Trent Richardson finally wins over his biggest skeptic

I was going to write “Trent Richardson finally wins over his biggest critic,” but a more accurate descriptor of Jim Brown’s comments regarding the Browns’ rookie RB has open skepticism. That appears to have changed following Richardson’s performance on the field.

Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

The former great Browns running back met with the current Browns starter. They posed for photographs, exchanged telephone numbers and shared stories of battle wounds. Brown declared the future is bright for his Browns, particularly with the no-longer ordinary Richardson leading the way.

"That's my partner, man," Brown said. "He's done everything I thought he should do. He never took anything I said the wrong way. He's interested in his family. He's interested in this team. And he's willing to make sacrifices because really, he's hurt more than you think he is right now."

Richardson ran for a career-high 122 yards on 24 carries with a rib cartilage injury that makes it painful to move. Brown said he's never had an identical injury, but he remembers how any pain in his midsection made it particularly difficult to move, even more painful to be tackled. Brown was impressed with not only Richardson's resilience against the Chargers, but the exceptional ability he has shown in his first eight NFL games.

I hate to use a religious analogy, but everyone who saw Richardson carve up SEC defenses in his three seasons at Alabama knew Brown was just another Doubting Thomas who had to put his finger in the wounds of the savior before he truly believed.

Jim Brown has never been at a loss for words. When reporters ask him questions, he gives answers. Sometimes those answers have made sense and rung true. But at other times he’s left people shaking their heads and wondering if he suffers dain bramage.

At least for now, Brown is a believer in Trent Richardson. Just like we’ve always been,

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Trent Richardson: “I’m not going to change my game.”

Unfortunately, the NFL Network does not provide a user-friendly way of embedding their videos, so here’s the link, in which former Alabama running back and Cleveland Browns’ first round draft pick shares an interview with fellow draftee Brandon Weedon.

Warning: NFL.com videos have a long and storied history of eating resources and driving CPU core temperatures into the 200’s, so you might want to skip around in this one as it’s 7:24 long.

In the video, Richardson explains that a lot of what he’s seen in rookie training camp reminds him of the stuff thrown at him by Alabama’s offensive braintrust, from play calls to formations, with only adjustments needed in understanding verbiage. He says that he remains a “student of the game,” which has to make Browns fans as excited to see him on the field as Bama fans were from 2009 through the BCS Championship Game in January.

But when the conversation changes to how the NFL has a tendency to wear down feature backs, Richardson essentially explains that he is what he is, and he’s not changing his game.

That exchange comes about 4:00 minutes in.

Another curious exchange comes about 6:00 in, where Richardson and Weedon are asked about NFL history. The only time in the Super Bowl era that a TB and QB were taken in the first round was in the 1979 Bengals' class.

Those two players failed to take the Bengals to the playoffs. If the Browns make the 2012 playoffs, it will be the first time in history. The reaction of Richardson is priceless.

Knowing that he can make history means something to this young man.

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Trent Richardson is insatiable

Big Helmet Tap to BamaHammer.com for unearthing this gem of a story about former Alabama RB Trent Richardson’s drive to succeed in the Cleveland Browns’ rookie training camp.

For Richardson, perception of greatness isn’t enough. He also takes the recent criticism of former Browns’ great Jim Brown to heart, knowing that if he’s going to be compared to one of the most beloved players in Cleveland’s storied football history, he’s got work to do.

That doesn’t mean he hasn’t already impressed his teammates, or shown them what he showed his former teammates in Tuscaloosa.

 

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“Jim Brown is an icon and you can always look up to him. He is one of the best at what he did and what we still do in this game. To be compared to him and to be on the same team, it’s big for me. For him to say [I’m ordinary], that’s big for me, too, because it tells me I’ve still gotta work, and I haven’t proved anything yet. I haven’t stepped a foot on the football field in a game, so I’ve still got a lot to prove.”

