They have done a great job of keeping the "freak" White athletes ouf ot the NFL and try hard to leave them ignored in college. Jake Sharp, 4.3 speed, rb, what was it, 1200 yards from scrimmage in 8 games after Mangino finally realized he could start after taking a shovel pass 67 yards? Then one tryout with the Bears and let go that day. Eric Peterman, well over 6 foot, insane agility, 4.4 speed, could be like a White Percy Harvin, no chance. Sam McGuffie got screwed over, he should have been redshirted, he was in no way developed enough to play as a true freshman in the big 10, he still held his own, but was head hunted, I am guessing because of his youtube video, the main hit he took was from a White guy on special teams, which was Rich Rod's idea, to put him out there when he was still recovering from a concussion the week before going over the middle. Then he finally bulks up at Rice and never finds a true role, once a great offense, they were a grab bag offense when he got there (term for a team that uses concepts from several different schemes, doesn't commit to one and they wind up failing), alternating 4 different quarterbacks. Justin Beaver? never got a shot.
Then there was Matt Jones, who switched to wideout, never played the position, it takes guys who played the position in college 3 years to learn it, it took him 4 for a breakout year, and they had him running nothing but possession receiver routes, and if you have ever witnessed Randy Moss running those routes, he looks pedestrian, he was still on pace for 1k over 16 games. One incident with cocaine, then drinking a beer. The Bengals "gave him a chance" but he couldn't "shorten his stride". Why does he need to? just send him deep. They have plenty of wideouts in the NFL who have this role only, like Devery Henderson did for a while. Donte Stallworth was always in that role. They wanted him to be a possession receiever.
Which leads me to another talented guy who is in the league and still has a chance. Brian Hartline. He got 1k but if you notice his highlights which I put up, they run that same little route over and over and over, 10 yards, come back route like 15 times a game where the db knows it and if Tannehill doesn't get the ball out the db is draped over his back. You know what is a good route to run if you keep running that route? the hitch and go, then they will think he is running the same route, he cuts and takes off down the field. Didn't see it going through all of the games, okay exageration, might have seen him run it a handful of times through 16 games. He might have put up an extra 400 yards and 4 or 5 tds if they ran that 3 to 4 times a game. Sure it that one little route will get him the first down, but come on, he can do more than that.
and thats just a few who made it to the NFL (or a tryout). There are tons of guys like Nile Knapp, well he might be the most talented but tons of guys that are freakish athletes that don't get a chance in college. Hunter Furr comes to mind. Steve Korte for LSU, 240 pound rb that ran a 4.3 at his pro day, never saw a touch. I love Jacob Hester but Korte should have seen touches too on that offense, but I guess it would have been taboo for two White guys. Same team, Daniel Graff, track star, 4.35, special teams.
They want us to think that all of the White athletes are quicker than fast, and a good deal are but they still have some speed. They like to get "undersized" guys with guys like Eric Smith and Jim Leonhard getting shots in the league. And truly, if they gave all of those types of Whites a real shot in the NFL we would have a ton. A ton of guys 5'9 to 6'1 that can run 4.5 to 4.6 that are very quick. Glad to see Riley Cooper finally get a shot, he may have only ran a 4.5 but his speed is much better than that, I saw him block on a Demps return and he was with him all the way. His 100 yard speed may be better than his 40.
There are many more but too many to list. So yeah, very disappointing to see Swope, who is what they want Tavon Austin to be, except bigger and stronger, retire. The fight scenario seems a bit extreme. I think someone just was head hunting him in practice, during non contact drills. If word got out then the team would be screwed. So they probably reached a settlement. Perhaps he knows whats up with the Caste System and doesn't want to bother, all that talent and production and he was fighting for a 4th or 5th receiver spot? and then he sees his former qb getting scrutinized with the gurus saying hes not an NFL starting qb. Some people just move on. He had a great career in college and nobody can take that away from him.
