When Tony Temple decided to drop his appeal to the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility I was under the impression that he never really thought there was a chance that year would be granted. But now I'm not so sure.
Remember Spencer Laurie? Former Mr. Basketball for the state of Missouri and Kickapoo High School legend? Cousin of the infamous Paige Laurie? Complete bust as a division one point guard who only got a scholarship because Daddy's got connections and left when it became painfully obvious that he was in way over his head? One of the only players to ever put on a Tiger uniform who might have been worse than Josh Kronke?
Well he filed an appeal that appears to me to be identical to Temple's and on Monday was granted an extra year.
Lets actually break it down. Temple played in one game his freshman year. He carried the ball six times before he was injured for the season. In Laurie's sophomore season at Mizzou (the one he filed the appeal for) he played in seven games and averaged 10.6 minutes per game before injuring his knee and deciding to transfer to Missouri State. If anything Temple seems to have a stronger case.
Not that I think we're hurting at running back. I think we're pretty strong between Jimmy Jack and D-Wash but you always have to be a little concerned with a new starter at a position that important. And can you imagine Temple with another year under his belt? It makes me really wish he wouldn't have withdrawn that appeal. In fact, it makes me feel a little queazy...
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12 comments:
Well yeah in principal I agree with you, but I think temple was ready to move on. The washington era has begun, and hopefully tony can find a place on an NFL team.
The reason Temple's appeal never was given a chance is because of how late in the year he played, not how much he played. The NCAA has a clause that says if you start after the first half of the season, it doesn't matter how much you played (or something to that effect). I'm surprise Laurie got a year after playing in seven games, but I guess that's the equivalent of playing a game or two in football.
Ouch, a Josh Kronke reference got dropped. Please, someone edit that out!
I think a big part of Temple dropping his appeal compared to Laurie or Ben Mauck from Cincy going for his 9th year is the fact that TT has a chance at the pros. It sucks that he didn't know earlier so he could have gone to the combine and all that.
And I wouldn't put Jimmy Jackson out of the starting RB spot. I think Washington will start, but I'm 60/40 on it. JJ, DW, and Moore will all get good PT.
Yeah Temple was probably ready to move on and his stock probably wasn't going to get any higher. But like I said, I was under the impression there was no chance of him getting that extra year and I think that's ridiculous if you give Laurie his.
And I'm aware of that clause but I'd like an explanation of the reasoning behind it (but reason is a foreign concept to the NCAA).
The NCAA is full of retards who make decisions.
This blog is full of retards that comment at 8:31p. :)
I'll retard your face
I think you're forgetting something very important: Tony Temple isn't related to any billionaires. Colleges and collegey organizations LIKE billionaires.
A very good point dave macd.
You know, I really don't think the return of Tony Temple would have made that much of a difference to this team anyway. I mean, he had an amazing performance against Arkansas, but he's not exactly a game changer. Mizzou's run game is set up by the spread and it just takes a quick back with good hands to succeed in that system. Fortunately for us, Mizzou has several guys that are pretty much the same in a good way. As long as none of them develop a Marcus Woods-esq fumbleitis.
Temple is decent enough to at least make a roster in the NFL, but he'll probably just jump around practice squads for awhile but I hope for the best. Once a Tiger, always a Tiger.
Also, Wal-Mart money, dave is completely right.
That's the thing about Temple, we'll always remember him as being better than he was because of those memorable bowl performances. Overall though, he was a solid if unspectacular running back 90% of the time.
But still, I'd take Tony Temple with four seasons as a starter under his belt over a Jackson/Washington/Moore combo every single day.
Temple could easily be a productive 3rd down back. He's got good hands, and as the NFL adapts to Spread Offenses, TT is the perfect fit.
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