Richardson doesn’t seem the least bit ordinary to his new teammates or coaches, who got to work with him for the first time this weekend. It’s difficult to judge a running back when players aren’t practicing in pads and hitting, but Richardson still left quite an impression.

“Just look at him,” said quarterback Brandon Weeden, whom the Browns drafted 22nd overall. “Whatever he is – 5-10, 275 pounds and he’s 2 percent body fat – he’s a freak. He’s got a special ability when the ball’s in his hands. You can tell when you hand it to him, he takes it from you. He runs hard, and I’m really anxious to see him when he puts the pads on.”

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Ok, Richardson really isn’t 275 lbs of human freight train. It just feels like it when you’re trying to tackle him or get off of one his blocks. Assuming—heroically, of course—that the Browns can assemble a decent offensive line for Richardson and Weeden to work behind, it’s only a matter of time before Browns’ highlight reels begin to start looking a lot like this one:

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Will the Richardson pick pay off for Cleveland?

The Birmingham News’ Will Grant weighs in with a popular opinion among sportswriters, citing a well worn mantra that a change in offensive philosophy in the NFL has made the tailback position almost irrelevant. Grant goes out of his way to note Trent Richardson’s abilities. No one disputes that Richardson was by far the best player at his position. Indeed, most observers recognize that Richardson may be the best tailback to come along in a very long time.

He joins an offensive team that will be led by either former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy or former Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden. Both players came from pass happy spread attacks.

The game of football is cyclical. Over the last decade, the argument made by Grant et al is valid. Teams have been putting more emphasis on the quarterback and the passing game, and teams that have taken running backs in the first round haven’t set the world on fire.

Go ten or more years back however, and you find the likes of Shaun Alexander, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith, featured backs that lit up box scores with 1,000+ yard seasons. Defenses had to adjust and build units designed to stop the run.

Offenses adjusted right back, defeating run-stopping defenses with multiple wide formations. Ten years ago, third and one was almost always a running down. Now, an inside trap on third and one would be considered “trickeration.”

Defenses are adjusting again, with greater emphasis being placed on pressuring the quarterback and shutting down the corners. Teams are drafting defensive players suited for that purpose and you saw it in the 2012 draft. There’s a premium on pass rushers and shutdown corners. Interior linemen and inside linebackers are coveted too, but not like they were when defenses had to account for bowling balls like Smith and Sanders.

Could we be entering a new era? Surely, offensive wizards in the NFL aren’t going to let their defensive counterparts get the best of them. They’re going to adjust again, and the best way to defeat a pass-stopping defense is to run the football more.

It’s way to early to tell if Richardson’s physical gifts and abilities will make him such a special talent that the Browns’ pick was a no-brainer. It’s also too early to know whether the Browns are in the midst of a subtle philosophical adjustment that begins to swing the pendulum back to the Neanderball days.

If they are, the Browns made the right pick. Richardson is the product of an offensive system that runs right over you, and no one did it better than he and Alabama in winning two national championships. If they aren’t, and the Browns intend to go with the current flow of slinging the ball all over the field, the only beneficiary of Cleveland’s big bet will be Richardson and his family.

Whether this pick pays for the Browns or not, it’s sure going to pay Trent well.

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Prom Date Dad praises Trent Richardson

By: @LivingCrimson

On Saturday night, not only did Trent Richardson attend his very first prom, he also escorted recovering leukemia patient Courtney Alvis. All of the major news outlets have stories today about the prom date, overwhelmingly complimentary of TRich for being such a caring person. But Jamison Hensley of the ESPN AFC North blog felt compelled to add something negative to the story: “He also can come across cocky in interviews.”

