The wheels are coming off the Fighting Irish -- Manti Te'o is particular.
And this has nothing to do at all with Ronaiah Tuiasosopo or the like (though I personally do wonder if people have to wonder about security and team secrets with him, but that is my opinion and mine alone...).
No, the latest debacle came at the NFL combine, when Manti Te'o ran a 40 that they had to clear everybody out of the building afterward to fumigate it!! 4.8 -- a "speed" which will leave him in the dust in the NFL, as his draft stock continues to tank.
He was a Heisman finalist and almost a lock for the top ten of the NFL Draft's first round. Now? Can't be found in the first round of any mock draft I can find.
Gil Brandt has him going 32nd to the Ravens, but John Harbaugh of the Ravens was openly seen shaking his head, as if to write Manti off the Ravens' draft board during that 40 run.
Not only is he slow for NFL standards, there are many people beginning to question if he was ever as big as he was advertised.
And the kicker: I've had one ex-NFL fan friend of mine propose the possibility (but only that) that Te'o, after this whole debacle, may be trying to write a one-way ticket out of the National Football League and the limelight surrounding it.
One thing, however, is certain: The continuing mountain of evidence that the sports media and the owners of college football rigged Notre Dame to a national title berth it never deserved is growing by the week.
Thanks, ESPN. Really...
(for nothing)
Can I ask you if you really are surprised by Te'o?
ReplyDeleteHe was overrated. They played a cup cake schedule all year long and still struggled hard in key games. They shouldn't have made it that far, you are so right, it was rigged. They were basically a gift to the Tide, and everyone knows that down here. Not one writer from Mobile all the way to Tuscaloosa was giving Notre Dame a chance in that game. The only ones I know who really thought they had a chance was ESPN, which is a joke.
I thought Te'o was overrated to begin with, and think about how poorly he played in that BCS Title Game. Like I said before, I did not want Notre Dame, I wanted Oregon. They would have put up a much better fight than that. I think deep down, everyone knew Notre Dame had no business whatsoever being in that championship game at all. Instead of the two best teams, we got one of the best against an average team that shouldn't have been there. I'm sure they made a killing off of it being two classic teams in there. Even Georgia would have dropped 40 on Notre Dame, they were a horrible team.
I don't think Te'o is going to be drafted, or if he is he's going to be a major bust. ESPN makes this kid out to be some awesome linebacker but I seen enough to know he's not that good. Missing tackles and not doing anything against Alabama, showed how great he is.