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Sunday, August 30, 2009

Toney Clemons, Saint


An article from Joe Schad confirms the report from the Detroit Free Press, which stated that Michigan requires time commitments beyond the allowable maximum. Let's parse Clemons' statements line by line.

The allegations are true. Nothing is fabricated or exaggerated in that story.

Okay.

I was there on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. or 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. depending on if guys needed treatment. You were there daylight to nighttime.

This isn't the point. If guys needed treatment, that doesn't break the rules. A visit to the trainer does not count against the 20 allowed hours. Also, I'm from southeast Michigan - daylight in Ann Arbor does not begin at 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. And regardless of how long the player is at the facility, the question isn't about the time at the building; the question is about how the time inside the facilities is spent. In the football off-season, I spend about nine hours at school. I come in thirty minutes early to get work done. I take a half-hour lunch. I spend about an hour playing basketball after school. That doesn't mean I'm teaching for nine straight hours.

On Sunday, it was lifting, film, dinner and practice. I usually got out around 10:20.

Okay, specifics. Let's deal with specifics. Weight training doesn't count against the limit if it's done voluntarily. One down, three to go. Film doesn't count against the limit, as long as the student-athlete watches it voluntarily. Two down, two to go. Team training tables don't count against the limit. Three down, one to go.

Pesky practice. Practice is probably required. If the practice part goes over four hours, that's a problem. Especially if you're Allen Iverson.

I truly don't want to be associated with the program back there.

I don't blame you, Toney. You were the 91st best player in the class of 2007 and the 12th best receiver in the nation. Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington both entered the NFL draft early, opening the door for you to start . . . and you promptly got displaced by Martavious Odoms, the #71 wide receiver and a true freshman from the class of 2008. You could barely get on the field. On top of that, you couldn't beat out Laterryal Savoy for the outside receiver position, a guy who was so bad in practice that he auditioned to play defensive back in the spring of 2007. I would want to forget about that time in my life, too. Those are good reasons to transfer. You know, to disassociate yourself. When I get dumped by a girl, I usually try to forget about it by talking about it for months . . .

. . . wait a minute. You don't want to be associated with Michigan? Then why bring this up? Oh, yeah. This:

But I am going to help benefit my teammates back there by speaking and giving testimony.

Clemons's old teammates want Michigan to lose scholarships, see. He's trying to help them. If there are fewer scholarships and thus fewer quality players, that means his old teammates will get additional playing time. And if they have less practice time, that will make them better football players. More playing time + less practice time = NFL stardom. And if they have less practice time, maybe the kids can improve their collective GPA, which was the football team's highest in twenty years.

15 comments:

  1. Perfectly stated - thanks GO BLUE!

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  2. I think he's also helping out his cousin - Terrell Pryor.

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  3. Are you going to doa post on the RR press conference?

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  4. Great posting! Whining about practicing too much? Obviously he didn't practice enough or he wouldn't have the dropsies like he did last year. UM fans (whether you support the Rodriguez hiring or not) need to unite in support of him. He takes a lot of shit, some of it self-generated, but the majority from pro-Carr supporters. I love Lloyd Carr, but Rodriguez is the kind of non-traditional hire that we needed if we want championships!

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  5. @ Anonymous at 5:16 p.m.

    I don't know if I'll have time to do a post on the Rodriguez presser or not. Football season is in full swing now, so I have very little time on my hands, unfortunately.

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  6. Good Job helping out your cousin Pryor WIN the ROSE BOWL Clemons! I hear you are a beast at Colorado! Who's the Bitch now! Colorado has better reciever coaches than Michigan, so there goes the dropsy problem, and they use real recievers so there goes the Martavious Odoms mini slot reciever problem for Clemons! Poor G. Matthews, Rod sure screwed his college and NFL career! Clemons you should have stayed for that! Colorado Fans are loving Clemons already!

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  7. Big 12-COLORADO-Clemons-Year off-= Getting bigger, faster, stronger, wiser...oh, I can't wait so see him play for a real program next year!

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  8. Mr. Thunder...where did you place in the national rankings? 91st PLAYER in the NATION and 12th BEST RECIEVER in the NATION are you kidding me with this disrespect? Rod is looking for smaller slot recievers for his offense that's why Clemons needed to leave and salvage his college career, he's a pro style built ball player. Mathews stayed and you don't hear of any NFL draft anything because RR could care less about that type of reciever. This is the NEW RODRIGUEZ MICHIGAN! The spread offense that Ohio State, and Penn State won bowls games against, and the Sparty's came very close to. Anyone seen Odoms this year? 2010 is going to be a very good year! TrueClemonsBelievers know YOU will be watching.

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  9. Exactly, Clemons is not built for Rich Rod's offense. His gimmick offense is a joke and it will be hilarious when he's fired. Please remember that WVU recruited Toney Clemons is high school and Toney wanted nothing to do with them (I know this because I know Toney.) Rich Rod held a grudge against Toney and did not give him a fair shot. The combination of the two things I just explained are the reasons for Toney to transfer. Very few players recruited by Carr like RR. Players want to win in college, but they also want a chance to make the NFL. The fact is that Rich Rod doesn't give a damn about players once they have done their duty for him and couldn't care less if his players are successful in the NFL. Don't believe me? Just ask the players he abandoned at WVU and the players he is cheating at UM.

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  10. @ Anonymous 10:26 a.m.

    I don't know how much I believe that Clemons wasn't given a "fair shot." He was converted to slot receiver and played a fair amount of time there. He just wasn't very good at it.

    But if Rodriguez didn't care about his former players, then I doubt guys like Dan Mozes would be working for his S&C program years later.

    Coaches leave for bigger jobs. Michigan is bigger than WVU. I'm assuming you're a WVU fan, and you just have to deal with the fact that WVU is a second-rate program. That's nothing to be embarrassed about, but it's true.

    And as for the players that he's cheating at U of M, I suggest you contact Brandon Graham about that. He might be too busy spending his first round signing bonus to respond, though.

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