A couple of transactions passed across my screen in the past few days. Last night we learned that Coe running back Fred Jackson, a second team D3football.com All-America running back in 2002, has signed with the Buffalo Bills. Jackson follows in the footsteps of Carey Bender, who played for the Bills in the mid-1990s.
Bender also played in NFL Europe, and Jackson might have a chance to do the same. Jackson reportedly has been allocated to NFL Europe. The NFL Europe training camp begins in mid-February.
Jackson played in the United Indoor Football League this past season and was the league’s MVP.
Jermaine Taylor re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will be allocated to NFL Europe as well. Taylor, a two-time D3football.com All-American (third team in 2002, first team in 2003), was in the Bucs training camp last season.
(Minneapolis) Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman wrote this week that former Gustavus Adolphus wide receiver Ryan Hoag is working out in Florida with hopes of landing a spot in NFL Europe as a free agent.
Freddie deserves a shot in the league. I don’t know what he has done to improve since he graduated, but he was a stud two years ago. I hope he makes it.
http://www.emorywheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/01/24/43d6b4f90d323
I take it that Greg Chalfin, sports editor, for the Emory College student paper doesn’t think DIII football is doing much these days….
—“Thank goodness we don’t have that. I love football, but most of this student body has never attended and should not ever have to witness Division III’s tragic version.”
—“The games wouldn’t be so bad if the players weren’t so painfully awful. Seemingly, anyone can play Division III football.”
—“Puget Sound didn’t teach me much, but I did learn one thing. According to UPS, Brown can do a lot for you. For Emory, Division III football can’t do s–t.”
Thanks for the heads-up. Here was the response I posted on the young man’s column:
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Perhaps you should see some decent teams before you denigrate the entirety of Division III football.
Your broad-brush painting of Division III offenses strikes actual Division III football people as comical. Like Division I-A, Division III teams run everything from the spread to the wishbone.
And since you intend to watch the Super Bowl, I hope you cover your eyes when Steelers linebacker Clint Kriewaldt is in the game. He’s a former Division III player.
All sorts of people cared. While it will never rival the interest of Division I-A football, Division III football has fans. I know. They visited D3football.com 4 million times in a one-year span. Just because UPS didn’t deliver a football experience for you doesn’t mean that the other 230 schools are all just as bad.
He must not have appreciated your response and had it removed, Pat. I didn’t see it there.
I got a personal response from him, so I know he read it. I hope he will have the courage to let everyone else see it.
PC…my response didn’t get posted either. I guess he didn’t like me saying that Bill Belichick is lucky being a former DIII football player didn’t damage him too bad.
looks like the comments are being put up now. I would like to see the comments section reach double digits…. 🙂
The comments are reviewed by a moderator before they are posted. There are five comments up there now. I don’t know if they will post mine, I compared their paper to his opinion of Division III.
Well, we shouldn’t just all gang up on him. If someone has a different take that isn’t just copying and pasting the same arguments we’ve already made, then go ahead. But simply saying the same thing in order to pile on I would not be in favor of.
My post about recent D3 grads, Jerheme Urban, Eric Mangini, Josh McDaniels and Nick Caserio was accepted.
I mentioned the amateur nature of D3, the success of Emory in the Directors’ Cup and invited Mr Chaflin to visit the Stagg Bowl with the family like nature of D3 complete with the famous Stone Station and the great fans.
So this guy runs cross-country at Emory, apparently. Doesn’t he realize that by slamming D3 football he is in effect slamming all D3 sports? Are his times competive with D1 runners?
Sent in my $0.02, too.
Ron, I went to the Emory web site for Cross Country, historically one of the stronger Cross Country programs in the weaker than average South Region. (Hey, if it is warm enough to play baseball or golf, why run cross country! 😉 )
Mr Chalkin is not listed on the roster.
http://www.go.emory.edu/Rosters/Current/ROS_MCC.html
That’s what I get for trusting someone else’s comment … but it turns out that he was a member of the 2004 UPS Cross Country Team. Whew!
So now this guy has a bone to pick because he couldn’t cut it as a D3 athlete? ROTFL …
OK, maybe he used up his eligibility or something else. Still seems strange that someone who competed in D3 athletics missed the whole point of competing threr.
congrats to jackson and taylor
I enjoyed reading all the posts you guys have made on Mr. Chalkin’s article.
The guy probably thinks he’s a genious now…getting feedback from across the US on his ‘better make the deadline, what story can I put together in 10 minutes’ article. We may just encourage him to become the next Cowherd.
Mizzou,
Great point. He either feels like a tool or thinks he’s brilliant…..
I love the off season!
A little deeper research shows this joker was a non-roster cross-country runner for Puget Sound. If you check the 2004 Willamette Invitaltional/College Division Race, you’ll find him listed (if your hand doesn’t cramp up first) as 192nd. Also was a high school soccer player in Colorado.
It appears “Skippy” is working from a resentment towards both his former school and football players in general. I’m sorry, but I look at Emory University and I think there is nothing wierder than a Southern School without football.
Great job seventiesraider. Your MUC education has served you well. Plus 1 Karma!
The only attempted rebutal to our posts used the logic that because there are awful D3 teams, then D3 football is awful. Hence Kent State plays D1 football, therefore D1 football is awful. Logic must not be popular course at Emory.
Whew, just getting wind of this.
Methinks someone once said that student newspapers are more effort than precision.
The worst thing you can do as a columnist is talk out of your hind parts, although that seems to have worked for Skip Bayless, et. al. quite well. But dude is either learning that hard way that if you have a point, best to present it with some facts, logic, original though and
I might read it, but I’m not going to waste my time responding … like Mizzou said, it sounds like it was a slap-together. No need to give him an inflated sense of importance.
Man’s entitled to his opinion, but not no Stone Station. Don’t be offering up the good stuff to just any old body.
I’m still laughing at “if your hand doesn’t cramp up first.”