I'd rather a pothead that plays to every whistle than a guy who takes games off. Priorities in this country are fucked up.
I think it's human nature to not get as hyped for Townson than it is for a tough SEC game. Not sure that admitting it now is a good idea although you have to explain to NFL teams why performance was not consistent. Was his play in the lesser games drastically subpar or was it just not "fist pumping on the ground" effort? I always had difficulty going all out against opponents that were much weaker, even if I mentally tried to give max effort. I've always found it interesting how some athletes play much bigger in big games while others shrink in big situations. While this story may not have anything to do with it, Sam has to sell himself as a player that has performed well in the biggest games. If he had a bet with Mingo on number of sacks, he should have padded his stats with the lesser teams.
Regarding the effort, everyone knew this about Sam. If you didn't know, you weren't paying attention. The best thing for him to do, personally, is to come out and acknowledge it. Now he can't be confronted about it in interviews. He can be asked about it, but they can't attack him about it because he's already come out and admitted it. Now, it does not look good for LSU or Coach Miles. They probably did everything they could do to mitigate it, but it's still going to reflect poorly. It's similar to Randy Moss. He played for several great coaches, but no one could get him to dedicate himself on every play, from college and on through the pros. It's his M.O. As far as the admissions about the bets go.. that part probably should not have been mentioned. I don't see how talking about that is going to benefit anyone, unless that info had gotten leaked to the NFL teams. Even if it was all on the up and up, with their personal funds, no foul play, etc., it just doesn't sound good for us.
Everyone knows locker room bets are the gateway drug to bounty programs in the pros. Just ask Roger Goodell. He probably already preemptively suspended Mingo and Sam for 8 games.
Solid strategy Sonic Sam, to come out with this at the combine. Kicking off the most important job interviews of your life by saying you didn't try hard for weeks at a time because you didn't feel like it. Coaches like Belichick and the Harbough brothers have to be eating this up as you rocket up the draft boards. If there's one thing a pro coach is looking for it's a guy who admittedly doesn't try all the time to drop millions on....oh and I just love the gambling element and I'm sure LSU appreciates it. We need to hire an interview coach.....all that said, I loved him as a Tiger, best wishes Sam.
This is exactly right. Providing that they even watched film on Towson, every player at every position on the Tiger team is saying, "there is no way this guy can beat me, not on his best day" the motivation just isn't there and you can't make it materialize. I'm sure Sam will be just fine.
