2011 NFL Draft News, and Gossip: Play for Pay and Sex, College Football on Sundays, Fiest Bowl Scandal
Draft season is in full swing which means lots of team visits to report, misdirections from teams, and hiding of interests. Let’s see what todays News and Notes brings. Though this installment is titled news and gossip because of the nature of the stuff. Setting up sexual encounters for players, paying players, and N.F.L. team visits. Who knows which teams are seriously interested in which players?
Let’s start out with some Juicy Gossip. SportsbyBrooks has gotten an advanced copy of a HBO real sports with Bryant Gumble and has found out that ex Auburn players had a sysmtematic pay for play.
“McClover said it wasn’t until he attended an all-star camp at Louisiana State University that he realized how the game is played. A game of money and influence.”
McClover: “Somebody came to me, I don’t even know this person and he was like, ‘we would love for you to come to LSU and he gave me a handshake and it had five hundred dollars in there. … that’s called a money handshake … I grabbed it and I’m like, ‘wow,’ hell I thought ten dollars was a lot of money back then. Five hundred dollars for doing nothing but what I was blessed to do. I was happy.”
Kremer to McClover: “What did you say to the guy when he hands you five hundred dollars?”
McClover: “Thank you and I’m seriously thinking about coming to LSU.”
Kremer voiceover: “But McClover says there were money handshakes from boosters at other football camps too.
Gasp! Players have been paid to play college football before? But that’s a post that could be a long post on its own. Oh and it’s not just money.
McClover: “They send girls my way. I partied. When I got there I met up with a couple guys from the team. We went to a party and they asked me to pick any girl I wanted.”
Kremer: “Did she offer sexual services?“
McClover: “Yes.”
Kremer: “Did you take them?”
McClover: “Yes.”
Kremer: “McClover committed to Ohio State right after that weekend. The recruiter at Ohio State who says he dealt with McClover that weekend denied the school was involved in any wrongdoing.”
Money and sex. Sounds juicy.
There has to be thoughts on these things…let me know.
Then there’s the Fiest Bowl Mess. Jeez.
Something that’s interesting about the lockout is the possibility of college football being on Sunday
The Dolphins are meeting with Ryan Mallett for a second time.
No one denies Mallett’s talent. The Dolphins were annoyed with Chad Henne’s reluctancy to sling the ball around
Here are some of UCLA’s pro day notes. Akeem Ayers ran a 4.69 40 yard dash, which put his stock back in line with where it was before the combine. Rob Rang singled out 3-4 teams, but I think Ayers can play the strong side in the 4-3 especially for a team like the Giants who prefer bigger linebackers, and guys with pass rush potential, which Ayers clearly has.
The Bengals are going to take a QB in the first two rounds. It seems like the Bengals believe that Carson Palmer is really going to retire. Ryan mallett seems like a perfect fit for them if he’s available in the second round.
Tyron Smith is a hot commodity: Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are some of his scheduled visits.
Things I’ve been reading around, and the interview I had with Dave Halprin of Blogging the Boys really makes it seeem like that Cowboys are keying in on Tyron Smith at #9.
I still think that they’ll move up to get Patrick Peterson if he makes it past the Cardinals at 5th overall, or down if he doesn’t. We’ll see though.
After getting ripped to shreds by Profootballweekly’s draft guide, National Football post contacted Auburn’s quarterback coach for an interview.
Cameron Newton is the Perfect example why making mock drafts are so difficult. We all know his skill set, but he’s not going to be drafted based upon his skill set, he’s going to get drafted based on his interviews, and the teams background checks the teams run, which I have no access to, or anyone else really. Absolute lowest case scenario I can’t imagine Cam Newton getting pass the Dolphins in the first round, or the Dolphins slot.
Here’s some of the good stuff from the interview:
Mr. Nawrocki probably has an Alabama cap on his head when he’s writing that stuff. If it’s a responsible, professional writer sober in his own office desk, I don’t see how he comes up with this.
As a person, he’s the kind of guy you want in any situation. I know he’s gone through some real growth from the time he was a freshman in college, same as I did. He couldn’t be more genuine and infectious with people. People see that. When we trained at UC San Diego, he got to know all these student workers on campus and knew them all by name and would ask them how they did on exams. He spent hours at a childrens hospital with no media around and got to know three young boys with chronic illnesses. He spent a lot of time with a nine-year-old boy with chronic arthritis
As Cam Newton’s world turns. Stay tuned to see where Newton lands.
The New York Jets are busy with getting to know players:
Justin Houston, Jarvis Jenkins, Doug Houge, Brandon Fusco, Bilal Powell are all people that the Jets are showing interest in.
The suprsing one there is Doug Houge, I hadn’t though much of him as a 3-4 Linebacker.
The Patriots will be hosting Prince Amukamara on an official visit, according to Jason laCaforna (saw on twitter).
Mikel LeShoure has visited with the Detroit Lions
Chan Gailey talked with ESPN’s Mike Sando a little bit about how it works on draft day:
He said general manager Buddy Nix “makes the decision on whether it’s best to move up, move down, all that kind of stuff.” Gailey suggested he and vice president of college scouting Tom Modrak provide input as required, but that it’s Nix’s show.
“I try to make sure he understands what I think we need for our football team,” Gailey said, “where we need the most help, and if he asks my opinion about the players that are in the draft, I’ve watched them and how their abilities might fit into what we’re doing.”
I asked Gailey what would happen if the Bills were on the clock and a player was on the board he truly coveted.
“Me? I have a guy?” Gailey said. “I don’t have a guy. It is our guy.”
“But Buddy and I, when we started this whole thing, we said, ‘If somebody is trying to persuade us, we’re going to put him out the room.’ I told the coaches, ‘Don’t try to talk us into anybody. Give us information. Then let Buddy make a decision.’ “
And what kind of vote does owner Ralph Wilson have?
“He is the boss,” Gailey said. “He has all influence, every bit of influence. He says, ‘Take this guy,’ we take him. But he’s smart enough not to do that. He hired people to do a job. He lets them do their job. He’s letting us do our job. That’s what I’ve seen.”
Here’s a chart of how often teams have drafted skill position players early in the draft.
A site that lists all the start and end dates for spring practices.
A quick note on the Maryland Teriprans spring practice.