Please understand I'm not trying to pick a fight....show how superior Fla is...or crow about the game. However, there is still speculation in some circles that Ginn may have been playing an NFL card when he did not return to the game. Agreed this is from a Florida message board but still the quote by Ginn Sr. is interesting" Anyone still think this kid wasn't protecting himself for the NFL and all those dollars?? "It was the best thing for him," Ted Ginn Sr. told The Plain Dealer on Monday. "Emotionally it's not the best thing for him, but financially it was." After talking with the w/r coach and hearing him say "the coaches didn't keep him out of the game," I find it hard to believe him and his father weren't watching the bottom line. Make excuses and say he owes OSU or whatever you want, but this kid had NFL on his mind from the time he left h.s. He took no courses towards an actual degree, thus sealing his deal to the NFL weeks ago." On the other hand....how could anyone really blame him or his Dad for being concerned about the NFL dollars when they probably already were certain that he was heading to the NFL before the NC game. Now dang it...if you guys want to personally attack me for posting this then I can't stop you but it is not meant to gloat...demean Ohio State....or crow about the game. I think it may be a controversial story that is not finished.
Interesting analysis of those that have declared: http://cfn.scout.com/2/609906.html I think Ryan Smith for Fla was getting bad advice somewhere. This kid could have a been a first rounder with another great year next year but now could be a 4th rounder probably.
Another post from a different Gator message board: "word out of Columbus is that his dad told him not to go back in the game so that he would not injure his sprained ankle any further. that won't change his draft status because of that. it was actually a smart move by senior and junior. Watching the replay vividly shows his dad trying his best to get juniors attention as he ran back to the sidelines from the locker room." I do think that Sr. had the NFL combines and other things like that in mind when yelling things at Ginn Jr. Maybe that's understandable depending on your viewpoint. I think that given he has to work out for the scouts sometime before the draft that it was a prudent strategy.
"word out of Columbus is that.." "Watching the replay vividly shows his dad trying his best to get juniors [sic] attention.." Who from Columbus said this? Is there a link to You Tube which documents this "vivid" replay? Unless there is actual documentation to support these claims, I would write this off as message-board crap from a poster relying on rumor to rub salt into an open wound. BT or Stu can correct me if I am wrong, but I thought Ginn played most of this year on an injuried foot.
I think the only reason this is even being thrown about and you're right...what is "word out of Columbus"...is that Ginn's Dad seemed to be very active and very verbal when Ginn Jr. returned to the field "jogging". The "saving it for the NFL" thought occurred to me at the time it happened based on those visual images and FYI for those Skyboxers ready to pounce on me.....OSU was up 7 points at the time.
pulleeeeeeeeezz...Ginn didn't want to comeback into the game to save his NFL career? I can't believe you'd even buy into that crap.
The story about Ginn is not limited to Florida BBs. Here is a discussion of the issue from a Buckeye blogger. http://buckeyebattlecry.blogspot.com/2007/01/nasty-little-rumor.html I guess my thought is if Ginn played, as the blogger states, with a broken foot nearly all season and risked his NFL career, it would make no sense for him to tank the BCS game because of a sprained ankle. BBs and blogs seem to be the red-light district of college football.
I read Bobda's link and I still think it's likely a pile of dung. But I have to wonder why in the hell was Ted Ginn Sr. on the sideline where he could interjet himself between his son and the coaches/trainers for OSU? IMHO parents of players should be up in the stands. I understand that sidelines always tend to have a few celebrities and such, but parents should be in the stands.
This is patently absurd....as BobDa suggested, Teddy played half the season with a broken toe including the likes of Indiana. If the suggestion is that he'd gut it out throught the pain and potential for more serious injury to help his teammates defeat Indiana and NOT do the same while playing for the National Title in probably his last college game is one of the most completely ridiculous and non-sensical things I have ever heard.....just because some Buckeye blogger say something does not mean it makes any f*%king sense....there are millions of Buckeye fans, no doubt some of whom still believe the world is flat and will tell you so....it is not. Oftentimes it's helpful to think. Teddy's Daddy WAS in the stands and I saw Teddy on the sidelines completely distraught AND personally spoke to his Daddy at the airport the day after who was also devastated with regard to Teddy's inabilty to contribute after his injury and when his teammates which signigicantly included his best buddy and almost brother whom had been at his side since childhood Troy Smith needed him most. This is absolute complete 100% horsesh!t....there is more truth and substance to the rumor that Elvis lives...... I thought this preposterous, offensive and repugnant link had been locked....what's up with this?
"Teddy's Daddy WAS in the stands and I saw Teddy on the sidelines completely distraught AND personally spoke to his Daddy at the airport the day after who was also devastated with regard to Teddy's inabilty to contribute" That seems pretty damned credible to me.....case closed.