Tebow Time?

Okay I know this is supposed to be a college football blog, but this particular post involves Marcus Mariota who is technically not in the NFL yet so there's that. Also Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow attended college and played football so I think it's safe. Either way I'm going to talk about Tim Tebow making his return to the NFL in the form of the Philadelphia Eagles. 

So is Chip crazy or what?

Okay so I guess I first need to address that I'm not the biggest Chip Kelly fan. He was a good and aggravating coach at Oregon that transitioned to the NFL and has proceeded to confuse pretty much every fan of the game with his trades and general Chippiness. He traded Nick Foles and acquired Sam Bradford first of all. And, not that I don't love Sam, but what the heck? Sam Bradford has been perpetually injured since he made his arrival in the NFL. One injury after another and that's after the injuries that sidelined him at Oklahoma. I mean yeah he was a Heisman-trophy winning quarterback, and rightfully so, but he's still "Always Injured Bradford". I wonder how much longer he has in the NFL before he just says, "Okay if I get injured anymore I will literally no longer have legs" and retires early like so many of his counterparts. I'm not saying that Nick Foles was some amazing quarterback for the Eagles that didn't deserve to not be traded, but I'm saying that I really wonder what Chip was thinking when he traded him. Of course I'm also just this biased blogger so I guess I don't really get to have a say in the goings on of NFL teams. 

So then you start hearing rumors that Kelly is trading up to get Marcus Mariota, who he coached at Oregon, to come to the Eagles as well. If you're keeping track that would be 2 Heisman-trophies at the Eagles. I honestly think that Mariota is going to be the best possible option for the Eagles especially after the next one I'm about to lay on you. 

Alright so here's the real point of this blog. That's Tim Tebow. Yes that Tim Tebow. The one that painted the Bible verses on his face and led Florida to two national championships. That same one. Also the guy that is currently an analyst for the SEC Network, but I digress. The Eagles have signed him to a contract and apparently it's a good thing? I'm not really sure. All I know is that I watched Tim Tebow play in the NFL. And while he was definitely the best player for his team while he was in college, the NFL just was on a different level. He could never quite get up to the hype that everyone thought he would. That's not entirely his fault. A lot of the time the college quarterbacks that everyone thinks are going to play out really well in the NFL don't quite do that. Instead they fall flat on their face and people like Tom Brady step on them on their way to fame and fortune. Let's not forget that currently some of the best quarterbacks in the league were not first round picks or Heisman trophy winning quarterbacks. 

I know I keep bringing up Tom Brady, who I hate, but it's because the dude just won the Super Bowl AGAIN and he was the 199th pick in the NFL Draft from Michigan. Did anyone think that he would do what he's done as a quarterback? No. They didn't. In fact the number 1 pick that year was defensive end Courtney Brown. Ever heard of him? No. Me neither. That's because he had a mediocre professional career and finished in 2006. 

The point is that just because a quarterback seems good on paper doesn't mean they always are. Bradford and Tebow are just that. They're pretty good on paper, and they even play kind of well. But well enough to really make a splash in the NFL and say, "They were worth that pick." No not really. Honestly, I think that the smartest thing Kelly could do at this point is draft Marcus Mariota and let him play just because I honestly believe Mariota could make waves for the Eagles. Especially since he and Kelly already have the connection of coach-player. And it clearly worked for them at Oregon. Why wouldn't it translate to the NFL? Right? Maybe. 

Of course what would also be fun is to have three Heisman-trophy winning quarterbacks signed on the team and then just let them go at it Gladiator style in order to crown a winner. I'd watch that.

Trouble, Trouble, NCAA Part 2

Homeless and Not Important

When I say I’m bad at blogging I mean really bad. Clearly I’m just not cut out for this sort of thing which is good I guess since the class ends tomorrow. Anyway I’m going to continue on about the NCAA while I’ve got the chance.

I guess the biggest issue at the moment that I want to discuss is the whole homeless Baylor player thing. In case anyone didn’t know there was a player at Baylor named Silas Nacita who apparently was homeless when he walked on at Baylor. He accepted a place to live from someone and that is not good with the NCAA as they ruled him ineligible despite his high grades, and the fact that he made Academic All Big-12. I’m not really sure how to begin here. Everyone knows that the NCAA is full of these little quips and stupid rules that no one understands nor cares about. Why in the world is it right for a player who wants to play the sport he loves at the school he loves to be told he can’t because he doesn’t have a house to live in? How is that right? At least that’s what people are asking and have been asking since this whole thing came out. This whole situation also played out this time last year when JUCO transfer Antoine Turner, who was headed to Boise State, was also homeless. He had nothing. He began getting offers from strangers all over the Boise area offering him money and a house and everything that you could imagine. The only problem was that if he had accepted any of it, the NCAA could have declared him ineligible. The same thing that they did with Silas Nacita.

The difference between the two is that Turner was already going to be on scholarship at Boise State and Nacita wasn’t. Unfortunately that means that the odds are in Turner’s favor. He was granted a waiver from the NCAA and Boise State was able to help him. Also the NCAA employs a thing called the “Student Assistance Fund” that the NCAA has. In essence it gives money to the schools to help people like Turner who have no home, or no food, if the situation calls for it.

But what about poor Silas Nacita? Well the difference is that he was a walk on athlete. Which means he was not on scholarship so these benefits do not extend to him. It’s a ridiculous scenario and one that really needs to be looked at again. Even if we don’t know the whole story behind this kid, why in the world should a homeless athlete be punished for being homeless? He has nothing and no one and even the school that he plays football for can’t help him because the big, bad NCAA has rules that prevent homeless athletes from being taken care of? Wait, no, excuse me, just the ones who are on scholarship. Those are the special ones.

“We’ll look after those, but forget the ones that weren’t quite good enough to be offered a scholarship.” –The NCAA Probably.

I know that in every story there are things that aren’t reported on. We may not know the whole story behind Silas Nacita, but it’s still unfair. Why aren’t all athletes taken care of if need be? Why does the Student Assistance Fund only apply to scholarship students? And if the NCAA doesn’t care enough to use the SAF to help non-scholarship athletes then why should it matter if someone wants to offer him their couch for the week? Or give him a gift card for food? He matters then. He is important enough to violate their rules because he plays football for the university, but he’s still not important enough for us to use the funds set up for this kind of scenario to help him. Yeah real smart NCAA.

The NCAA has been called many things with “bully” being the chief among them. It seems they like to flex their muscles and intimidate and annoy. They’re like the bug flying around your head that you can’t get rid of, but if you irritate it then it’ll sting you. I don’t like the NCAA. I think there needs to be punishment for breaking rules, but the rules need to be changed… or at the very least updated. So that every single thing that the NCAA does isn’t a contradiction.

Anyway that’s that for now. Until next time college football lovers.