NFL Early Draft Entries

[Scrap Irony]

Marriage and children are comparable experiences to 4 years of college over 3 years?

My college years were the best of my life. My wife agrees. I'm sure our children will agree as well. College is where you experience life for the first time. Where you're truly free to do just about anything you want to do. You dabble in a thousand things, learning not just about literature, science, or history, but about your own limits and abilities.

You make the best friends you'll have for the rest of your life-- friends you know you can depend on. Even the bad times teach lessons and give joy.

If you've never experienced it, you can't imagine how it feels. Sorry.

And you'd be willing to give that up for a few dollars?

What is money to Locker anyway? He'll have it next year and it's not like he won't be filthy stinking rich in 15 months or so anyway.

What's money to that freedom?

[dougdirt]

My college years were the best of my life. My wife agrees. I'm sure our children will agree as well. College is where you experience life for the first time. Where you're truly free to do just about anything you want to do. You dabble in a thousand things, learning not just about literature, science, or history, but about your own limits and abilities.

You make the best friends you'll have for the rest of your life-- friends you know you can depend on. Even the bad times teach lessons and give joy.

If you've never experienced it, you can't imagine how it feels. Sorry.

And you'd be willing to give that up for a few dollars?

What is money to Locker anyway? He'll have it next year and it's not like he won't be filthy stinking rich in 15 months or so anyway.

What's money to that freedom?

Everyone I know went to college (friends wise). I did just about everything that they did short of going to class (I did write many papers and take a few exams for some.... but that is another story) and drink beer. I experienced the college social scene and realistically, it just wasn't for me. Its for mostly immature people who need to grow up for the most part but are stuck in some 'frat' lifestyle rather than actually acting like an adult which they should be. I have one single friend that I don't know from before college days, despite me hanging around on college campuses for 5 years with college students. I have known my best friend since I was 11 years old. The only 'college' things I missed out on was beer (not the parties, I was there for those), class and interning.

As for trading it all for a few bucks.... he isn't. He has had the lifestyle that you loved so much for 3 full years. You are making a big assumption that he gets through 2010 healthy and can still be filthy stinking rich if he doesn't. As a quarterback, that isn't close to a guarantee.

And what is money to what freedom? What freedom can he have in college compared to the freedom he can have with $10M in his bank account as a 22 year old professional athlete?

[Scrap Irony]

But that $10 million comes with HUGE pressure. Why take that on earlier than you have to?

And I suppose we'll have to disagree about the importance of college, doug. I can't explain the importance of it to someone who hasn't been there and tried it. I don't think anyone could. Being there for the parties is hardly the "social scene" I had.

I learned to sky dive while in college.

I learned how to make drinks and clean a bar in under 30 minutes stem to stern.

I rock climbed. Once. But that was enough.

I had a thousand roommates and learned how to live with most of them.

I ate Ramen noodles and peanut butter for a month in order to afford one date.

I learned the importance of not kissing and telling. And of friendship.

I played ball and found out I wasn't nearly as good as I thought I was.

I saw a guy get his ear ripped off in a rugby match. He scored first, then went back to get his ear and go to the hospital.

College basketball games in the student section, body paint, and television cameras make for a really fun night and a really odd next morning, especially if your body paint and hers mix.

Saturday afternoon cartoons with buddies after Friday night beers. Trying beer and Fruity Pebbles because your milk is three weeks out of date.

Professors that "get it", then teach it to you.

Classes you struggle through, and are rewarded for.

10:15 classes and other people telling you how early that is.

Girls in flip-flops, baseball caps, and sweat pants in class are hot. Seriously hot.

I'm guessing Dude is more like me than you, doug. He loves all that stuff. He doesn't want to leave it and he doesn't care all that much about money.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that decision, nor is it necessarily "wrong" or stupid.

[dougdirt]

But that $10 million comes with HUGE pressure. Why take that on earlier than you have to?

Because it may not be there if you wait?

I learned to sky dive while in college.

I learned how to make drinks and clean a bar in under 30 minutes stem to stern.

I rock climbed. Once. But that was enough.

Those can't be learned without college? It costs about $125 bucks to go skydiving. College not required.

I ate Ramen noodles and peanut butter for a month in order to afford one date.

I learned the importance of not kissing and telling. And of friendship.

Surely you don't think people who don't go to college don't know the value of money or not having much of it do you? As for not kissing and telling.... yeah, something else that doesn't require college to learn.

I played ball and found out I wasn't nearly as good as I thought I was.

I saw a guy get his ear ripped off in a rugby match. He scored first, then went back to get his ear and go to the hospital.

Good story. I blew up my knee playing football, then walked up 50 steps by myself because no one thought I was truly hurt. A few weeks later I had two knee surgeries to fix a blown ACL and shredded meniscus. Didn't require college for that one.

College basketball games in the student section, body paint, and television cameras make for a really fun night and a really odd next morning, especially if your body paint and hers mix.

Did those at UC. Don't need to be a student for those.

Saturday afternoon cartoons with buddies after Friday night beers. Trying beer and Fruity Pebbles because your milk is three weeks out of date.

Not dumb enough to try that one even if I did drink.

Girls in flip-flops, baseball caps, and sweat pants in class are hot. Seriously hot.

You don't have to tell me. Like I said, I was all over college campuses from 18-24 because all of my friends were there.

I'm guessing Dude is more like me than you, doug. He loves all that stuff. He doesn't want to leave it and he doesn't care all that much about money.

Trust me, I am one of the last people to care about money. But if dude is like you and likes hot girls, beer and body paint.... he can certainly get hotter girls, more and better beer and glow in the dark body paint with tens of millions of dollars.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that decision, nor is it necessarily "wrong" or stupid.

