Surprised he didn't go the CFL or Arena Football route. Or maybe he did and didn't make it there either? I'm so confused. This one truly hurts my heart. If Donnell Pumphrey made it to at least preseason (and he's done jack) I figured Yearby would've carved out a niche.
who's Donnell Pumphrey? Is he a real person? Sounds made-up.
He's a 5'8 (most likely 5'6) RB from San Diego St...broke all of Ron Dayne's records.
Just shows you how out of the loop I am. I was reading the list of final cuts in the NFL last night, and I was amazed at how few names I knew, except for former UM players. Back in the '80's, I followed NFL and more of college football, and I was familiar with many, if not most, of the names in both levels. I used to notice that a lot of well-known players, both rookies and established pros, who went in the last cut.
Now, I never watch an NFL game. I used to spend hours on Sunday watching games. I used to love the Dolphins, but have no idea who plays for them or even who the coach is. I couldn't name the Dolphin QB, but I remember Griese, Morrall, Strock, Woodley, even George Mira and Jim Jensen. I used to subscribe to Dolphin Digest. I would go to Dolphin games when they used to play the old Baltimore Colts. I've even attended a few Dolphin-Redskin games in old RFK Stadium.
For some reason, as I get older, I have just lost interest in virtually everything other than my beloved Canes. I'm amazed, in the thread about Trevor Trout, I mentioned that my sister (who is in her early '60's) exchanged some non-football related tweets with Trevor. She has no interest in football and she was surprised I was so interested in the young man (for obvious reasons). Then somebody asked me, "Are you a Cane?" Of course, like most of the fans on these boards, they don't recognize the significance of my handle, "The Matador," for UM football. Most have no idea who George Mira Sr. was and how exciting he was and so much fun to watch back in the early '60's.
Man, I grew up on UM football, following it through parts of seven decades, starting in the mid-50's. Last night I looked up Alabama's record in the '50's. There was one year that they went 0-10. We played them in '54 and '55 and beat them both times. I went ot one of the games, it must have been the 55 game, on a Friday night in the OB. (Loved those Friday night games, walking up the circular ramps, air filled with cigar smoke...it was such a great way to spend a fall evening in south Florida). I believe the Green Bay Packer legend Bart Starr, later the QB of the great Packer teams under Vince Lombardi, was QB for that miserable Alabama team.
Anyway, when somebody must think I'm an idiot because I don't know the current players, well, I just can't keep up anymore. I have so many other interests and so many other things besides sports to read about. I live in the Washington DC area, so there are always a lot of speakers about current events, politics, etc. and I'm very interested in those.
Still, I love watching my beloved Canes. I'm still excited about the young kids now and hope we're experiencing a resurgence. So, if I don't know current and recent players in the NFL or college football, don't hold it against me.
#MUGA MaketheUGreatAgain!
By the way, it's sad about JY. I recall watching him in some drills while at a camp during HS. He did have very quick nifty feet, almost amazingly so. I remember one drill, a one-on-one, and he had such nimble ability to just juke the defender. I've never forgotten that. He didn't seem to have great speed if he got daylight in the games, not overly big. So, I don't know if he had the skills that the NFL really needs for a long season. There are just too many backs with speed and ability, maybe bigger and faster. I think it was wishful thinking to hope that he could do better than Cook in college. Cook seemed to do the same thing at FSU that I saw in his Miami Central games. If he got a lane he was gone. Yearby never had that kind of ability. Very different kind of back. Maybe a little bit like a bigger Leonard Conley who was a nifty but very small and not overly fast RB who actually started for us in the late '80's, early '90's when he only weighed about 170. Guys like that are good as a change-of-pace but they can't be every down backs.
I was just thinking last night as I read the list of cuts how unfortunate it was that Kaaya didn't make it. He still might. I was watching a few of his hghlights and I am still impressed even if many on this board are not. He could throw deep with accuracy and touch and I think suffered from not having a great surrounding cast at times. His lack of mobility was an issue, so he couldn't get away from pressure. I wonder if he felt pressured by family to leave in the hopes of a big pay check. His mother's acting career ended long ago, she was a single mom, and I used to wonder how she got by. She was trying photography, I think cooking or at least developing recipes and teaching her way of cooking, at one time acting and even as a stand up comic. It might be cynical and unfair for me to suggest that there might have been a motive and perhaps she was pushing him to go pro, but I wonder. I think he might have been even more ready with a year under Richt.
Hope you don't mind the long post.
