Former MSU athletes

[ronpolk]

Which former State players are you most surprised didn’t have long/prominent pro careers.

For me, it’s gotta be Ed Easley in baseball and Tavez Calhoun in football. I thought Easley was a good enough defensive catcher to be a starter in MLB. I know he did play some in MLB but not like I thought he would.

And Calhoun... still shocked he didn’t get more of a shot in the NFL. He’s been as good as any corner we’ve had in recent years.

 

[tenureplan]

The bowling ball, the talent was there

 

[Go Budaw]

Johnthan Banks....won the Thorpe award yet washed out of the league in like 2 years.

Deljuan Robinson...another guy who had a cup of coffee in the league but didn’t stick very long. Had a heart issue that required surgery as I recall, which may have affected his long term outlook. Still the highest rated recruit MSU has ever signed, according to 247. Oddly enough, his “package deal” teammate from high school (Kevin Dockery) that wasn’t nearly as highly rated ended up playing in the league for a pretty good while.

Jerious Norwood - great player who even showed flashes of electricity in the NFL for a few years, just never could break into an everyday role.

JJ Johnson - similar to Norwood, but his career in the NFL just never got off the ground.

 

[missouridawg]

I’m surprised Brad Corley didn’t play a while in the bigs. He had all the tools to be an elite RFer.

Derek Sherrod was another one that I thought would still be in the pro football.

 

[KeyserSoze1999]

Dontea Jones and Lawrence Roberts in Basketball.

Michael Davis and James Johnson in Football.

 

[SanfordRJones]

Eric Dubose and, to a lesser degree, BJ Wallace.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Derunnya

 

[KeyserSoze1999]

Loved "Bear". Big, physical WR who went after every ball in the air like his name was already written on it. Also an underrated blocker down field, helped break a lot of long runs for others.

 

[ronpolk]

Johnthan Banks....won the Thorpe award yet washed out of the league in like 2 years.

Deljuan Robinson...another guy who had a cup of coffee in the league but didn’t stick very long. Had a heart issue that required surgery as I recall, which may have affected his long term outlook. Still the highest rated recruit MSU has ever signed, according to 247. Oddly enough, his “package deal” teammate from high school (Kevin Dockery) that wasn’t nearly as highly rated ended up playing in the league for a pretty good while.

Jerious Norwood - great player who even showed flashes of electricity in the NFL for a few years, just never could break into an everyday role.

JJ Johnson - similar to Norwood, but his career in the NFL just never got off the ground.

Being a dolphins fan I remember being pumped when Miami drafted JJ.

 

[MSUDC11]

Thought Derek Sherrod would have a long NFL career. It seems like that broken leg really messed things up for him. Matt Wells was another one who I thought had the athleticism to be a great pro but he never really did much.

 

[kired]

I’m most surprised Lance Long is the only WR to play a down in an NFL regular season game but not Bumphis, Ross, or Wilson.

Peagues was a heck of an athlete - had a terrible combine if I remember correctly.

Dixon played for 5 or 6 years but never got a lot of playing time. Kind of surprised he stuck around as long as he did, being mostly a role player in SF.

Whitley had plenty of potential until his injuries. Guys like Ballard and Sherrod unfortunately had their careers cut short due to injuries.

 

[tenureplan]

Would it be classless to say Tommy Stevens?

 

[Grove Sh*tter]

I thought Jamont Gordon would have at least gotten a shot at being on an NBA roster.

 

[tenureplan]

consummate tweener, Rick did him no favors by playing him at PG rather than the 3.

 

[paindonthurt_]

BJ caught the meth didn’t he?

 

[Arthur2478]

Johnthan Banks....won the Thorpe award yet washed out of the league in like 2 years.

Banks spent 5 years in the league

 

[AlSwearengen]

Johnthan Banks....won the Thorpe award yet washed out of the league in like 2 years.

Deljuan Robinson...another guy who had a cup of coffee in the league but didn’t stick very long. Had a heart issue that required surgery as I recall, which may have affected his long term outlook. Still the highest rated recruit MSU has ever signed, according to 247. Oddly enough, his “package deal” teammate from high school (Kevin Dockery) that wasn’t nearly as highly rated ended up playing in the league for a pretty good while.

Jerious Norwood - great player who even showed flashes of electricity in the NFL for a few years, just never could break into an everyday role.

JJ Johnson - similar to Norwood, but his career in the NFL just never got off the ground.

Wasn’t Banks doing fine until he almost died of Staph?

 

[jethreauxdawg]

And Banks qualified for a pension. Something most people who play in the league never achieve

 

[garddog]

Dixon had the misfortune of being drafted to be Frank Gore's backup. Then SF started trying to use him more as a big back and let him add weight. Almost anywhere else and he probably starts as a rookie.

Jerious got hurt his second season and never seemed to get all the way back. He was also drafted to be Vicks speed back, and he had a puppy problem during that time.

Donate Jones, injury.

Croom ruined so many guys chances it was criminal.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

Derunnya

I was stunned he didn’t get any interest. Same with Fred Ross. I thought they both would have some time in the NFL.

