Robert Griffin III: A Sign of Progress

Robert Griffin won the Heisman Trophy. A first for Baylor and the 5th Black QB to win the award. 

It's a big sign of progress for Black quarterbacks that Griffin not only won the Heisman but that he and Cam Newton before him are the modern QB these days. Big, strong, dual-threats with great arms, personality and character. Entering the NFL in the post-Vick/McNabb generation facing less stereotypes.

You can trace the modern evolution of how the Black QB is perceived looking at the 5 guys who won the award. Andre Ware and Charlie Ward were phenomenal quarterbacks who never got a shot to succeed in the NFL due to the times and not fitting the mold. 

In between them and Troy Smith, Tommie Frazier and Michael Vick took college by storm. Steve McNair and Donovan McNabb proved they could be dual-threat quarterbacks who could pass first and think. They followed the footsteps of James Harris, Marlon Briscoe and Doug Williams, who made bold statements in Tampa Bay and Washington.

Smith was still a victim of perception even though he won the Heisman with an overwhelming vote. He was undersized despite the fact that he proved himself and no chances were made for him. He had a few flashes in the NFL but never had much of a shot. That's more than the guy who beat him for the national title, Chris Leak, can say as Leak didn't even get drafted.

Cam Newton is standing on the shoulders of giants. The fact that his NFL career is treated like a normal hyped rookie QB and limited worries about racially coded coaching moves/language in describing him (although it still exists), is a sign of progress.

After the Bowl game he could have 40 passing TDs, 4,000 yards and 10 rush TDs. Insane. 

Robert Griffin is even more progress as the well-spoken, poised, team-oriented leader usurped a lot of the buzz from preseason favorite Andrew Luck. If you know me, you know I'm a diehard Luck supporter and believe in his gifts. I didn't think most people would be behind Griffin but here I was hearing folks all over root for him over Luck for not just the Heisman, but the No. 1 overall pick.

RG3 had a phenomenal year from Day 1 when he beat TCU and then went on to beat Oklahoma and Texas. The only Texas team they didn't beat was Texas A&M and he still had 430 yards, 3 TDs and an INT. It was more important than record, he had a better season than A. Luck. 

(I'm hoping that Tim Tebow's success paves the way for option QB's to have coaches willing to change for them but I doubt it since 1) Tebow's success is a misnomer and 2) Black QBs have typically little wiggle room anyway so why suspect one anomaly will lead to more when they never did it before.

Plus it's an insult to Griffin to say that. He's a better passer and at 6-2 (ironically the same size as Charlie Ward), he has better size to stand in the pocket. He's no option quarterback if you peep his stats above. Watch the connotations of that)

The Black quarterback has made a lot of progress. There is still plenty of work to do with the perception of them as thinkers and quarterbacks, not just athletes with super arms. There is still a belief that QB's have to fit a certain mold or type and if they look a certain way, they have to do (X, Y, and Z).

But Robert Griffin is another sign of Black quarterbacks succeeding and it being less and less of a surprise how they do it. A friend of mine said it best last year: Future Black QBs are going to want to be Cam Newton and Robert Griffin type field generals who have intelligence and skill.

It's also progess for the Baylor sports program. 10 years ago, Baylor men's basketball had a terrible scandal involving a teammate killing another teammate and his coach slandering the dead player as a drug dealer after reports indicated. Now they have the best football player AND the best female basketball player in the country AND a successful men's basketball program that can recruit elite talent.

Cheers to RG3 and here's hoping some team in the Top 10 takes him to a similar impact to Andrew Luck. Finally something good to cheer about after this strange college season.

Football Wrap Week 13: BCS Chatter, Heisman Pickin and that Torero Pride!

I shall begin this week’s blog by admitting I have no clue where I stand on the BCS Title Game issue. I’m okay with Alabama being in there yet I can argue Oklahoma State has a case. I present the Virgo Breakdown of both schools

Pros for OK State

- They won the Big 12 title.

- They only lost on the road was in double OT to Iowa State, who also threatened Kansas State in an upset.

- The Big 12 was perhaps the strongest conference all year and deserves an entry.

- They beat OK, Kansas State, Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor

Cons for OK State

-They did lose to unranked Iowa State

-Less we think that game was a fluke, A&M was up huge and Kansas State put the fear of God in them

Pros for Alabama

-They played LSU tight for 60 Minutes

-It’ll be must see TV esp. in the South

- Rematch games are not out of the ordinary (1993 and 1996 title games)

- I believe they are probably the 2^nd best team by default and from my eyelids.

Cons

-Did not win the SEC Title

- Already faced LSU and had their chance

- Played a weaker schedule than OK State

- No team has played for the BCS title without winning a conference title in 8 years (2003 – Oklahoma lost the Big 12 title game and still played and lost to LSU. 2001 – Nebraska didn’t make the conf title game and got stomped out by Miami.

See how tricky it is? I can make legit arguments for both and I have no clue which makes sense. I have sympathy for OSU because I believe the Big 12 >>>>> SEC this year. Yet Alabama was clearly right there with LSU.

