Todd McShay Opens His Mouth
And removes all doubt.
ESPN writer Todd McShay recently published this article about the best and worst picks of the 2007 NFL draft (the link requires ESPN Insider access).
In this article he claims that the Buffalo Bills made an egregious error in drafting Marshawn Lynch so high.
Here is what he says:
"Lynch is a very talented back with a strong build, above-average speed and good receiving skills. But he has too many question marks to justify selecting him No. 12 overall. Instead of paying Willis McGahee market value, the Bills will overpay for a less talented back who never carried the full load at Cal."
Wow. "Too many question marks"???
Firstly, like every reasonable person ever, I feel completely insulted when people lash out at Marshawn. But I am going to try to say this calmly and logically, because a)it’s important to foster that atmosphere and b)Mr. McShay’s comments are so laughibly wrong you don’t need much more than calm logic to disprove them.
Now, Mr. Todd McShay you must be talking about the alleged assault allegations. The allegations that never resulted in filed charges because the supposed "victim" could not keep her story straight. And how coincidental that the supposed "victim" only decided to try and file charges many many months after the supposed assault and right before Marshawn declared for the draft. Perhaps justice was not her first focus. In a post-Duke case world, we have to stick strongly to the "Innocent Before Guilty" ideal that our country was founded upon. It is really unfortunate that these rumors and innuendo keep spreading even though there appears to be no truth to them at all.
Or maybe it was the fact that Marshawn has dreads and a grill because we all know that people who have dreads and a grill are gang-bangers. I fear that there is a small amount of stereotyping here. People see an African-American athlete from an inner city neighborhood, such as Oakland (aka The Town), with all those accoutrements and instantly judge them a certain way. But if you take 30 seconds to read about Marshawn’s love for his mother and focus on many positive things, you’ll see that he is not that stereotype!Or perhaps, Mr. Todd McShay is talking about the fact that Marshawn Lynch was shot at in a drive-by shooting. A shooting where Marshawn was not the target and was simply mistaken as another person. The shooters even contacted his mother to apologize for accidentally shooting at him?!?!? Frankly, that is a sign of insane amounts of respect. That would be the type of person I would want on my team.
There are no character issues here. It’s all foolish and inaccurate reporting!
And now Mr. Todd McShay says that Marshawn Lynch won’t make it in the NFL because he never carried a full load at Cal? Since when does not getting 35 carries a game mean that you suck? In fact, NFL teams would be more attracted to drafting Marshawn Lynch over oh… let’s just say Adrian Peterson because of the fact that Marshawn had less carries (Lynch had 490 career carries while Peterson had 747 career carries). Why? Every back has an odometer. Every scout, every player, and every coach knows this. Runningbacks don’t last forever. In fact, runningbacks have the shortest average NFL career length than any other position because of the fact that they get hit every time they carry the ball and even sometimes when they don’t. The fact that Marshawn was spared some wear and tear means that he has more miles to go in the NFL than other backs that carried full loads.
Mr. Todd McShay, you are officially, ah forget it, you aren’t even worth it anymore. Marshawn is going to prove you, Mort, and any other doubter all wrong.
I am not sure what the swearing policy is on this blog so I will say only that this McShay character is a freaking idiot! Stupid jerk doesn’t realize what a gem Marshawn really is! The other thing that I find very interesting is the fact you realize NFL backs have odometers, so to speak. It is very true that a back is much like a car in that after it has so many miles it is pretty much shot. Unlike quarterbacks and receivers, running backs take some of the most brutal punishment a football player can.
I think Marshawn’s college career showed that he can more than shoulder the burden when he has to. The fact that he has less carries than other backs coming out of the draft is a MAJOR plus. Adrian Peterson has more question marks than a grade school grammar book IMO, what with the broken collarbone and exorbitant amount of carries he has. Broken collarbones have a real tendency to break again and again. Being a running back this will continue to be an issue for him.
If you really want to get people to email this guy and go crazy on him I suggest you post this story in the CC Times Cal Bears forum. I tell yah what, I will put a link to your blog on there so they can all see it and get pissed…
http://forums.contracostatimes.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=cc-calbears&ctx=256
You wont find a more radical bunch of Bear fans on the net. Most of them are hibernating right now, but as the season nears it will get rowdier and rowdier. Over the years we have written dozens of emails attacking various sports writers that attacked Cal. In fact oddly enough we were just attacking a Yahoo writer for a similar story on Marshawn.
Comment by Seth — May 3, 2007 @ 1:23 am
Thanks for the support, Seth. Feel free to post the link on CC Times.
Comment by HydroTech — May 3, 2007 @ 2:15 am
Yeah, this guy is equal to Dan The “Wessel” from Yahoo! Sports who claimed Lynch still has a “restraining order”. Great article! We need to continue to defend Lynch and Cal football from this marauding group of nimrods with supposed awards in their pockets.
Comment by Jan — May 3, 2007 @ 10:06 am
Any and all doubts about Lynch being able to shoulder the full-time load were completely erased by, among others, the UDub game this year, and the Las Vegas Bowl his sophomore season. Moreover, when he did get dinged up–broken finger, sprained ankles, sore back–he kept on playing and didn’t miss a beat.
Also, the McShays of the world continue to underestimate his receiving skills, and rather than a negative, his “character” has got to be one of his biggest positives. How many prodigal superstars are universally loved and respected by their teammates, coaches, and opponents? He even drove a freakin’ utility cart around the field, at the end of what must have been an absolutely crushing loss for the Huskies, and you didn’t hear a single negative comment from them. Imagine if a T.O. or, I must admit, a Desean Jackson pulled such a stunt.
Comment by California Pete — May 3, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
Yes, Desean is our little prima donna isn’t he… Still, being as good as he is it is hard to fault him for anything…
Comment by Seth — May 3, 2007 @ 4:26 pm
What are some good blog about writing sites!
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