Dark Horse Heisman Contenders for 2011

Most of those players were not freshmen. Most had reasons they were thrown under the bus. But this is being done on rumor. Most never suffored the type of injuries he had. NONE THAT I AM AWARE OF WERE FRESHMAN ALL AMERICANS!!!!

He is not vocal, he is somewhat introverted, and from afar we make decisions about him. Not founded or supported by the coaching staff or team members. Just appearance. Did Taylor text his father, or was it the opposite. Makes a big difference I think. Is Taylor the problem or is his father the problem? Or is there a problem? None of us know, but he is the one taking the blame.

The other players were not freshman thrown into the fire like he has been. Not one person on this board thought there was a chance he would start last year. I doubt he did.

He may not be the best QB we have. I do not make those decisions. The coaching staff does. When you question him playing you really are questioning Bo. Yet all scream support. You can not have it both ways.

 
newearthhusker said:
skersfan said:
I really do not remember a player that we have thrown under the bus like this kid. He did nothing wrong, gave it his best every game.
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Scott Frost?

Marlon Lucky?

Courtney Grixby?

Niles Paul?

Matt O’Hanlon?

:dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno
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Frosty is probably a great parallel to Martinez. Frost was the player I remember being most hated in Husker history, but in 1997 most of the fan base came around when he led the team the way he did. If Martinez can gain that level of respect from his teammates and lead them to a couple of wins over good opponents, all but the most hard-core critics will leave Martinez alone.

Of course, some will never forgive him for the sin of being a Freshman unprepared for major college football. To this day we're still seeing hate posted about Frost. It's kinda weird.

 
zoogies said:
Hercules, I agree that a lot of the stuff on Taylor is overboard. The sideline shots stuff is just grasping at straws in my opinion, trying to formulate some firsthand conclusions when there is really nothing to go on.

And it is fair criticism, and the only argument you're going to get is, "Dude, he was a freshman. Give him some time to practice"
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I'm OK with this response. Often what the response is though is 'Taylor was a great passer. Look at these stats."

Curious: How does everyone feel about Sam Keller, Niles Paul, Bo Ruud, or Corey McKeon?
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Complete tool, idiot, volleyball player a, volleyball player b

That being said, I could care less about Martinez's production going down after he got injured. He was put into a bad spot where the coaches were putting him back in before he should have been playing IMO. What irks me about Martinez is his pretentious, punk kid attitude. The pouting on the sidelines, the "last question? PUUUUUUUUURRRFECT"/ gum chomping at his press conferences, etc. His whole demeanor is of a complete tool.

The real irony that nobody EVER seems to bring up is the fact that in many cases we laud Burkhead (who was in the same recruiting class and is the same college year as Martinez) in the same manner. Burkhead appears to be everything that Martinez is not. Complete team player, gets along with teammates, happy , optomistic, and focused during interviews, does work in the community, AND produces on the field. Take a good, long hard look at these two guys next to each other; you can't even compare the apparent demeanor and character traits of the two. It's embarassing to put these guys in the same category.

2 things: I point out that Burkhead and Martinez are the same year to emphasize that Rex seemed to figure out how to get along and be not just a leader, but normally social human being pretty quick. Also, I'll be the first to admit that I am going off of what I see of these guys, which is very little. Burkhead could be a fiend and Martinez a saint...but I'm gonna go with no.

 
zoogies said:
Hercules, I agree that a lot of the stuff on Taylor is overboard. The sideline shots stuff is just grasping at straws in my opinion, trying to formulate some firsthand conclusions when there is really nothing to go on.

And it is fair criticism, and the only argument you're going to get is, "Dude, he was a freshman. Give him some time to practice"
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I'm OK with this response. Often what the response is though is 'Taylor was a great passer. Look at these stats."

Curious: How does everyone feel about Sam Keller, Niles Paul, Bo Ruud, or Corey McKeon?
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I think Corey took drinking beer after games more seriously than the game itself his senior season.

 
Joe_5700 said:
zoogies said:
Hercules, I agree that a lot of the stuff on Taylor is overboard. The sideline shots stuff is just grasping at straws in my opinion, trying to formulate some firsthand conclusions when there is really nothing to go on.

And it is fair criticism, and the only argument you're going to get is, "Dude, he was a freshman. Give him some time to practice"
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I'm OK with this response. Often what the response is though is 'Taylor was a great passer. Look at these stats."

Curious: How does everyone feel about Sam Keller, Niles Paul, Bo Ruud, or Corey McKeon?
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I think Corey took drinking beer after games more seriously than the game itself his senior season.
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I'll never forget watching McKeon shove an Okie State player into the end zone from our own two yard line. In Memorial Stadium. The worst memory I have from maybe the single worst NU game I've ever watched, in person or otherwise.

It's never good to hold someone in contempt...but man. After the way he laid down in games and the whiney statements he was making to the media, I gotta say that Mr. KcKeon is one of my least favorite Huskers of all time. I always thought Bo was overrated, but at least he gave effort and seemed to care. McKeon straight up quit his senior season, and I can't feel anything but disdain when I remember the way that defense (and McKeon in particular) made me feel like the Blackshirts were dead...because Blackshirts don't literally quit on the field and push opponents into our own end zone so they can sulk off the field.

 
skersfan said:
Most of those players were not freshmen. Most had reasons they were thrown under the bus. NONE THAT I AM AWARE OF WERE FRESHMAN ALL AMERICANS!!!!
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Jordan Congdon was a FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN and look how well that turned out for him. I would also like to know when they even started having a FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN team.

