Antonio Cromartie: Lessons in Adversity

Antonio Cromartie is not just another rags-to-riches story about a promising football player born into a family living in poverty. Cromartie is THE STORY about a young man who has faced adversity most will never know and still has flourished to become one of the brightest young cornerbacks in the NFL.

Pain and strife seem to follow Cromartie in every aspect of his life. The events that have occurred in Cromartie’s life have dictated the path of his journey immensely. Cromartie attended a private Christian school in Tallahassee for his first few years of high school. However, when the family got behind on bills and Cromartie’s tuition was part of the problem, he opted to withdraw to benefit his family. Antonio, if you know anything about his story, has consistently made decisions to benefit his family even if they were not necessarily beneficial to him. Cromartie eventually enrolled at perennial power Lincoln High, a public school in Tallahassee. Cromartie was a huge success at Lincoln being named the 2002 Gatorade National Defensive Player of the Year. Cromartie then signed a letter of intent with Bobby Bowden at Florida State and his childhood dream of being a Nole had been fulfilled. However, because of problems with aggression and constant fighting, Cromartie did not start his freshman or sophomore years at the school. Antonio was even kicked out of a track meet for punching another runner in the face. Things quickly turned around for The Cro in 2004 when he was named an All-ACC selection. However, another family problem would lead to another hard decision, for Antonio, one that would end his college career prematurely. Cromartie had planned to return to Florida State for the 2006 season, but days before his team played in the 2006 Orange Bowl, he got a phone call from his mom, Cassandra, informing him that she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer. With his mom facing a life-threatening illness, and a young son at home, Cromartie decided it was best for his family if he were to leave Florida State and make himself available for the 2006 NFL Draft.

The Problems would not stop there for Cromartie. Cromartie served primarily as a nickel back in his rookie year and at time showed flashes of brilliance and other times he showed the fact he was a rookie. The Cro’s second season proved why many say he is the best athlete ever to come out of Florida State. This is impressive since he played the same position for the Seminoles that was occupied by Deion Sanders whom many consider the best cornerback in the history of the NFL. Cromartie made a huge splash in his second year leading the NFL with 10 interceptions and being named to the Pro-Bowl. Dealing with adversity has been a mainstay in Cromartie’s life but you would be shocked to know that the night before he set the all time NFL record for longest play ever, his mother was kidnapped at gunpoint from her Florida home. Cromartie carried the weight of his family all his life and while he was returning the missed field goal against the Minnesota Vikings to break the record you would never know he was carrying more than the pigskin across the goal line he was carrying the burden that he has his whole life.



Things would look up though for Cromartie his mother made it to safety before the sun rose and Willie Colston, her estranged ex-husband was in jail. A Tallahassee jury would eventually acquit Colston, but his mother was safe and that is all that matters to Cromartie.

People make mistakes and even though some would argue that these actions are an extension of his volatile past, maybe they are a product of what this man has gone through in his short time on earth. Some of his wounds are self-inflicted and some are out of his control, but Cromartie has matured immensely as he is the father of five children. The Cro has endured so much to reach his status as one of the top 5 corners in the league, bar none. You cannot judge this man by any means because you have not walked a mile in his shoes and you probably could not fit them if you tried. Cromartie has made something out of nothing his whole life and continued to strive to be better in every aspect of his life. This mindset should be a goal for all individuals, no matter what your situation may be.

Cromartie is not on pace to reach his mark of 10 interceptions he put up last year but there are signs that he is becoming a more well rounded corner. He has already reached 45 tackles this year and the season is only about 60 percent over, this may not be a high total but The Cro only posted 39 in his pro bowl season last year. The statistics lead you to believe that teams are throwing away from The Cro and even though he does not see as many balls as he did last year he has stepped up his run support, which is very important with the absence of Shawn Merriman from the Charger defense. Cromartie is a Champ Bailey level corner, look for his numbers to once again rival the top corners in the league when the Chargers defense reaches full strength next season. You can say what you want about Antonio but up until now you probably did not know how loyal he is to his family and what he has been through. Antonio Cromartie is more than a football player, he is someone who picked himself up from-the-bootstraps, made sure his family was ok, and made something of himself. Can you say that for yourself? A word to the wise don’t throw Cromartie’s way if you’re an opposing offensive coordinator in the NFL and don’t think for a second that Cromartie won't make a mountain out of a mole hill if given the opportunity.



Peace,


Claude Lina Clayborne Jr.

