Georgia's Stafford and Moreno to Leave for the NFL

Come on. Give us one more shot at you. You can wear those black jerseys again...
It was announced this afternoon in Atlanta that both Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno will not return for their senior and junior years, respectively, to test the waters of the NFL draft. While most Bulldog fans were expecting at least one of them to go, having both declare is quite a blow for the pound pups. To put this decision in Auburn terms, it's akin to both Jason Campbell and Cadillac Williams declaring for the draft one year early after our failed 2003 MNC run.
Stafford apparently applied to the NFL for an evaluation of where he might come up in the draft--which you can do with no penalty from the NCAA--and liked what he got back--a probable first rounder. Moreno made no such request, but seemingly is willing to roll the dice anyway. Also evident is that Stafford is content to always play second fiddle behind QB David Greene in Georgia football annals, but maybe he needs the money...
I'm torn with what situations like this mean for my favorite sport. Although I generally don't give a damn about the NFL, I can be a bandwagon fan of any team with former Auburn players. I'm also a realist, and it's hard to ignore the lucrative contracts that await talented players. And who can blame them for wanting to move up the timetable on their life-long dream? Should the NCAA step in to stop this runaway train, or would that be limiting competition?
Football is a team sport, but college football is a family. You may go and be a hired gun for some franchise, but your family is always going to remember you for who you were. Although CFB is a de facto farm system for the NFL, it would pain me greatly to see it end up like the NBA, seemingly where players just check in and then hit the road. Maybe that's what's in store for us with all this hyper recruiting. You land a 5 star guy, he's gone in 2 years. I say no thanks. I'll stick with the guys that want to pay their dues for a while over the ones just passing through...
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Well...
You are already required to be 3 years removed from high school before declaring for the NFL draft. Juniors and RS Sophomores are the youngest players that can leave a school so this won’t turn into a NBA/NCAABB situation.
I don’t think anymore needs to be done. Once the rookie salary caps are worked out in the NFL (long overdue) I think this will work itself out and less players will leave early. The flip side to that is, it is in every player’s best interest to get while the gettin’s good right now in the NFL with no rookie salary caps.
by LSU Jonno on
Jan 7, 2009 3:59 PM CST
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Watching a playoff game this weekend...
…I saw where two different players for one team, I think San Diego, declare a high school instead of a college when they introduced themselves on camera. I was very puzzled. Maybe they just bounced around for a few years until they were eligible…
by War Eagle Atlanta on
Jan 7, 2009 4:17 PM CST
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One was either Karlos Dansby or Roderick Hood
(I believe it was Dansby)
That kinda rubbed me the wrong way, considering he went to Auburn
The artist formerly known as...
Mr Redbird @ Viva El Birdos
PowerOfDixieland @ Track Em Tigers, other SEC blogs
by jd is legend on
Jan 7, 2009 4:44 PM CST
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I don't think...
…it was either one of them. I would have noticed (I think).
by War Eagle Atlanta on
Jan 7, 2009 4:57 PM CST
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That's why I noticed
The artist formerly known as...
Mr Redbird @ Viva El Birdos
PowerOfDixieland @ Track Em Tigers, other SEC blogs
by jd is legend on
Jan 7, 2009 6:23 PM CST
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wow. really?
This must be something new for him. I’ve never heard him introduce himself that way…..
by Rene4AU on
Jan 7, 2009 9:50 PM CST
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It just hit me...
I wonder if whichever Auburn player it was did it as a protest over the Tuberville firing?