A man claiming to be Courtney Alvis’ father took issue with that description of Trent and posted this comment on ESPN:

“never posted before, but I had to after reading some of these posts. With all the media attention this young man came to our house with flowers, asked if he could take our daughter to the prom and interacted with the mass of people there to support them both. Throughout the craziness he was humble, respectful and made my daughter who had been through so much feel like a princess. For that we will forever be in his debt... We have seen her on the ventilator, shaved her head when her hair fail out and numerous other issues, so to see her so happy meant the world. We would have been excited over any prom date after her journey, but see, after being unable to leave the house for a year she lost contact and no one asked her to the prom. Trent stepped up so she wouldn't have to go by herself and his actions were all about making her night all about her. I could not have asked for more of a gentleman!! I am 44 years old and wish I had the compassion and class this young man displayed. My wife and I think of him as family now and will forever owe a debt of gratitude. As for his girls, I got to meet them and they are clearly Daddy's Girls!!”

Bama nation is certainly on board with Courtney’s father. Trent Richardson epitomized class and character at Alabama, despite being in the media spotlight throughout his college career. Now on the eve of the NFL draft when he is being pulled a million different ways by the media, Trent took time to step back from the limelight and give of himself to others.

If any man has a right to be cocky, it’s Richardson who shattered the Bama record books and looks to be one of the highest pick running backs ever taken in the draft. But self-aggrandizement is something we have never seen from him. Unlike Jamison Hensley, Trent understands the power of positive words and actions.

Best wishes to the Alvis family.

Video courtesy of ESPN.

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Trent Richardson is a dangerous beast (GIF)

Watch as potential Top 10 NFL Draft pick Trent Richardson works out in drills at yesterday’s Alabama Pro Day II. Although this clip doesn’t show it, he actually knocks all three “dummies” senseless.

Tremendous combination of upper and lower body strength PLUS frightening quickness equal a very dangerous football player.

The look on the No. 2 guy’s face is priceless as he realizes what’s about to come at him.

Helmet tap to LostLettermen and @DestinJayBird.

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Trent Richardson a strong possibility for the Rams at No. 6

By: @LivingCrimson

The Alabama strongman is strongly coveted by the former Greatest Show on Turf, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Rams now have three of the top 39 picks in the 2012 draft after trading their No. 2 pick to Washington. So wherever Trent Richardson is spotted in the first round, St. Louis has a legitimate shot of snapping him up. But it’s the No. 6 pick believed by many scouts to be the most likely destination for Richardson:

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“[I]n what's widely considered a 'six-player" draft — meaning six elite prospects — the Rams are now sitting on the edge of that territory. There appears to be no doubt that Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck (to Indianapolis) and Griffin will go 1-2.

From a Rams' perspective what happens if Southern California offensive tackle Matt Kalil, Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon and Louisiana State cornerback Morris Claiborne are the next three picks, in order, to Minnesota, Cleveland and Tampa Bay?

That would leave only Alabama running back Trent Richardson left among the top six. … [T]here are a lot of people around the league who think Richardson, currently rehabbing from knee surgery, is a special talent. Including the Rams. Multiple sources, both inside and outside Rams Park, say the team thinks very highly of Richardson.”

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Despite three-time Pro Bowler Steven Jackson currently in the backfield, St. Louis new head coach Jeff Fisher likes to take running backs in the first round, and may see Trent Richardson as the arbiter for success in the franchise’s future.

NFL analyst and former Rams scout Dave Razano agrees the No. 6 pick for Richardson makes sense. "If you're picking the best available player, it could easily be him. He's a thoroughbred. And he's more of a home-run threat than Jackson."

Another NFL analyst and former Rams scout, Matt Littlefield, concurs. "I know a lot of people say you don't take a running back in the top 10, but you do if he's a dominant player. Adrian Peterson is a dominant player, and Richardson is, too."

Multiple teams in the top 15 have expressed interest in Richardson. If the Rams ultimately decide not to pick him, it appears almost certain the Crimson Tide ultimate athlete and two-time National Champion will still go very high in the draft.

More Bama updates on Twitter at LivingCrimson.

Scouts split on Alabama players’ draft prospects

There is an outstanding analysis by Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, in which five different scouts discuss pros and cons regarding this year's prospects. It covers 50 of the top prospects and provides quotes from talent scouts who don't always have the same point of view.