Get an Alarm Clock: The Colts Ain’t Dead

The first thing you may notice about the Indianapolis Colts this year is that they don’t have the offensive shine people have become accustomed to. What people don’t seem to be noticing is that the Colts have yet to be totally healthy as a team. And they’re still finding ways to win.

With their superstar quarterback enduring two knee surgeries, one coming just weeks before the regular season opener, the season started out shaky at best. What people also have failed to mention was how that impacted the team. Part of what makes the Colts so effective is their ability to stretch defenses with the threat of play action. Peyton’s knee issues led to him not being able to stretch and reach his backs on handoffs, and instead forced him to resort to pitching on every running play. This made it pretty easy for defenses to key on either the run or the pass. As Peyton’s knee gets stronger he’s been putting up better and better numbers and leading his team more true to form.

The Colts have also seen a rotation on the O-line that has featured multiple rookies and some guys that have never played a down in the league, leading to a lack of time in the pocket for Peyton. On top of that an ankle/knee injury put safety Bob Sanders on the bench for most of the season thus far, and anyone who has seen him play knows that he must be a direct descendent of King Leonidas of Sparta. He is the definitive leader of the young, and largely unknown, defense. Without his leadership the Colts D doesn’t perform on nearly the same level, as was evident with his presence this past Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Also, while it may appear that Marvin Harrison is on the back end of his career, the Colts have seen second year receiver Anthony Gonzalez fill in on big plays. I wouldn’t worry about the Colts from a receiver standpoint, especially when they sill have Bruce, I mean Reggie Wayne lined up on the other side. The fact remains that he may be the best receiver in the league.

While the Colts are obviously not going to win their division this year, the first time since its inception, their schedule is pretty soft the rest of the way. It shouldn’t take much for them to chop up a wild card spot, get healthy in the meantime, and make some noise in the playoffs. And, since I’m still not sold on the Tennessee Titans and Kerry Collins as savior/MVP, don’t think the Colts can’t make a deep run into January, and possibly all the way to Tampa.

The close games they’ve endured so far makes them that much scarier when it’s really going to count.

Peace,

Jay Dee

Simply Joey

One man's trash is another man's treasure. This is the case with the Pittsburgh Steelers letting go of Mr. Joey Porter two years ago. The Steelers are known for letting players go before their tank is empty, especially with linebackers. Jason Gildon and Greg Lloyd sound familiar. If those Steeler greats were let go then Joey Porter's early dismissal in Terrible Towel Town was just a matter of time.

Pittsburgh was right and wrong. They would be just fine without Joey, but they were wrong in letting him go because his skills were diminishing. In fact, Joey is at his peak now. He leads the NFL in sacks with 12. Porter also leads the league in mental infiltrations, also known as getting in people's heads. Victims this year include, Matt Cassell, Brandon Marshall, and Matt Jones. All have fielding verbal bullets from Porter that have all inevitably gotten into their heads.

You would think that with the Tuna in town all this tough talk from Joey wouldn't fly, but Coach Parcells is about results. Joey is doing just that and is in fact on pace to break the sack record of 22.5 set by Michael Strahan in 2001. Alot of Joey's resurgence has been the loss of Jason Taylor. Taylor's departure allowed Porter to move to the weakside linebacker spot allowing him to avoid Tight End's helping block on passing downs.

The Dolphins are 5-4 and making a huge playoff push. They play the lowly Oakland Raiders who are two games away from being kicked out of the NFL and being picked up on a 10 day contract with the CFL. The Raiders have given up 27 sacks in nine games. Can anyone say hat trick for Mr. Porter? I can.

Peace,

Ricky Writer

Glory Days: FSU Seminoles

This is a tribute to the glory days at FSU. The days when the War Chant meant a bloody death for the competition and Chief Osceola’s flaming spear burning at midfield was the visual proof that FSU was going to dominate time and time again. Enjoy the videos and take care

PASTOR CLAYBORNE

Deion Sanders



Warrick Dunn



Peter Warrick



Charlie Ward



FSU Tradition

Big 12 South Gang Wars

I advise anyone traveling through Big 12 South country to take a detour right now. There are shootouts left and right and people are getting caught in the crossfires. Graham Harrell and Sam Bradford are picking people off left and right. Zac Robinson and Colt McCoy are running up on folks with their backs turned in man to man. The defenses are doing their best but with offenses so potent they have no choice but to lay down and surrender. And please don't get the Baylor Bears twisted, because they have a freshman quarterback in Robert Griffin who is better than Terrelle Pryor up in Columbus. The Big 12 South is straight gangsta this year, so if you are going to rome through these parts, take cover and don't bring your loved ones.

