The Portal Thread

[FearlessF]

I never liked anyone that played for the Donkeys in the NFL

[ELA]

I never liked anyone that played for the Donkeys in the NFL

[FearlessF]

Mike Croel, 1st round pick outta Nebraska?

Liked him when he was wearing #88 in Red

[ELA]

1990 was the first year I followed football at all, but by '91 I was locked in, and he was AWESOME that year for Denver.

[bayareabadger]

transfer portal has real possibility of ruining the sport. When Tom Brady didn't win the starting QB job at Michigan as a RS Soph in 1997 he was going to transfer back home to Cal. Brady's dad told him no. You're not a quitter, you aren't transferring back home- you made the decision to go there- stick it out.

As soon as players aren't starting year 1 they leave. It's insane.

Woulda been rough. He might’ve ended up only modestly productive and a sixth round pick or something. 

[Mdot21]

Woulda been rough. He might’ve ended up only modestly productive and a sixth round pick or something.

Brady talks about it all the time- that struggle at Michigan to even get the starting job as a Jr and then to have to compete with the wunderkid Henson to keep his job as a SR and then going in the 6th round is one of the things that really drove him. That chip on his shoulder, the need to prove himself, and the desire to compete every snap in practice like a game because he didn’t know if he would be playing on Saturdays - he himself says that all traces back to his time at Michigan. 

He says it himself. If he didn’t go through those struggles- he wouldn’t be what he is today. And if he didn’t get picked up by the Patriots and coached up and developed by one of the greatest X’s and O’s/strategizers in the history of the sport- he wouldn’t be what he is either. 

I bag on Belichik on here a lot because he’s a f**ing GOD awful GM- but in terms of just coaching football- he’s easily among the very greatest coaches ever. 

[bayareabadger]

Brady talks about it all the time- that struggle at Michigan to even get the starting job as a Jr and then to have to compete with the wunderkid Henson to keep his job as a SR and then going in the 6th round is one of the things that really drove him. That chip on his shoulder, the need to prove himself, and the desire to compete every snap in practice like a game because he didn’t know if he would be playing on Saturdays - he himself says that all traces back to his time at Michigan.

He says it himself. If he didn’t go through those struggles- he wouldn’t be what he is today. And if he didn’t get picked up by the Patriots and coached up and developed by one of the greatest X’s and O’s/strategizers in the history of the sport- he wouldn’t be what he is either.

I bag on Belichik on here a lot because he’s a f**ing GOD awful GM- but in terms of just coaching football- he’s easily among the very greatest coaches ever.

It was a joke. MDot. Joke.

I respect to a degree the idea that every part of his career had to be just so. But that's often how success works. It's natural to say everything you did factors in, because what happened was so unlikely. If he didn't go through through struggles, who knows? Maybe he would've felt those struggles and then he would've lifted a less talented team to 7-4. And he'd have a chip because of how the big boys treated him, et. al. Maybe Michigan and staying really mattered. We'll never know. Maybe if Drew Bledsoe stepped out of bounds two yards earlier, he's nothing. Who's to say. 

[Mdot21]

Maybe if Drew Bledsoe stepped out of bounds two yards earlier, he's nothing. Who's to say.

This is what really set it in motion- but according to people today who were in New England at the time- Bill was looking for a way to Bernie Kosar Bledsoe and move on from the $100 million man. How true that is- we’ll never know. The way Belichik is- how he likes to get rid of guys a year or two early as opposed to a year or two late- just might be true.

But no question that Mo Lewis hit changed everything. And Belichik having the cajones to stick with Brady and take the heat after Bledsoe came back is easily his greatest coaching decision ever.

Bledsoe had that one pretty good year in Buffalo in 2002- but right after that he kinda fell off the cliff, was out of Buffalo after only 2 more seasons- then picked off the scrap heap by Parcells in Dallas only to be usurped again by a young up and comer from out of nowhere in Tony Romo.

Belichik traded Bledsoe within the same division to a hated rival. Shows you how little he thought of the guys game at that point in time. Would the Packers trade Aaron Rodgers to the Bears? Or the Lions trade Stafford to the Bears? Hellll no.

[OrangeAfroMan]

1990 was the first year I followed football at all, but by '91 I was locked in, and he was AWESOME that year for Denver.

This was the first time I really collected football cards, and I'd have to say the draft classes in 90 and 91 were crap.  idk about overall, but the top prospects that had rookie cards produced......Todd Marinovich, Dan McGwire, Jarrod Bunch, Browning Nagle, Eric Bieniemy, Nick Bell.....the skill position guys were awful in '91. 
.
In '90, you had Jeff George and Blair Thomas go 1-2.  Ouch.  And recalling some football cards of players that didn't pan out:  Andre Ware, Alexander Wright, Reggie Rembert, Reggie Cobb.  There were 7 linebackers chosen in the first round in 1990 - that seems insane.
.
But you did get Junior Seau, Mark Carrier, Emmitt Smith, Richmond Webb, and Rodney Hampton.  Hampton had to be the slowest RB ever - he made Emmitt look fast.

[Mdot21]

former 4* Penn State LB Lance Dixon (6'2, 221) enters the portal. 

Dixon is originally from the state of Michigan, he was rated in the 247Composite as the #179 player overall and #9 OLB. 247's own rankings were more bullish- 247 ranked him as a 5*, the #13 player overall and #1 OLB.

Michigan or Michigan State probably most likely destinations.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Tathan Martel is transferring again. 

[Mdot21]

Tathan Martel is transferring again.

shocker. is. there a midget league he can go play in?

[Brutus Buckeye]

He could maybe go to UNLV, where he is from. Not hard to be the tallest midget there. 

[FearlessF]

Transfers by school since July 2020

Big Ten West									Big Ten East
Nebraska: 12									Michigan State: 14
Illinois: 9									Maryland: 13
Northwestern: 8									Michigan: 12
Iowa: 7									Rutgers: 12
Minnesota: 6									Penn State: 8
Wisconsin: 3									Indiana: 3
Purdue: 3									Ohio State: 1

Farrell anticipates this new, complex dance between coaches and their own players is here to stay.

“Now you’ve got to re-recruit the kids who are already on your own campus,” Farrell said. “That’s going to be a huge challenge for coaches who don’t love to recruit. There’s a balance between, ‘I’m the coach and you’re the kid,’ and ‘I’m the recruiter and you’re the kid I want to keep.’ That’s going to be extremely difficult for a lot of schools to juggle.”