It really is a thorough piece and has assessments of other SEC prospects as well, so it’s worth clicking and reading the whole thing.

Here’s what the scouts had to say about the top Alabama prospects—five guys who could all go on the first night.. Some of this you will agree with. Some of it will leave you scratching your head. All of it should spark discussion.

Trent Richardson*, RB, Alabama: 5-11, 225. Backed up Mark Ingram for two seasons before exploding for 1,679 yards (5.9) and 21 TDs in 2011. "Two years ago when Ingram won the Heisman, people at Alabama laughed behind the scenes saying, 'Ingram isn't even the best player in his own backfield,' " one scout said. "And Ingram is a nice player. But Richardson is big-time. He is probably the most complete player in this draft. Every superlative that you could put on him he's got." Regarded as a mature person and a tremendous worker. "He immediately changes your team," another scout said. "From whatever it is to a tough team. Because he's a tough guy. He's the total package. Pass protects. Everything."

Dre Kirkpatrick*, CB, Alabama: 6-2½, 190. Another two-year starter with three interceptions. "He's the toughest of all the corners coming out this year," one scout said. "Looks like he can run." Was arrested for marijuana possession in January, but the charge was dropped. "He's going to (expletive) you off because he's such a freelancer," another scout said. "That's kind of his persona. To do that you'd better be Deion Sanders. Claiborne's upside isn't as big as Kirkpatrick's. Claiborne is more well-rounded."

[note: Both of these guys are slam dunk first rounders and could be gone in the first 10-15 picks]

Dont'a Hightower*, ILB-OLB, Alabama: 6-2, 265. Played ILB in the Crimson Tide's base 3-4 but often put his hand down and rushed on passing downs. "Does he flash big-time plays?" one scout said. "Yeah, he does. Does he dominate like a guy 6-3, 265 should? Not on a consistent basis." Blew out his knee in Game 4 of 2009 and, according to some scouts, has yet to play back to his old form. "He's got the ability of the guy the Raiders took (Rolando McClain)," another scout said. "Some people don't know how tough he is. The knock on him is if he really inserts. But he is strong. I've seen him take his hand and just stand up guards." He tried to power rush tackles and ended up with five sacks. "He's capable of playing outside (linebacker)," a third scout said. "He can do anything you ask him to do."

Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama: 6-1½, 272. Projects as an OLB in a 3-4 or a strong-side LB in a 4-3. "The only reason Upshaw could go ahead of Ingram is because Upshaw actually played up and down and Ingram played all over the place," one scout said. "I don't think Upshaw was really outstanding in the Senior Bowl. I thought he was just ordinary. He's very physical, but he gets cut a lot. That's because he's stiff." Two-year starter with 16½ sacks. "(People) think he's Cornelius Bennett and he's not," another scout said. "He's a good, tough, nasty college football player that I think will get blocked a lot in the NFL." Scored just 9 on the 50-question Wonderlic intelligence test. "He's just a tough (expletive)," a third scout said. "He's really not a burn the edge guy. He is not fast. He's built like a fire hydrant. Maybe a 3-4 team will take him in the first."

Mark Barron, S, Alabama: 6-1½, 223. Three-year starter. "He's a plug-in and play starting safety from Day One," one scout said. "Of all the Alabama guys, Trent Richardson and Mark Barron are the two most dependable guys. You know what you're getting. There is no question about it. He can play deep safety and down in the box as a dime cover guy on the tight end or back out of the backfield. He's a good blitzer and good in run support." Finished with 12 interceptions. "For a big, tall guy he can break down," another scout said. "He's not Troy Polamalu. There's 25 guys in this draft better than Barron."

Again, go read the whole thing. There are interesting analyses of Morris Claiborne, Fletcher Cox, Melvin Ingram and other top SEC prospects.

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Confident Trent Richardson speaks to media

You want to see how fast he can run? Watch the tape.