There may not be anything wrong with the decision, but from a career decision, if he truly wants to play in the NFL, its a dumb decision. There are too many risks to take over the next 13 months that can take that chance away from him.

[GIDP]

I can think of a lot of things I could do making 30 million. Being in college probably holds me back from doing awesome things honestly.

[Scrap Irony]

Trust me, I am one of the last people to care about money. But if dude is like you and likes hot girls, beer and body paint.... he can certainly get hotter girls, more and better beer and glow in the dark body paint with tens of millions of dollars.

And once again, you've missed my point. College is much more about the mindset and much less the "hot girls, beer, and body paint" (which obviously was not my main point, but I'm guessing you knew that). There is a freedom in college you won't find anywhere else at any other time of your life.

I'm truly sorry you didn't experience that.

But the fact remains, for millions of us, that college is the best time of life. Perhaps he knows this early enough to make a decision not based on the almighty dollar.

This decision is not necessarily a poor one for him. He may be willing to sacrifice that life of constant media pressure and fan scrutiny for one more year of freedom.

I applaud that.

You can't understand it.

Let's just agree to disagree at that.

[dougdirt]

And once again, you've missed my point. College is much more about the mindset and much less the "hot girls, beer, and body paint" (which obviously was not my main point, but I'm guessing you knew that). There is a freedom in college you won't find anywhere else at any other time of your life.

I'm truly sorry you didn't experience that.

But the fact remains, for millions of us, that college is the best time of life. Perhaps he knows this early enough to make a decision not based on the almighty dollar.

This decision is not necessarily a poor one for him. He may be willing to sacrifice that life of constant media pressure and fan scrutiny for one more year of freedom.

I applaud that.

You can't understand it.

Let's just agree to disagree at that.

College is the best time of the life for most because its the last time they get a chance to not be all that responsible. Guys making $40M aren't the guys who fall into that category. You can't really understand it either because I am willing to bet you have never had to make a decision where $40M was on the table for you. I don't need to understand college life to understand its a very poor career choice to push off $40M+ when there are chances, that you can lose a whole lot of that in 1 single year. We can agree to disagree, but from a career standpoint its a terrible decision because of the risk associated with going back to school. There isn't much room for him to improve as he is projected #1 in several mock drafts, so the only way for him to go is down, thus costing him money (and likely a lot of it).

[GIDP]

1 injury and Jake Locker is looking at 5 million instead of 30.

[Scrap Irony]

Did he make a bad career decision?

Perhaps.

You don't know if he did or not.

Is it risky?

Sure, but so is getting out of bed in the morning.

And the pressure he has to go through as the likely face of his franchise can be absolutely stifling. There's no chance he can be free-- ever-- in the media storm of an NFL city and its fans. No chance.

And, fwiw, he's a projected number one pick (before the season is even over) in one mock draft.

[Scrap Irony]

1 injury and Jake Locker is looking at 5 million instead of 30.

And $5 million is enough to live on for the rest of your life.

[dougdirt]

Did he make a bad career decision?

Perhaps.

You don't know if he did or not.

Is it risky?

Sure, but so is getting out of bed in the morning.

You just went to the extreme with your comparison. Going back to playing college football is more dangerous to his career than getting out of bed.

[Scrap Irony]

You're right. Any extreme should be ignored.

Unless he has a catastrophic injury (one that very few QBs get), the kid is going to get paid.

And it's not like an injury is predestined, nor is it a surety it will affect a kid's draft status. Sam Bradford, despite his shoulder woes, is probably still going to go top five (depending on who drafts where and their needs), just behind (or ahead of) Claussen.

[dougdirt]

You're right. Any extreme should be ignored.

Unless he has a catastrophic injury (one that very few QBs get), the kid is going to get paid.

And it's not like an injury is predestined, nor is it a surety it will affect a kid's draft status. Sam Bradford, despite his shoulder woes, is probably still going to go top five (depending on who drafts where and their needs), just behind (or ahead of) Claussen.

The difference between #1 and #5 in 2009 was $12M. The difference between #1 and #10 in 2009 was over $40M. Thats a HUGE risk to make.

[Scrap Irony]

That's IF he's drafted number one. (Which is not at all what most mock drafts posted.)

IF he gets injured enough to affect his numbers. (How many "sure-fire" first-round QBs in the past 10 years have been injured in their last year of college enough to affect draft status? One? Two? Not many.)

IF a team cares enough to pick someone else. (Signs now are that Bradford's draft status is the same now despite his injury than it was at the beginning of the year.)

IF he cares about money. (Which is not the end-all, be-all of his life, as seen by his choice of staying in school.)

Lots of if's there, doug.

And it's not such a HUGE risk if you're going to make enough money to set your family up for life. How much can one guy spend?

[dougdirt]

That's IF he's drafted number one. (Which is not at all what most mock drafts posted.)

IF he gets injured enough to affect his numbers. (How many "sure-fire" first-round QBs in the past 10 years have been injured in their last year of college enough to affect draft status? One? Two? Not many.)

IF a team cares enough to pick someone else. (Signs now are that Bradford's draft status is the same now despite his injury than it was at the beginning of the year.)

IF he cares about money. (Which is not the end-all, be-all of his life, as seen by his choice of staying in school.)

Lots of if's there, doug.

And it's not such a HUGE risk if you're going to make enough money to set your family up for life. How much can one guy spend?

As a pro athlete, you can spend a ton. There is a reason plenty of former NFL players are flat out broke.

And sure, Bradford looks good now, but lets see where he is sitting at after his workouts/combine dates. And yeah, he may not go #1, what if he would have gone #5, gets hurt then goes #25? Another huge drop off in money. And yeah, there are some ifs in there. Not one of which is worth tens of millions of dollars for 1 year of college.