Deuce
Well-Known Member
The following article is a few weeks old, but a good read if you haven't read it already.
http://bv.channel.aol.com/sports/hbcucentral/swac/aroundtheswac/20050422
NFL Draft Not What It Used to Be in SWAC
By Mac Taylor, AOL BlackVoices' SWAC columnist
The once powerful Southwestern Athletic Conference is now registering just of above a blip on the National Football League radar these days.
With a feeling this can't possibly be the case, I consulted a close family friend with deep NFL connections and posed the questions to him.
Where have all the SWAC draftees gone?
Have we become a league with no draftable players? Are we a league with no dominate or standout player?
After an intense discussion, we concluded there are a couple of factors playing key roles in not only this weekend's draft but also in drafts of the future.
At the top of the list: conference wide the SWAC is down this year.
There were no players that registered on the NFL sonar. The fact is, the SWAC simply doesn't have that star athlete this year.
Known for talented players throughout the years such as Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Robert Brazile, Steve McNair and Doug Williams, intergration has offered the top African-American student-athletes a slew of options and opportunity outside of the traditional HBCU.
Also, the surge of popularity among mid-major programs such as Miami-Ohio, Marshall and Pittsburgh has offered an opportunity which is much more wide spread therefore leaving Division I-AA and historically black programs vying for your third and fourth tier players.
Once a breeding ground for your most talented black athletes, programs such as Jackson State, Grambling and Mississippi Valley have all combined for less than five draft picks since 2000 and league wide the conference has produced less than 10.
Jackson State has had the most success in the NFL draft since the start of the new millenium with three players taken in 2000, including two first round picks in Sylvester Morris (21st overall) and Rashard Anderson (23rd overall) while Southern University accounts for the last player picked from the SWAC. Lenny Williams was taken in last year's draft by the Tampa Bay Bucanneers as the 252nd pick overall in the seventh round.
The second bomb to hurt HBCU players is free agency.
Although there is no official record of the number of SWAC players currently playing in the NFL, we can be fairly certain that a large number of the group were either taken in the late rounds of the draft or signed free agent contracts.
Once paying big bucks to the cream of the HBCU crop NFL teams are now getting bargain basement deals financially, courtesy of the free agency market.
Yes, the players are getting the private workouts time and time again but they are not getting the big-time contracts during their early years in the league.
So whose name might flash across the screen during this weekend's draft or who might we be reading about in weeks to come on the free agency front?
The best candidate in this year's SWAC class to get drafted will be defensive end/outside linebacker Kenneth Pettway of Grambling.
Pettway led the G-Men with 45 tackles, including 28 solos and 16 for a loss of 65 yards and nine quarterback sacks for a loss of 53 yards including a safety. He also performed excellently at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, a big plus for an HBCU prospect.
He was also named first team all-SWAC, first team selection on the Sheridan Broadcasting Network Black College all-star team and was named to the first team all-Louisiana Sports Writers Association College Football.
Possibly getting the free agency nod will be: Alabama A&M's offensive lineman Robert Lewis, Jackson State wide receiver Chris Jones and Southern University's offensive tackle Miniya Smith and defensive backs Kevin Moffett and Ahmad Treaudo, Grambling's place kicker Brian Morgan, defensive tackle Aqua Etefia and linebacker John Petty and safety Michael Daigre, Alcorn State's linebacker Dwan Wilson and wide receiver Reginald Glover of Alabama State.
About the Author:
Mac Taylor is a reporter for the Mobile Register in Mobile, Ala and a regular contributor to AOL BlackVoices. Her column appears weekly.
http://bv.channel.aol.com/sports/hbcucentral/swac/aroundtheswac/20050422
NFL Draft Not What It Used to Be in SWAC
By Mac Taylor, AOL BlackVoices' SWAC columnist
The once powerful Southwestern Athletic Conference is now registering just of above a blip on the National Football League radar these days.
With a feeling this can't possibly be the case, I consulted a close family friend with deep NFL connections and posed the questions to him.
Where have all the SWAC draftees gone?
Have we become a league with no draftable players? Are we a league with no dominate or standout player?
After an intense discussion, we concluded there are a couple of factors playing key roles in not only this weekend's draft but also in drafts of the future.
At the top of the list: conference wide the SWAC is down this year.
There were no players that registered on the NFL sonar. The fact is, the SWAC simply doesn't have that star athlete this year.
Known for talented players throughout the years such as Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Robert Brazile, Steve McNair and Doug Williams, intergration has offered the top African-American student-athletes a slew of options and opportunity outside of the traditional HBCU.
Also, the surge of popularity among mid-major programs such as Miami-Ohio, Marshall and Pittsburgh has offered an opportunity which is much more wide spread therefore leaving Division I-AA and historically black programs vying for your third and fourth tier players.
Once a breeding ground for your most talented black athletes, programs such as Jackson State, Grambling and Mississippi Valley have all combined for less than five draft picks since 2000 and league wide the conference has produced less than 10.
Jackson State has had the most success in the NFL draft since the start of the new millenium with three players taken in 2000, including two first round picks in Sylvester Morris (21st overall) and Rashard Anderson (23rd overall) while Southern University accounts for the last player picked from the SWAC. Lenny Williams was taken in last year's draft by the Tampa Bay Bucanneers as the 252nd pick overall in the seventh round.
The second bomb to hurt HBCU players is free agency.
Although there is no official record of the number of SWAC players currently playing in the NFL, we can be fairly certain that a large number of the group were either taken in the late rounds of the draft or signed free agent contracts.
Once paying big bucks to the cream of the HBCU crop NFL teams are now getting bargain basement deals financially, courtesy of the free agency market.
Yes, the players are getting the private workouts time and time again but they are not getting the big-time contracts during their early years in the league.
So whose name might flash across the screen during this weekend's draft or who might we be reading about in weeks to come on the free agency front?
The best candidate in this year's SWAC class to get drafted will be defensive end/outside linebacker Kenneth Pettway of Grambling.
Pettway led the G-Men with 45 tackles, including 28 solos and 16 for a loss of 65 yards and nine quarterback sacks for a loss of 53 yards including a safety. He also performed excellently at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, a big plus for an HBCU prospect.
He was also named first team all-SWAC, first team selection on the Sheridan Broadcasting Network Black College all-star team and was named to the first team all-Louisiana Sports Writers Association College Football.
Possibly getting the free agency nod will be: Alabama A&M's offensive lineman Robert Lewis, Jackson State wide receiver Chris Jones and Southern University's offensive tackle Miniya Smith and defensive backs Kevin Moffett and Ahmad Treaudo, Grambling's place kicker Brian Morgan, defensive tackle Aqua Etefia and linebacker John Petty and safety Michael Daigre, Alcorn State's linebacker Dwan Wilson and wide receiver Reginald Glover of Alabama State.
About the Author:
Mac Taylor is a reporter for the Mobile Register in Mobile, Ala and a regular contributor to AOL BlackVoices. Her column appears weekly.