Because you won’t see the Alabama running back timed in the 40-yard dash — or any on-field drills for that matter — at this week’s NFL Scouting Combine. A minor knee scope eliminated that possibility, but Richardson scoffed at the notion that his injury was a “minor setback.”

“I don’t even call it a setback, for real,” Richardson said Friday. “I just missed a little opportunity to run the 40 in front of everybody, show everybody what I can do. If you call it a setback, that’s for you to say.”

Richardson said you can go back as far as you want, but you’ll never find video of him being caught from behind, a testament to his speed. One more thing Richardson said you won’t find on tape is him coughing up the ball.

“The first thing that will get you on the bench is fumbling the ball, and that’s one thing I do not do,” Richardson said.

Read the rest here, from the NFL Network. The link has some video that’s not embed friendly.

 UPDATE: al.com has video that is embed friendly.

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Report: Trent Richardson injured knee before BCS Championship Game

According to a report on NFL.com, former Alabama running back Trent Richardson suffered a minor knee injury just before the BCS Championship Game. He had the knee scoped three weeks ago and is said to be on schedule for a full recovery, but as a result he will not participate in the full slate of drills in the NFL Combine this week.

UPDATE: Link above is working.

The new comes via a series of Tweets from Jason La Canfora, a reporter and blogger for NFL.com.

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Alabama's Trent Richardson, the top RB in this draft, had minor knee scope 3 weeks ago, and won't do on-field drills at the combine...

Richardson suffered the minor injury leading up to national champ game and is making a good recovery but will hold off here as a precaution.

He is slated to conduct full drill work at Alabama's Pro Day and the situation should not impact him moving forward #insideslant

Story on Trent Richardson's status, from NFL.com: http://bit.ly/yUmli9

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Richardson, along with wideouts Darius Hanks and Marquis Maze, are set to report to Indianapolis tomorrow. They are part of a group of nine Alabama Crimson Tide NFL hopefuls invited to the Combine, the most of any team in the country.

Richardson scored the only touchdown in Alabama’s 21-0 win over LSU in the Championship Game on a 34 yard gallop with 4:36 left. He carried the ball 20 times for 96 yards and the score.

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Trent Richardson training for NFL combine (VIDEO)

Helmet tap to Matt Scalici at al.com.

Recall that the Alabama Crimson Tide strength and conditioning staff limited Richardson in how much weight he could lift in team workouts. Those limitations are off at Athletes' Performance facilities in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Scalici also notes that Richardson’s former teammates Dont'a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw and Mark Barron are also training at the facility.

The Alabama Crimson Tide—2011 National Champs—have nine players invited to next week’s NFL combine, more than any other team in the country. Last year, Alabama had four players selected in the first round of the NFL draft. Some draft analysts believe that as many as five could be taken in the first round this year. Richardson is certain to be one of them.

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Bama, Richardson make a statement (VIDEO)

Alabama’s Nick Saban is not one to run up the score, especially not on a team coached by someone he holds in high regard. Question his judgment if you dare, but the Tide’s head dude has a great deal of respect for Ole Miss’ Houston Nutt. There is even scuttlebutt that when Saban left LSU for the Miami Dolphins after the 2004 season, he recommended Nutt as one of the people he’d like to see replace him.

But the 52-7 beatdown administered by Alabama last night was a statement to the nation—we are Bama. We are to be feared. You don’t want to play us. We’re gonna make your ass quit.

Junior Tailback Trent Richardson also made a statement last night. You can try to stop me, but you won’t. You can try to tackle me and I will either run over you or make you look stupid. He had a career high 183 yards and another career high four touchdowns. On his 76-yard “one for the ages” scamper for six, he broke two tackles and then came across Ole Miss’ Senquez Golson.  Golson appeared to have Richardson dead to rights at the corner and looked like he the angle on No. 4.

Just watch.

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That’s the kind of skill we thought was retired when Michael Jordan finally hunk up the sneakers.

In a Blogger Roundtable Q&A last month, I wrote that Richardson deserves to be a part of any serious Heisman Trophy discussion. I also wrote that if Alabama continues to win and Richardson continues to be a part of why, his Heisman stock will rise.

