Ok boys, Sam's leaving for the NFL

[SoonerStormchaser]

Godspeed!
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4593917

Looks like it's Landry's ship to steer now.

[SGT Park3R]

Just read it as well.

It says his recovery time is 4 to 6 months. Doesn't that mean he's going to miss the combines?

Whatever happens I just wish the best to Slingin' Sam. He's definitely one of the Sooner's best ever QBs.

I'll be following him in the NFL.

[JLEW1818]

I'm sure he will have personal workouts when he is ready

[Boomer.....]

The right move.

[Half a Hundred]

Can't blame him for a second. We were spoiled in his seasons here. As much as I'd love to see him on the Texans, part of me definitely would like to see him playing with AD behind.

[gaylordfan1]

He said if his rehab goes well he will enter the draft. If his rehab takes longer than expected or if his showing for the NFL scouts is sub-par, he still may come back to improve his stock. I hope he gets healthy and gets drafted mid to late 1st round and get placed on a better team with the chance to learn the system. I still don't think he is 100% commited to the league. But in my opinion, he would be making a big mistake not going!

[olevetonahill]

:D :D :D :D :D :D

Beat ya Frag Mag :P

http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2748950#post2748950

[I Am Right]

"The End"

[RedstickSooner]

God, I wish he'd entered the draft last year, so he could've been paid what he's worth. He came back because he loved our team, and it has cost him millions.

I adored him for his dedication to the team, and drive to come back and win the national championship, and I'm absolutely heartbroken that such a selfless act is (in all likelihood) going to cost him so much.

I think with Sam and AD, we had two players who were truly among the all-time greats, and who both were robbed of their full chance to demonstrate that greatness by injury. Here's hoping Sam's NFL career can be as mind-blowingly good as AD's has been to this point -- so everyone will realize what we already know.

[GottaHavePride]

God, I wish he'd entered the draft last year, so he could've been paid what he's worth. He came back because he loved our team, and it has cost him millions.

I adored him for his dedication to the team, and drive to come back and win the national championship, and I'm absolutely heartbroken that such a selfless act is (in all likelihood) going to cost him so much.

I think with Sam and AD, we had two players who were truly among the all-time greats, and who both were robbed of their full chance to demonstrate that greatness by injury. Here's hoping Sam's NFL career can be as mind-blowingly good as AD's has been to this point -- so everyone will realize what we already know.

Nah - the problem was we just didn't have them both at the same time. What with the Bomar / PT distractions, AD didn't have a serious passing game to take the heat off him. (He also had a weaker O-line if I recall. Not like this years, but still...) Notice AD's best rushing stats came in 2004, with Jason White.

Bradford had a great offense around him, but the D last year couldn't handle the elite teams like (gag) Texas and Florida. The only game the offense fizzled last season was against Florida. (We could have won that game with 14 points if we'd had our 2001 defense.)

Anyway, I don't think it's injury so much that hurt them, as the team being much more one-dimensional.

EDIT: I'm not saying the injuries didn't hurt their productiveness - that would be moronic of me. I just mean that even had AD and Bradford avoided injury, there were other flaws in the team that probably would keep them off the top of the heap anyway.

[RedstickSooner]

Nah - the problem was we just didn't have them both at the same time. What with the Bomar / PT distractions, AD didn't have a serious passing game to take the heat off him. (He also had a weaker O-line if I recall. Not like this years, but still...) Notice AD's best rushing stats came in 2004, with Jason White.

Bradford had a great offense around him, but the D last year couldn't handle the elite teams like (gag) Texas and Florida. The only game the offense fizzled last season was against Florida. (We could have won that game with 14 points if we'd had our 2001 defense.)

Anyway, I don't think it's injury so much that hurt them, as the team being much more one-dimensional.

EDIT: I'm not saying the injuries didn't hurt their productiveness - that would be moronic of me. I just mean that even had AD and Bradford avoided injury, there were other flaws in the team that probably would keep them off the top of the heap anyway.

Actually, I agree with you on both counts -- I just did a lousy job of saying what it was I was feeling... Which is that while both did get a chance to shine, they also had critical injuries that made it so it sorta clouded their light, if that makes sense. To put it another way, I don't think there's anyone who would argue now that AD should've been the #1 overall pick the year he came out -- but landing on a collarbone made people label him as "injury prone", and also meant his only full body of work was his freshman year (which, as you pointed out, was also the only time he had a proper QB to help him out). And wasn't he hurt some toward the end of his freshman year, which meant he wasn't fully healthy for some sort of game I think got played in Miami in 2005? I remember flying to Miami, staying in a crappy hotel, and sitting in these great seats with a bunch of goofy schwag, and then getting lost on some stupid Miami highway trying to go back to the hotel, but the rest is fuzzy.

Then we've got Bradford, who clearly showed he was the best QB in the land last year with his stats -- but being paired with a terrible defense, people called it a knock on him... As if it's his fault we kept losing linebackers to injury. Bradford actually goes the other way, in that everyone in the world agreed he was the best guy last year, and saw him as good as we all know he is, but now they'll conveniently forget -- and label him a "question mark" when he enters the draft next year, since he won't have had any meaningful play in over a year.

I think it's mostly that I'm still ticked AD didn't get a heisman his Freshman year, and then never had a second healthy season (or solid team around him) to win it as a sophomore or junior. Sam got the recognition and the glory, but now he gets absolutely hosed by the universe for doing the right thing. He's now, basically, the poster child for how no good deed goes unpunished. Or that's what I'm afraid of, at least. Maybe the NFL will act smarter than it has in the past, and draft him the same way it would've last year. Who knows.