cowboyjoe
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Stop hatin' on McGee, Longhorns!
03:51 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 14, 2009
OK, I get it. You don't like Stephen McGee despite his Burnet roots. You call the former A&M quarterback a trash-talking punk. I would, too, after some of the things that McGee has pulled, most notably barking at virtually anybody he collides with on the football field, including Sergio Kindle during last year's Longhorns win in Austin. Or to safety Blake Gideon after a devastating block in the same game. But the level of vitriol being thrown McGee's way on the message boards (like at Statesman.com, which lights up with slanderous epithets virtually every time Randy Riggs pens an article on him) is usually reserved for Aggie "tyrants" like Jackie Sherrill, who, not coincidentally, ALSO had a history of beating the burnt orange.
Now McGee is rising on the NFL draft boards. He'll try out for almost a dozen teams, including the Patriots, Cowboys and Texans before next week's draft, and the word on the street is he could be an early second day pick, perhaps the fifth or sixth QB taken. Not bad for a guy that nobody gave a chance after an injury-plagued senior season spent mostly riding the pine. No doubt to the delight of longhorn fans, that. I'd be glad, too, after he beat my team two years in a row. Make that out-gutted and out-toughed my vastly more talented team two years in a row. And let's not forget that he nearly knocked of Vince Young his freshman year.
But rivalry aside (and I'm sure you know where I stand on that one by now), why hate on this kid? He's been through a lot in four years at A&M. Injuries, Dennis Franchione's crippling decision to turn to the option attack instead of the pro-style offense that would have showcased McGee's passing skills he flashed as a Bulldog, rumors of Fran's demise,
even crappy behavior by Aggies (nasty notes, eggs on his car) who thought he wasn't good enough despite getting his head kicked in every game. I mean, doesn't adversity REVEAL character?
Consider this about McGee: He's a (coach-turned- )preacher's kid, incredibly competitive, polite, holds a masters degree in marketing from A&M in only 4 YEARS, and has never once been anything but a gracious loser as well as winner, a tireless soldier for his coach and all around good kid. As my mom used to say, he was "raised right".
Now I'll admit that his fiery competitiveness got the best of him occasionally, just as it has me and I'll be a lot of you out there. But that's no reason to want him to fail. Trust me when I say we in the sports biz cover a lot of immature, over-hyped athletes, not a few of whom are from around here. McGee isn't one of them, and I hope that only the snarkiest and most mean-spirited of Longhorn fans (who the rest of you really ought to tell to can it, because they reflect very poorly on a fine school) will be rooting against him next weekend.
03:51 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 14, 2009
OK, I get it. You don't like Stephen McGee despite his Burnet roots. You call the former A&M quarterback a trash-talking punk. I would, too, after some of the things that McGee has pulled, most notably barking at virtually anybody he collides with on the football field, including Sergio Kindle during last year's Longhorns win in Austin. Or to safety Blake Gideon after a devastating block in the same game. But the level of vitriol being thrown McGee's way on the message boards (like at Statesman.com, which lights up with slanderous epithets virtually every time Randy Riggs pens an article on him) is usually reserved for Aggie "tyrants" like Jackie Sherrill, who, not coincidentally, ALSO had a history of beating the burnt orange.
Now McGee is rising on the NFL draft boards. He'll try out for almost a dozen teams, including the Patriots, Cowboys and Texans before next week's draft, and the word on the street is he could be an early second day pick, perhaps the fifth or sixth QB taken. Not bad for a guy that nobody gave a chance after an injury-plagued senior season spent mostly riding the pine. No doubt to the delight of longhorn fans, that. I'd be glad, too, after he beat my team two years in a row. Make that out-gutted and out-toughed my vastly more talented team two years in a row. And let's not forget that he nearly knocked of Vince Young his freshman year.
But rivalry aside (and I'm sure you know where I stand on that one by now), why hate on this kid? He's been through a lot in four years at A&M. Injuries, Dennis Franchione's crippling decision to turn to the option attack instead of the pro-style offense that would have showcased McGee's passing skills he flashed as a Bulldog, rumors of Fran's demise,
even crappy behavior by Aggies (nasty notes, eggs on his car) who thought he wasn't good enough despite getting his head kicked in every game. I mean, doesn't adversity REVEAL character?
Consider this about McGee: He's a (coach-turned- )preacher's kid, incredibly competitive, polite, holds a masters degree in marketing from A&M in only 4 YEARS, and has never once been anything but a gracious loser as well as winner, a tireless soldier for his coach and all around good kid. As my mom used to say, he was "raised right".
Now I'll admit that his fiery competitiveness got the best of him occasionally, just as it has me and I'll be a lot of you out there. But that's no reason to want him to fail. Trust me when I say we in the sports biz cover a lot of immature, over-hyped athletes, not a few of whom are from around here. McGee isn't one of them, and I hope that only the snarkiest and most mean-spirited of Longhorn fans (who the rest of you really ought to tell to can it, because they reflect very poorly on a fine school) will be rooting against him next weekend.