Hmmm…
by War Eagle Atlanta on
Jan 14, 2009 4:36 PM CST
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You certainly can't blame Stafford or Moreno.....
those kids will be multi millionaires on draft day….you can’t say that they will increase their worth by staying for their senior season. Powers….eh…not so much. As much as I want him to succeed I can’t for the life of me understand why he chose to leave now. With another year under his belt and some improvement he could possibly have moved into an early round pick. But now unless he just obliterates the combine…he’s a low third rounder at best and most likely a fourth round or worse pick. Hard to make sense of it……I wish him well.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
by Todd92 on
Jan 7, 2009 4:06 PM CST
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I agree
You really can’t blame these guys for making money while they can. I certainly don’t. But, Powers decision was surprising, just because he didn’t really give the scouts too much to look at this season. Like you said Todd, he might should’ve stuck around Auburn another year to build on the ole resume.
by Rene4AU on
Jan 7, 2009 9:53 PM CST
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get paid kids
the kids in athens are sad today. i’m gonna soak up some of this collective misery for myself…but honestly how can you get mad at kids who leave school early. i’d guess it’s 99.9% of the football players in the NCAA’s dream to play Pro Football (the others are Duke and Stanford students and Myron Rolle). if given the choice between getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to play the sport you love or stay somewhere else and do it for free for an extra year where you might get hurt or see your draft stock fall there really isn’t much of a choice to make.
i’m just glad to see them go. maybe we can finally get em next season.
by suicidewatch on
Jan 7, 2009 4:12 PM CST
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Shit
Even the Army guy who got drafted last year or the year before wanted to go play in the League. John Lynch is a Stanford grad, and has been a very successful CB in the NFL. I’d say most football players at schools like Stanford and Duke, as long as D1-A, would jump at the opportunity. Myron Rolle is the rare, rare, rare exception to the rule.
The artist formerly known as...
Mr Redbird @ Viva El Birdos
PowerOfDixieland @ Track Em Tigers, other SEC blogs
by jd is legend on
Jan 7, 2009 4:46 PM CST
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DAMN YOU NICK SABAN!!!!
That damned Nick Saban has struck again. Moreno and Stafford are scared and are running to the NFL to get away from Saban. They know that if they come back and have to face off againstGodSaban again, they will lose by at least 78 points andGod’sSaban’s defense might decapitate them and bury them in the endzone and plant a bush to commemorate the day that he killed two great players.
That is a quote from 95% of Bama fans today.
by Mattco on
Jan 7, 2009 5:45 PM CST
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Haha!
He’s running EVERYBODY out of town!
by War Eagle Atlanta on
Jan 7, 2009 6:00 PM CST
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That may
be the funniet shit i have ever read on here
Saban’s defense might decapitate them and bury them in the endzone and plant a bush to commemorate the day that he killed two great players
Classic.
"Jay Jacobs can't go to the bathroom without Bobby Lowder's permission" - Paul Finebaum
by GumptownTiger on
Jan 7, 2009 6:24 PM CST
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John Lynch
John Lynch played Free Safety. But you are right about how even players at highly academic schools even will usually move on to the NFL.
by Bestjagfan on
Jan 7, 2009 5:45 PM CST
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I should have just said DB
I wasn’t 100% sure. At least I know he went to Stanford, right?
The artist formerly known as...
Mr Redbird @ Viva El Birdos
PowerOfDixieland @ Track Em Tigers, other SEC blogs
by jd is legend on
Jan 7, 2009 6:24 PM CST
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Go to work and make some money
The reason that we go to college is so that we can get a job that we enjoy doing, and that offers a good salary. The kids that don’t go to the NFL are the ones making a mistake.
After their football career is over, then they can return to college to get their real degree. If they wait until after their football days are over in order to get their degree, then they will have more time to study and concentrate on school, as opposed to squeezing school in between football practice.
Furthermore, I think that kids should be able to go straight from high school to the NFL. I was very surprised when the supreme court ruled against that since it is a clear case of age discrimination. Similar to saying that the supreme court ruling should be ignored due to the judges being too old to be competent at their job.
by Pwauburn on
Jan 7, 2009 6:10 PM CST
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Highschool to NFL.....
Hell no. Its different going to the NFL from highschool then it is going to the NBA from highschool. The pounding that NFL players take would kill 99% of the 18 yr olds out there. The supreme court did them a favor by making it illegal. Think about how much muscle weight is added to a kids frame in the 2 or 3 years he spends in the college ranks. Not to mention the preparation he aquires. Sure there are those freaks(.001%) that could do it but even those i think would wash out in a few years. On the flip side though i don’t think that more should be done to prevent them from going after they have put in their time at college. Lets face it, most of them need the education anyway. Making our society better in the process.
