Lafayette Patriots Combine

.....I was benching when my coach came up to me and said that we are starting our 3-day football combine tomorrow. I said ok and what will we be doing. He told me he's going to explain after weight training. I knew what the combine was so I demonstrated to everybody how it's going to be. I told the whole team that we are going to do a 40 yard dash, 20 yard shuttle, vertical jump, broad jump, bench press, powerclean, and squat. Some of the teamates still didnt know what these were.

Day 1: Our names were being randomly called so no one knew when they were going to be called. We were getting 2 chances in each drill. I think I was the 10th person to go so I got on the line and and I started when I was ready. I told myself that it's all in the first step. I raced down the runway and suprisedly clocked in at 4.67 seconds. I was so happy I started screaming and saying "WOOOOOOO, WOOOOO, WOOOOO." I had the fastest time on the team which made me the fastest on the team. The second fastest time was my wide reciever, Ronnie Scott, from LEADERS HS, who clocked in at 4.71 second. Ongoing to the 20 yard shuttle, Ronnie got back at me by running the fastest time in the 20 yard shuttle clocking in at 4.05 seconds. Coincidentially, I came in 2nd place clocking in at 4.12 seconds.

Day 2: We went to the weight room and started off with the bench press. I started out at 165 lbs because I maxed out 155 lbs the previous time. I ended at 185 lbs which made me feel good that I went up 3o lbs. I squatted 275 lbs and went up 50 lbs from the previous time. What I hated about day 2 was that Ronnie beat me in benching and squat by 10 lbs.

Day 3: Is held on Monday June 15, 2009.

Congradualations Jahleel & Ronnie!!!!

Mark & Matthew

The debate about quarterbacks making an impact is really between two guys, Matthew Stafford, out of Georgia and Mark Sanchez, out of USC. They both came into the draft in the same year, 2009. They also were drafted in the same round. However, Matthew Stafford was the first pick in the draft, which could mean that he's a little better than Mark Sanchez.

Stafford struggled in his first year, completing 136 of 235 passes and throwing for 1,620 yards. he put up 6 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Sanchez did not play in his freshman year and took a redshirt season. He earned the Trojan's Service Team Offensive Player of the Year award.

In Stafford's sophomore year, he brought his team back for win in OT over Alabama Crimson Tide. he completed 194 passes out of 348 with 2,523 yards. He also had 19 touchdowns with 2 rushing touchdowns.

Sanchez still served as a back up quarterback for Booty, the starter. He only experienced playing time in 3 games of the season. He passed for 63 yards with no touchdown and 1 interceptions.

In Stafford's junior year, Georgia was ranked #1 in both the preseason coaches poll and AP poll. He received MVP in the 2009 Capital One Bowl.

Sanchez ended his redshirt junior season with 3,207 passing yards with 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, his college career's best.

He was drafted 5th overall by the New York Jets in the 2009 draft.On June 10, Sanchez signed a 5-year contract with the Jets worth $50 million, $28 million guaranteed.

Matthew Stafford signed a contract with the Detroit Lions that could be worth up to $78 million with $41.7 million guaranteed.

Reinstating Vick

Everybody knows that he did a horrible crime. Many people wouldn't forgive him for doing so. He went to jail for 23 months and is now in home confinement. Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, is thinking about reinstating him but not sure what the consequences are of doing so.
If Michael Vick do get reinstated, many people will think that it's going to have a bad impression on the NFL because he committed a crime and he just get to come back with no consequences. Unfortunately, I think he already suffered enough consequences. He's in debt right now working for $10 an hour at a construction site, went to jail and was suspended indefinitely without pay. Vick is still owned by the Atlanta Falcons.
Some teams, however, shows interest in Vick, such as the St. Louis Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. If Vick do get reinstated, he wont be at his best due to his age and lost if talent. Since he was in jail for a long time, he didn't receive all the special training needed for the NFL.

I think when and if Michael Vick comes back, he will be suspended for at least 8 games. In my opinion, Mr. Goodell should reinstate Vick and give him one more chance because Adam "Pac-Man" Jones did plenty of crimes and still came back. If Vick ever do violate his contract clauses, then he should be cut and never allowed to comeback.

They Can Never Be Alike!

I started noticing that they criticize alot, when Reggie Bush first came to the league. Coming out of USC, there were alot of expectations from him. Some of the things that were expected of him were not done. That's because he is different from everybody else in his own way. He never played in every game in every season due to knee injuries, but always made a comeback and did good.