Besides Paul calling attention to himself in interviews what did any of the other guys do that they deserved to be thrown under the bus? Was it making some bad plays on the field? If that is the case then the FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN made plenty of those.

FWIW: Marlon Lucky was “thrown under the bus” during his Freshman year, but not because of anything he did, but because recruiting websites said he was going to be like Reggie Bush and he wasn’t.

 
newearthhusker said:
Jordan Congdon was a FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN and look how well that turned out for him. I would also like to know when they even started having a FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN team.
Besides Paul calling attention to himself in interviews what did any of the other guys do that they deserved to be thrown under the bus? Was it making some bad plays on the field? If that is the case then the FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN made plenty of those.

FWIW: Marlon Lucky was “thrown under the bus” during his Freshman year, but not because of anything he did, but because recruiting websites said he was going to be like Reggie Bush and he wasn’t.
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I am constantly amazed by the lengths to which people go to justify treating one of our own players like sh#t.

 
knapplc said:
I am constantly amazed by the lengths to which people go to justify treating one of our own players like sh#t.
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If you are referring to me then what “great lengths” did I go to justify anything? :dunno I was trying to point out to an earlier poster that there have been players before Martinez that were “Thrown under the bus” by the fans.

That poster referred to FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN so I pointed out another FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN that played at NU that didn’t amount to anything football wise.

FWIW: I hope Martinez is successful and leads this team to victories. But to act surprised when people are critical of his play and think that someone else on the team might just be better is pretty silly IMO.

 
newearthhusker said:
knapplc said:
I am constantly amazed by the lengths to which people go to justify treating one of our own players like sh#t.
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If you are referring to me then what “great lengths” did I go to justify anything? :dunno I was trying to point out to an earlier poster that there have been players before Martinez that were “Thrown under the bus” by the fans.

That poster referred to FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN so I pointed out another FRESHMAN ALL AMERICAN that played at NU that didn’t amount to anything football wise.

FWIW: I hope Martinez is successful and leads this team to victories. But to act surprised when people are critical of his play and think that someone else on the team might just be better is pretty silly IMO.
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I haven't been around for a while. I had to get a crazy post out there somehow. :)

 
skersfan said:
Most of those players were not freshmen. Most had reasons they were thrown under the bus. But this is being done on rumor. Most never suffored the type of injuries he had. NONE THAT I AM AWARE OF WERE FRESHMAN ALL AMERICANS!!!!
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This is kind of what I'm getting at. It's not about buying into hearsay or rumors or whatever, it's all about their play in the end. I am interested in to what extent we can buy into things we hear, and to what extent it isn't fair to.

It probably is not fair to say a single bad thing about any player. As fans, we should be encouraging and cheering everybody on. But that does not leave much to talk to. I think what's lost in a lot of message board discussions is that, whether our evaluations of things that are going on be positive or negative, we still support the players, the team, and hope that they will do well.

I think Corey took drinking beer after games more seriously than the game itself his senior season.
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See? Hearsay much? ;)

 
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Lucky played in less than a stellar league in California. I never felt he was going to be what some thought he would. Congdon, left Nebraska, but did adequate while he was here. Short leg is his worst trait I guess.

Frost rejected Nebraska, that is what got him in trouble.

Martinez, has done nothing but tried to win games at Nebraska. Nothing more nothing less. I guess he could have quit the team when named as starter, or he could have refused to go in when injured, could have stated his coaching was less than desired(so much his coach was let go). I say give the kid a chance, see what he can do. I do not know if he is the answer, I am not a Martinez fan over anyone else. But there was a reason he started last year. Exactly what it was, who knows, but again I will guess it was he had more talent than anyone on the team, and most likely still does. If he is replaced by one of the others, then my guess will be they have the talent lead. If it is not that way, then we have far more problems than a kid that did not act like some wanted him to...

 
ESPN's Adam Rittenberg elaborated on Feldman's Heisman Dark Horse picks during a blog post yesterday and gave his input on the BIG 10 Dark Horse Heisman candidates Taylor Martinez and Edwin Baker and some others. He believes Dan Persa, Edwin Baker, and Montee Ball are more intriguing candidates.

Click Here

 
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skersfan said:
This board does not represent the true Nebraska fan. We are over board on every aspect.

Only the rabid seem to have this hate, most that I have talked to want him to succeed and win for Nebraska. None of us know him personally, no one deals with him on a day to day basis. None of us have heard a foul word said by anyone that knows him. Quite the opposite in fact. We hear what we want to about him for some reason.

A friend of mine met him over the Holidays. Said he is quite quiet, shy, to himself, not obnoxious in any way. He seemed introverted and concerned about what people said about him. He did not feel that Taylor and his father were that close, more controlled than anything. These are his words to me.

With the injuries he had, most of us could not do our own jobs with out problems, let alone be the heart and soul of Nebraska fan. Injuries at the QB position are different than others. Under the spotlight at all times.

I really do not remember a player that we have thrown under the bus like this kid. He did nothing wrong, gave it his best every game.

The coaching staff put him in this position. They played him when injured, when not prepared, made him this evil being for some reason, or was it just because even injured he was our best chance to win. Silly me thinks that is the reason. Hate on Pelini, but not the kid. He had no control over the situation. He just did what he was told.
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Why if you think the hype is way too high do you automatically hate the guy? I don't really think he has done anything yet. If he is the best on the team, then I hope he is out there. I think his resume is thin and his greatness is in marketing 'untouched' runs.

Obviously, this is my opinion. I'm just tired of people with an opinion similar to mine being asked why they hate him. He had flashes...great. He had average days...great. He had some lows...great.

I am confident the best player will play this year....whoever that may be.

 
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