As for Stafford, I don’t think he is ready to be honest with you. Sure the guy has got a cannon for an arm but he makes way too many mistakes. He throws in traffic alot! In college that can work out for you if you got the arm strength to do it (which he does), but at the Pro level they are going to all over his passes. He could have used another year to prepare himself for the NFL. I think he’ll be another Byron Leftwich/JeMarcus Russell in the NFL. Strong arm but not a good QUARTERBACK. Looking at all the best quarterbacks in the NFL: the Mannings, Brees, Ryan, Rivers…. they dont have Huge arms but they are excellent QB’s. They all have a great mind for the game. I don’t think that Safford has that yet, and may never get that.
As for Moreno, Hell he’s a running back. Their transition to the NFL is much easier. I’m not sure about his blocking skills but his running skills are just fine and i think he’ll move pretty easily to an NFL platform.
Just you watch as Stafford struggles to grasp NFL speed. He’s not ready and neither is Powers.
by Paratiger on
Jan 8, 2009 9:24 AM CST
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I agree with you entirely on the....
high school to the NFL thing…….there are a pitiful few that could make that transition successfully. Pwauburn has some sort of bent against college football. I some how suspect its a guilty pleasure for him…….he somehow fails to realize that only about 5 percent or less of players go onto the NFL or even that college football enables the schools to have scholarship atheletes in Tennis, Track & Field, Golf, Soccer, Swimming and Diving, Volleyball, Gymnastics, etc……there are only two money making sports at AU and only one of those is capable of supporting the rest of the atheletics. Now consider the good that football and the other sports do by allowing kids who otherwise couldn’t attend college get an education. Now add the education that they get outside of the class room, the one that provides at least for some the thing they didn’t have at home….the thing that makes them good responsible citizens. Makes me want to thump the idiots who say the Universities should do away with Football and the atheletes are only there to go pro.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
by Todd92 on
Jan 8, 2009 9:45 AM CST
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No D.B
I don’t have anything against college football. I’m also not saying that an 18 yo is as developed as a 20 yo. What I am saying is that it is unconstitutional to ban a man/woman from working due to age.
In regards tithe .01% of freaks that could make it; what’s your point to that statement? It’s fairly obvious that only a fraction of a percentage makes it to the NFL anyway, the ones that have the ability to go at a younger age is even smaller.
by Pwauburn on
Jan 8, 2009 12:57 PM CST
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I am only basing my statements based on your past statements.....
you have said in the past that the Universities should seperate themselves from the Football programs…that the atheletes were professionals or semi-professionals anyway. Forgive me if I can’t remember the exact verbage that you used I don’t have the patience to go back and find it. So what you’re saying is that an 18 year old should be able to get a CDL and drive commercially or run for the presidency of our fine nation….or be able to bartend….or any number of age restricted occupations? I personally think the age limit to entering the military should be increased to 20 or 21…..that also is an occupation with inherent dangers that most 18 year olds simply don’t understand fully or perhaps are a bit too immature to handle. Also, I for one, would hate to see the NFL become more like the NBA……and you still haven’t addessed the good that the college football programs do not only for the kids involved in those programs but for the kids in every other scholarship sport on campus. How many kids from bad situations have become solid individuals because of the chance to attend College and be a part of NCAA atheletics? And concerning the .01 % of freaks, as you put it, that could go and make it, how many kids do you think would throw away their chance to go to college only to find out they are not one of the .01%? That would be the biggest injustice of all.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
by Todd92 on
Jan 9, 2009 9:32 AM CST
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Sorry, accidently tapped the "flag" icon
Dude, either your mom hacked into your account or you need to taking some Arimidex because the person that types the above post has way too many motherly nurturing feelings.
In the same post, you have displayed an unusually high amount of estrogen, while simultaneously revealing your secret desire to live in a communist country.
