David Ball -- WR

Don Wassall

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David Ball is a receiver for I-AA New Hampshire who has NFL aspirations. He's 6-3 and 185 and has 46 TDs going into his senior season, just 4 behind Jerry Rice's all-time I-AA record.


It took me a while to find a picture of him, but the article Draft Daddy linked to referred to him as a "boy" so I figured he's white and he is.
Follow the leaping Ball

Numerous sightings of Dave Ball in the past few weeks have prompted a new round of speculation about the UNH wide receiver's chances of being drafted by the NFL next year.

One look at the Orange boy - whose last local highlight reel showed a tall skinny kid flying toward a thunderous dunk to ice Spaulding's 2002 state championship game against Brattleboro - and you know he sure ain't no boy no more. (As I recall, that dunk came just after a Mike Perez dunk, which already had the crowd whipped into a frenzy.)

Three years of strength and conditioning work, plus yoga, sprint work and agility drills, have transformed him into a pretty reasonable facsimile of a pro wide receiver. His stats at UNH are also worth faxing home about. Forty-six TD receptions leave him four shy of breaking Jerry Rice's Division I-AA national record of 50, and after two back-to-back seasons with 1,500 yards receiving, he needs just 1,150 more to break the career yards record.

"My height and weight are prototypical for an NFL wide receiver," Ball says. As for speed, he believes he's a little slow in the 40 compared to other prospects, but "my field speed is good enough." His best assets? "Leaping and hands."

Those assets came in handy two years ago when UNH beat Division I-A Rutgers, 34-27, which had whipped Michigan State the week before. In the Rutgers game, Ball caught two TD passes.

"In addition to the support of friends and family," he says, "I think what success I've had is due to the support of the team and coaches. I could easily have ended up in a system that doesn't throw the ball. Fortunately, I'm in a great system surrounded by great people."

Curiously, he's not the only Vermonter on the UNH roster with NFL dreams. Tucker Peterson, from Mill River High School, is an offensive lineman and co-captains the Wildcats with Ball. Both players attended "Junior Day" at UNH last season, a full day of "show and tell" for NFL hopefuls in front of scouts.

"Basically," he says, "it's in my hands at this point. There's been a lot of interest in me. If I stay healthy the NFL is definitely a reality. If I have a good fall, and break the records I am on pace to break, then if they pass me up, I've done everything I can, then it's just not in the cards."

"But," he adds hopefully, "I really don't think all the teams would pass me up."



Here's another page about him:


[url]http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetw ork&page=cfoot2/payton/candidate05.aspx?pid=29393 [/url]


29393.jpg



29393.jpg


 

white lightning

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What a find.Thanks Don.I don't know how I haven't heard of this guy.Maybe the media can give this kid a little publicity.He is going to need it to even get a 2nd look from any team because of him playing for such a small school.What a talent!!
 

whiteCB

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Yeah draftdaddy has done a good job of getting white athletes some press and notice. Ball's stats are just sick and he has all the measurables of a prototypical NFL WR. However, as with all players he'll make it or break it with whatever 40 time he gets. Playing D1-AA ball and being white at a "black" position are important factors that go against him. Even if he breaks all of Rice's records, which he will, it all comes down to the 40 time especially if your white. Though I like this Ball guy and you just cannot deny his production(although the NFL did a good job of doing that to Hass).
 

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Jimmy Chitwood

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great find Don! they've already moved the story off the front page, so in case it gets lost, i'll copy it here:

Having a Ball
Unlikely star chasing Rice in record books

By RAY DUCKLER
Monitor staff
August 15. 2006 8:00AM

DURHAM - You know his stats. You know the receiver he's trying to knock from the record book. You know his background, the one that says college football wasn't in the cards.

And then you shake your head. None of it adds up, none of it makes any sense, any sense at all.

David Ball, wide receiver at the University of New Hampshire, the player nobody wanted coming out of high school, the kid who played in obscurity in a place called Orange, Vt., is tracking Jerry Rice within the Division I-AA landscape.

That's the Jerry Rice, as in the greatest receiver in NFL history, the player who was on the other end of all those passes from Joe Montana and Steve Young through the 1980s and '90s.

Walk-on players aren't supposed to do this sort of thing. Even hotshot recruits aren't supposed to be this good.

But here's Ball, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior, who's just six touchdown receptions shy of breaking the NCAA
Division I mark of 50 TD catches, set by Rice at Mississippi Valley State from 1981-84 and tied by Louisiana Tech's Troy Edwards from '96-'98.