My only counter is wondering about something like 2006 when Ohio State and Michigan were ranked 1-2 entering their game. Yes it was the last game of the season so all was at stake but both played so evenly that a rematch would’ve been appropriate. I wonder if they played earlier in the year would folks have been crazy for it. It could be SEC bias at play here but also since all the top teams lost, Bama also did move up by default. Also, Bama was #2 in the AP poll as opposed to Nebraska and Oklahoma making crazy jumps.

Either way, the field will determine where everybody should be. Ball never lies and ultimately, the best teams do it on the field, not in the polls. And now a Virgo Rant.

Yeah I see the BCS and I see BS!! Let’s celebrate the biggest racket in college football – All that money and the schools get nothing but prestige. The bowl committees get most of the bank and of course the players get nothing but trinkets and a final audition for the NFL scouts, fans and their legacies. The bowl games are a crockpot of money and greed and backslapping goodness that masquerades as tradition. 

So yes, we’ll watch and celebrate despite the fact half these games are only around because some company puts up the cash and we want to reward every team that finishes .500 or better (except my beloved UCLA Bruins who make a Bowl Game at a sterling 6-7). Expansion rears its ugly head and I’d be happier if we killed off some of these games. Or at least give the players some money. And let's not even discuss how we select certain teams while some teams get screwed *steps off soapbox*

- Boise State vs. Arizona State will be a good early game

- Baylor vs. Washington will be nice. RG3 vs. the future in Keith Price

- Florida and Ohio State seem to always meet up in either college football/bball. This one could be heated

- Georgia vs. Michigan State will be great

- South Carolina’s Jadeveon THE FREAK Clowdey and Melvin Ingram vs.Nebraska's Taylor Martinez? Yes!

- Somebody please tell me why the Compass/GoDaddy Bowl Games are late in January??? Put them ugly games in the back! See this is what I'm talking about right here. This RIGHT HERE is some.....(grabs the mic from this crazy fool and shoves him offstage before he pisses off the wrong fan)

Virgo’s Heisman Ballot

1. Robert Griffin The Great

2. Case Keenum

3. Honey Badger (need I remind you what this dude did in the last two games – best defensive playmaker since N. Suh)

4. Montee Ball (38 TD’s is 38 TD’s. In a power running conference, that’s even greater. The most underrated star of this college season.)

5. T-Rich from Bama

6. LaMichael James – I feel T-Rich and James are better runners who did better work than Ball. Better NFL prospects too I’ll add. LMJ suffered when he missed a game due to injury but he remains the best Pac-12 RB I’ve seen since Reggie Bush/Lendale White

7. Andrew Luck – before you ask where Matt Barkley is, I’ll remind you that Luck had a clutch drive to tie USC and he beat Barkley’s USC team in triple OT. Pac-12 Player of the Year trumps Barkley’s numbers. But being the No. 1 overall pick doesn’t mean you were the best QB this year.

NFL Tidbits

The Return of Josh Johnson!! The legend of the University of San Diego got his 1st start in 2 years and played pretty well (16-27, 229 yards, TD, INT, 45 rush yards). And yes, I was happy as ever blowing this up before and after church. Torero Pride baby!

Aaron Rodgers’ 1 minute drill was pure money. Great way to respond to Eli Manning’s drive and further proof that he and the Packers are on another level (Get well soon, Charles Woodson)

Give Tim Tebow his credit playing well and looking like a quarterback Sunday. The church can get a head nod from me as I keep driving past it. 

Somebody please me why 1) Jason Garrett iced his own kicker, 2) nobody on Dallas called timeout on the previous play instead of burning clock only to spike the ball. My Boys better not be starting our annual December choke job.

The Chargers took it back to 2009 dropping hell fire on the Jaguars. Philip Rivers looked sharp. Vince Jax and Malcom Floyd made big plays. Ryan Matthews ran the ball well. Slumps die in Florida I guess.

Quiet as kept, Chris Johnson is playing back to normal. It’s a surprise if only you have no idea how a body works. Took him a while to get going, longer due to his holdout and now that he has 130+ yards in 3 of his last 4 games, he’ll finish with 1,000 yards. A success when you consider things.

New England is lucky they didn’t give back a 28-point lead to the Dan Orlovsky-led Colts. Read that again, Dan “Run Out Of the End Zone” Orlovsky nearly engineered a 4^th Q comeback.  Baltimore runs the AFC, far as I’m concerned.

On that point, Rob Gronkowski is that dude. 13 TD’s for a season record by TE’s and he’s gonna shatter that. Unbelievable matchup problems. Speaking of beast mode, shout out to Marshawn Lynch (148 yards, 2 TDs) and Ray Rice (204 yards, 2 TDs) going off.

Anybody see the Buffalo Bills? They were high on the mountaintop a month ago but seem to have fallen back to irrelevancy. Maybe we can ask the Lions since they’re headed down that way it seems.