Brett Smith Story

Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:11 am

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/07/brett-smi ... nfl-draft/

Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:26 am

Wow, great find. Sucks for Smith. Miss that dude as a Poke.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:34 am

I wish there was a way that if a kid goes undrafted he could return to school for his senior year.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:50 am

i agree they should let an undrafted player go back to school, kinda like the NBA, biggest problem was he signed with an agent. I'd still like to know, who gave him the thoughts and info that he was NFL material, it was there if developed but a successful senior year would have only done wonders for him!!! He needed to learn another offense with a new, better coach!!! Sigh, oh well,

Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:53 am

One of the most tragic parts of the story is he pursued a degree in communications.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:02 am

LanderPoke wrote:One of the most tragic parts of the story is he pursued a degree in communications.

Ha ha. I have a worthless Communications degree.

By sheer luck I landed a pretty good gig. But, yeah, what a travesty pursuing a Communications degree.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:05 am

303cowboy wrote:I wish there was a way that if a kid goes undrafted he could return to school for his senior year.

He can go back to school. He just can't play football.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:09 am

joshvanklomp wrote:
303cowboy wrote:I wish there was a way that if a kid goes undrafted he could return to school for his senior year.
He can go back to school. He just can't play football.

Should have clarified, but figured people would catch my drift

Wed Jan 07, 2015 10:12 am

Why wouldn't they have talked to Christensen?
- An otherwise bad relationship?
- Christensen wouldn't return their calls?

Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:02 am

Sounds like Papa Smith is a real piece of work.

"My kids are going to be football players, by golly, and they don't need no stinkin' plan B!"

Great advice, there, Dad...

WW

Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:03 am

They should let kids go back and play their Senior year if undrafted. Naturally that would lead to an increase in the number of kids declaring, but that is an NFL problem, IMO. Let them devise a new system to wade through the huge number of "applicants". It shouldn't affect the college game as long as the kid doesn't break major rules. Hiring an agent for a few months doesn't seem that bad to me.

Relating to Smith specifically, he just isn't that elite. Could he become better? Sure, but there are a pile of guys in his situation. I hope he finds a way to separate himself and develops into an NFL qb.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:04 am

Lost Poke wrote:Why wouldn't they have talked to Christensen?
- An otherwise bad relationship?
- Christensen wouldn't return their calls?

Dad knows best?

Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:17 pm

I have had many personal interactions with his dad, and, honestly, he is a great guy. Brett comes from a great family. Last year for Christmas my kids all got an 8x11 personalized signed photo to them. I tried sending money and such and his dad said, "This is why Brett plays the game" and wouldn't take anything. I think (collectively and looking back) Brett got some bad advice. I know Bohl flew up there to meet with him, but I also think that Dave leaving didn't help. Dave didn't offer advice, because DC couldn't give two craps about the players at that point.

I wish Brett nothing but the best. I do think his window is closing rapidly. I look at guys like Brett and compare him to buttholes like Jameis and it is tough to watch guys like Winston succeed. Unfortunately, that is life.

I had a relative who was partial owner of the Utah Blaze arena team several years ago. He just sold out. There is no money there. I also had an acquaintance who played WR for the team and he worked at Fidelity Investments by day and played football by night. The AFL is not a fulltime job to support yourself, little lone a family. If NFL doesn't come calling Brett in the next several months for spring training, I think it is time to move on from football.

Good luck Brett. You'll always be a Cowboy favorite to me.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:27 pm

Most fans do wish he had stayed, if only to see him learn the pro-style offense and actually be developed by guys who know how to (let's face it, DC never really developed players, they had to develop on their own) which could have led him to success in the NFL. But he left. And he is a great guy, and as far as I'm concerned, one of our best players to have ever come through here. I wish him nothing but the best in future endeavors.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:43 pm

This is really a pretty sad story all around, but you can't really blame Brett. I guess I just don't really believe that Christensen didn't have any input. Seems like a coach (who brought Brett here and probably had daily interaction with him during the season) would have something to say about the kid declaring for the draft. Even if it's just to say something to the effect of "this is usually a bad idea." Seems odd to me.

Regardless, it's water under the bridge now, and I hope Brett finds success playing in the Arena league. Who knows, maybe he'll find his way back to the NFL and be the next Kurt Warner.

GO POKES!

Wed Jan 07, 2015 1:10 pm

I still cross my finger than someone will take some sense into him and he will seek out the http://www.fxfl.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; that is the absolute without a doubt best route back to the NFL.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:14 pm

Sadly, I think his shot at the NFL is gone. Sure he could hit up arena league or even the fxfl and go the Kurt Warner route, but not very many QBs can go that route (have ANY besides Warner?). If he wasn't good enough to make the Tampa Bay roster, than he has a lot more developing than even I suspected he would need. Why develop when you can draft someone with everything you need already...I'd love to be wrong though.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:21 pm

WestWYOPoke wrote:Sadly, I think his shot at the NFL is gone. Sure he could hit up arena league or even the fxfl and go the Kurt Warner route, but not very many QBs can go that route (have ANY besides Warner?). If he wasn't good enough to make the Tampa Bay roster, than he has a lot more developing than even I suspected he would need. Why develop when you can draft someone with everything you need already...I'd love to be wrong though.

Not saying your wrong because his chances are a long shot but reading the article it made it sound like he never had a chance to make the Tampa Bay roster. they just wanted a guy to throw balls during rookie training camp. They didn't have any interest in evaluating him or developing him.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:41 pm

TSpoke wrote:
Not saying your wrong because his chances are a long shot but reading the article it made it sound like he never had a chance to make the Tampa Bay roster. they just wanted a guy to throw balls during rookie training camp. They didn't have any interest in evaluating him or developing him.

QB is the most coveted and hardest position in the NFL. It could be argued that there aren't 32 guys on the planet that can play it well. The point you bring up is one that I disagreed with the article. If Brett had had shown something to make them think he would develop into even a solid backup, they would not have released them.

Every NFL team is interested in evaluating and developing QBs if they think it will pay dividends.

Wed Jan 07, 2015 3:06 pm

Isn't this year's QB draft class super weak too?