Mailbag 7/14

Recently I saw a clickbait for “50 Greatest College Football Players”. It was actually very well done; lots of guys you wouldn’t know because we weren’t involved in the game before the 40’s. Herschel was number 1. Please to power rank your top 5 all time College Players. Thankee - DressHerInWhiteAndGold

Ben: I’m not old enough to give this a good answer, but I will say that Calvin Johnson should absolutely being on the list for making Reggie Ball look as good as he did.

Logan: I’m too young to give a good answer to this. I only remember seeing people back to the 90’s and then the famous ones that everyone knows. I’ll give it a shot though.

1. Archie Griffin (RB, Ohio State) - The dude won 2 Heismans. No one else has done that. ‘nuff said.
2. Bo Jackson (RB, Auburn) - Bo was a great athlete in both football and baseball. I got plenty of respect for him.
3. Barry Sanders (RB, Oklahoma State) - I’m slightly biased to players who have a good personality. Barry was a fun guy who always left his heart on the field.
4. Deion Sanders (RB, Florida State) - Also slightly biased to Running Backs. Dude played 2 sports. Played for the Falcons. Good Guy. He was also super smooth. None of that has to do with his CFB career, but it’s my list.
5. Dick Butkus (LB, Iliinois) - He went to Illinois and has a fun name, I don’t really care about anything else.

So there you go, that’s the definitive list and anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

Jake: I’ll respect the list above, and also add, Herschel isn’t number one.

At what point will the dwags’ hope for a natty come to a screeching halt? - jabsterjacket

Ben: Something would have to fundamentally change about either college football or how UGA is set up (i.e. people will need to stop giving them money). They are one of the richest programs in the country, so they are able to bring in great recruiting class after great recruiting class, and that will keep them in the conversation every year.

Akshay: I’d rather their Charlie Brown have hope only for Lucy to pull the football away at the last second every year. Maximize the schadenfreude.

Jeff: This is the second time today I've seen the word schadenfreude so that is odd, but it would require their talent pool falling outside the top 10 or for them to start penny pinching and not allowing above average position coach hires. They've been known to tighten the belt before so maybe a Kirby ouster would make them go into hiding.

Logan: You mean this season or in general? Well they play Clemson in the first game of the season, so that’s gonna shut things down pretty quickly for them. In general, I want to make a disparaging comment about the dwags but I’ll just be honest. Years of living in Atlanta has taught me that hope will spring eternal, but then you realize that’s not actually hope it’s despair giving you a golden shower. So they will never stop hoping, but I expect them to keep finding disappointment for all eternity.

Jake: Perhaps in Atlanta? Would be nice for it to be us doing our own dirty work, no?

Carter: In general? Never. This season? The second or third neutral-site loss should do it.

7 / 14 / 21 Why does this feel so good? - Notwima13

Ben: Does Math make you feel good? If so, I would recommend you see a doctor.

Akshay: Math make thinker box oddly satisfied.

Jeff: *startes blankly for 20 minutes* Oh, I get it now!

Logan: It won’t feel as good as 2/2/22 will feel next year.

Jake: Thank you for letting me know before Wednesday, which allowed me to properly anticipate and appreciate it before it got here.

I am interested in general thoughts on the retroactive reinstatement Reggie Bush wants and comparing it to the much lesser offense committed by CPJ and Demaryius Thomas that led to our ACC Title vacatur. Should GT even ask about this old case or let it be settled forever? - BirdGT (submitted via email)

Akshay: I know I said on the podcast that Bush should get his Heisman and stats reinstated after the introduction of NIL, but at the same time, I’m pretty sure what Bush was involved in in 2005 (accepting gifts from prospective agents) would still be against current regulations. Objectively, I think you’d have a better time arguing Tech’s case for reinstatement given the sum of money involved and a comparatively higher level of plausible deniability for agent activity, but the athletic director at the time still broke other NCAA regulations. Given this latter bit, it seems that it would be difficult to come out of this with a preferable outcome. Is it possible? Sure. Do I want that 09 season reinstated? Absolutely. Do I think it’s likely? No.

Jeff: Did we ever prove anything actually happened or was it the NCAA getting ticked we followed due process and notified the accused of the accusation? Anyway, if Bush gets Heisman back then you could just use public pressure to shame them into it.

