Friday. 8 pm ET.
Mutt,
I think there's a perception that Miami just goes out and finds all these really fast and amazingly talented players and that's all there is to it. Miami had probably the best training program in the country. The program is known for increasing the speed and size of their players quite dramatically while they are there. Jeremy Shockey, an ex Cane now playing for the Giants said that the Hurricanes players work a lot harder than players on NFL teams do. One week after winning the National Championship last year, players were out practicing together for the next season. Fact is, Miami players work harder than anyone else - on the gym, on the field, and in the film room - and that is a good part of the reason why they have won 25% of all the championships in the last 20 years and played for a few others. Consider that every year Miami's recruiting class is ranked about #10 in the nation talent-wise. How do they go from #10 in talent to #1? #1 by the standard of national championships and players sent to the NFL. There's a lot of hard work between start and finish.
A recent interview with Miami Linebacker Jonathan Vilma asked him what his opinion of paying college football players is (a hot debate right now). He said that college football players already received pay in the form of a college education and not having to pay back loans after school. Pay for college players? "That's what the NFL is for" he said.
Miami's graduation rate for football players is above the national average - that despite the fact that they have sent more players into the NFL than any other team in college the past 2 decades - many of them having left school early.
It's a shame that once a team in any sport attains amazing success that people start to find reasons for why they don't deserve it. One does not win 34 games in a row )!) without deserving it. Lots of hard work to attain that streak.
Last edited by Colin at Jan 1 2003, 08:22 AM
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