BoomerSooner247
1/6/2009, 07:32 PM
Good read, exactly why Bradford is greatness and won't fall into the "Heisman curse."
http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/11230006
MIAMI -- Got to get the biases and the beliefs out, right off the bat, so here goes:
I believe there is a Heisman jinx, or curse, or something, in the college football bowl season.
I don't believe it will happen to Oklahoma's Sam Bradford.
And with that, this column is finished. I've spoken, and that should be enough for you. I am, after all, the one who took a single look at No. 2 Georgia in September and decided the Bulldogs, even after winning at South Carolina, were horribly overrated. And I am, after all, the one who predicted on Nov. 13, when Florida was No. 3 and Oklahoma was No. 5, that these two teams could, should and would play for the national championship.
I'm on a roll, is what I'm saying, and I have spoken yet again. There is a Heisman curse, but Sam Bradford is better than that. So ... are we done here?
No?
Fine. Then let me explain why.
First, you have to look at past Heisman jinx sufferers and understand why it happened. The most infamous Heisman flops were quarterbacks, just like Bradford. One of them even played at Oklahoma, Jason White, in the 2004 Sugar Bowl. The other was Ohio State's Troy Smith in the 2007 BCS title game. And they sucked. Both of them. They were miserable.
White threw 40 touchdown passes in that 2003 season, but he didn't throw one against LSU. He was 13-for-37 for 102 yards, two interceptions and five sacks. He went from John Heisman to John Friesz, and Oklahoma lost 21-14.
Smith put up PlayStation numbers in the 2006 season, with 30 touchdown passes and just five interceptions and a 67-percent completion rate. But against Florida he was picked off, he fumbled, and he completed just four passes in 14 attempts. He embarrassed himself, and the Gators embarrassed Ohio State 41-14.
So why did it happen? I'll tell you why. Because both players were susceptible. Jason White was the injury-riddled product of a system, the Gino Torretta of his day, the beneficiary of all kinds of superstar talent and brilliant coaching. He was in the right place at the right time, but LSU in the Sugar Bowl was a different animal. LSU had NFL talent up and down its defensive front, and White was overmatched.
Sam Bradford proudly accepted the trophy -- then humbly left it in his parents' care. (US Presswire)
Sam Bradford proudly accepted the trophy -- then humbly left it in his parents' care. (US Presswire)
Troy Smith was a buffoon. He had attitude problems earlier in his career, including the time he took money from a booster, and his immaturity haunted him after he won the Heisman. Basically, he won the Heisman and decided that he had gotten his. He was done. Mentally he checked out. Fattened up. Did the interviews and soaked up the praise. And after believing the hype for a month, he went out against Florida and threw for 35 yards. He ran for minus-29. Add that up, and the 2006 Heisman winner had six yards of total offense in the biggest game of his life.
Yet after losing that game, which was for the national championship by the way, Smith seemed downright pleased with himself.
"You're not going to be able to come out and score points like you want to score every night," he said. "I don't have any regrets, though. ... If this is the worst thing that happens in life to us, I'm pretty cool."
Terrific.
The Heisman jinx or curse is real, because too many times the wrong player physically (White) or mentally (Smith) is rewarded in December ... and then exposed in January.
But Bradford's not the wrong player. Not physically, not mentally. He's Mr. Right.
Bradford has some things in common with White, but only the best things. He is surrounded by NFL talent at receiver, running back and tight end. He has turned great coaching and an incredible system into 7,585 passing yards, 84 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions in two seasons. He is Jason White, in that he's in the right place at the right time -- but he is more than Jason White, who was so impressive to NFL teams that he went completely undrafted. Bradford, whenever he decides to enter the draft, will definitely go in the first round, probably in the top 10, and possibly No. 1 overall.
Florida's defense is the best Bradford has seen -- but he's the best quarterback Florida has seen, too. Don't forget that.
Bradford has nothing in common with Troy Smith, who succumbed to the grandiosity of the Heisman. This is something of a secret, because the world doesn't know nearly as much about Bradford as it does about the 2007 Heisman winner and the quarterback he will face Thursday night, Florida's Tim Tebow, but Bradford is every bit as humble as Tebow. Maybe more so. Tebow comes off as slightly corporate, like a guy who knows he has to be humble and therefore will be humble, but after all these years in the spotlight it's not so easy to be humble Tim Tebow any more.
Bradford comes off like Howdy Doody. He's a bashful little kid. Within an hour of returning to Norman with his Heisman, Bradford was back on the football field, practicing with his teammates. The trophy is somewhere in his parents' house. He has no idea where.
OU coach Bob Stoops wanted to have a talk with Bradford after the Heisman presentation, just to make sure his quarterback's head was in the right spot. What a waste of time that was.
"He's the best, meaning he's just calm," Stoops said. "The guy is humble. He just doesn't let it bother him."
