Sounds Like Georgia Southern Landed a Good One

[SunCoastBlueHen]

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/22/Sports/Hillsborough_s_best_s.shtml

[terrierbob]

Great story. The tale of many FCS players.

[ButlerGSU]

"Runts try harder."
-Erk Russell

[Appaholic]

"Fat girls try harder"
-Appaholic

[93henfan]

Gotta love a big heart with a chip on the shoulder. Hope he shines for GaSou.

[813Jag]

The Eagles got a good one, he was the best player on a defense that pitched at least 4 shutouts. Even with FSU commitment Moses McCray on that D Marc Thomas was the one to keep an eye out for. He also did a good job carrying the football.

I'm glad to see a kid that I watched play many times have a chance to play college ball. Especially a member of the Hillsborough Big Red.

[Eaglesrus]

GSU has always made a point of pride of our tradition of having many players that just didn't fit the physical mold of what the "bigger programs" thought was the profile necessary to be successful. It looked like our coach in 2006 (almost makes me gag to think about him) was going to try to move us completely away from that. Glad to see another example of Hatcher being more open-minded.

[Baldy]

I've got me a new favorite player now. xthumbsupx

[Eyes of Old Main]

Looks like a keeper. Way to go, Eagles!

[CatFan22]

Story:


TAMPA - He stood above the crowd - tall, handsome, the perfect size for stardom - and everyone knew who he was.

He was the high school football star.

He said to check back, that soon he would sift through his shoeboxes of college letters and narrow his choices, from dozens to 10. From there, he would choose his five visits. Then he'd trim his list down to two.

Keep in touch and you'll be the first to know, he promised, when the news conference is set. Unless, of course, he just up and decides to wait until signing day.

So many choices. So many frequent-flier miles. So much waiting on a teen to make up his mind.

Marc Thomas, the best linebacker Hillsborough High has ever had, thought maybe that would be him one day.

It is not.

He looks around and sees it happening everywhere, players collecting fancy college offers like a boy scout collects badges, displaying them just as proudly on blogs and recruiting Web sites and at school lunch tables.

These players are his friends, his teammates, many of his opponents this season.

He is a better football player than most of them.

But he never grew taller than 6 feet, never surging much past 200 pounds. His qualifying score isn't there just yet.

Thomas is like many high school players, unable to pass the eye test despite being the best at what they do.

"They tell you what they want - it's 6 feet 3, 225 pounds. They'll tell you he just doesn't fit what we need," Hillsborough coach Earl Garcia said. "There's a lot of great football players that are an inch or two short."

So Thomas, his cell phone not buzzing like he dreamed it might, did what he could, hitting people in the mouth on the football field, tackling everyone who came near, leading the county in players dragged to the ground.

Garcia called him the greatest linebacker his school has ever produced, high praise considering the success of Hillsborough football over the years.read more: http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/22/Sports/Hillsborough_s_best_s.shtml

[KiddBrewer]

hmmmm sounds a lot like a pretty solid Free Safety we had graduate this year........

the players like this kid are the ones that end up making big things happen

such as Kevin Richardson...and Corey Lynch, if you didnt get the connection above.

[ASU]

"Runts try harder."
-Erk Russell

It's about time your team at GaSo got going again......the Apps need a break from holding the hordes off the SoCon.....it's your turn at the fortress wall.xthumbsupx

Going to take a lot of good new players to replace Jason though....

[PaladinFan]

I don't mean to be the pessimist, but I'd wager you could find undersized players on every FCS roster out there.

[gsugt1]

It's about time your team at GaSo got going again......the Apps need a break from holding the hordes off the SoCon.....it's your turn at the fortress wall.xthumbsupx

Going to take a lot of good new players to replace Jason though....


We'll we did beat you at the Rock so I'd say maybe we are headed in the right direction xnodx xthumbsupx

[walliver]

His qualifying score isn't there just yet.

Are there academic issues?

[DLS]

Are there academic issues?


I love how you phrased that. What you really meant to ask was, is he to stupid to put forth even a tiny bit of effort that is required to not make anything less than a 3.00 gpa and 900 on SATs?

[JohnStOnge]

Are there academic issues?

The answer appears to be "yes." Note this quote from the article:

"His qualifying score isn't there just yet."

It was only mentioned once and the author emphasized his small size, etc. .

[SunCoastBlueHen]

This guy is going to be a player. He is a natural, instinctive football player who just happned to not be the ideal size for the "big time" programs. Hillsborough county is one of the richest hotbeds for talent in the country, and for this guy to be called "the best ever" at his High School means he has some serious football skills. I'll be rooting for him unless, of course, the Blue Hens have to face him one of these years in the playoffs. :)

[DemiGS]

Very Cool.
I'm pulling for this kid at GSU. I hope he is able to prove a few people wrong. It brought back memories reading the article. I played middle line backer for the coach from Armwood quoted in this article. If he says the kid is a great player, then I'll take his word for it.xthumbsupx

[Kill'em]

This guy reminds me of Mike West, who played middle linebacker in the late 80's. If I remember, he was 5'9", 218 lbs. This guy was one hell of a football player.

[Ivytalk]

"Fat girls try harder"
-Appaholic

Must spread some reps around...xlolx

[Syntax Error]

"Runts try harder."
-Erk Russellxbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx

[CSUBUCDAD]

Southern conference teams might want to reconsider running the slant rout for the next 4 years unless they have an endless supply of WR'sxlolx xnodx

[ASU]

Sounds as if Georgia Southern is on the right trail to getting their football fortunes back on the track. Glad to see them building up. Makes people feel good when a slightly shorter guy is so good.
Good for the Southern Conference, should be a heck of a player.
Will help hold off those CAA barbarians at the gate.

[813Jag]

This guy is going to be a player. He is a natural, instinctive football player who just happned to not be the ideal size for the "big time" programs. Hillsborough county is one of the richest hotbeds for talent in the country, and for this guy to be called "the best ever" at his High School means he has some serious football skills. I'll be rooting for him unless, of course, the Blue Hens have to face him one of these years in the playoffs. :)
Coach Garcia doesn't throw that statement around much, so when he says it he means it. Hillsborough is one of the Big 3 in the County.