Dez Bryant May Not Survive Camp
Did you hear what Dez Bryant did? Or more accurately, what he didn’t do? Veteran wide reciever Roy Williams told Bryant, a rookie from Oklahoma State to carry his shoulder pads after practice. Dez refused. Big mistake(click),
The biggest challenge an incoming freshman in college or rookie in the NFL faces is fitting in and becoming a part of the team. Dez has put himself squarely behind the eight ball. He needs to do a 180 degree turn or he’ll be the victim of both verbal and eventually physical “encouragement”.
I remember singing I’M A LITTLE TEAPOT as a freshman at Georgia and GLORY GLORY TO OLD GEORGIA as a rookie with the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s embarrassing, but really no big deal. One of the great things going into 1980 was a much heralded freshman, Herschel Walker. He did all the right stuff as it relates to freshman “hazing”. Herschel was not too proud to do a little dance. He loved to dance, probably still does.
Dez Bryant carrying some pads in from the field should have been no big deal. Now he has drawn the attention of the other veterans and the national media.
NOW IT’S A BIG DEAL!
I’m betting the next name you hear about will be Keith Brooking. He’s the type to get in somebody’s grill and in this case it’s very much deserved. Stay tuned.
Nick Folk is No Joke
The Dallas Cowboys put together an almost perfect game to beat the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints 24-17 on Saturday night. The only exception was the continued struggle of kicker Nick Folk who missed a 24 yarder with a little more than two minutes to go. The field goal would have made the game a two possession game and cinched the victory for the Cowboys.
Nick Folk is a former All-Pro kicker(2007) who has missed more kicks this year than the two previous years combined. Folks issues began with off-season surgery to repair a labral tear in his hip. Obviously, something is still not right because Nick had the best FG percentage among active kickers coming into the season(86.8%). Now, he has missed as many kicks in the last 6 games as he did in his first 34 games.
It is admirable that Dallas has stuck with him thus far, but time may be running out. They know he is a great kicker, but last night’s game may precipitate a change, as Dallas cannot afford to have a kick be the difference down the stretch. With a 9-5 record, there is just no room for error. The Cowboys have lots of issues(see Roy Williams), but the kicker is usually the first to go.
If you watched the game last night, you saw them repeatedly show Nick’s pregame warm-ups and how bad things are. His complete lack of consistency shows a mechanical glitch possibly brought on by pain avoidance. His late miss was not a choke, because he was missing those same kicks in pregame.
I hope he is able to regain his form at some point. It may be too late in Dallas.
What it means to be a Bulldog…
I am pretty sure someone has already used that title, oh yeah…Tony Barnhart. Great read, could not put it down. Just FYI, I’m on page 268, lol. I truly appreciate having the chance to be a part of something like Georgia Football and the ’80 Championship Team. Tony’s book allows each player’s perspective on his time at UGA and what it has meant over time.
I really should have entitled this post, “What it doesn’t mean to be a Bulldog”. Because being a Bulldog does not mean you are perfect. It does not mean you will not make mistakes. It does not even mean you will ever get over the flaws, traits and addictions you may have been born with.
Quincy Carter has hit another bump in the road. Arrested because of a probation violation from an arrest earlier in 2009. I have never met Quincy, he may or may not even know who I am. Obviously Quincy has some issues he’s dealing with, and what’s crazy is, he may not even know what they are. I am not here to pile on because I have my issues as well, they are just different than Quincy’s.
We all have issues, but some of us get to hit those bumps in the road in relative privacy. Quincy can’t and never will, he’s a public face and name.
I hope and pray that something will give Quincy the fortitude to deal with and overcome whatever demons continue to plague him.
Maybe there can still be a happy ending.
Tell me what you really think!