Rutherford Staying at GT

[MidtownJacket]

Posted this on another board, but thought it worth adding here too.

I’m sorry to see him go.

I’m disappointed that college sports have turned into mercenaries for hire, because as a fan of the sport I’ve enjoyed watching young guys turn into “that dude”. I am a student of the game and get a true sense of enjoyment and pride watching the school I chose, attended and love develop kids into men. That’s always been the allure for me of college athletics over the pros. Sure, the pros are better (they dang well should be, they’re the top of their craft and it’s more about coaching and roster management than development of potential).

I’m also impossibly conflicted in that the system that we now have forces kids to choose against their long-term interests (school, development and lifelong networks) or their short-term earning potential. I get the point that if my company’s competitor offered me significantly more money, I’d leave. Of course, I would. The agreement between my employer and me is I create value for them and they pay me at a level commensurate with how they calculate it. They’ll develop me - in so far as I can increase said value - but they’re not altruistic. College sports (used to be and) should still be. It’s about offering paths of learning, development and improvement as a part of a kid’s education.

I also understand that sports, entertainment, and free market economics don’t exist to appease my interests. So I can’t really get justifiably upset about any of those beasts chasing down and consuming what I held dear about college athletics. When NIL was first being discussed, I talked at length with friends about how it was a continuation of the under-the-table money thing. Many of my friends and people I respect thought it would be a good “reset point” to allow programs who refused to cheat to go and compete. The [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅100)̲̅$̲̅] piece of this is one thing, but this free-wheeling transfer period is a whole other thing.

The kids are hosed either way: move now to get time with the team in the spring or wait and miss the academic calendar year and be behind in class - which by the way is supposed to still matter.

All this to say, I just don’t like this system and hope someone finds a fix.

 

[idelly19]

Posted this on another board, but thought it worth adding here too.

I’m sorry to see him go.

I’m disappointed that college sports have turned into mercenaries for hire, because as a fan of the sport I’ve enjoyed watching young guys turn into “that dude”. I am a student of the game and get a true sense of enjoyment and pride watching the school I chose, attended and love develop kids into men. That’s always been the allure for me of college athletics over the pros. Sure, the pros are better (they dang well should be, they’re the top of their craft and it’s more about coaching and roster management than development of potential).

I’m also impossibly conflicted in that the system that we now have forces kids to choose against their long-term interests (school, development and lifelong networks) or their short-term earning potential. I get the point that if my company’s competitor offered me significantly more money, I’d leave. Of course, I would. The agreement between my employer and me is I create value for them and they pay me at a level commensurate with how they calculate it. They’ll develop me - in so far as I can increase said value - but they’re not altruistic. College sports (used to be and) should still be. It’s about offering paths of learning, development and improvement as a part of a kid’s education.

I also understand that sports, entertainment, and free market economics don’t exist to appease my interests. So I can’t really get justifiably upset about any of those beasts chasing down and consuming what I held dear about college athletics. When NIL was first being discussed, I talked at length with friends about how it was a continuation of the under-the-table money thing. Many of my friends and people I respect thought it would be a good “reset point” to allow programs who refused to cheat to go and compete. The [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅100)̲̅$̲̅] piece of this is one thing, but this free-wheeling transfer period is a whole other thing.

The kids are hosed either way: move now to get time with the team in the spring or wait and miss the academic calendar year and be behind in class - which by the way is supposed to still matter.

All this to say, I just don’t like this system and hope someone finds a fix.

Very well said on all fronts, it feels like so many forces vying at each other in ways that just don’t seem sustainable. Hopefully something changes in the near future, but I sure wouldn’t want to be tasked with finding a solution.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Stockton and Lane are no where close to being as good as Singleton and Rutherford. They were backups for a reason. The reason was the other guys were better players.

Stockton is a year behind them (and Philo's preferred target) and Lane was injured for an entire season. They weren't backups. You're smarter than this.

 

[iceeater1969]

Stockton is a year behind them (and Philo's preferred target) and Lane was injured for an entire season. They weren't backups. You're smarter than this.

Omg, stockton was so much a back up.

He got open for 1 long pass from philo against miami who has a the dumbest head coach in acc. Every person who saw philo and stockton in hs knew that pass was coming.

Stockton with this better TE room will become a real threat and go to guy because he is smart, runs great route and catches ball away from body. Also Key and King will pass more.