And here's Ball, who needs 1,153 receiving yards in this, his senior season, to pass Rice's I-AA record of 4,693 yards.

And here's Ball, who needs to score at least one touchdown in five games this season to surpass Rice's I-AA mark of scoring in 26 career games.

And while all those things are prestigious and historic, Ball knows that they're merely window dressing compared to the task at hand, that of winning the national championship after reaching the NCAA quarterfinals the past two seasons.

"I try my hardest not to think about the records," Ball said recently on the soft grass at Cowell Stadium. "But obviously with his name being so renowned in the sport, and even after he's been done playing, people can't stop talking about him. It's a privilege for me to be mentioned with him, but I don't think about it. I try to think about college football, and that's what I'm involved in now, what I can do to help my team."

Ball has helped the Wildcats burst onto the national scene the past two years, racking up eye-popping numbers with his partner in crime, quarterback Ricky Santos.

Last season, when Ball placed seventh in voting for the Walter Payton Award, given to the top I-AA player in the nation, he caught 87 passes, 24 for touchdowns, for 1,551 yards, an average of 17.8 yards per catch. And the year before, Ball had 86 receptions, 17 for TDs, for 1,504 yards, averaging 17.5 yards a reception.

His trademark? While Ball has all the ingredients necessary to excel at his position - soft hands, speed, instincts, running precise patterns, toughness over the middle - his calling card is his ability to leap tall defenders with a single bound. You may stick with him, but then Ball can demoralize you at the last second.

"I can run with him; I can run with anyone," says UNH defensive back Corey Graham, who guards Ball during preseason scrimmages. "But the thing with Dave is you have to be cautious, because he'll go up and over you and go get the ball. He's not like your normal receiver. You've got to attack the ball. You can't sit back and wait and let the ball come down and then knock it down. You've got to battle, you've got to compete."

Ball lettered in football, basketball and track in high school, where he was a high jumper, but no one could have anticipated what has unfolded the last few years.

UNH, in fact, offered Ball a track scholarship; football wasn't even on the table, but Ball wouldn't let his dream die. He was determined to force the Wildcats' coaching staff to look his way.

"It's unbelievable," UNH Coach Sean McDonnell said. "I still remember him bopping over the fence at his first practice, the spring in his legs. Every year he just keeps getting better. ... A lot of guys have walked on here and become very good football players ... but nothing like this, not like a guy who's within six touchdown catches of the greatest receiver to have ever played the game.

"Did I ever envision that? No, I didn't, but we're pretty happy he's around here."

So is Santos, the All-American quarterback who will forever be linked with Ball in UNH lore.

No. 2 Santos and No. 3 Ball form the most electric I-AA offensive weapon in the nation, and neither was recruited much coming out of high school. It's a delicious storyline, made even better by the manner in which these two go about their business.

We don't know their behavior behind closed doors, away from the spotlight, but both appear to be grounded, humble.

"It stems from the top," Santos said. "Coach Mac wouldn't allow us to get a big head. With Dave coming up on Jerry Rice, he could have a big head, but he doesn't. He stays focused and he had one of his better summers this year working out up here and doing all the things he needs to compete and break those records. I think it's going to be a big year."

So do several national polls, which have named UNH their preseason No. 1 pick. Seven starters return on offense. There's a buzz in Durham, a football buzz never felt before at this hockey school.

And there's Ball, right in the middle of it, a receiver who sometime this fall will knock the NFL's greatest receiver off his college perch.

"Sometimes it seems almost unreal to me," Ball said. "It seems like it hasn't developed into a reality yet because it happened so fast and I'm still kind of riding that high.

"It was a classic case of a kid from a small town who had no other options. You couldn't get looks. Scouts didn't come to that area."

All you can do is shake your head.

(Ray Duckler can be reached at rduckler@cmonitor.com.)
 

Colonel_Reb

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Nice article, except that there isn't the question as to WHY no school wanted him. We know the answer is his skin tone, but the wimpy reporter either wouldn't ask a question that would lead to that answer or is too stupid to do it.
 

jaxvid

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Colonel_Reb said:
Nice article, except that there isn't the question as to WHY no school wanted him. We know the answer is his skin tone, but the wimpy reporter either wouldn't ask a question that would lead to that answer or is too stupid to do it.

