Fiu's Daily Cavalcade of
Whimsy
Andre Smith's Suspension ... Dec. 31
a.k.a.
Frank Costanza's Festivus Airing of the Grievances OR ... The obvious attempt to keep readers coming to the site on a
regular basis during the off-season.
By
Pete Fiutak
What's your beef? ... Fire
off your
thoughts
This Week's Whimsies: Tuesday -
The Andre Smith suspension
Monday -
NFL Mock Draft (top 10
picks)
Last Week's Whimsies: Tuesday -
Holiday Wish List For All
119 Teams
Wednesday -
Chizik, Gill, & the Race
Card
Friday -
Why Paterno isn't too old
“Look Nick,
I’m not going to bull(bleep) you. I don’t know you, I don’t know your
work, but I think you’re a very, very talented young man, and I’m never
wrong about these things. Excuse me please. Could I have anotherrrrrrrr,
Cointreau and sody? And could you send an almond torte to the gentleman
in the white suit over in the corner? Look Nick, I’m not going to
bull(bleep) you, because it’s a waste of time, and then it becomes that
thing. Oh (laughing, looking over Nick’s shoulder) I’m not
talking to you … I’ll call you. Look, I’m very aware that you’re seeing
other agents. It’s good that you are. It’s healthy. But here’s the
thing. If you sign with me as an agent, you’re going to get three people
(holding up four fingers); you’re going to get an agent, a
mother, a father, a shoulder to cry on, and someone who knows this
business inside and out. And if anyone tries to cross you, I’ll grab
them by the balls, and squeeze ‘til they’re dead,” …
Alabama superstar OT Andre Smith was suspended
from the game after allegedly having improper contact with an agent. The
question isn’t whether or not he should be suspended, it’s why he was
even thinking about playing in this game at all.
I always get creamed when I go with this line of thinking, but if you’re
a sure-thing first round draft pick, it doesn’t do you the slightest bit
of good to play in your bowl game if it doesn’t matter. If it’s the
national title, that’s one thing, but the Sugar Bowl against Utah? Yeah,
it’s me before team with the tens of millions of dollars on the table.
Who taught us this lesson?
Nicholas Lou Saban.
Wasn’t it Nick who put Nick before team when he ditched Miami for
Alabama? Yup. With his knowledge of the system and how things work in
the NFL, Saban should be the first to know just how crazy it is to risk
an injury in a non-national title game.
Just ask Willis McGahee how much
money he lost in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl when he blew out his knee in the
national title loss to Ohio State. He likely would’ve been the No. 2
pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, and if you go back and look at tapes of him
before the injury, even with the elite level rehab he went through he
was never the same back.
Just as Cadillac Williams, who saw his potentially tremendous career go
kaput with a knee injury, and then another this last weekend. Just ask
Daunte Culpepper, Steve Emtman, Tom Brady and countless other players
just how quickly a career can go from Hall of Fame to over in one play.
Don’t buy into this garbage that Smith is now seen as a person of low
character because he gabbed with Jerry Maguire. And even if he is a
person of low moral fiber, you know how far he’ll slip in the draft? No.
2. And if the Rams don’t take him, watch how fast the Kansas City Chiefs
get that envelope up to the podium.
Five years, $57.5 million. That’s what Jake Long made last year as the
first pick in the draft, and Smith is a far, far better a prospect. I
love college football and for my own selfish purposes I’d love to see
these players stick around as long as possible for my amusement and
entertainment. With that said, could I look a guy in the face and tell
him to risk tens of millions of dollars in a glorified exhibition game?
Not unless I had a $4 million a year contract in Tuscaloosa waiting for
me.