Do you realize that here in the good ole U.S of A we allow people to make their own decisions, and that it is not democratic for a group of people to determine what another individual should do with their career simply because they feel that they know what’s best for that youngun?
Your belief about 18 year olde being too young to make their own decisions is assanine. Which fits in perfectly with your other opinions. It’s odd how so many people comment about how fast kids grow up today compared to kids of decades ago. Yet when it comes time for those kids to be man up and be an adult at the age of 18, all of a sudden your type stand up and scream about how they’re “just kids they can’t possibly make their own decisions”.
My opinion about universities and athletics has absolutely nothing to do with my opinion on this issue. This is 100% about our gov’t and socialists like yourself who feel that they should be allowed to determine what a grown man does with his own life.
In regards to college building a better person, or whatever your trying to imply. It is true that many people benefit by going to college and many people mature while in college and become men that they otherwise wouldn’t be. But, we also have to understand that by no means is college a prerequisite for becoming a good man. Afterall, OJ Simpson went to college, how much more of a POS would he have been had he not gone to college? Madoff also went to college, and without that college education he would have never been in a position that allowed him to con $50 billion out of Americans. My point is not to suggest that college is a bad thing, yet to point our how ridiculous your opinion is on this subject. There are plenty of men out there that did not go to college, and yet they still managed to become better men than most, if not all, of the college educated men reading this site. Not only that, but many of those same men are serving our country via the armed forces, and started so at a ripe early age of 18.
If there is anything that I could justify mandating an 18 year old person to do, it would be a mandatory 4 year military enlistment. Now that would make some better men.
Your opinion seems to be nothing more than a self serving BS arguement that I’ve heard over and over again by people who are scared of change.
by Pwauburn on
Jan 9, 2009 7:29 PM CST
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I've seen...
Todd called a lot of things, but a motherly communist is definitely a first.
:-)
by War Eagle Atlanta on
Jan 10, 2009 10:02 AM CST
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You really are a douchetard.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
by Todd92 on
Jan 10, 2009 7:00 PM CST
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Great come back
I’m starting to think that you must be a bama grad that is trolling as an Auburn alum.
You mentioned that the military has inherent occupational dangers that an 18 year old does not fully understand or is not mature enough to handle…Wouldn’t you also agree that everybody matures at a different rate? Therefore, there will be some people that ARE mature enough to handle such dangers at a younger age, while there will be other people who will never be mature enough to handle such dangers. Since you are so concerned about being the safety police of the world, I think that you should try to convince our gov’t to develop a “maturity test” that will determine when a person truely is mature enough to be weaned from his/her mothers tit.
Let’s also use science/logic to evaluate your point of view. You mention that many of these athletes come from “bad situations”…. I assume that this bad situation refers to a bad home life, and/or poor socioeconomic status. There is a strong correlation between kids that are raised in a lower socioeconomic homes, and kids that reach puberty at an earlier age. The belief is that the stress level in the kids home environment triggers puberty to happen earlier, while kids from higher socioeconomic status tend to reach puberty later in life. Now that you are up to date on some of the science that determines how quickly a child matures physically, I would like to know if you (the security police) think that it is possible that some 18 year olds are actually not even mature enough to play Div-1 NCAA football? Does the security police (i.e you) think that the NCAA should develop some sort of test to determine if a kid is mature enough to play Div-1 football before they are allowed to start practicing?
by Pwauburn on
Jan 11, 2009 10:07 AM CST
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Look I have my view you have yours...
As far as the science that you tout it is a theory not even close to proven. We have standards set aside for the mean population…..you get your drivers license at 16, you can vote at 18, join the military at 18, drink at 21, go to the NFL at 20…….you want to pick and choose which ones are constitutional and which ones are not, fine but don’t expect everyone to fall in line and agree with you. You want to continue with the personal attacks go ahead big man continue with your internet tough guy act…..big freaking deal I am neither a communist or the “Security Police” (as redundant as that sounds) I don’t really give a flying f#k if you like my opinion or not there hitler so go F#k yourself while you work yourself into your McCartheist frenzy.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
by Todd92 on
Jan 11, 2009 7:26 PM CST
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That last part should read.....