How do you like him now?

And how do you like an Alabama team that has yet to put together a complete, 60-minute football game but still leads the galaxy in defensive statistics and ground-game punishment? To beat Alabama, you have to mount multiple, sustained scoring drives and stop its running game. No one has even come close to doing that yet, and there may not be a team in the country that can do it.

Not only that plays on Saturdays, anyway.

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Auburn fans continue to stalk Alabama TB Trent Richardson

Last month, IBCR exposed what was clearly the beginning of a criminal conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon when we reported that a group of Auburn fans were discussing plans to cause a vehicle collision with Alabama's junior Tailback Trent Richardson.

Follow the link for details.

It hasn't stopped. The same God-fearing, Christian Auburn Fambly members of the Bunker--Auburn's super secret fan message board on rivals.com--are now apparently driving around the home Richardson resides in with his mother and his two small children, taking pictures, snooping around and stalking private citizens who happen to be associated with a football program that has obsessed them for decades.

These people are so weird that welcoming the strangely cultish Texas A&M fan base into the SEC will be an improvement. At least Texas A&M has some tradition to go with the psychosis.

Here's a partial screenshot of the Bunker thread in question. Click the image for the full resolution version.

The author of the post (you can give her your feedback on Twitter @BettyCrocked) had also posted some interesting and recent imagery, indicating that someone has indeed been hanging out around Richardson's home.

Not only is that kind of creepy, it's also probably illegal. Stalking is a crime in Alabama.

But as creepy and as illegal as it is, it's also right in character with what Paul Finebaum described as the "Lunatic Fringe" of the looniest fan base in the SEC, if not the country.

Maybe you remember the story of John “Stump” Thrower, a man once described by former AU Athletics Director Navid Nousel as “an Auburn zealot.” Thrower’s zealotry went so far that, according to WJOX’s Herb Winches, he personally paid thousands of dollars to former Alabama player Gene Jelks to tell stories about his time in Tuscaloosa. His motive? He was outraged that former Auburn player Eric Ramsey had tape recordings of conversations with Pat Dye and other coaches on the Auburn staff. Those recordings—related to thousands of dollars in improper benefits to Auburn football players—led to the SEC’s most penalized school getting put on probation again. There wasn’t a crimson fingerprint anywhere near Eric Ramsey’s tape recorder, but By God Alabama was gonna pay for this.

Thrower died in November 2009. Alcoholic, broke, disgraced, divorced and badly behind in child support payments.

Maybe you also remember the little radio rant by former Auburn AD Nousel himself, wherein he compared the University of Alabama to Nazi Germany. No, really. He actually did. Go see for yourself.

Maybe you remember Mark Green, who is also dead. Mr. Green and a group of message board posters from Inside the Auburn Tigers--another lunatic fringe message board--decided to launch “Operation Red Dog,” a plot to get Alabama the “death penalty” by getting its football players in trouble for receiving extra benefits in 2009:

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1) This started when JH went to Alabama at the last minute instead of AU. A coach of his had ensured AU staff that he was headed to AU and not Alabama. He was aware of what AU had offered JH and his mother stuff and possibly knew that JH mom had taped AU's offer. He still felt AU was his choice. JH put on the Alabama hat and the crap hit the fan at AU. Our staff called the coach and asked him what happened and he said he did not know but would have to guess that Alabama "countered" AU's offer. He never said he knew that Alabama had cheated but that he guessed that took place. After this, he asked JH why he went to Alabama and he said that if he went to AU he thought his eligibility might have been revoked if the NCAA found out about AU's offer. JH said Alabama and MSST both played it straight with him and his mom and that is why he went to Alabama.

2) This incident led the AU staff to believe that they lost out on the bidding for JH and they told people that Alabama had cheated. At this point, the coach could not get the corrected story out there fast enough. Irontiger knows this coach and was told the first story about how the coach thought Alabama cheated. Later, irontiger was told that Alabama did not commit infractions but he had already started his own rumors and his reputation grew as well as his imagination.

