Posted on 01/02/2007 10:52:27 AM PST by mainepatsfan
The Night College Football Went to Hell
Trash talk, the BCS, corporate sponsorships... It all began 20 years with Miami-Penn State
by Michael Weinreb
Two decades later, and the real world has been kind to the quarterback, even if no one can remember his name. He lives in what can only be described as a sprawling manifestation of the American dream, an enormous stucco house on a tree-lined cul-de-sac in a tony New Jersey suburb. He has a wife, and he has four children, and he has a den with a wet bar and a pool table, and until recently, when corporate restructuring rendered him a temporary stay-at-home father, he had spent 18 years as a star at Merrill Lynch.
John Shaffer. The name, like the way he played quarterback, is bland and forgettable, which is why few people outside of the state of Pennsylvania even recall it anymore. When he graduated from Penn State as an academic All-American in the spring of 1987, he had a national championship ring and a reputation as a solid citizen who had no legitimate shot of making it in the National Football League. He went to training camp with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent. By the end of August, he did something that many football players could never muster the courage to do: He asked to be cut. He had a degree in finance, with an internship waiting on Wall Street. He had another life to start.
Maybe, he says now, he could have hung around for a couple of years, could have made a roster as someone's second or third option, could have spent that time aspiring to be something he'd probably never be.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
ping
I was so happy that night when those thugs got it handed to them by JoePa and crew.
Jerome Brown, late of UofMiami and the Philadelphia Eagles. Jerome's famous quote:
Did the Japanese.... go and sit down and have dinner with Pearl Harbor before they bombed 'em?
They thought it would be a Pearl Harbor...instead it turned into the Battle of Midway.
You guys better hope you won't have to rely on Vinny in the playoffs.
The last gasp of class in college ball...sigh.
The only way I want to see him take a snap is to take a knee in Miami.
How is this possible? An NCAA Division I QB can have a national championship under his belt and not get drafted?
Say what you will about Vinny, but he has certainly hung in there and is approaching George Blanda's longevity. From Tampa Bay to Cleveland to Baltimore to New York to Dallas to New England ....... Did I leave out any stops?
He went back to New York one more time before coming to NE.
I guess if you've got a career in finance waiting for you, there's no point in hoping for something in football to materialize down the road.
And hey, he threw a touchdown pass on Sunday!
FYI...
Well in his case he had a job in the NBA waiting for him.
To extend his NFL record for consecutive seasons with at least one TD pass to twenty.
That's one name I'll be happy to never have to hear again.
Interceptaverde indeed.
You may have another gift heading your way: despite yesterday's presser, Saban might be leaving.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.