This year, sports analysts criticized him and stated that, "he can't run between the tackles," meaning that he don't have the body and power to make full contact with defenders. These analysts expect everybody to be the same, like they expect Adrian Peterson to be the same as LaDainian Tonlinson (LT). Unfortunately, that's never going to happen because they are both different. There will never be another LT, like there is never going to be another Barry Sander, Walter Peyton or Peyton Manning.





Reggie Bush is a finesse running back or a scat back so he's going to look to make defenders miss because that's his running style. There is no one in the league today who has the cutback speed juke/cut moves or athleticism as Bush does. These sports analysts needs to stop looking at what Bush can't do and start looking at what he has done, what he's doing and what he will do.

USC vs. Miami Production

Every year when the NFL draft is on, I watch it just to see what players get drafted from USC and the University of Miami. Within this decade, I saw that Miami produces the best defensive backs while USC produces alot of good players in different positions. For example, a great defensive player that was produced by Miami was Sean Taylor.

Every game, there would be a receiver or running back that feared Sean Taylor. He recently died in 2007 from gunshot wounds. One of the receivers who feared Sean Taylor was Terrell Owens. when Sean Taylor goes for tackles, he looks to knock himself out, which he did a couple of times. He also had great speed when getting across the field. The reason why I liked him is because he never gave up and he's always the most aggressive person on defense.

Troy Polamalu is the best player that was produced by USC. He's more of a shut down safety that always looks for the ball in the air. He won 2 super bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The second best produced player from USC is Carson Palmer. He was a good quarterback but after his knee injury, his passer rating deceased every year that he played. He is now more injury prone.

Although I really dislike the New York Giants, I like their receiver, Steve Smith who also came from USC. He also won a super bowl in his rookie year with the Giants in 2007.

Just Retire Already!!

He already spent 16 years in the NFL and I think it's time to go. He is soon going to 40 years old and if he plays then he can't be the star of the franchise again.

Brett Favre came in the the NFL in 1991 drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round and traded to the Green bay packers in the following year. He spent his entire career with the Green bay Packers until he retired. Later he came out of retirement and was signed by the New York Jets, in 2008. He also had shoulder problems but he got through it.

Ever since I started watching football, I never saw a football player come out of retirement twice to have his last year, his worst year. I think that was his worst year because he threw more interceptions than he ever did in his career. after that year, he said again that he officially retired but considered coming back with the Minnesota Vikings, despite having shoulder surgery. The Vikings pursued after him but stopped because Brett favre didn't let them know if he's staying out of retirement. But since he made a name for himself as one of the best quarterback in football history, he should be finished with being a professional football player and take care of his family in retirement.

My 1st PSAL Football Game

...We lost the coin toss but deferred in the 1st half which raised my confidence. I wanted to play on kick return but I didnt want to get tired before I snapped the ball. My coach told me to run "121 waggle," which was a passing play, to open up the game. Many people ask me if I was ever intimidated by the linebackers, but I never let nobody intimidate me. I rolled out and thought about passing the ball then I saw the open field and I heard people telling me to go. So iI ran the ball for a 14 yard gain. I was so happy because I actually gained yards. We ended the drive with a turnover on 4th down. The quarter ended with a score of 7-0. I was so pissed at myself because we got into the redzone twice in the quarter but couldn't score. I told myself that, "I need to take the game into my hand and be a leader." At the half, the score was only 14-0. In the locker room, I told myself the same thing, "I need to take the game into my hands and be a leader and lead my team to win." I got the team hyped up and we went into the second half to take the win.

We kicked the ball to them in the 3rd quarter and we stopped their drive and made them punt the ball. We got the ball back and we tried going airbourne again with "121 waggle." I actually got the ball off at the right time, however, my reciever claimed that i over threw him by 5 yards. I told him 5 yards is his fault. We didnt argue over it because we got into the redzone on the same drive, only to fumble the ball at the 9-yard line. Stuyvesant started pouring on with touchdowns. Our 3rd string fullback began to cry because he thought the game was over. On defense, we could've picked the ball off(intercept the ball) 3 times, but we played safe and batted it down. I changed my cleats to my "addidas RB 619 Fly." Right after that, I threw for a 27 yard touchdown to John. I felt as if we had already won the game. When there was about 4 minutes left, I tod my self that we can't come back froma 41-6 defecit, but we could score and show everybody were out but not down. I had a 54 yard run from a quarterback sneak. With about 2 minutes to go, I scored the 2nd touchdown by running the ball into the endzone. I knew that I put the game into my hand an helped us score made me feel that without my leadership, this would've never happened. This game is still remembered by me today and is considered the best game I ever played.