These are not household names as of yet, but then again neither were Kurt Warner or Dennis Gardeck
JAG is one of the current popular terms that NFL fans use as an acronym (“Just Another Guy”) for “camp body.”
This irks me.
As Atticus Finch (from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee advised Scout and Jem: “you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.”
As Mama Younger (from Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”) said to her daughter Beneatha, “When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is.”
If fans are going to try to be fair about measuring the talent of NFL players, then what they ought to do is research their backgrounds and study a sufficient sample of their college game tapes.
NFL players do not get drafted or signed as a college free agent or make the team’s practice squad or better yet, the back end of an NFL roster by accident.
it’s often fascinating to try to discover what the team scouts saw in the player (and the person’s character) that gave the prospect a chance to try to make an NFL roster.
It is no secret that in the NFL that free agents who are signed to multi-million-dollar contracts and a team’s high draft picks are given significantly more opportunities to make the starting lineup.
There are some players on NFL rosters who are never given the chance to get first-team reps on offense or defense.
When Hank Aaron gave his acceptance speech to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York —- curiously, he did not talk very much at all about baseball —- instead he focused his remarks on the critical importance of “opportunity”.
Before I provide you with my current list of the Cardinals most talented young players whom some may call JAGs, I would like to share with you a personal example with regard to opportunities in sports.
My first year of college in 1973 was at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. I walked on to the baseball team and was fully embraced by the legendary coach, Boyd Coffie. Coach Coffie had so much faith in me that he decided to pitch me in the game that would decide the Florida Fall League. We won that game 3-2 over Stetson and it appeared that I was being considered for the 4th or 5th pitcher in the rotation for the upcoming regular season.
Coach Coffie had a unique philosophy —- he wanted many of his pitchers to catch. Thanks to this and my experience catching an MLB 3rd round pick in high school named Jesse Wright, Coach was suggesting that, in addition to pitching, I could become one of the backup catchers. Our starting catcher was an All-American named Jack Getz.
I was really close to my fellow freshmen on the team, one of whom, John Castino, would become the American League Rookie of the Year in 1979 for the Minnesota Twins.
In February each year Rollins had the unique opportunity to play two or three exhibition games at Tinker Field in Orlando versus the Twins —- and one of the greatest thrills of my career was catching a game versus the Twins and discovering first-hand how difficult it was to hit against Bert Blyleven and his unhittable curve ball.
The greatest temptation I ever had to be a thief came as I was using the Twins’ locker room to take a leak between innings. From the urinal I peered over and saw a brand-new Rod Carew jersey sitting on a table. I still have an image of his number 29 in blazing red on that snow white jersey. I was going to tuck it into my own jersey and stash it in my training bag. That was until a teammate came in and told me to hurry up because the inning was over.
Two weeks later on the eve of the start of our regular season, I learned that my parents were getting divorced. Obviously, that is a long story unto itself. But I could not stand the thought of being away from my sisters and my mom as they were coping with why my dad had left us. Thus, I packed up all my stuff and returned to Connecticut.
I got a job working for my hometown newspaper and that summer I played in a semi-pro league on the same team with my childhood friend Timmy Teufel, who went on to win a ring as the Mets’ starting 2nd baseman in 1986.
Fortunately, I was accepted as a transfer to Boston College in the fall of 1974.
In the spring of 1975, after working out every day with my best friend at BC, a shortstop named Keith Weidemann from Long Island, we tried out for the BC baseball team.
Our big chance came in a scrimmage versus Tufts University. I was the starting pitcher, and Keith was the starting shortstop. I was scheduled to pitch two innings, but the first two innings went by so quickly that I was asked to pitch a third. My final line was 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. Keith went 2-3 with an RBI and made two sparkling plays at shortstop.
That night we were so excited that we decided to shave our heads.
The next day we were told to look at the bulletin board. The final roster had been posted. Neither Keith, nor I had made the team.
Minutes later we were sitting out in the bleachers trying to cope. Keith was crying his eyes out. I was feeling bitter.
I decided to go ask the coach why. Ernie Pellegrini was a former infielder for the Red Sox and he has been the head coach at BC for decades.
When I asked him why I got cut, he said, “Oh, you’re the third baseman, right?”