Logan: I believe I stated my position in the previous mailbag. For those who missed it, the NCAA is dumb. I think there is a pretty solid argument for both issues to be overturned. GT should ask, if only to piss off the NCAA a little more about the situation the NCAA has put itself in.

Jake: Mr. Bird, sir, we should absolutely be able to get that reinstated. Went into a bit more detail on the podcast, too. However, I think the NCAA would kindly tell us to scram, and I don’t know if the GTAA would even find it worth the effort to try. Disappointing, really. I think it’s worth pursuing, I just don’t know if the outcome would be in favor of Tech if they even make the attempt.

What do you think will ultimately come from NIL? Do you think Clemson and Bama will fall and NCAA will have more parity like the NFL or will it just remain status quo? - BirdGT (submitted via email)

Ben: I don’t think it will change much. South Westington State Northeast isn’t going to become a powerhouse overnight because they can sign a NIL deal there. Players will still go to the bigger, more successful schools because they will have a bigger spotlight there, and could therefore, sign a more lucrative NIL deal.

Akshay: I have been of the opinion for a while now that parity in college sports is a myth — much like European soccer, college athletics are something organizations can pay to win, and I don’t think that this will change with NIL. You may see some athletes choose to go to smaller schools where they can get more bang for their NIL buck (so to speak), but I think this outflow will be cancelled out by other athletes trying to get a slice of a larger NIL pie at larger schools with larger fanbases.

Jeff: Yeah you're not going to see much change. The big boys have more money because they have the donors with money. It'll just be funneled through a different channel this time.

Logan: Any change will be down the line, certainly not in the next few years. I don’t think the recruiting will change much. What I could see happening is the removal or replacement of the NCAA as an organization. I don’t mean “The end of college sports” I simply think that this is a huge hit to the power of the NCAA. Most of there enforcement issues have been with players getting paid or getting benefits (although I know there was the cheating scandal at UNC). Now that those issues are out the window, the universities which comprise the NCAA may decide that there needs to be a restructuring of how that organization is run. What does all that mean? No idea, but I’m interested to see how it plays out.

Jake: I am generally in agreement with Akshay here. However, I will say, I don’t think it will implode amateurism, or anything like that, either. I think a better change might be limiting roster size, which helps concentrate scholarship money, resources, and the like in one sport at each school, and the limited talent congregates at the few, in general.

Hello,

... So, how are things?

Cool, glad to hear it. I’m doing good.

... questions huh? I dunno.

How about, with the NIL thing players will be making more money in college without necessarily having a good understanding of responsible spending. Do we expect to see more athletes coming out of school heavily in debt or bankrupt? Will classes about maintaining finances become more integral at colleges? Will athletes end up creating more videos where they make fried rice incorrectly which leads to more business for Uncle Roger on youtube?

These are the questions... ok bye.

- Something Something Someone (submitted via email)

Ben: I think it would be smart for them to take some sort of personal finance course, but I don’t see that becoming a requirement if it isn’t for a program they’re in.

Jeff: First off, I'm for plenty of videos of college kids trying to cook in a dorm and watching Uncle Roger slaughter them for uses ketchup as a condiment for rice. And I'm sure there will be plenty of people squandering money in cryptocurrency due to financial advice from terrible financial sources. Like Trevor Lawrence investing his signing bonus into Bitcoin when it was around 60k and losing 50% in a week!

Logan: Students need to be taught in high school at this point how to manage their funds. People are making money so early that this needs to be a mandatory course. It was a prominent enough problem of adults going into debt quickly when they had almost 25+ years to prepare for the real world. This needs to be something that schools start addressing immediately or it’s going to be a major problem in the near future. Also Uncle Roger is hilarious, and I love his videos. I’ve watched so many of them, but I still do not know how to cook fried rice. Hi-ya. There is no way college kids can properly cook fried rice.

Jake: I hopelessly failed in my first attempt to cook fried rice. It was a disaster. Too much rice, not enough skillet. I said this one on the podcast, too, though (really, give it a listen, y’all, I’m biased, but I think we’ve really hit a stride lately) and I think that the increase in interest in the “self-betterment” type education that athletes can access is one of the very best parts of NIL. The gift that keeps on giving, if you will.