The biggest benefitter of these gang wars is the Florida Gators. Let's say that OU was in the North Division, Tech was in the Conferece USA, OK State was in the Big 1o, and Texas was still in the Big 12 South and none of these teams met one another. If this were the case you could possibly have all undefeated teams with the SEC really on the outside looking in. This is the worst year to have a good year in the Big 12. The round robin play has elimnated teams left and right and Texas Tech truly does stand on top of the conference and nation with its wins over Texas and OK State. But who is to say that Tech doesn't lose to OU and OU doesn't lose in its finale against OK State. This outcome would be the best for Texas Tech who would have one loss and the deciding tie breaker over Texas because of head to head play.

The craziest thing would be a three way tie and that would happen if OU beats Tech and OK State in these next three weeks. The deciding factor would be the BCS rank would benefit the team that lost the earliest which would be OU in early October to Texas.

Call me a homer, but I would like to see an OU vs. Texas rematch for the national championship. Texas tricked off the dope by losing to Tech, because Alabama is going to lose as Penn State has lost last week. I truly have to pray for a miracle to see it happen. But this is college football "where wild happens". Don't be surprised if the Gators stumble against Florida State and Bama loses to Florida. Enough SEC talk.

Bottom line the Big 12 South is the most gangster conference this year. SEC please admit it you all have had a down year, but we all know you will be back, but the Big 12 South holds the crown this year.

BCS Beef

A few things became clear this college football weekend. Penn State is as good as dead after scratching and clawing to lose at home to Iowa this week. This loss gives the top one loss teams in the BCS (Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, USC) a new lease on life.

Texas Tech, after a great home stand versus Texas and OSU, is a bona-fide threat to win the National Championship. Graham Harrell and the Techies are simply nasty on offense and having Michael Crabtree to pitch the ball to does not hurt. The Red Raider defense is pretty stout too, holding teams in the gangster laden Big 12 South below their usual outputs. Oklahoma State, on the other hand, is good but not ready for top-tier warfare. OSU was tabbed as a team that was a year away at the beginning of this year and this seems to be the case, even thought they have performed admirably this year.

Seemingly every team in the ACC still has a chance to make it to the conference championship game, including the David Cutcliffe led Duke Blue Devils. There is a three-way logjam at the top of both divisions. UNC, Miami, and Virginia Tech are tied atop the Coastal Division and Wake Forest, Maryland and FSU are tied for the lead in the Atlantic Division.

Utah, Boise State and Ball State, even without Dante Love, are digging in to make a push for multiple BCS Buster action. Utah's only threat this year is their annual in-state battle with BYU. Conversely, Boise State only has to beat Fresno State at home in thier last game to reach perfection. Ball State looks to be the only lock to go undefeated among the three as they face cupcakes in Miami (OH), Central Michigan and Western Michigan in order enters their name in the BCS conversation.

Speaking of Utah, quarterback Brian Johnson has broken most of the records that Alex Smith set at Utah. The then-rising Urban Meyer recruited Johnson, a Baytown, Texas native, to Utah. He's a four-year starter, but those four years were loaded with injuries, including a season where he suffered an ACL tear last year. Johnson has bounced back from the injury to lead the Utes to the brink of an undefeated season and is in my opinion one of the most overlooked quarterbacks in the country.

Lastly, Florida and Alabama have guaranteed themselves a spot in Atlanta for the SEC championship. Both locked up their divisions this week as Florida blasted the Vanderbilt Family of Brains and Braun Bubbas by 35 and Alabama used one of its nine lives with the help of former walk-on Rashad Johnson's three interceptions, one for a touchdown and another in OT, to beat LSU in Death Valley. The SEC championship will be a good game and I still believe that Florida is the hottest team in the country and both teams have their fate as far as the SEC and BCS firmly in their hands. Lastly, after watching Washington and Syracuse stink it up all season, whom do you think would win between the two?

Sincerely,


Cataract Clayborne

JIMMY AWARDS - Week 11

Here are the JIMMY Awards for the 11th week of football.

College JIMMYS

Graham Harrell, Texas Tech QB

I'm not sure if this kid has been to NYC, but I'm willing to bet he'll be there this December for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Harrell went 40 for 50 for 456 yards and 6TDs as the Red Raiders got one inch closer to Big 12 South supremacy by defeating the 9th ranked OSU Cowboys.

