Bull Rush

My latest edition of Bull Rush is up over at joebucsfan. Go check it out and let me know what you think!

Live Blogging The Bucs Vs Falcons Week 12

Kerry Rhodes Channels Latrell Sprewell

I don't think any real sports fan has ever forgotten Latrell Sprewell's quote in 2004 when he turned down a 3 year $21 million dollar contract extension from the Minnesota Timberwolves:

"I have a family to feed"

Yeah, $21 million, who could possibly eat off that?

Well we now have a new contender for Sprewell's throne for most financially out of touch pro player.

The guy's name is Kerry Rhodes and he fancies himself a model and an actor while his day job is formerly starting safety for the New York Jets.

I say formerly because he has just been demoted by first year head coach Rex Ryan. The same Rex Ryan who had been the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. The same Rex Ryan who had favorably compared Rhodes to his all world safety in Baltimore, Ed Reed, prior to the season starting.

Having watched Rhodes play all year I was only surprised that it took this long to bench him. The guy had become a liability on defense and he didn't look very brave on some of his tackling opportunities.

Now I am not saying that his modeling or acting had anything to do with his fall off in play, but I will say this. I never was a fan of guys doing too much during the season. There is plenty of time in the off season to pursue other interests, ball to you fall, go back to school, whatever a guy might want to do. But when the season is going on I liked to know that guys were singularly focused on winning games. And I just don't know how you can give that kind of commitment if every Tuesday you are chasing other dreams.

But I digress.

This article on Rhodes' benching is pretty much predictable right until you get to his quote at the end justifying his modeling and acting pursuits.

"If I can't have a living and do what I want to do besides football, maybe they should pay my bills," said Rhodes, who will make close to $10 million this season. "I have to think of my career outside football. Football is not forever."

Yeah Kerry Rhodes, with unemployment over 10% in this country and people losing their homes everyday, I am sure all of those Jets fans are gonna be REALLY sympathetic to you needing more than the almost $10 million dollars you are making in this year alone so you can "pay your bills".

To call that a dumbass statement would be an insult to dumbass statements.

If that really is Kerry Rhodes' mentality then some how I doubt he will ever be the player that some folks thought he might become. He certainly has taken several steps back this season.

But who knows, maybe he will be the next Denzel.

And perhaps then he will never again have to worry about covering that pesky light bill.

It is what it is.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Yes I'm still a big kid lol.

Hot Off The Presses: Week 12

No explanations this week, hell everybody deserves a holiday right? So buckle your seat because here we go.

Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving!

Packers at Lions: Packers.

Raiders at Cowboys: Cowboys.

Giants at Broncos: Broncos.

Sunday

Bucs at Falcons: Falcons.

Dolphins at Bills: Dolphins.

Browns at Bengals: Bengals.

Seahawks at Rams: Rams.

Panthers at Jets: Jets.

Redskins at Eagles: Eagles.

Colts at Texans: Colts.

Chiefs at Chargers: Chargers.

Jaguars at 49ers: 49ers.

Cardinals at Titans: Cardinals.

Bears at Vikings: Vikings.

Steelers at Ravens: Ravens.

Monday

Patriots at Saints: Saints.

Tim Tebow's Place In History

Quite a few people over the last couple of weeks have engaged in a debate over where Tim Tebow's career matches up in history. There are some who say he is the best college football player ever. There are others who say he was good but there are plenty of college football players that were as good or better. I decided to look at a few other players whose names have been thrown around as being in the same company as or better than Tebow and match up their resumes.

Now I myself have a hard time saying he was the best player ever. Maybe its the Gator Hater in me coming out. But one thing I will say is this, the guy's resume is at the top of the list. I used to hate on Tebow a lot, mostly because of how the media built him up to this other worldly status. But over his career I ended up respecting him as a player. And I was one of the people who actually picked the Gators to beat Oklahoma last year in the National Championship game. I know a lot of people will say now that they also picked them but I remember all the chatter back in December about how the Gators wouldn't be able to outscore the Sooners. But in the end the guy led them to victory yet again.

It was pretty much at that point where I admitted how good the guy really is. I don't mean in the way that you will hear announcers talk about him doing no wrong. I mean in terms of how you can just tell the guy is a winner. He busts his ass every play to try to help his team win. He also doesn't make the big mistake that you see from time to time from most quarterbacks. Oh he will fumble and he will throw the occasional interception, but its rare for him to make that big blundr that costs them the game. To me that's the kind of guy you want leading your team, especially when that guy has his physical tools. Gator Hater or not, there is no denying that.

So lets look at a few of the other contenders.

Vince Young: VY threw for 6,040 yards and 44 touchdowns with 28 interceptions in his career at Texas. He also rushed for 3,127 yards for a 6.8 average and 37 touchdowns. He didn't win the Heisman but he did beat USC in his final game to win the National Championship.

Bo Jackson: Bo ran for 4,303 yards in his college career with an SEC record 6.6 yard average and 45 touchdowns for the Auburn Tigers. He won the Heisman trophy in 1985 but he never won a National Championship.

Tommie Frazier: Tommie Frazier compiled a 33-3 record in College as a quarterback at Nebraska. He rushed for 2,263 yards and 36 touchdowns out of a run oriented/option offense. He also threw for 4,007 yards with 47 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He is the only player in college history to be named MVP in three different National Chanmpionship games and he led the Cornhuskers to titles in two of the 3 games. Although many will argue Frazier was good enough to win the Heisman, unfortunately he never came home with the trophy during his time in college. He also missed half of his junior year with a blood clot in his leg.

Now there are other guys out there of course that people could name, and those three guys definitely have very impressive resumes, however lets take a look at what Tebow has done in his career.

Tim Tebow: Tebow has thrown for 8,236 yards with 81 touchdowns versus just 15 interceptions and 51 touchdowns. He has also run for 2,743 yards with 54 touchdowns, an SEC record, with a 4.2 yard average. He has a career completion percentage of just over 65%. He also has won the Heisman, becoming the first underclassman to ever win it, and he has two National Championship rings on the mantle with another one within reach this year.

Now I understand that people are not going to ever agree about who was the best college football player ever. Its just like the age old argument about the greatest boxer ever in the clip. But what I will say is this, if people are going to go off of body of work then Tebow has to be in that conversation at least if he isn't at the top. He has done literally every thing you can do as a player and won all the top honors. There isn't a hole in his resume that anybody can point to and say "well he never did this". That should count for something if you ask me. It also should make a difference that he scored more rushing touchdowns that both Bo Jackson and Tommie Frazier, and his 4.2 yard career average is evidence that they weren't all just 1 yard runs.

I won't even touch on the TD to Int ratio.

Look you don't have to like the guy or the way the media has elevated him to respect what he has done out on those fields every Saturday. And when it comes down to just that Tim Tebow is way up high on the list of college football players. Don't hate me for saying it, the numbers don't lie.

It is what it is.

New Post Up At JoeBucsFan

My new post is up over at joebucsfan.com. Please go over and let me know what you think.