I am neither a communist nor the “security police” (as redundant as that sounds, lol) and I really don’t give a flying f#ck if you like my opinion or not there little hitler so go f#ck your self while working yourself up into your McCarthiest frenzy. Douchetard.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
by Todd92 on
Jan 11, 2009 7:29 PM CST
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Haha
I think that you just snapped. Clearly you are not mature enough to handle being on the internet, and therefore don’t understand the inherent dangers of talking smack.
I’m not a history major, but I don’t think that Hitler and McCarthy had too much in common, yet you managed to compare me to both of them in the same sentence. Thereby further confirming my opinion that you are a bammer trolling as an Auburn alum.
Also, my mention of “security police” should have read “safety police.” Thanks for catching that for me.
I’m not sure where the hypothesis stands at this point, but it is pretty widely accepted amongst alot of the medical world.
Also, since we are talking about science, I believe that you used the word theory in the wrong context. Unless of course you were attempting to say that I was correct, which I doubt that you were.
I’d have to say that Auburn won this exchange.
by Pwauburn on
Jan 11, 2009 9:02 PM CST
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Oh yeah
While the puberty hypothesis may not have been “proven” to be caused by the stress, it is a fact that kids from poor socioeconomic status reach puberty at an earlier age than do kids from a more favorable socioeconomic status, on average.
Which is ironic, because a lot of this discussion revolves around the supreme courts decision that Maurice Clarrett could not go to the NFL after his freshman year. Maurice was from a very poor family, so perhaps he was physically mature enough to handle the NFL. But we will never know, because since losing football he has now been locked up for armed robbery. Good call guys.
by Pwauburn on
Jan 11, 2009 9:12 PM CST
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You have no idea of my....
maturity or of my intelligence…and the while McCarthy proclaimed himself to be a person of democracy his method was to discredit, ruin, and shun those he deemed “communist”. To fit the description of Communist in his world the only thing you had to do was disagree with him. Hitler was pretty much of the same mold even if his personal ruling was described as a Totalitarian Dictator he still rose to power on the National Socialist Party which proclaimed their love of democracy as long as it was among pure people with out the hint of communism. Continue to call me a communist or insult my intelligence with your right wing slurs and I will continue mine.
As far as Maurice Clarret he is a perfect example of why the NFL should not take kids that are too young. His is the perfect example of immaturity that would have benefited from staying in school where perhaps being exposed to the good role models of at least a majority of his peers he may have taken a different path. He could have possibly went into the NFL and benefitted from it, but he could also have come out as a thug with a lot of money and no one to show him the right way. Maturity is a lot more than how many times you shave a week. Something that you fail to acknowledge except when trying to put me down. You fail to acknowledge that the mind or psyche is vital to a young persons maturity instead wanting to talk about puberty. So I guess that since a young girl goes through puberty as early as 11 you must think they should be breeding by 12 or 13? Or do you acknowledge that maybe they should mature more and become confident young women before accepting that which is the most important responsibility of all……raising the next generation of our society.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
by Todd92 on
Jan 12, 2009 8:55 AM CST
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Wrong...
Maurice Clarrett is the perfect example of what happens when a man’s career is taken away from him. What good what it do him to hang out in the college ranks and take hits for free? I still say get out there and make the money when you can.
Your statements about 12 and 13 year old kids is disturbing.
I have continually stated “physical maturity”, and I have never mentioned emotional maturity. I do not feel that it is the job of our gov’t, our schools, nor our university systems to raise/mature the children of this country. That is the job of the parents. If the parents are too lazy, or too preoccupied to do their job as a parent, then so be it. It will be on the head when their kid fails.
I simply can not understand how somebody from this country can honestly believe that it is the job of the courts to determine that a man can not have a particular job because of his age. The fact that you think that college is good for these kids is irrelevant. Lots of things would be good for these kids. If I were to agree that kids should go to college in order to help ensure there future success, then the slippery slope suggests that next year our courts come up with new ideas to help ensure the future success of 18-20 year olds.
