Pete Carroll's Short Memory

I will be the first to admit that my passion for college football is minimal. I've spent the last few years working saturdays so it was always difficult to really get to see games or follow any team or any player. Despite this I do remember in January of 2009 when Mark Sanchez decided he would leave Pete Carroll's USC Trojans and head to the NFL. Pete Carroll is a coach who is used to getting what he wants, star recruits, star players and lets be realistic most USC scandals seem to get swept under the rug. So of course he was upset when his star quarterback decided it was time to head the NFL. After all this was the future of his team, the player he was counting on to lead his team for the next few years. I don't hold it against Pete Carroll for being upset about his star player getting ready to leave, but I do have a problem with the way he handled it. He had a tantrum and looked like a little child who had his favorite toy taken away. Instead of being happy that his star player was ready to move onto the next stage of his life and career he publicly dissed Sanchez and criticized his decision to leave, implying that he would not be ready for the NFL (Sanchez did only amass a 63.0 QB rating for the season, but did put together a shocking playoff run for the Jets throwing 4 touchdowns and 2 int and amassing a 92.7 rating). Now lets fast forward a few years. Pete Carroll decides to leave USC for the NFL. Abandoning his not only his current team, but all the players that he visited and recruited. Imagine being a 18 year old football prodigy and getting a visit from Pete Carroll, one of the best coaches in college history, promising you playing time, the chance to compete for a national championship, and being promised that for the time you are there, you will receive the best in coaching from Carroll himself. Now obviously I am assuming a few things in this conversation, but I don't think anyone will disagree that coaches will make almost any promise necessary to get the next young star on their team. Now imagine that you turn on SportsCenter one morning and see that the man that made you all those promises, that said all those great things to get you to commit to him and his program, decided he no longer wants to be a part of that program. I would imagine you would feel shocked, betrayed, maybe even lied to. After all you were promised a lot of things by someone who decided that it was time to move on, you committed to him and his program, and now that commitment seems pretty empty without the coach that talked you into it. All I'm saying Pete Carroll is take a look back, look how you acted when one player walked out on you. Imagine if all the players you just walked out on acted the same way. It's easy to be upset when something you love decides to move on from you, but apparently it's even easier to forget about it and then do the same thing to a whole program two years later.

Why Ryan Leaf isn't the worst of all time

I used to go to bed at night hoping somebody else like Heath Shuler might magically leapfrog me on those all-time bust lists. It never happened. Why? Because I am No. 1. I can't even think of anyone else in the ballpark that might be close to my combination of disappointment and failed expectations.''

-Ryan Leaf

As most NFL fans know Ryan Leaf has long been considered the biggest draft bust in NFL history, and honestly its pretty easy to see why. As the number two overall draft pick the expectations were extremely high. Not only did the Chargers sign Ryan Leaf to the largest signing bonus for a NFL rookie at the time ($11.25 million guaranteed) but Leaf himself only added to the hype and expectations with quotes like:

"I'm looking forward to a 15 year career, a couple of trips to the Super Bowl and a parade through downtown San Diego"

As we all know this was about as close to that dream as Leaf ever got, throughout a career marred by tantrums, "injuries" and contract disputes Leaf retired in 2002. During his brief career in the NFL, Leaf appeared in 25 games and made 21 starts. He completed 315 of 655 passes for 3,666 yards, with 14 touchdowns and 36 interceptions. Leaf's career passer rating was 50.0, much lower than the 78.9 league average between 2000 and 2003. Clearly Leaf was meant for a very specific spot in NFL history.

Now enter the 2007 NFL draft. JaMarcus Russell declares he will skip his senior year of college to enter the NFL draft. Coming off a MVP performance in the Sugar Bowl Russell had a tons of hype coming into the draft. To no ones surprise the Raiders could not resist a fast but really inconsistent and unproven player. Russell held out most of training camp before signing a six year deal with 31 million guaranteed cash. Now with his release on May 6th the record will show that the Raiders spent the first pick in the draft on a player who provided them with 25 starts and completed 354 of 680 passes (52.1%) for 4,083 yards, with 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Russell was sacked 70 times and fumbled 25 times. Career wise Leaf's number in San Diego were indeed worse than Russell's which may lead some people to believe that there is no way Russell could be a bigger bust. However Leaf was only on number two pick while Russell was the number one overall pick of the draft. There have been other bad quarterback picked number one overall but none as fantastically bad as Russell.