The reporter is too SMART to do it. He wants a paycheck and a career.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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20050905DavidBall80.jpg

David Ball

David was featured in a nationally-run article in USA Today, i believe on 9-04-06. i don't know if any of you caught it, but here's a link. i'm sure you can find the story elsewhere, as well. aside from the TERRIBLE editing, it's a familiar story we've come to expect from the caste system. small-town white kid gets overlooked, keeps believing in himself, earns a spot, and blows up, then gets relegated to long-shot all over again.

overall, i thought the approach was very positive until the last few paragraphs where it began comparing Ball to jerry rice, the guy whose records Ball is about to break. for example, Ball says the last time he was timed in the 40-yard dash was as a sophomore when he was clocked at 4.6 seconds (identical to Rice's time as a college senior). which isn't true. it's well-known fact that jerry rice never ran faster than a 4.7. but here's the real kicker: Rice used his senior season at Mississippi Valley State to earn an invitation to the Blue-Gray all-star game, where he was named MVP and wound up as a first-round NFL draft pick (16th overall). Ball isn't at that level, but could follow the same path to the pros.

what the
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?!? not at that level?!? what more does he have to do to be AT THAT LEVEL?!? it's as if not giving a white kid too much credit is a knee-jerk reaction.
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and it continues with comments from Rob Rang, a senior analyst for NFLdraftscout.com. Rang says Ball could go as early as the third round off a strong final year. "This is a kid who's had people telling him his whole life he's not big enough, not fast enough, not talented enough to play with the big boys and he's just kept coming. Long odds won't scare him."

or just read the copy-and-paste version here:

New Hampshire's Ball looms large on small stage
Posted 9/4/2006 10:50 PM ET
By Andy Gardiner, USA TODAY
David Ball routinely misplaces his wallet, car keys and cellphone  at the same time. He repeatedly out of gas because he never remembers to check the fuel gauge in his car.
But put Ball on a football field and he becomes as locked in. This focus has helped the University of New Hampshire senior evolve from an unwanted high school senior from small town Vermont into a legitimate NFL draft prospect who is within reach of breaking a handful of Division I-AA receiving records set 20 years ago by the player Ball emulated as a young athlete  the legendary Jerry Rice.

"I don't know much about him," admits Rice, who was inducted into the college football hall of fame this summer. "I'll have to pull this guy up on the internet now. You know, records were meant to be broken. If he breaks a lot of my records, I'll be the first to congratulate him."

New Hampshire opens the season Saturday at Northwestern and Ball's record chase will play out this fall against the backdrop of a run for the school's first national championship. The Wildcats, 11-2 a year ago, were ranked No. 1 in Street & Smith's and Lindy's preseason polls. The Wildcats return seven starters from an offense that averaged 42 points a game.

At the heart of that attack is Ball, a 6-2, 200 pound wide receiver who has caught 173 passes for 3,055 yards and 41 touchdowns the last two seasons. He is the active I-AA career leader in receiving yards and touchdowns, and could break three of Rice's career marks this fall.

Not bad for someone who couldn't attract a look from even Division III programs coming out of high school and arrived at UNH as a walk-on with no guarantee of a scholarship.

"For a kid to come out of a state like Vermont, football-wise, and end up being the player he is is amazing," says Villanova coach Andy Talley. "The odds were all against it. He's gone from very humble beginnings to become a superstar nationally."

The second youngest of four boys born within five years of each other, Ball grew up in the central Vermont town of Orange (pop. 965). He was a 1,000-point scorer in basketball at Spaulding High School and still holds the state high jump record (6-8½).

But football was Ball's first love and football is the state's weakest sport. The University of Vermont folded its program in 1975 and only 33 high schools field varsity teams. Competing in Division II, Ball had three coaches in four years and played on teams that were a cumulative 14-21.

"I started as a 5-11,155 pound white kid playing a skill position in a program that struggled just to find enough guys to field a team," says Ball, who was a two-time all-state selection. "But it was an unbelievably good experience for me. I learned how to play through adversity."

Vermont football's most acclaimed native son is Bob Yates, who grew up in Montpelier, played on Syracuse's 1959 national championship team, and spent six years with the Boston Patriots in the American Football League. Yates also coached high school football in Vermont for nine seasons and knows just how improbable Ball's journey has been.

"Vermont kids get no exposure and college coaches just don't take them seriously," Yates says. "It's like we were playing touch football. You have to almost physically bring the kids to the coaches to get them a look."

Tough sell

With four boys who loved competing in everything, Ken and Kathleen Ball's house was always a maelstrom of activity.

"All you could do was throw some kind of ball in the car or in the yard and let them go at it," says Kathleen, a high school health teacher. "Elite camps weren't something we could really afford, so whatever the season was, that's what they played until the next season arrived."

Of all the boys, however, David was the one with a vision and the only one to play in college.

