Young Athletes Need Patience
I have always kept close contact with my California roots, especially all my friends that went to Cal. One of the people that I spent a lot of time with was a kid from Southern California named Tyrone. He became roommates with my best friend from high school. He signed with Cal while it had its All American running back Russell White. I teased him one day saying, “You’re about to sit for a long while before you get some run.” I told him that he would have gotten to play as a freshman if he had gone to another school. I told him that he better transfer.
He taught me a lesson that I obviously didn’t learn in my college years. He said, “Man, I’m in my spring, I’m just blossoming. Russell’s already in summer and he’s bringing the heat. He’s in his season. I just have to work hard. My season will come.”
I finally took full understanding of what he meant in 1994. During a year that saw Cal struggle as a result of graduation, early entrance into the NFL and a horrible coaching hire, Tyrone had to make the most of his last year. With the team staring down a record of 3–7 going into the Big Game against Stanford, the season was a disappointment.
After Stanford quarterback Scott Frost (yes the same Scott Frost that transferred back to Nebraska and won a National Championship in Tom Osborne’s last year) threw an interception on the second play of the game, Tyrone took Cal’s first play from scrimmage 45 yards to the end zone. It was his season and though the team was not in a position to bring the heat, Tyrone did. By the end of the game, Tyrone had run for 205 yards, a Big Game record and the Bears won the game, 24-23.
The word got out yesterday that
Former Florida commitment, Texas signee and backup quarterback for the Longhorns, Jevan Sneed, as a freshman, spent one fall on the 40 acres before hopping a train whistling Dixie down to Ole Miss. Yes, his situation was different because he was playing behind an acclaimed freshman at Texas and he seemingly went into a situation where he can be the man in 2008 for the Rebels.
Brock Berlin (Florida), Brandon Stewart (Tennessee), Kenny Hayter (Texas), Tommy Grady (Oklahoma), and the tons of other players in the last decade or so that transfer usually find the competition is just as stiff at the new school. The position changes still took place. Maybe they weren’t as good as they thought they were. No, the grass was not greener on the other side. Sure you have some success stories (Troy Aikman, Oklahoma to UCLA and Scott Frost, Stanford to Nebraska) but those pale in comparison to the numbers that just become washouts, never to be heard from again.
The fact of the matter is that transfers rarely, if ever, work out as planned. There was a time at Florida State in the 1990s in which the Seminoles had All American kids red-shirting, paying their dues and seeing the field their junior and senior seasons. It’s no accident that the same period of time mirrored the period of time in which the Seminoles went some 14 years without ever finishing below fourth in the final poll of the season. They also won a couple of national championships. That does that happen if Florida State does not have players willing to wait for their seasons?
Gone are those days. Now, freshman that have to redshirt or don’t play as soon as they get on campus get antsy and start looking for a transfer, a position change or something that will get them on the field. Coaches have to play kids that are not ready to play to keep them from transferring. We live in a society where delayed gratification is a thing of the past and it has made its way to football.
Vondrell McGee, Eddie Jones, Chykie Brown, Lamarr Houston, Deon Beasley and a host of other Longhorns with little or no game experience but tons of talent better listen to Tyrone. Your season is coming. Some players have to get through winter just to blossom. There will be a time when you bring the heat. You have to be patient.
Transfers, like Emmanuel Moody happen all the time. It’s a numbers game and everyone, like Pete Carroll pointed out, doesn’t have the will to compete.
“This will make the opportunities better for the kids still here,” Carroll said. “Guys come here and know they’ll play. If they lose that feeling, they’re not going to fit. [Moody] didn’t leave here disgruntled - he’s a great kid. He just thought he’d get a chance somewhere where the competition is different. He was at peace with his decision and said he had no regrets.”
The competition at any school is fierce because the hearts in those players are everywhere. The talent to go with that heart doesn’t always fit and that’s why the walk-ons like Marcus Griffin who becomes an All Big 12 type guys are special.
“It’s tough here,” Pete Carroll said. “It’s as challenging as it can get. That’s the central theme of our program - competition. This place isn’t for everyone. Guys can have a change of heart.”
It’s tough everywhere. Instead of having a change of heart, these kids need to get some heart and fight for their season.
October 1st, 2007 at 2:24 am
Yes Sean, your thoughts are true. Todays athletes as well as todays student need to use life or dissappointment as material for patience. The grass is always greener on the other side, but it is just as hard to mow. On the other side of the coin though, our young adults started out in life being “overly exposed and under developed” by how our society works, so it is no wonder why some kids, adults, seniors want every thing now. I think someone once called these men and women athletes, “The Kodak Generation.” I personally think we are the Kodak culture because some, especially the most sucessesful people, including athletes, never turn out as great as they could be by working on their potential first instead of just wanting to get by and collect the large contract with all the applause. We all need to remember that when a media person takes our picture in high school or college and you see it in the town paper, that does not mean we have arrived. It just means you are being developed as a person with a specific talent or opportunity that will help you become a better citizen in the long run. Can we picture that?