3) Irontiger then brought in a few of us to help spread the rumors- myself (ITAT name withheld) sherpa88, troopT and a few others and then koury. I dropped out about three months ago when I found out they had hired a PI that might have broken some laws and when I confronted iron about it he said they would send the information anonymously and no one could trace it back to him. The problem is his big mouth and he could not stop talking about it - then everyone found out about operation red dog and who was in it. After I dropped out koury joined the inside board back in March of this year as the repeat and sounding board of irontiger. The plan was simple: irontiger would start the thread and a few of us would join in and then someone would come back and verify everything irontiger has said was truthful- that is koury's job now.

4) During the past 16 months this has been going on. The MO was to stay the same in every area. Charge that recruits got new cars- Mobile was escalades and Gadsden was chargers. Start new rumors along the way about booster infractions, enticements and other benefits as much as we can. The most effective thing that irontiger came up with was that when any Alabama player does something immediately tie it to an infraction. If julio and mark goes fishing a booster paid for it- it was really simple. If KK got a car immediately say a booster paid for it even though in this case they knew for sure it came from his mothers college fund for him.

Now everyone knows how this happened. Now to the why.

We all knew that CTT and staff were not going to be effective against Miles, Saban, Richt and Meyer. We had to negate one of them and the easiest one was to hit Saban. We choose him due to his proximity and volatility of our rivalry with Alabama. We all really thought CNS was cheating a little (secondary type stuff) and thought if we can keep enough rumors churning we could get the NCAA to investigate or at the least keep a few recruits away from Alabama. Irontiger knew this would work and said, "the idiot masses on ITAT will believe any rumor we put out about Alabama because they want to believe it"! I was skeptical until I saw the masses believing every rumor even as our gang accidentally got the rumors incorrect many times- types of cars, colors and amounts of cash. Each time we told the rumor it seemed to grow and our fanbase kept believing every one of them until Michael14 and Austudent22 caught on to us and called us out for it.

You will see more revelations about this coming from multiple boards as they have started figuring out that 4-5 posters on ITAT started all these rumors. Once it went so far I told irontiger that coaches at these schools were being implicated as cheaters from the AU fanbase and that we should call it off and he said those Alabama coaches were a-holes and he did not care if they got called cheaters. I told him that they weren't cheaters and that they had started calling into AU's athletic department complaining about. When the PIs and reporters showed up and questioned these high school coaches about cheating for Alabama they wrote AU off. This really hit the fan around March of 2009 and that is when I left irons group. I know for a fact that irons rumors cost us 2 recruits last year (one four star and one 5 star) because the coaches at there school were called cheaters by the rumors started on ITAT. Our 2009 recruiting efforts were dramatically hurt by these rumors and 2010 is looking just as bad for instate recruits.

I stayed on the fringe until last week when the PTB at AU sent word to me and irontiger that it had to stop. Irontiger stopped for a day or so and then started rehashing it all over again. He has troopT and koury doing the heavy posting now and he just "supports" the rumors instead of "initiating" them. If our own posters knew just how stupid irontiger said they were they would not follow his rumors any more.

Now, I have completed the task I was advised to do. Once PF gets to the bottom of this and the package that iron put together it will turn litigious."

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Not only is teh Auburn fambly obsessed with Alabama football players, they also seem to have a strange fascination with automobilies, despite the fact that the University of Alabama Compliance Department has one of the strictest protocols for vehicle ownership and documentation in the country.

I see your Harvey Updyke and raise you one Stump Thrower, one Mark Green and a BettyCrocked.

Oh, remember the Mark Ingram/Julio Jones fishing trip and the Jerrell Harris laptop incidents? All caused by Operation Red Dog, using Curtis Anderson, a man who’s family “roots for another SEC school.”

Exit question: Guess which “other SEC school” Anderson’s family roots for?

