere. It doesn’t matter, fifth or sixth, that’s irrelevant. As long as I’m picked and lucky to play – I just miss football and want to play.”
Who’s your agent?
“Ben Dogra.”
Having missed a year, do you have more of an appreciation for football?
“The game of football itself, when you miss it – you don’t realize how important something is to you (until) it’s taken away from you. So I think I’ve seen how important football is to me and how much I love it, seeing my other guys play and not being able to contribute. That took a toll on me and made me appreciate the game a whole lot more.”
Did you always play tight end or did you evolve into it?
“I think it just happened. With my size and speed, it just happened. That’s how everything turned out. At high school, I played receiver. When I got so big, I came to college it was time for me to play a different position; I was too big to play that one. So I kind of turned into a tight end, and I love it, too.”
Are you similar to Detroit’s/Oklahoma State’s Brandon Pettigrew?
“Yeah. I’d like to be known as that. He got more recognition for being an all-around guy. I wish I had that. More or less I was seen as a pass catcher. So, I mean, he’s a great tight end, too. So I’d like to be compared with him.”
What range do you expect to run your 40 in?
“The 40? Somewhere around 4.7, 4.6, if everything goes well.”
Do teams ask you about your pass blocking abilities?
“No, they don’t really ask me about it. They go through film and say, ‘What are you doing? What is this?’ They really want to pick my brain about football.”
What’s your weight?
“I’m 261.”
Is that comfortable or can you get bigger and still be fast?
“I can get bigger. I mean, it’s comfortable with me right now. That’s just what I am.”
How much can you carry?
“For me, all the weight, I guess. I can be 270 and still run the same speed.”
Have you tried that?
“I’ve been there before.”
How tough was it for you last year, sitting and watching?
“That was very tough. Not being able to play with ‘em, that was the worst thing ever. But one positive thing about it was they played hard, and I want to say thank you to them for that, because they competed every down, every snap, and they had heart.”
How involved were you in helping the inexperienced tight ends along?
“Yeah, Brody (Eldridge) was there, too. Me and Brody were just trying to be seniors and be leaders and try to encourage them in what to do, how to do it and just try to show them the way.”
Who from OU have you reached out to in the league for pointers in this process?
“I really haven’t talked to anybody about it. I’ve just kind of gone through it by myself and seen how things are.”
Do you prefer playing tight or flexed?
“I like both of ‘em. I want to do both of ‘em great.”
Can you box out DBs; do you have a basketball background?
“I have a basketball background from high school. Pretty good high school career. I mean, you don’t think about it. It just happens. You don’t try to go out there and box a guy out, it just happens.”
You and Gronkowski are considered 1 and 2, what makes you think you’re the best?
“I don’t think I’m the best. I’ve got room for improvement. He’s a great tight end. Strong, big, big guy. Great tight end. I don’t know, that’s up to the GMs to do that. We just play ball. I just want to go out there and prove to myself that I’m healthy and I can play.”
You gonna work out?
“Yes sir.”
Did you get any D-1 basketball offers?
“I got a couple. I can’t even remember. I know Texas A&M gave me a college scholarship (offer). I can’t remember.”
Did you never played with or against Blake (Griffin).
“He was younger than me.”
Does the injury and time off make you appreciate this more?
“Yes, losing the game of football makes you appreciate what you (don’t have). It’s a getaway. It’s fun for me. it’s something that you love. You just don’t want to lose it.”
Do you watch a lot of NFL teams?
“Yes.”
Do you watch the Ravens? Are you a fit there?
“I’m a fit for every offense. Whatever a team wants me to do, I’ll do it.”
In reference to your earlier comment about wanting to be the greatest, what are your ultimate goals?
“Being a great player. Being known as a blocker, being known as a pass catcher, even down on special teams, even in the locker room. I want to be known for everything, somebody that can be known for everything that somebody can talk about as great or being one of the all-time legends or something like that.”
What’s your greatest on-field strength right now?
“My competitiveness. I’m gonna compete no matter what. Whatever the circumstances may be, hurt knee, hurt shoulder, whatever, I’m gonna go out there and compete with whatever it is.”
Physical strengths?
“I can’t give you one.”
Why’s that?
“I just can’t. Can’t give you one because I want to be everything.”
How would you rate your hands?
“My hands? A 6. Because they need a lot of improvement. Because I’ve dropped balls before. That’s something I need to work on. I need to be more consistent.”
How many drops?
“In a season? Too many.”
Bob Stoops doesn’t throw around comparisons lightly, but he compared you to Adrian Peterson for your ability to impact the team as a true freshman. How did that make you feel?
“Oh, it made me feel good. I never thought I was anywhere close to that guy’s stature, because he’s a freak. Athletic specimen. So when I heard that, it made me feel good. But in a sense, I know that he’s just being a coach, just being a nice guy. I still think I have a lot to prove.”
Bob Stoops?
“Yeah. He’s a nice guy.”
When’s pro day?
“March 9.”
If you do well here, will you work out there?
“If I need to, I will. I mean, I plan on doing everything as much as I can. I’ve been away from football so long, so I’m willing to do everything a team asks.”
How did you spend your time?
“Being a big cheerleader, being a cheerleader for my guys on the field, trying to help them out.”
Every game?
“Every game. Yes sir. My towel and my crutches.”
