SIAP: Demar Dorsey in Arena League

Submitted by morepete on

http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/aflrtl/mtt/demar_dorsey_87…

He'll be playing for the Arizona Rattlers when the AF season gets started in March. I've always been curious to see what ends up happening with him. He's got insane levels of talent, but has gotten in his own way in the past. Here's hoping this is the start of a road to the NFL.

http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/112613aaa.html

Greatgig

February 6th, 2014 at 6:26 PM ^

I'll give a report if he comes through Spokane.  I've posted before about seeing Terrance Taylor play for the Spokane Shock and I'll keep my eyes on the schedule and see if the Rattlers are coming to town this year.  

My untrained eye will be able to tell if UM should have swept his grades under the rug and let him play.

Don't think there's any such thing as a 'No Fly Zone' in the AFL, it's pretty much just a 'Fly Zone'.

morepete

February 6th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^

Begs to differ.

 

Demar's been through some tough times, including a repeated inability to qualify academically, discipline problems, and even his community college program folding in Grand Rapids. If he had been able to cut it academically at Michigan, who knows where he would be right now. I'm just glad he's getting another chance.

Section 1

February 6th, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^

Perhaps Demar Dorsey was unfit to enroll as a student at Michigan.  I can't argue that point.

But that wasn't the knock on this particular Florida teenager when Detroit sportstalk radio (speaking of intelligence quotients) and the Detroit Free Press (lulz)  were running a public relations campaign against him.

No sir; the complaint was that he had a criminal record and may be a social danger.

Now, the passage of time seems to have shown that fear to have been unfounded.  The people who said essentially that this kid needed to get out of the atmospehere he was in -- to make a fresh start -- seem to have been right.  Out of the 'hood, Dorsey has not been in trouble.

Section 1

February 6th, 2014 at 3:33 PM ^

I was just trying to remember the names of the two -- count 'em, TWO! -- investigative reporters that the Freep sent to Florida in a big hurry to dig into Dorsey.  They sure weren't looking for his ACT scores.

Nowadays, collegiate recruiting is an even bigger deal.  (And especially for the Freep; ever take a look at their "Most Popular" list of stories?  Any story about a top football recruit is always at the top of the list.)  And yet, even with today's unjustifiable focus on recruiting can you imagine what it would take for the Freep to send two reporters on an airplane?  They don't do that for the Detroit bankruptcy, or the Super Bowl, do they?  I don't think the Freep sends even one reporter to the Masters.  Or a non-Tigers World Series.  Or a non-Red Wings Stanley Cup, here in Hockeytown.

In reply to by Section 1

Yo_Blue

February 6th, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^

I don't remember the reporters who went to Florida, but I do remember Mick McCabe roasting the kid.  

And of course, Drew Sharp had nothing nice to say about Dorsey or Rodriguez.  Par for the course.

In reply to by Section 1

French West Indian

February 7th, 2014 at 9:03 AM ^

The reason that recruiting ranks as the most popular stories on newspaper sites is because most papers don't bother reporting anything worthwhile.  Inevitably, sports is pretty much the only reason anybody visits them.

Bando Calrissian

February 6th, 2014 at 4:14 PM ^

I don't particularly care about what the press was saying. Michigan ultimately said no because his high school diploma came from a well-known diploma mill, and the questions regarding his character off-the-field were far past what they could have tolerated. Like it or not, most students at Michigan wouldn't make it past the first round of admissions cuts with the kind of legal issues he had, even with the considerations made for athletes in the admissions process.

I know it's not popular to say Demar Dorsey didn't belong at Michigan, and I'm not discounting the fact that a change in scenery probably was good for him. But looking at the bigger picture, the fact that he didn't latch on at any other big-name or equally academically rigorous institution (Hawaii couldn't even get him eligible) reinforces my belief Michigan made the right decision here. 

I wish the kid well, but I'm not going to turn him into some kind of martyr in the grand revisionist history of the Rich Rodriguez years. Admissions said no before the press made it into something bigger/different than it actually was.

Section 1

February 6th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^

And I said I don't know about that.

The Freep dug into the kid on criminal matters.  Time has shown that theory to have been bullshit.

I am not looking for martyrs from the Rodriguez era.  I am quite satisfied with pointing out the villains from that era.

Bando Calrissian

February 6th, 2014 at 4:43 PM ^

http://mgoblog.com/content/dorsey-qualification-status-scare-quotes#com…

He didn't even finish the application, apparently. His academics were far below what even the most marginal athlete could squeeze past admissions, and came from a disreputable institution that exists solely to make nonexistent GPAs passable and underqualified students high school graduates. He should not have been offered in the first place.

But, yes, this is all about the Freep.

TESOE

February 7th, 2014 at 1:44 AM ^

he had no real ability to make good on a Michigan scholarship.  There isn't a curriculum that could have served his needs at this- or at any other D-1 school.  Time has shown that Admissions made the right call in that respect.

That said I think everyone would agree that Michigan did not get the Demar Dorsey recruitment right.  I am ashamed of my school for publically accepting a LOI from Demar before vetting his ability to succeed in the classroom.  This is definitely nothing to take pride in as BC seems to imply.

I don't think the Free Press had any effect on this decision by Michigan.  If Demar's application and classes were in order - he would have been admitted IMO.  Football loves redemption. RR believed in the kid.  

steve sharik

February 6th, 2014 at 6:39 PM ^

...were the ones who trashed RR's character.  Criticize him for failure to emphasize defense enough; fine.  But argumentum ad hominem? Weak sauce.

By the way, in the spring of 2008, I spoke with a prominent former player and starting QB for Michigan who hated RR before he coached one game.  One of his arguments was that he knew a guy who sat next to Adam "Pac Man" Jones on a plane, and this person said Jones hated RR.  Veracity claims aside, wouldn't it be a good mark of character that a truly questionable character and thug--not just reputed, 8 arrests--hated you?

Blue in Yarmouth

February 6th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^

I can't help but think the NCAA and all their rules failed this young man (and many like him). Possibly his one real chance of escaping a life of poverty and crime was a career in football, and  the NCAA almost took that from him.

I'm happy he persevered and has now made it to the AFL with (hopefully) an outside shot at making the NFL one day. And even if he doesn't, he could make a life in that league for years to come. Good luck you DD, I'll be rooting for you. 

Yo_Blue

February 7th, 2014 at 8:40 AM ^

I found a message board thread with Dorsey as the main topic.

http://www.the-mainboard.com/index.php?threads/demar-dorsey-tracking-th…

The thread is about Dorsey's five games at Arizona Western CC, and is one of the funniest things I have ever read.  There are the Florida fans whining about how Urban Meyer couldn't get Dorsey into UF, a team picture of Dorsey wearing a shirt, tie, and do-rag, an arrest record for three teammates who robbed and assualted fellow students, a western version of Dorsey's Zombie Crew gang from Florida, Dorsey's love of strip clubs and Funyuns, and much much more.

I picked the thread up on page 14, and am slowly working my way back to the beginning.  An entertaining read.