 

[GT33]

I think we’ll be fine at receiver next year. My concern is…who are we throwing the ball to in Birmingham next week?

1985 we wondered what we we going to do against Mich St and Lorenzo White with Dewberry suspended. In comes Rampley and we just rambled along like Dewberry was an afterthought. Same for Malik. He had his chance to do something special on The Flats, he will end up as an insignificant footnote in GT football history. He's gonna regret missing next year. Hope that money is worth it to him.

 

[Richland County]

Cue the character assassination by dudes that don't know a thing about what's going on.

He is a WR, which are known to be biggest babies or drama queesz on a fuseball team. We picked up 3 and have lost 4. The position with the most players in the portal is Wr. Going to a crazy ride this off-season.

 

[Richland County]

Im letting yall know that I've enjoyed my time as a GT fan. The coaching staffs and players mean the world to me. HOWEVER, I'm in the portal and taking my cheering to Oregon (or whoever wins outside of the mutts and Irish). This is just part of God's plan.


Did I do it right?

You forgot respect my authori, sorry wrong place respect my decision.

 

[JoJaTeck]

1985 we wondered what we we going to do against Mich St and Lorenzo White with Dewberry suspended. In comes Rampley and we just rambled along like Dewberry was an afterthought. Same for Malik. He had his chance to do something special on The Flats, he will end up as an insignificant footnote in GT football history. He's gonna regret missing next year. Hope that money is worth it to him.

You forgot our best reciever Gary Lee was.out for that game as well..

 

[MWBATL]

Just one comment….Rutherford states he “plans” to enter the portal. He may have been talking to the coaches and all agreed he could enter after the bowl game. Maybe he wasn’t happy for reason none on this board are aware of…maybe his girlfriend moved on…maybe something entirely unrelated to football or GT is at play here. I don’t know and none of us do either.
My point is simply that we should let this all play out before judging people of jumping to conclusions.
Best of luck to Malik.

 

[gtee91]

I just noticed at the start of this thread that Chad Alexander liked the post by on3 that Malik was leaving ...WTH ? Is he happy he is leaving??? Is he leaving too ?

 

[john813]

I just really hope the portal transfer gets revised to after the bowl games.

Hard to keep interest in a bowl when 7-8 guys decide to leave, and it's not even for the draft

 

[gtee91]

I just really hope the portal transfer gets revised to after the bowl games.

Hard to keep interest in a bowl when 7-8 guys decide to leave, and it's not even for the draft

No way to get full price ticket interest for bowls if it just a freshman scrimmage. Bowls are in danger of going extinct

 

[iceeater1969]

Key was asking all for a new commitment.

Stockton who i o is another player who loves playing is sad to see our energizer bunny leave . I am sure that king and pyron feel same way.
At Bham i will ask the moms " who leaving made your son the saddest ?"

Gt is ascending but every now and then there is a dip that really hurts.

 

[LT 1967]

Perhaps the below comments by the Alabama AD will supply a little solace to our disappointed GT Fans concerning transfers. Looks like Alabama is playing the victim as shown below. If enough of the so called "Big Boys" feel as shown in Greg Byrne's X comments below, perhaps we will eventually see some changes coming in the form of an anti-trust exemption from Congress. If the House agreement is approved in April, the universities will at least have some control of the total amount each School can pay directly to the Athletes. Even with that, I believe the athletes can still receive additional NIL money. Below shows that we are not in this misery alone.



"The transfer portal opened up at season’s end. A number of former five-star talents have since bolted for greener pastures. Jaheim Oatis has recently committed to Colorado. Damon Payne landed at Michigan. Wideout Caleb Odom, who blasted Jalen Milroe on his way out the door, is also expected to sign with a major player."

"In all, a dozen Alabama players have hit the transfer portal. Most were highly regarded as high school prospects, and they’ll receive plenty of interest in their pursuits of new destinations."

"That interest, in this day and age, comes in the form of NIL. College football programs are throwing massive offers at potential additions in hopes of buying titles."

Alabama AD Begs For NIL Support While Accusing Rival Boosters Of Shady Recruiting Tactics

The Alabama Crimson Tide experienced a bit of a letdown on the football field in Year 1 of the Kalen DeBoer era. Despite picking up big wins over rivals

brobible.com

 

[stinger 1957]

I just wonder if all those that think this is really bad will look back and think what was that all about, it turned out just fine and maybe even better in some ways. My gut is telling me it is all going to be fine, frankly I'm looking fwd to the new ones. I saw things with our young new receivers that I liked a lot, want to see what the portal guys give us. Some excitement potential there for me. They all have time to develop with our QBs.