"I remember before eighth grade David took a huge calendar for the entire summer and planned his workouts and what he would do each day," Kathleen says. "His brothers were worried about him, but that was just David being David. Whatever he had accomplished, he always felt he could do better."

Ball was unable to draw any college interest after high school but at the last minute, Ball was offered a chance to attend Worcester (Mass.) Academy for a post-graduate year. The Balls had to refinance their mortgage in order to afford the tuition, a step they took willingly.

"David needed to get away from Vermont, he needed to prove himself," Kathleen said. "He felt it was the right thing and we have always trusted his judgment."

Ball played football, basketball and ran track at Worcester and was named the school's male athlete of the year. Football coaches remained skeptical, including New Hampshire's Sean McDonnell, despite the recommendation of his assistant, Steve Stetson, who raved about this lanky receiver with soft hands and a 37-inch vertical leap.

"Looking at David on tape, he was obviously at athlete who could catch the ball at any angle and catch it in a crowd," McDonnell said. "But I kept looking for that burst of speed when he would run away from people and never saw it. We'd already taken a receiver who was faster than David. I had my doubts."

It was only after watching tapes of Ball playing basketball that McDonnell encouraged encourage him to walk on at UNH with the promise of a scholarship if he made the team.

"In the prep school playoffs against Craig Smith (a future Atlantic Coast Conference all-star) and a bunch of good players David just made this monster dunk," McDonnell says. "We do a lot of evaluating of athletic ability through watching kids play other sports and that told us a lot. After about the third day of fall camp we knew we had a player."

Difficult adjustment

Ball played in 11 games and caught 38 passes as a slot receiver as a freshman, a year in which he struggled to adjust to the college game.

"It was confusing trying to read all the defenses. I felt like I was going in slow-motion in a fast-paced game," Ball says. "I had enough assets to keep me on the field, but the majority of my freshman year I didn't feel I belonged there."

Over the next summer Ball added 20 pounds and worked continually on refining his routes. He was shifted to wide receiver for the opening game against defending I-AA champion Delaware and caught a 44-yard touchdown pass for the winning points in a 24-21 victory. The next week Ball caught nine passes in the second half for 132 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats stunned I-A Rutgers, 35-24.

"I really loved playing the wide receiver and the Rutgers game was a turning point," he says. "I did well against a Division I-A defense and I needed to prove myself against that level of competition."

With redshirt freshmen Ricky Santos taking over at quarterback that season, Ball ended with 86 receptions for 1,504 yards and 17 touchdowns as the Wildcats went 10-3 and reached the NCAA playoff quarterfinals. Last year he had 87 catches for 1,551 yards and 24 scores as UNH again advanced to the quarterfinals.

"If the ball's in the air, it's his ball," Santos says of his favorite target. "That's his mentality no matter where I throw it."

Ball was a consensus first-team All-American who finished seventh in the voting for I-AA's Walter Payton outstanding player award (Santos was second). The Wildcats were second in total offense (493.5 yards), third in scoring (41.69) and fifth in passing offense (300 yards).

"His growth has been as great as any player I've seen in this league," says Massachusetts coach Don Brown, who Ball burned for nine catches for 199 yards and four touchdowns last year. "I felt we had a very strong secondary and a very strong defense but we couldn't handle him."

Ball says the last time he was timed in the 40-yard dash was as a sophomore when he was clocked at 4.6 seconds (identical to Rice's time as a college senior). But Brown warns against thinking Ball is slow.

"He's faster than he looks and if he has a step on you, he's not going to lose that step," Brown says. "He's competitively fast, which in my opinion is the most dangerous type of speed because it's enough to make you successful at whatever level you're playing. Can that level be professional? Without question."

Following Rice's model

Growing up, Rice was the receiver Ball admired most.

"Not so much for Jerry Rice the athlete, but for the way he was off the field," Ball says. "He was always easy-going and level-headed, a true competitor and professional. I've tried to model myself after him.

Reaching some of Rice's records "is something that has kind of snuck up on me," Ball says. "I'm not going to argue with the outcome, but it all seems surreal. It's certainly nothing I ever expected. I've always considered myself very, very lucky because things fell into place for me."

Rice used his senior season at Mississippi Valley State to earn an invitation to the Blue-Gray all-star game, where he was named MVP and wound up as a first-round NFL draft pick (16th overall). Ball isn't at that level, but could follow the same path to the pros.

"I fully anticipate him breaking some of Rice's records and that could help him in the all-star games, which are hugely critical," says Rob Rang, a senior analyst for NFLdraftscout.com. "Quarterback and receiver are the two positions where smaller-program guys can show how they can perform against Division I-A talent."