I said, “No, I was the starting pitcher yesterday versus Tufts.”
“Oh that’s right, “he said, “Yeah, you did a nice job, but we didn’t feel your velocity is quite Division 1 caliber.”
“That’s funny,” I said. “I figured that if I could play well at Rollins last year, then I could walk on and make the team here.”
“You played at Rollins?”
“Yes.”
“For Boyd Coffie?”
“Yes, unfortunately after playing well for 6 months, I felt the need to return home to Connecticut because my parents were getting divorced.”
“Oh listen, we make mistakes all the time. You know, to be honest, because our season is so short, we typically know what our roster will be well before tryouts.”
“Can you go please tell my best friend Keith Weidemann this? —- He was your shortstop yesterday and he is out in the bleachers crying his eyes out.
“Hey, listen, go and get dressed. We will have you pitch batting practice today and at some point, we will give you a chance to make the rotation. I imagine that Boyd Coffie will have good things to say about you. Why didn’t you tell me you played at Rollins?”
“I walked on at Rollins and I figured I could do the same here at BC.”
“Go and get dressed. We’ll work it out.”
I thanked him.
When I returned to Keith, I told him that I had basically talked my way back onto the team and that he should go and try to do the same.”
Keith said, “Eff that.”
When I started getting dressed, three of the team’s veteran players, all of whom were on the outstanding BC hockey team as well, came over and one of them asked, “What the eff are you doing here? You got cut, man.”
How was I going to tell them how I talked my way back on the team? I was feeling awful about Keith. I was also feeling stressed about how I was going to pull off taking a full slate of English classes, playing on the BC baseball team and working 35 hours a week waiting tables in order to pay the rent for my off-campus apartment (transfers had to be on a long waiting list for dorm rooms).
I got back into my t-shirt and jeans, found Keith still sitting in the bleachers and treated him to a couple of beers down at MaryAnne’s tavern in Cleveland Circle, where we vowed to keep working out so that we could kick ass in our summer semi-pro leagues. Which, quite fortunately, was exactly what we did. Baseball for us did not end in those bleachers.
And yes, there is crying in baseball —- all the time.
If you have experienced a tough situation like this when you were playing sports, please share!
Here are the young players on the Cardinals whom I believe are more talented that some fans think:
- QB Clayton Tune —- watching him click at Houston with Tank Dell, both in the slot and on the perimeter sold me on him as a pocket passer. Plus, he has sneaky mobility.
- RB Emari Demercado —- brings a special ability to excel at rushing, pass receiving and pass protection.
- TE Elijah Higgins —- smooth, natural route runner with very good hands and is a tenacious blocker.
- WR Michael Wilson —- brings great energy, catch-radius and an array of nifty moves that spring him open. He could be the Cardinals’ version of Puka Nacua if they target him more often.
- OL Trystan Colon —- fundamentally sound as both a run and pass blocker at both guard and center.
- DT Naquan Jones —- has plus athletic size, burst and strength, plays hard to the whistle making plays both upfield and downfield.
- DE Ben Stille —- very good, long and strong run-stopper who stops RBs in their tracks.
- LB Jesse Luketa —- dude sets a hard edge and plays with an attack-style passion.
- LB Baron Browning —- speedy edge rusher who has a strong ability to bend around the corner and pressure the QB.
- LB Owen Pappoe —- like Browning his athleticism is rated in the unique 98 percentile which makes him a standout chaser and pass defender.
- CB Kei’Trel Clark —- high energy Johnny-on-the-spot baller who makes strong hits on the football.
- S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson —- has the free safety range and instincts that the team has severely lacked, and in terms of playmaking ability, he is a rare game-changer.
- ST Joey Blount —- he has taken the STs “barbarian” baton from Dennis Gardeck and has been a standout ballhawk.
- K Chad Ryland —- while he’s missed three kicks in the last three games, he has been super clutch in game-winners and there is no mistaking how the ball soars off his foot.
I believe that with increased opportunities these players have the ability and character to make bigger names for themselves.
Kudos to Monti Ossenfort, Dave Sears and the Cardinals’ scouts for the quality of their work in adding these talented players to the roster.