1. Just more than a week ago in a story in our paper, I wrote on his college football South, there were some thoughts from coaches about getting a dreaded phone call late at night or early in the morning in the off-season. When a coach gets one of those, it usually means a player is in trouble or hurt.

Arkansas coach Houston Nutt got one of those calls early Saturday morning and it wasn’t good. The best player on his team, sophomore tailback Darren McFadden, was involved in a fight at a Little Rock nightclub at 4:20 a.m.

That’s right. Four in the morning. If you’re out at 4 in the morning, particularly a high-profile athlete, trouble will look for you, find you and make sure you’re involved. McFadden sustained a toe injury that Arkansas spokesmen are saying will keep McFadden out for several weeks. He better not hope it’s for the rest of his career.

Police reports have been sketchy on what exactly happened. There has been some talk that McFadden’s foot was run over by a car, but that hasn’t been confirmed. The manager of the club said McFadden got in a fight with some people outside the club, and started kicking them when his shoe came off and he hit his toe on the pavement.

How it happened really doesn’t matter. The fact is that it did happen, because a poor lapse of judgment by an athlete who didn’t value his career enough.
Read the rest of this entry »

1. The longer Reggie Bush is a contract holdout for the New Orleans Saints, the more goodwill the rookie running back from USC loses from Saints fans who have looked at the No. 2 overall choice in April’s NFL draft as the franchise savior.

Bush, who already has pocketed $5-7 million in endorsement money, apparently wants a deal as much as No. 1 overall pick Mario Williams of the Texans (six years, $54 million) or No. 3 pick Vince Young of the Titans (five years with an option for a sixth, $25.7 million guaranteed and an overall value that could reach $58 million with option and roster bonuses and salary).

At this point, what is Bush quibbling about? He needs to look around his new home of New Orleans, a city that will be reeling for years and years and years over the flood damage caused by Hurricane Katrina last Aug. 29. While Bush was busy preparing for his last season at USC out in La-La land, New Orleans was being almost wiped off the face off the map.

This is not the time for Bush to be greedy. What’s a few million dollars here or there? He’s already has that endorsement cash flow. He needs to settle for a little less money (yeah, it’s hard to live on $50 million or so these days), stop polishing his Heisman Trophy, sign the contract, get into training camp in Jackson, Miss, and start giving New Orleans some hope for the upcoming football season.
Read the rest of this entry »

1. It’s over and MDR and his companions survived another year of SEC football media days. On Friday’s final day, some of the highlights included:

1. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville being asked four questions before anyone (namely MDR) asked him about the recent New York Times story alleging academic improprieties along Auburn football players. As expected, Tuberville didn’t back down from the subject.

2. LSU coach Les Miles, who’s as normally as exciting as watching Mr. Rogers Neighborhood re-runs (MDR always expects Les to slip into a purple button up cardigan and some Tiger slippers when he starts droning through press conferences) was actually quite entertaining. And yes, JaMarcus Russell is his starting quarterback.

3. Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom was again the most impressive speaker of the day, maybe the whole meeting. When you listen to him expound, you almost want to suit up. It’s hard to step back, wade through the rhetoric and realize he’s 6-16 in his first two years on the job, because of a lack of talent left from the Jackie Sherrill era and an offense that scores less than a junior high team.

4. Florida coach Urban Meyer talked about fitting quarterback Chris Leak into Meyer’s spread option offense. “I keep hearing we’re trying to put a square peg in a round hole and it’s our job to make it a square peg in a square hole,” said Meyer, who sounds like he’s spent too much time in the infants toy section at Toys ‘R Us.
Read the rest of this entry »

Nice to see former Tiger running back DeAngelo Williams, and first-round Carolina Panthers’ pick, signed and ready to participate from the start of the team’s training camp in Spartanburg, S.C.

The Panthers have had a history of signing their draft picks before the start of training camp. Perhaps it’s one of the reasons the franchise has developed into one of the best in the NFL.

Williams reportedly signed a five-year, $7.6 million deal late Thursday on the eve of the camp’s opening. He should get extended looks at running back — behind the oft-injured DeShaun Foster — and in the return game, where he was so dangerous early in his U of M career.

1. Day two has come and gone here at the SEC Football Media days here in Birmingham and here is the quick read:
1. Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron said he “expects” signee Brent Schaeffer to be on campus by Aug. 3. Mr. Dry Ribs puts the over-under on Schaeffer’s first appearance just in time for the Homecoming game.

2. Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe is having a positive impact on quarterback Erik Ainge, which means Ainge no longer has to look at a compass before he throws the ball.

3. Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said he, new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and new QB coach Alex Wood will put all their heads together and devise the offensive game plan each week. MDR can envision those three guys huddling like Moe, Larry and Curly used to do on The Three Stooges.

4. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier. . .well there’s no reason to crack on Stevie Boy. He just tells it like is, and the media enjoys such entertainment and honesty.
Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe . . . maybe not.

Former University of Memphis running back DeAngelo Williams, who ended his Tiger career last year as college football’s No. 4 all-time rusher, hasn’t signed a contract with the Charlotte Panthers, who made him their first-round pick in last April’s NFL Draft. Charlotte opens its training camp this weekend in Spartanburg, S.C.

Williams is one of two Panthers’ draft picks who haven’t come to terms. Safety Nick Salley, a fourth-round pick, is the other.

Panthers’ GM Marty Hurney told the Charlotte Observer Thursday no agreement has been reached with Williams, who reportedly is close to inking a five-year, $7.5 million deal.

Second-round pick Richard Marshall, a cornerback from Fresno State, reached a four-year deal worth $2.86 million earlier this week, including a $1.25 million signing bonus.

Charlotte running backs coach Jim Skipper is one hopeful of the two sides reaching an agreement. Skiipper said Williams “did a good job in summer school of picking up our system.”

1. One day in the books here at the SEC football media days and here’s what we learned on day one:
*Alabama coach Mike Shula has to sign a lot of autographs for people who obviously don’t have anything better to do that hang around hotel lobbies on a July weekday.

* Georgia coach Mark Richt doesn’t know who his quarterback is, but it’s obvious that he has so many great running backs that he doesn’t need a David Greene or a D.J. Shockley at QB.

*Vanderbilt, even though the talent level has been raised, is about to go back to the pre-Jay Cutler days.

*Kentucky coach Rich Brooks knows if he doesn’t win this season, that he won’t be around for next year’s media days.
Read the rest of this entry »