reporting-type substance
illinois
playoffs
tate forcier
steve brown

Big Ten Players Favor Playoff, Money Comment Count

Brian

While in Chicago, Tim took the opportunity provided by the Big Ten's roundtable section to ask players a couple of survey questions that have been hot topics in college football for the past few years. He only got to 19 of the 33 players before time went kaput, but 19 opinions are better than zero. The following is an unscientific survey.

Should We Have a Playoff?

YES: 9
NO: 7
ABSTAIN: 3

Two of the abstentions were vaguely pro-playoff, with one stating "a playoff will happen soon either way because that's what fans want"—ah, if only college football worked like that—and the second saying "something other than what we have now, not necessarily a playoff."

Would A Playoff Negatively Affect Your Schoolwork?

YES: 2
(MOSTLY) NO: 17

The two who said yes were pro-BCS. The rest either said probably not, or "not enough that a playoff shouldn't happen."

Should Players Be Paid?

YES: 12
NO: 7

Most of the guys said something along the lines of "just a little bit more money, not really a salary or anything." Nobody had even thought about whether EA should have to pay them for using their likenesses, but most said they guess it makes sense.

Who's The Best Player In The Big Ten?

Amongst a sea of solitary votes three guys leapt out:

ARRELIOUS BENN: 8
JUICE WILLIAMS: 3
TERRELLE PRYOR: 2

Your unofficial, dominant players' Big Ten offensive POY is Arrelious Benn, which will no doubt please Dr. Saturday.

Other bits from Tim

Most everyone though Ohio State or Penn State would win the Big Ten, and White Michigan State Receiver Named White mentioned (without knowing which media organization Tim was with, no less!) that Michigan was a good darkhorse candidate. I'm not sure whether he was being serious, talking up a rival, making fun of a rival's recent struggles, etc.

I didn't ask this question, but I wrote down the answer because I thought it somewhat relevant to Michigan: OSU TE Jake Ballard mentioned that Justin Boren would win in an all-out fight of the Buckeyes' football team, because he's the toughest. [Editor's note: who asks the question "what would happen if you guys all took PCP and started beating the hell out of each other?"]

Stevie Brown was pretty non-specific about defensive scheme, mostly saying they'll play multiple formations and the "hybrid" terminology has been a little overblown. They're just out there playing defense.

On Tate, Rodriguez said "If we have multiple guys who can win football games at quarterback, they'll all get the chance to play" (paraphrase), nothing specific about limiting carries, though the implication seemed to be that there were viable backup options if a QB did get hurt.

Comments

Blazefire

July 29th, 2009 at 11:35 AM ^

Is anyone else worried that Stevie Brown was the one who alluded to position specifics being less important. Sounds like he of the missed assignment STILL hasn't figured out what exactly he's supposed to be doing out there.

Joined: 04/17/2009

MGoPoints: 25038

Tim

July 29th, 2009 at 11:38 AM ^

It was the name of the position that he was saying to not get too wrapped up in, not the responsibilities. He's basically just going to be a linebacker.

Joined: 07/08/2008

MGoPoints: 13040

jericho

July 29th, 2009 at 11:42 AM ^

Sorry if you posted in another thread about this, but did the players mention Tate/Sheridan/Robisonson at all and their progress? I see Rich's comment above, but it would be nice to hear what the player had to say about our Qbs.

Joined: 07/04/2009

MGoPoints: 2632

Bleedin9Blue

July 29th, 2009 at 11:44 AM ^

I always wonder how much (if ever) players look at sites like this or Scout/Rivals. I thought of that because I was wondering if any of the players (especially any of the Michigan players) happen to be aware of MGoPlayoff and what they think of it. Personally I'm a big proponent of it. I do think about what other teams and other conferences would think of such a proposal.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 2172

bouje

July 29th, 2009 at 11:48 AM ^

When I said that both Benn and Juice were better than Pryor (for that CFN All-Big-Ten). Damn... I'm pretty kick ass.

Joined: 09/30/2008

MGoPoints: 4705

Token_sparty

July 29th, 2009 at 11:50 AM ^

My impression of White is that he's dead serious. Guys who had to walk on and earn a scholarship do not typically engage in trash talk or puffery. Boren would win an all-out fight? Bitch please. Just insult him once or twice or make fun of his sucky little brother and he'll take his ball/s and go home, no doubt bitching about the lack of family atmosphere at that ther all-out fight. Just once, I'd pay serious money to see Rodriguez say "I'll play whoever the hell I want to play at QB, whenever I want to play him, now get your bitch-ass back in the kitchen and make me some pie!"

Joined: 07/20/2009

MGoPoints: 256

Sgt. Wolverine

July 29th, 2009 at 12:00 PM ^

"A playoff will happen soon either way because that's what fans want" doesn't sound vaguely pro-playoff. If anything, it just sounds like he doesn't want to irritate pro-playoff fans.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 3742

wolverine1987

July 29th, 2009 at 12:07 PM ^

I find the unscientific, small sample of the player's opinions on whether to have playoffs interesting. While most MSM, Blog authors, and many fans believe that all/most players, as well as themselves, are screaming for the equity, logic and overall rightness of a playoff, this is a very small piece of anecdotal information that shows the reality is not that cut and dried. I recall a diary or post on this blog awhile ago that asked (paraphrased) "do you care if we ever have a playoff?" and being surprised at the amount of respondents who didn't care. Again, this is nothing even approaching evidence, but it goes to my own personal opinion that I don't believe that quite as many players and fans are outraged, passionate about, and (if given the chance) would immediately institute a playoff, as many believe.

Joined: 07/07/2008

MGoPoints: 18065

Erik_in_Dayton

July 29th, 2009 at 12:20 PM ^

A suggestion I don't see thrown around much but that I think makes a lot of sense is to allow players to earn a year's worth of free school for every year they play, but not make them go to school while they play...For all that players get from being on the team, which I realize is a lot, they lose out on a lot of other college experiences. This would help make up for that. It would also, more importantly, help make up for the times when guys assume they'll be pros but end up blowing out their knees or just not hacking it. They could still fall back on school. People, in my non-scientific observation, tend to get more out of school when they're older and appreciate it more anyway...

Joined: 12/03/2008

MGoPoints: 58983

teldar

July 29th, 2009 at 1:36 PM ^

I'm all for players getting a reasonable stipend. The only problem with that is that there are quite a few schools that would not be able to afford this. However... back to the point. I would not feel bad about players getting line $1000/mo stipend because they really don't have the opportunity to work on their own. Legally. And actually show up and work. Not like used car lots in columbus, Oh and norman, Ok.

Joined: 07/14/2009

MGoPoints: 8132

Dan Man

July 29th, 2009 at 12:32 PM ^

I'm not sure who asks "who would win in an all-out team brawl?" but I think it's a fantastic question and should be asked of every team. I wonder who'd win on Michigan - Graham? I know that if the staff were taking part in the brawl too, the obvious answer is BARWIS (duh!).

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 1097

AdamVN1

July 29th, 2009 at 3:53 PM ^

Wait, we potentially have MULTIPLE quarterbacks who could win games? I'd be happy just to find ONE QB who can win games for us. Heck, I'll be happy if Tate comes out and doesn't fumble every other snap, just so I don't have flashbacks to last year. Now Stevie Brown, on the other hand...I fully expect him to win games for us all by himself...

Joined: 03/02/2009

MGoPoints: 111