By the time this post is up, March Madness will have tipped off, so I hope
everyone was able to glean enough “infotainment” (a word my good friend WWE
Hall of Famer, Jim Ross, loves to use) to mentally and psychologically
prepare you for the next few weeks. If you missed it, you can get the March Madness Preview here, 10 Historically Significant Buzzer Beaters here…and last, but perhaps most importantly… the Guide to Hating Duke (w/ video of Paulus getting teabagged) here.
Just a couple NFL Draft tidbits today as I head off to watch the first round
of NCAA games (As I type this, I’ve already had my alma mater knocked out,
and one of my Final Four teams on the brink of elimination…and it’s not
even 2 p.m. on Day One yet. Good times.):
First, I do an NFL Draft Show every Wednesday from 5-6 p.m. on 1560 The Game
(it’s embedded into the “Sean & John Show”) with my co-host John Harris and
Lance Zierlein, co-host of the morning show on 1560. In short, I would
venture to say that there aren’t two local personalities in any market that
give you as comprehensive and informed content on the NFL Draft as Harris
and Zierlein. (I’m just there steering the ship and making the occasional
joke about Mike Holmgren’s jowls.) If you’re an NFL fan, and a follower of
the draft, you need to tune in.
Yesterday, we had former University of Texas safety and soon-to-be
millionaire Earl Thomas on the show for a nice conversation. The podcast is
below, and among the topics we hit:
— His potential to play multiple positions in the NFL
— What position he envisioned playing growing up
— Sharing the #12 jersey with Colt McCoy
— The combine and draft process
— His surprising height and weight measurements at the combine
Enjoy.
By the way, we’re efforting Texas wide receiver Jordan Shipley and
Central
Michigan QB Dan LeFevour for next week. Don’tcha dare miss it!
The biggest draft-related story everyone seems to be fixated on is Tim
Tebow and his new-fangled release. You know, the new release where he
doesn’t bring the ball down like a windmill and he actually keeps two
hands
on the ball in the pocket. Well, Tebow showed it off for the scouts
yesterday in Gainesville.
Apparently, it went well. So well that ESPN has now invited Tim Tebow
to
attend the draft in New York in April and sit in the green room until he
is
selected. According to reports, Tebow has accepted the invite. Contrary
to
rumors, there is no truth to reports that Thom Brennaman has applied for
a
one-week ESPN internship the week of the draft:
I’ll reserve final judgment until I see the full guest list for the
draft,
but on the surface I think Tebow is getting terrible advice from his
people. That is, unless his idea of a good time is hanging out in the
green
room with Jimmy Clausen until the high teens in overall picks and then
hanging out by himself for the rest of the night after someone trades up
to
take Clausen. If he’s cool with that, then by all means, have at it,
Tebow. If not, then you may want to pack a second suit…the second and
third rounds are now on Day Two of the draft.
Underrated subplot in this whole Tebow thing is the ammunition that
coaches
recruiting against Urban Meyer have been handed in the last 90 days.
First,
you had Meyer resigning as the coach at Florida due to medical issues, a
resignation that he recanted after one bowl practice and turend into a
leave
of absence, which was never actually materialized. (Meyer was seen at
the
Gators first spring practice yesterday, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.)
Now you have the “greatest quarterback in the history of the world”
(paraphrasing) having to go through a ridiculous overhaul of his
mechanics
and copious drills to prove that he can do elementary things like take a
snap from under center and keep two hands on the ball in the pocket.
I’m
not saying it’s Meyer’s job to prepare Tebow for the NFL, his job is to
win
games, but that won’t stop other head coaches from cautioning recruits
about
Meyer’s not making Tebow NFL-ready (at all, apparently). Pile that on
top
of the “health concerns” they’re sure to point at plus the shaky 40
times of
all the defensive Florida recruits and it will be interesting to watch
some
of these recruiting battles, particularly for quarterbacks.
To be clear, it will take a lot more than this to knock Meyer off the
Mount
Rushmore of stud recruiters, but the ammunition supply has never been
more
robust.
Enjoy March Madness everybody.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on 1560 The Game from 3-7 p.m. weekdays on the Sean & John Show, and follow him on Twitter at http//twitter.com/SeanCablinasian.
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2010.