 

[GTBatGirl96]

Honestly, from a casual fan's perspective, not much has changed. If you didn't follow the recruits and signees closely, you really only remember the names of the regular starters. It used to be very rare that someone would start as a freshman and you'd hear their names for four years. More likely it was one or two anyway. ( I only remember having JoeHam for two years, Godsey two years. Having Justin Thomas for three years was a rare luxury.). The casual fan is used to learning new names every year and cheering for the uniform, not the name on the back. Maybe by the third game, we'd have a sense of who was going to be good that year, and we'd expect it to be different from the year before because people graduate. Each year brings a new hero. Personally, I think that's what's exciting about college sports.

 

[stinger78]

Our O, behind two different healthy QB’s, put up almost 1000 yards of offense the last two games, with the lion’s share of that being passing yards. Both those QB’s have said they olan to return next year.

Yet within a month we have seen our two top WR’s jump from the team into the portal - the unkown.

Why? I cannot believe that it is because of anything related to our program except money.

What was once done in secret ia now an open exchange. There is no loyalty to the program or coach who invested in your development and gave you the opportunity.

Thr amounts are so large, one can certainly understand, but it is destroying the fabric of college football. C’est la vie.

 

[Root4GT]

Stockton is a year behind them (and Philo's preferred target) and Lane was injured for an entire season. They weren't backups. You're smarter than this.

Of course they were backups. Singleton and Rutherford were the starting WRs and got by far most of the targets/receptions. We played with 2 TEs mor than 3 WRs this season.

Pretending Stockton and Lane were starters is a joke! They have talent for sure but if either were better than Singleton or Rutherford they would have taken most of the WR snaps. They didn’t for good reasons. The starters were deemed by the coaches as better players this season.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

So a few players switching teams is destroying the fabric of the game? Come on with that. Replacing Singleton and Rutherford with 2 other dudes is not destroying anything. We shuffle OLinemen every year and no one has ever said that is destroying the fabric of the game. GT football is on the upswing so if 2 starters at a replaceable position think they can find a better situation then bye. Personally, I think both those guys will look back with regret because Faulkner’s system was perfect for both their skill set.

 

[bobongo]

Posted this on another board, but thought it worth adding here too.

I’m sorry to see him go.

I’m disappointed that college sports have turned into mercenaries for hire, because as a fan of the sport I’ve enjoyed watching young guys turn into “that dude”. I am a student of the game and get a true sense of enjoyment and pride watching the school I chose, attended and love develop kids into men. That’s always been the allure for me of college athletics over the pros. Sure, the pros are better (they dang well should be, they’re the top of their craft and it’s more about coaching and roster management than development of potential).

I’m also impossibly conflicted in that the system that we now have forces kids to choose against their long-term interests (school, development and lifelong networks) or their short-term earning potential. I get the point that if my company’s competitor offered me significantly more money, I’d leave. Of course, I would. The agreement between my employer and me is I create value for them and they pay me at a level commensurate with how they calculate it. They’ll develop me - in so far as I can increase said value - but they’re not altruistic. College sports (used to be and) should still be. It’s about offering paths of learning, development and improvement as a part of a kid’s education.

I also understand that sports, entertainment, and free market economics don’t exist to appease my interests. So I can’t really get justifiably upset about any of those beasts chasing down and consuming what I held dear about college athletics. When NIL was first being discussed, I talked at length with friends about how it was a continuation of the under-the-table money thing. Many of my friends and people I respect thought it would be a good “reset point” to allow programs who refused to cheat to go and compete. The [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅100)̲̅$̲̅] piece of this is one thing, but this free-wheeling transfer period is a whole other thing.

The kids are hosed either way: move now to get time with the team in the spring or wait and miss the academic calendar year and be behind in class - which by the way is supposed to still matter.

All this to say, I just don’t like this system and hope someone finds a fix.

My thoughts as well, and you said it well. It's the system that's at fault, not the players/pawns in the system. It's the dissociation of college football and higher learning that's so distressing to me. It isn't precisely "college" football anymore. It's pro ball with unlimited free agency and one-year contracts.