He'll just bother Florida instead.
http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/11230006
MIAMI -- Got to get the biases and the beliefs out, right off the bat, so here goes:
I believe there is a Heisman jinx, or curse, or something, in the college football bowl season.
I don't believe it will happen to Oklahoma's Sam Bradford.
And with that, this column is finished. I've spoken, and that should be enough for you. I am, after all, the one who took a single look at No. 2 Georgia in September and decided the Bulldogs, even after winning at South Carolina, were horribly overrated. And I am, after all, the one who predicted on Nov. 13, when Florida was No. 3 and Oklahoma was No. 5, that these two teams could, should and would play for the national championship.
I'm on a roll, is what I'm saying, and I have spoken yet again. There is a Heisman curse, but Sam Bradford is better than that. So ... are we done here?
No?
Fine. Then let me explain why.
First, you have to look at past Heisman jinx sufferers and understand why it happened. The most infamous Heisman flops were quarterbacks, just like Bradford. One of them even played at Oklahoma, Jason White, in the 2004 Sugar Bowl. The other was Ohio State's Troy Smith in the 2007 BCS title game. And they sucked. Both of them. They were miserable.
White threw 40 touchdown passes in that 2003 season, but he didn't throw one against LSU. He was 13-for-37 for 102 yards, two interceptions and five sacks. He went from John Heisman to John Friesz, and Oklahoma lost 21-14.
Smith put up PlayStation numbers in the 2006 season, with 30 touchdown passes and just five interceptions and a 67-percent completion rate. But against Florida he was picked off, he fumbled, and he completed just four passes in 14 attempts. He embarrassed himself, and the Gators embarrassed Ohio State 41-14.
So why did it happen? I'll tell you why. Because both players were susceptible. Jason White was the injury-riddled product of a system, the Gino Torretta of his day, the beneficiary of all kinds of superstar talent and brilliant coaching. He was in the right place at the right time, but LSU in the Sugar Bowl was a different animal. LSU had NFL talent up and down its defensive front, and White was overmatched.
Sam Bradford proudly accepted the trophy -- then humbly left it in his parents' care. (US Presswire)
Sam Bradford proudly accepted the trophy -- then humbly left it in his parents' care. (US Presswire)
Troy Smith was a buffoon. He had attitude problems earlier in his career, including the time he took money from a booster, and his immaturity haunted him after he won the Heisman. Basically, he won the Heisman and decided that he had gotten his. He was done. Mentally he checked out. Fattened up. Did the interviews and soaked up the praise. And after believing the hype for a month, he went out against Florida and threw for 35 yards. He ran for minus-29. Add that up, and the 2006 Heisman winner had six yards of total offense in the biggest game of his life.
Yet after losing that game, which was for the national championship by the way, Smith seemed downright pleased with himself.
"You're not going to be able to come out and score points like you want to score every night," he said. "I don't have any regrets, though. ... If this is the worst thing that happens in life to us, I'm pretty cool."
Terrific.
The Heisman jinx or curse is real, because too many times the wrong player physically (White) or mentally (Smith) is rewarded in December ... and then exposed in January.
But Bradford's not the wrong player. Not physically, not mentally. He's Mr. Right.
Bradford has some things in common with White, but only the best things. He is surrounded by NFL talent at receiver, running back and tight end. He has turned great coaching and an incredible system into 7,585 passing yards, 84 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions in two seasons. He is Jason White, in that he's in the right place at the right time -- but he is more than Jason White, who was so impressive to NFL teams that he went completely undrafted. Bradford, whenever he decides to enter the draft, will definitely go in the first round, probably in the top 10, and possibly No. 1 overall.
Florida's defense is the best Bradford has seen -- but he's the best quarterback Florida has seen, too. Don't forget that.
Bradford has nothing in common with Troy Smith, who succumbed to the grandiosity of the Heisman. This is something of a secret, because the world doesn't know nearly as much about Bradford as it does about the 2007 Heisman winner and the quarterback he will face Thursday night, Florida's Tim Tebow, but Bradford is every bit as humble as Tebow. Maybe more so. Tebow comes off as slightly corporate, like a guy who knows he has to be humble and therefore will be humble, but after all these years in the spotlight it's not so easy to be humble Tim Tebow any more.
Bradford comes off like Howdy Doody. He's a bashful little kid. Within an hour of returning to Norman with his Heisman, Bradford was back on the football field, practicing with his teammates. The trophy is somewhere in his parents' house. He has no idea where.
OU coach Bob Stoops wanted to have a talk with Bradford after the Heisman presentation, just to make sure his quarterback's head was in the right spot. What a waste of time that was.
"He's the best, meaning he's just calm," Stoops said. "The guy is humble. He just doesn't let it bother him."
He'll just bother Florida instead.