I’m pretty certain that Freshman/Sophomores would perform better in school if all alcohol was removed from campus, cell phone towers shut down during study hours, and internet usage was limited to educational websites. That would be ridiculous to do such things, but these measures would still be more constitutional compared to having our courts ban a person from performing his trade due to his age. All of the above mentioned things concerning studying could be implemented by a university as a set of rules to follow in order to be a student at the university, and would not require a court ruling (except for maybe the cell tower).
We clearly have a different opinion of freedom.
by Pwauburn on
Jan 14, 2009 12:12 AM CST
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Yes we do...
you would have everyone serve compulsory time in the military…..that alone says we have different views of freedom. And you say it is not the governments job to determine the age of emotional maturity……yet that is exactly what they do in almost every facet of life. Again……legal drinking age, driving age, age for voter registration, military registration, compulsory school age……..I have always found it ridiculous that a person can be mature enough to go to battle but not to have a drink, either its one or the other….it should be either you are mature enough to get into a bar and go to war or you’re not…that is my opinion. My statements about 12 or 13 year olds would be disturbing if that was what I believed, but it is not, it is the exact opposite of what I believe. I was however a perfect example showing that just because someone has the physical maturity to perform a task it in now way qualifies them as mature enough mentally for the task. And you are correct that it is the parents responsibility to raise their kids the right way and in a perfect world everyone would have Ward and June Cleaver for parents and there would be no kids suffering from abuse or neglect……but its not a perfect world and kids are caught in horrible circumstances and whether you would like to admit it or not college atheletics has hundreds of success stories of putting young people on a better path and breaking the cycle for every single bad example you can come up with. I am not saying it works for everyone but you would have a hard time naming one kid who was worse off for it. I can name alot of kids who should have stayed in school and were worse off for not…that hardly seems irrelevant. I am not saying college is the best thing for every kid but for the ones who can get in and make the grades it beats the alternatives. lastly I am over forty three years old did you know that I can’t apply for a number of government jobs because I am past the age limit? Damn thats age discrimination…..
Go ahead have the last word I’m through debating it……
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
by Todd92 on
Jan 14, 2009 9:10 AM CST
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And being a scientist.....
I am well aware of how to use the word “theory”.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
by Todd92 on
Jan 12, 2009 8:58 AM CST
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For whatever it's worth...
I’ve heard it quoted, but don’t recall the exact percentages, that players who get their degrees last significantly longer in the NFL than those who don’t. Think, Lawrence Phillips, Todd Marinovich, Heath Shuler, (others?)…
I just hope Marks and Powers (and for that matter, Sims, last year) don’t end up similarly irrelevant.
by atlWDE on
Jan 7, 2009 6:56 PM CST
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Hey
Heath Shuler is a U.S. Representative from NC. That’s pretty relevant.
The artist formerly known as...
Mr Redbird @ Viva El Birdos
PowerOfDixieland @ Track Em Tigers, other SEC blogs
by jd is legend on
Jan 7, 2009 7:55 PM CST
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better check with a bammer
Since they seem to be the experts in determining who is relevant vs. who is irrelevant.
by Rene4AU on
Jan 7, 2009 9:57 PM CST
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they are obviously trying to strike it big since they are about to make the rookie salary caps. stafford will be a pretty good NFL QB and I really don’t know about Moreno, he could’ve used another year. (Stafford too for that matter) but seriously, if you manage your money correctly they shouldn’t even have to work again.
by Apeman3289 on
Jan 7, 2009 8:00 PM CST
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Losing Moreno Hurts!!!
Losing Moreno will hurt more. Stafford had talent but never delivered. Georgia will be lucky to win 9 games next year. Schedule, as always, is tough with only 1 non BCS opponent.
We need more Furman’s in our life.
by JEFFCODAWG on
Jan 14, 2009 10:44 AM CST
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