 

[olblue.sixpack]

Banks spent 5 years in the league

That’s a good career in that league.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

There was a time arround the end of his Sophomore year it looked like Mario Austin might be a perennial NBA all star.

 

[dawgman.sixpack]

Ed had the misfortune of playing the same position as Yadier Molina and the year Molina got hurt there was another promising younger catcher that got called up.

Which former State players are you most surprised didn’t have long/prominent pro careers.

For me, it’s gotta be Ed Easley in baseball and Tavez Calhoun in football. I thought Easley was a good enough defensive catcher to be a starter in MLB. I know he did play some in MLB but not like I thought he would.

And Calhoun... still shocked he didn’t get more of a shot in the NFL. He’s been as good as any corner we’ve had in recent years.

 

[Dubs.sixpack]

Ed had the misfortune of playing the same position as Yadier Molina and the year Molina got hurt there was another promising younger catcher that got called up.

Ed spent several years with Arizona before St Louis as their guy in waiting. Just never panned out. His ability to call a game and frame pitches was as good as you’ll ever see at the college level. The fact that he could also play in the infield in the SEC is equally impressive.

 

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

I really thought Matthew Wells would have a career in the NFL. I am surprised he couldn’t make a roster.

 

[Grove Sh*tter]

Pig "wunderlic" prather

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Lawrence Roberts was too small for his position and not a good enough outside shooter to make up for his small size.

 

[PineGroveBully]

There was a bit in Sports Illustrated near the end of Austin's sophomore year where they made comps to some of the underclassmen in the country. I dont remember who was making the comps but Austin's was Karl Malone. And if you think back to how dominant he was before he received bad advice, thats not a crazy sounding comp.

 

[PineGroveBully]

I played high school basketball against Pig in the same division. Ive never been on a court or field with an athlete close to what he was. His combination of power and speed was unreal. All Falkner did was press for 32 minutes and he would remind you of Deion just laying back on the back half of the press just daring teams to try to throw over the top. He could have played college basketball at a fairly high level had he wanted to. Not sure what happened exactly with his NFL chances but the story around Tippah County back then was that the coaches liked him and thought he could make the Bengals (i think it was cincy) squad but he took a hit returning a kick early in camp and the physicality of the hit pretty much ended it. He was used to always delivering that hit as opposed to getting alot of them. I think he said enough and came home the next day. At least he had a solid backup plan***

 

[kired]

I don’t think it was a big deal for him. That was his rookie season and he didn’t miss a game. TB had coaching changes - 3 different head coaches from 2013-2016. I don’t think they used him at all in 2016 when they cut him.

 

[kired]

After Wells was drafted it came out that he was almost blind in one eye. I figure that had an effect on his career. Hard to believe he could play as well as he did not being able to halfway see.

 

[RocketDawg]

Isn't their pension pretty low? Better than nothing, but if they've handled their money well while playing they'll have plenty for a good living.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Go take a look at the offensive linemen that JJ ran behind. Seems some of them stuck in the league a while unless my memory is off.

 

[Antonio Brown's Foot]

Mardye McDole. Why he never made it in the league, I'll never know.

 

[Moe Cabelle]

Mardye McDole. Why he never made it in the league, I'll never know.

Because he played behind Sammy white in Minnesota. Better known as Ahmad Rashad. Ended up on the wrong team.

 

[patdog]

Sammy White and Ahmad Rashad (Bobby Moore) were two different players. Both very, very good.

 

[blacklistedbully]

Dixon had the misfortune of being drafted to be Frank Gore's backup. Then SF started trying to use him more as a big back and let him add weight. Almost anywhere else and he probably starts as a rookie.

Jerious got hurt his second season and never seemed to get all the way back. He was also drafted to be Vicks speed back, and he had a puppy problem during that time.

Donate Jones, injury.
Croom ruined so many guys chances it was criminal.

I was still a 49ers fan back then. It seemed to me like Dixon's carries were almost always in situations where the other team knew the 49ers were just gonna run out the clock, so keyed on the run. That, or he was in with backup o-linemen when a game was out of reach. Never seemed to get a good break, but his great attitude served him well and kept him in the league.

 

[NWADawg]

Loved "Bear". Big, physical WR who went after every ball in the air like his name was already written on it. Also an underrated blocker down field, helped break a lot of long runs for others.

Bear's blocking down field was made me appreciate him more than his big plays. He would be 50 yards down field and still looking for someone to block. If I remember correctly, on Dak's big run against LSU, Bear was at the goal line knocking some DB down as Dak scored.

 

[Junction John]

You could not have convinced me that Nico Whitley wasn't the next Ed Reed.

I thought his athleticism, attitude, and facial hair would all translate easily into an NFL career.

He was actually my second thought. Matt Wells is at the top of my list of freak athletes that should have made it. I wish I could find the video of him walking down the Arkansas running back from behind. My God the speed.

 

[PineGroveBully]

Thats kind of the roll I see Abram playing in Las Vegas in that Ed Reed/Cam Chancellor mold. I think he has that in him. And I thought Whitley may have been better than him.