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The Night College Football Went to Hell
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=fiesta87 ^ | Michael Weinreb

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 ...


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1 posted on 01/02/2007 10:52:28 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: MikefromOhio

ping


2 posted on 01/02/2007 10:52:49 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

I was so happy that night when those thugs got it handed to them by JoePa and crew.


3 posted on 01/02/2007 11:03:40 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: mainepatsfan

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?

4 posted on 01/02/2007 11:06:44 AM PST by Rummyfan (Iraq: Give therapeutic violence a chance!)
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To: dfwgator
I hit the ceiling when Giftopoulos picked off Vinny to seal the win.
5 posted on 01/02/2007 11:10:34 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: Rummyfan

They thought it would be a Pearl Harbor...instead it turned into the Battle of Midway.


6 posted on 01/02/2007 11:11:40 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

You guys better hope you won't have to rely on Vinny in the playoffs.


7 posted on 01/02/2007 11:17:46 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: mainepatsfan

The last gasp of class in college ball...sigh.


8 posted on 01/02/2007 11:19:21 AM PST by BeHoldAPaleHorse (Dyslexics of the world, UNTIE!)
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To: dfwgator

The only way I want to see him take a snap is to take a knee in Miami.


9 posted on 01/02/2007 11:21:13 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan
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.

How is this possible? An NCAA Division I QB can have a national championship under his belt and not get drafted?

10 posted on 01/02/2007 11:26:43 AM PST by Oberon (What does it take to make government shrink?)
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To: dfwgator; mainepatsfan

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?


11 posted on 01/02/2007 11:27:45 AM PST by Rummyfan (Iraq: Give therapeutic violence a chance!)
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To: Oberon
It's not as uncommon as you think. Charlie Ward even had a Heismann trophy and he wasn't drafted.
12 posted on 01/02/2007 11:30:57 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: Rummyfan

He went back to New York one more time before coming to NE.


13 posted on 01/02/2007 11:31:38 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan
It must have occurred to him to play Canadian ball for a few seasons, polish his skills, and take another shot at it.

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.

14 posted on 01/02/2007 11:47:18 AM PST by Oberon (What does it take to make government shrink?)
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To: mainepatsfan

And hey, he threw a touchdown pass on Sunday!


15 posted on 01/02/2007 11:48:28 AM PST by Rummyfan (Iraq: Give therapeutic violence a chance!)
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To: Oberon
Some sports expert could fill in the blanks, but a quarterback named "Charlie Ward" (???) won the Heisman about 20 years ago, and wasn't drafted. He became a guard in the NBA for awhile. I don't know what became of him. He's probably too old now to play in either pro sport.

FYI...

16 posted on 01/02/2007 11:48:55 AM PST by willgolfforfood
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To: Oberon

Well in his case he had a job in the NBA waiting for him.


17 posted on 01/02/2007 11:53:42 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: Rummyfan

To extend his NFL record for consecutive seasons with at least one TD pass to twenty.


18 posted on 01/02/2007 11:54:21 AM PST by mainepatsfan
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To: willgolfforfood

That's one name I'll be happy to never have to hear again.


19 posted on 01/02/2007 11:57:42 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: mainepatsfan

Interceptaverde indeed.

You may have another gift heading your way: despite yesterday's presser, Saban might be leaving.


20 posted on 01/02/2007 12:01:17 PM PST by Terpfen ("Conservatives" who sat at home cost us the War on Terror, SCOTUS, and economic success.)
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