Notes on the NFL draft: If I were GM of the Texans, I would have traded down to stockpile picks. I sense this year's talent pool is about quantity, not quality. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a lot of busts in the first round. The most interesting player is QB Johnny “Football” Manziel. If his skills translate to pro football, he is the perfect guy to resurrect the moribund Browns.
Locally, the selections were ho-hum, the only intriguing one being BC RB Andre Williams, taken in the fourth round by the Giants. In the 80’s Big Blue made one of their all-time best picks in the fourth round -- TE Mark Bavaro.
After going undrafted, former USC linebacker Morgan Breslin may collect between $750,000 to $1 million as the first collegiate player to receive a payout on a loss of value insurance policy. Breslin missed more than 75% of USC's games over the past two years. He has signed a free-agent deal with the 49ers. A potential first-day pick two seasons ago, he wisely took the policy in the summer of 2013. After missing all but five games last season, he underwent hip surgery and wasn't invited to the scouting combine in February.
The last player selected? FS Lonnie Ballentine of Memphis St. by the Texans. Go, Lonnie!
As for my alma mater, Western Michigan, none of its players were selected this year or last.
The Colts did something I’m surprised more teams don’t do. They signed college basketball player Erik Swope, out the University of Miami, and project him as a TE. He has never played football at any level. Basketball players are such fine athletes that it wouldn’t surprise me if he made it. Preston Pearson, a two-time member of a Super Bowl champion as a Cowboy, had a great career, although he didn’t play college football. I couldn’t find any information on it, but I’d guess he played high school football.
And fans need analyze no further about the recent slip of fortune for the University of Texas. For the first time since 1937, not a single Longhorn was selected in the draft.
When I rolled up to 9th Street between 6th & 7th Avenue in Park Slope today, it looked like a lost cause for the third week out of four. All the parking spaces were taken and two cars were idling, waiting for an opening. I was about to turn left at 7th when I spotted a small space across the intersection. My Hyundai fit in snugly and I was in business. As so often happens, a woman approached immediately. She gave me double what I asked for the two books she selected. For the next three hours, I sold only a children's book on ghost jokes. The kid's mom also gave me double. As I was thinking about how the trip had hardly been worth it, an angel in the form of an elderly Asian man appeared. "I want to learn," he said in a heavy accent, smiling, picking out a few books, asking for suggestions. "I have time -- and money," he told me. He bought 15, an eclectic mix. Thanks, sir, and also to the ladies.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
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