Adarius Bowman Not Drafted

What went wrong with Adarius Bowman?

The former Notre Dame School star is the best high school wide receiver I've ever seen play.

In fact, he’s one of the top five prep football players I’ve seen on the gridiron.

I deemed him a can’t miss.

He had it all.

Adarius had the size, speed, hands and athletic ability to go along with the most pleasant, yet competitive dispositions I can remember.

Don't take my word for it. Just check out his credentials on his website http://www.bowman12.com/.

In my business, I have dealt with thousands of youngsters. Evaluating those youngsters as people and athletes is what I do best.

Therefore, when I say Adarius Bowman is one the finest I ever dealt with I think I know what I’m talking about.

He had a $million dollar smile and was always polite and mannerly in high school.

When he would visit the Stump On Sports television show he was always a pleasure to work with.

Even those who competed against the former SuperPrep All-America prep player pulled for him to succeed.

Saturday I watched the National Football League Draft and checked my Blackberry all day to see who to drafted Adarius.

Sunday, I followed the same pattern.

Nevertheless, with my wife waiting to go to dinner I waited until the final pick to see if the two-time Tennessee Mr. Football would be selected.

That moment didn’t come.

Adarius Bowman is 6-foot-4 and his playing weight is around 220 pounds.

The USA Today ran a story last fall that ranked Bowman in the top 15 seniors in the nation regardless of position. A test to determine his body fat came back at zero.

NFL analyst projected Adarius as a low first round pick last fall.

I said on the ESPN Radio Show, The Drive, prior to the 2007 NFL Draft that I hoped the Dallas Cowboys would take him this year to team with Terrell Owens.

So, what went wrong?

It could have been the 4.74 seconds 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine back in February.

On the other hand, it could have been what was described by scouts as bad routes or too many dropped passes at the Senior Bowl workouts.

Those factors alone might have dropped Adarius some in the draft. However, not from the 15th best senior in the nation last fall to out of the top 252 this weekend.

Marijuana likely cost Adarius millions of dollars.

He was arrested April 1 in McMinn County where he was charged with possession of the controlled substance.

This was the second time marijuana cast a dark shadow on his athletic career.

As a freshman at North Carolina, Adarius was removed from the football team following a marijuana possession charge.

Somebody will give Adarius an opportunity to play in the NFL. He’s a good kid who made two, too many mistakes.

There’s still a chance that he can be an NFL star.

Adarius has the tools and hard work will get his speed numbers back in line.

His agent was quoted last week as saying that nobody ever ran Adarius down from behind in the Big 12.

It’s time for Adarius Bowman to prove to all the people out there that he’s a champion on and off the field.

I still think I was right about him.

He has it all.

It’s now time to show all of it off.

Honoring One Of The Vol Greats

Those who had the fortune of watching the late Jackie Walker play linebacker for the Tennessee Volunteers in the Southeastern Conference from 1969-1971 will not forget how he played.

Walker had a higher gear that gave him the acceleration to always be around the football.

Coaches today talk about squeezing the green by waiting until the last second to strike on a tackle. Nobody did that any better than Walker.

He struck opposing runners with the quickness of a snake and the impact of a stampeding bull.

There’s some things about Walker I did know from being around the Knoxville scene in the early 1970’s while participating as an athlete at nearby Carson-Newman College.

However, when I read the story printed in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/sports/ncaafootball/18tennessee.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=ncaafootball&pagewanted=all Friday I learned more about him.

I didn’t know that he was the the first African-American football player in the Southeastern Conference to be named an all-American and the first of his race to captain an SEC team.

I learned in the story that he averaged more than 23 tackles a game as a senior at Knoxville Fulton.

However, I did know he was a two-time All-America linebacker for the Vols, and to this day he was one of the most fun-to-watch defensive players I’ve ever seen.

I said recently on my Chattanooga ESPN Radio 1370 show, “The Drive,” that Walker was Leonard Little years before there was a Leonard Little.

And yes, by hanging out with some of the Tennessee football players in some of the Knoxville hot spots of the early 1970s many of us heard that Walker was gay.

Although in that era, the word most used wasn’t gay.

I’m not sure how many of us understood homosexuality at that time.

I was happy to read that Walker would likely be one of the names on the induction list for the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame when it is released tomorrow.

On the gridiron the word great defined his play very well.

Jackie Walker photo courtesy of Tennessee Sports Information

Independence Wins!

ALCOA --- Jeanne McGrath cast the final vote for Independence High School at 11:52 Central Daylight Time this morning to get the ballot in eight minutes before Uncle Sam had to have his tax return.

However, this wasn’t about the taxman.

In a battle to the wire between a pair of Middle Tennessee rivals, Independence High wins the 2008 Tennessee Football magazine cover contest.

The final vote tally revealed Independence High from 1776 Declaration Way, Thompson's Station, Tennessee with 734 votes and Antioch with 359.

Independence would have won the contest even if the many who voted for Independance High, and few who typed in Independent High, were tossed out.

Brentwood Academy, Knox Fulton, Tyner, Bolton, Ooltewah, Union City, Ravenwood, Soddy-Daisy, Silverdale and Howard all received votes to bring the overall total to more than 1200 votes in the contest.

Independence displayed the school spirit that helped ignite the Eagles to a 5-A TSSAA state finals appearance in 2007.

The students of Independence were very impressive cheering for the Eagles in a loss to Smyrna that day at Middle Tennessee State.

The battle between the Bears of Antioch and the Eagles of Independence doesn’t come as a surprise.

The Eagles eliminated the Bears in the TSSAA playoffs 44-12 last November 16.

Independence wins 500 free copies of the 2008 Varsity Sports Media’s Tennessee Football magazine with the Eagles custom cover.

This will make for a great fundraiser and a cool keepsake for the Independence football team.

Way to go Eagles!

Vols Open 2008 At UCLA On ESPN

John Brice of Volsquest.com reports this morning that Tennessee has changed its 2008 football schedule to play UCLA on ESPN during a Monday Night Football time slot on September 1.

The story says that ESPN was in negotiations with Tennessee and other schools to get a premier Labor Day prime-time game.

Volquest.com reports that the game will now be five days before Tennessee was scheduled to visit Los Angeles and 48 hours after it was to open Phil Fulmer's 16th full season against UAB.

Tennessee moved the UAB game to Sept. 13 in Knoxville and Sept. 6 will now be an open date.

UCLA moved the Bruins opening day game with Fresno State to Sept. 27.

UAB moved the home game with Alabama State scheduled for Sept. 13 to Sept. 20.