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How ESPN Created a Vocal Leader for Alabama: The New, Improved Trent Richardson

The old self-help adage goes: People who write down their goals every day achieve them. So we asked four of college football's best – Stanford's Andrew Luck, Alabama's Trent Richardson, Miami's Marcus Forston and Pitt's Brandon Lindsey -- to do just that and share them with us. We promised we'd check back during the season -- and that we wouldn't judge if they started to slide. After all, they may be busy winning games. – excerpt by Bruce Feldman, ESPN The Magazine

Teddy Roosevelt gave us another adage: Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

If President Roosevelt had met Trent Richardson, he might have rephrased it to: Speak softly and carry big muscles. And No. 3 certainly has gone far – into contention as a national top-10 in the weight room; into an SEC-winning season in 2009 and an electric performance in the National Championship game for the 13th Alabama title; into the end zone 18 times in two years, racking up 2,495 all-purpose yards while increasing by 20% his average yards per carry to 6.25 in 2010; into the list of candidates expected to make a run at the Heisman; and into a potential first round NFL draft pick.

But about that speaking softly…

Coach Nick Saban’s philosophy of leadership is that “great leaders encourage greatness in others.” Richardson learned that lesson in abundance from Bama’s Heisman-winning running back Mark Ingram. However, as the backup for two years, there was no need to fully flex his vocal leadership muscles while Ingram handled those duties. In situations when more direct intervention fell to him, he found it difficult.

[L]ast season, when Alabama needed someone to step up, Richardson froze. "There were times when something needed to be said, and I had something to say, but I didn't know how to say it," he says. "So I would be quiet."

Before Ingram’s departure to the NFL, Richardson quietly led by example with his work ethic on and off the field, pushing his body to perform in games despite injury and maintaining a 3.3 GPA in hopes of being an Academic All-American. He is also one of the team's peer group leaders, where the players hold each other accountable for their actions with help from assigned leaders. But for the upcoming season, Richardson knew he had to somehow find within himself a more vocal leadership style to befit his new lead role in the Crimson Tide backfield.

Enter ESPN’s unintentional Big Stick Diplomacy.

By encouraging Richardson to write down his goals for each day, ESPN helped to unleash the massive potential of a vocal, in-your-face leadership force. Identifying his priorities has given Richardson a new confidence to stay on top of his responsibility to push teammates further for a bigger purpose.

At an early-morning practice in late July, Richardson arrived at the facility to find several of his teammates dragging and complaining about the heat. "I said, 'You've had all summer off and you're here now,’” Richardson says. "I told them, 'Run onto that field like you're walking into the ring. Run these drills like they're the last ones you'll ever run. Run them like we're in the championship game.'”

President Roosevelt, the original Driving Force, would be pleased:  Believe you can and you're halfway there.

Team Goal: Win the BCS title

Richardson’s story appears in the Aug. 22, 2011 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

P.S. -- don’t tell Steve Spurrier.

 

On twitter @LivingCrimson

Bama Tailback Dee Hart rips ACL, out for 2011 season (We’ll be ok, with VIDEO)

Alabama had hoped to add an element of electricity to the backfield this season, and the Saban – McElwain braintrust had hoped that incoming Freshman TB Dee Hart would fulfill that role.

Unfortunately, Hart has apparently injured an ACL during an off-season workout on Tuesday afternoon. He will likely require reconstructive surgery, and will not see the field in the 2011 season. Hart was the only back expected to see significant playing time who weighed less than 220 lbs. As a colleague of mine said earlier today, during some of the off-season workouts Hart was the only ball carrier with the potential to make the Bama defense look pedestrian.

But don’t worry, Bama fans.  We should be just fine as long as this guy stays healthy.

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Hey Gaytors: Just get out of Trent Richardson’s way (VIDEO)

Richards trucks four defenders (two Linebackers, a Safety and a Cornerback) en route to a 52-yard touchdown against Arkansas last year.

Just sayin.

He’s not even Bama’s starting Tailback.

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