Rashad Jones, FS Alabama

Jones had LSU coach Les Miles rethinking his decision to boot former QB Ryan Perrilloux off the team, because Jones picked off 3 passes, one for a touchdown and one in OT to help the Tide win the game.

NFL JIMMYS

Adrian Peterson, RB Minnesota Vikings

AD rushed 30 times for 192 yards and the game winning touchdown as the Vikes defeated the Packers 28 to 27.

Julius Peppers, DE Carolina Panthers

Pep has been off the radar for a while, but he is still the same. 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles sound familar. Yep. He did it this weekend as the Panthers defeated the Raiders 17 to 6.

NFL Week 10 Shakedown

Young guns and wiley vets shine in NFL Week 10. The Falcons are for real make no mistake about it. At 6-3 with a great division win yesterday over the Saints and currently tied for 2nd in their division. Unless this global warming thing goes extra bad and causes the dirty birds to have a meltdown the Falcons will be in the playoffs.

Their defense shut down the best quarterback in the NFL this year in Drew Brees. The defense intercepted three Brees' passes, which was the most he had thrown all year long. His counterpart, rookie QB Matt Ryan, went 16 for 23 for 248 yards and 2TDs.

Although Matt Ryan is have a great rookie year, the team MVP is Michael Turner who is 3rd in the NFL in rushing. He helps the Falcons control the ball which is complimented by a great Falcons defense, especially the secondary.

Tennessee Titans are 9-0 and they’ve done it with great defense and an explosive rushing attack. That is until they ran into the Chicago Bears who don’t have a shabby defense themselves. Da’ Bears held the Titans to 20 yards rushing on 29 carries. The passing game of the Titans has been criticized all year long. Yesterday, they showed that they can make plays when their hand is forced. For the Bears to force the Titans to throw that might not have been the wisest decision because they rank 30th in pass defense in the NFL. Kerry Collins exploited that weakness by throwing 30 for 41 for 289 yards and 2TDs and most importantly no interceptions as the Titans won in Chicago 21-14. Tom Jackson of ESPN said it best, when he said that Mr. Collins should be considered for MVP. He’s played flawless all year long.

The Cleveland vs. Denver game was the most exciting game all week long. Too bad it comes on NFL network and I have stupid Time Warner Cable in Austin. Anyone living in Austin do not get Time Warner cable it sucks. Either way Brady Quinn and Jay Cutler got busy slanging the rock all over the field. Quinn went 23/35 for 239 yards and 2TDs in the debut as a starter. This was a game where the team who had the ball last should have won, but that was not the case. Kellen Winslow had a great game and a bad game all in one game. Aside from the sick numbers he put up grabbing 10 catches for 111 yards and 2TDs, he also had a fumble, offensive pass interference penalty, and drop a pass that would have kept the Browns final drive going. Either way, it was a great game and someone had to lose. But don't believe the Broncos' 5-4 record, because they should be 3-6 Kellen Brown doesn't drop this pass and the week 2 Ed Hochuli debacle against the Chargers.

Tiki Barber, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Jeremy Shockey the Giants don’t need you. Maybe I should be telling this to Plaxico Burress instead. Bottom line is the Giants have just as much respect at this point in the season as they did last year, which isn’t a lot. Most teams aren’t considered underrated at 8-1 but you don’t really hear anyone buzzing about the Giants, but with the 2nd best record in the NFL where are the damn killer bees. However, 4 of the Giants 8 wins are against teams with losing records and their next 7 games are all against teams with winning records.

You can’t say Eli outplayed Donovan last night because their stats were virtually the same, but Eli made plays when his team needed him to defeat the Eagles 36-31.

The Baltimore Ravens are 6-3 with a Rookie running QB in Joe Flacco and rookie head coach in John Harbaugh running the show. Although they may run the show, everyone in their right mind knows who holds the team together and that is Mr. Ray Lewis. In his 13th year and at 33 years of age, you really can’t tell Lewis’ age. He is doing his usual damage with 63 tackles so far, but he is wreaking havoc in the passing game with 9 passes defense which leads all NFL linebackers. He showed off those pass defense skills against the Texans yesterday leading the defense to intercept four Sage Rosenfels passes, being responsible for two of them. The Ravens have positioned themselves quite nicely for a playoff berth and a crash course meeting in Week 14 with the Pittsburgh Steelers at home which will most likely be for the AFC North Division Title.