Rang says Ball could go as early as the third round off a strong final year.

"This is a kid who's had people telling him his whole life he's not big enough, not fast enough, not talented enough to play with the big boys and he's just kept coming. Long odds won't scare him."

Still, is on pace to graduate next summer with a degree in kinesiology that will lead him to teaching physical education.

"I love working with kids, especially in an athletic environment," he says. "That's what I want to do, whether pro ball works out or not."
 

Colonel_Reb

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Perfect comparison to Rice but the media dolts once again inject into this article the poison of the Caste System. Everyone who reads the article will know why they say he's not in Rice's class yet. The mistake the writer made was showing Ball as the equal if not superior college receiver to Jerry Rice by the stats and numbers he gives. Too bad his true Caste colors came shining through. After all, you just can't let a white MAN get away with being compared to the greatest receiver to ever play the game. Its the world we live in.
 

Leonardfan

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David Ball had 8 catches for 81 yds and 2 tds today against Northwestern
 

bigman

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the key fact is "Ball was a 6'8" high jumper in HS.. sounds like he probably had more physical talent than 70% of the NFLWRs theday hegraduated HS.
 

hedgehog

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They have interupted the Minnesota vs Purdue game two times so far, to report David Ball TD receptions. He is one shy of Jerry Rice's record.
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At this rate he may have a chance to be a 7th round pick next year.
 

Colonel_Reb

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David has broken Jerry Rice's receiving TD record! New Hampshire is killing Dartmouth. Congratulations to David Ball!
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Way to go!
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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awesome!
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at this rate, he might, and i say might, be given a shot as an undrafted rookie free-agent in training camp.
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Triad

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He is actually tied with Rice right now with 50 TD's; he had 3 today.
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Edited by: Triad
 

Colonel_Reb

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I noticed I had spoke too soon after one annoucer showed the first half highlights of Ball on ESPN. They are still scoring, so I imagine he has passed Rice by now. 56-14 and counting. Ball is going to set the bar so high, it will be another 25 years or more before it is broken. Edited by: Colonel_Reb
 

Triad

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espn said:
Ball played the first series of the second half with a chance to surpass Rice. He was in the end zone -- and open -- on the next drive, but so was Aaron Brown. Quarterback Ricky Santos went to Brown instead for a 24-yard TD pass that made it 42-7.

Ball caught two touchdowns in the season-opening victory over Northwestern but did not score against Stony Brook, sitting out the second half while the Wildcats ran up a 62-7 victory.

In an article lavishing praise on Ball's athleticism it shows the NH coaching staff doesn't have his record as a high priority. He's talented enough to almost score at will, yet he's sat at the 2nd half of the previous two games. Jerry Rice and Willie Totten didn't let up on anyone.
Edited by: Triad
 

Colonel_Reb

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You have to be kidding! What a freaking joke!
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Kaptain

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Actually waiting until next week works out better for Ball. He will get another week of exposure as he breaks Rice's record before he is forgotten about completely. After the Mike Haas debachacle, there is virtually no chance a white WR will get drafted (unless they star for ND).
 

Colonel_Reb

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Maybe your right. The more publicity he gets, the better. Maybe New Hampshire will go way into the I-AA playoffs too. That would help.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Lou Holtz commented on Ball tying Rice's record by saying, "Congratulations to D. Ball for tying the record, but i guarantee he won't break any of his professional records."

gee, i wonder why?
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it was coaches like Holtz who so firmly established the false mythos of black superiority on the football field.
 

Don Wassall

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That's right. If it was a black QB tying the record of a white QB, no announcer would say something like that. Could the double standard and the racism behind it be any more obvious?
 

Colonel_Reb

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Way to step out there and give such a bold and far reaching prediction Lou! That took some guts!
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Question is, how did he know?
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Oh yeah, now I understand!
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How could I have ever forgotten the Caste System?
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whiteCB

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Lou just had to put that comment in there. Instead of letting Ball have his moment in the light and getting praise for all the hard work he's put in Holtz just has to say a CLASSLESS comment like that. What a jerk move on Holtz's part, typical ******* ESPN style. I really thought you were better than that Lou.
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backrow

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Jimmy Chitwood said:
Lou Holtz commented on Ball tying Rice's record by saying, "Congratulations to D. Ball for tying the record, but i guarantee he won't break any of his professional records."QUOTE]

it is people like him that won't even give Ball a fair shot at NFL... my guess is that he won't even get drafted
 
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