2013 College Football Thread (Realer than Real Deal Holyfield -->S/O Craftsy)

400


So boss.
 
I wouldn't want that kid on the team, clearly his grades would be an issue, cuz he dumb as ****. :lol: :lol:
 
Rumor is that 2015 4* OT Roy Hemsley (CA-Windward HS) is going to announce tomorrow afternoon. Both UCLA and USC feel confident about their chances.

I think USC gets him.
 
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e wrapped up conference projections for each of the Big Five conferences last week, but it is now time to turn our attention to the national scene. The post-spring FEI projections are a function of five-year program ratings, returning starters, recruiting success and quarterback reliance -- statistical indicators of teams that may take a step forward or a step back next season, all of which figure prominently into the projection model.

For each team in the projected Top 25, we provide the team's projected regular-season and conference record and their opponent-adjusted offensive and defensive projection. We also identify each team's likelihood to position itself for a berth in the inaugural national championship playoff, and highlight the three toughest games on the schedule according to these projections. The likelihood of victory in each of those games is listed as well.

Here is the post-spring projection for college football's Top 25 teams:





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1. Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1 overall; 7-1 conference)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 4 offense, No. 3 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 59 percent
Toughest games: Oct. 4 at Ole Miss (76 percent chance of victory), Nov. 8 at LSU (59 percent), Nov. 29 vs. Auburn (78 percent)

The last time Alabama lost its last two games in a season, it ran the table the following year (2009) and claimed three of the next four BCS national championships. Coming off consecutive losses to Auburn and Oklahoma in 2013, will the Crimson Tide respond the same way this fall? Alabama has ranked among the top three in our end-of-year FEI ratings in each of the last five seasons, and the 2014 schedule features eight opponents against which the Tide have at least a 90 percent win likelihood.

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2. Oregon Ducks (11-1; 8-1)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 1 offense, No. 12 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 48 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 6 vs. Michigan State (76 percent), Oct. 11 at UCLA (64 percent), Nov. 1 vs. Stanford (67 percent)

The Ducks' offense projects to be the most efficient in the country, and quarterback Marcus Mariota may be the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy as a result. The matchup against Michigan State will test Oregon early on, but the home environment at Autzen gives them a big edge in our projection model. A looming obstacle to a national championship playoff berth is that Oregon may have to defeat UCLA twice to get there; once in the regular season and again in the Pac-12 championship game.

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3. Florida State Seminoles (11-1; 7-1)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 8 offense, No. 7 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 65 percent
Toughest games: Aug. 30 vs. Oklahoma State (74 percent), Oct. 18 vs. Notre Dame (84 percent), Oct. 30 at Louisville (74 percent)

The defending champions are the most likely team to play in the inaugural college football four-team playoff, but they may have the smallest margin for error. None of the Seminoles' opponents project to lose fewer than four games, which means Florida State may have few opponents represented in the committee's deliberations when comparing résumés of the contenders. They won't have anything to worry about if they blow through the ACC undefeated once again, but a one-loss FSU team won't win many schedule-strength arguments.

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4. Stanford Cardinal (9-3; 7-2)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 25 offense, No. 1 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 19 percent
Toughest games: Oct. 18 at Arizona State (64 percent), Nov. 1 at Oregon (33 percent), Nov. 28 at UCLA (60 percent)

Stanford's stability as an elite program has sometimes seemed tenuous, but the Cardinal have found their way to four straight BCS bowl games and have dealt with major turnover in personnel in each of those seasons. This year's team projects to be a contender, but the schedule will hold them back. Road trips to Washington, Notre Dame, Arizona State and Oregon are a tougher group of four games than any faced by our projected top-five teams. Stanford has a 56 percent chance of losing two or more of those four games.

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5. Oklahoma Sooners (10-2; 7-2)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 28 offense, No. 2 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 44 percent
Toughest games: Nov. 8 vs. Baylor (76 percent), Nov. 15 at Texas Tech (77 percent), Dec. 6 vs. Oklahoma State (76 percent)

The Sooners have a light non-conference schedule and should cruise into the Red River Rivalry game against Texas on October 11th with an unblemished record and without having given up many points along the way. Our projection model likes Oklahoma's defense to be one of the best in the country and they are more than three times as likely to win the Big 12 as any other team. Timing is everything in the college football playoff push, and the road trip to Lubbock to face Texas Tech one week after Oklahoma faces Baylor may pose the biggest threat to an undefeated campaign.

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6. South Carolina Gamecocks (10-2; 6-2)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 2 offense, No. 10 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 26 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 13 vs. Georgia (71 percent), Oct. 25 at Auburn (48 percent), Nov. 29 at Clemson (63 percent)

The SEC West champion has won the conference and played for a national championship in each of the last five seasons, but South Carolina is projected to have the best SEC East opportunity to break that streak. Their offensive projection might be the biggest surprise, but few teams have been as efficient in recent seasons without generating field position value. South Carolina ranked 95th in field position advantage last year and still produced a top-20 ranking in points per possession.

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7. LSU Tigers (9-3; 6-2)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 18 offense, No. 16 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 6 percent
Toughest games: 8/30 vs. Wisconsin (70 percent), Oct. 4 at Auburn (47 percent), Nov. 8 vs. Alabama (41 percent)

The Tigers have been consistent winners under Les Miles and the projection model expects more of the same in 2014. Their record nonconference regular-season winning streak (45 games, dating back to 2000) is on the line in their opening game against Wisconsin, a team that may be able to exploit a particular weakness of the LSU defense. The Tigers ranked 121st defensively in methodical drives last year, allowing 22 percent of opponent possessions to last at least 10 plays; Wisconsin ranked sixth in points per methodical drive.

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8. Auburn Tigers (8-4; 5-3)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 5 offense, No. 27 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 4 percent
Toughest games: Oct. 25 vs. South Carolina (52 percent), Nov. 15 at Georgia (50 percent), Nov. 29 at Alabama (22 percent)

Auburn had a charmed season in 2013, winning four games in which it lost the turnover battle and needing spectacular late-game heroics in several victories on the way to an SEC title. The Tigers may need even more good fortune this fall with a very difficult conference schedule and a tricky trip to Kansas State in nonconference play. To help keep themselves on track this fall, they'll need more efficiency on defense -- a year ago they allowed 44 percent of opponent drives to cross their 30-yard line (93rd most nationally).

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9. Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2; 6-2)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 13 offense, No. 25 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 31 percent
Toughest games: Oct. 25 at Penn State (70 percent), Nov. 8 at Michigan State (45 percent), Nov. 29 vs. Michigan (74 percent)

The Buckeyes have only a few obstacles in their way for another dominant season, and they are eager to wash the bad taste out of their mouth from the Big Ten Championship loss to Michigan State that kept them from the BCS title game last year. One of the most efficient offenses in the nation last year (No. 2 in avoiding three-and-outs and points per drive) returns quarterback Braxton Miller to lead the way, and the defense should be bolstered by an experienced front seven.

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10. UCLA Bruins (8-4; 6-3)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 9 offense, No. 18 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 6 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 25 at Arizona State (49 percent), Oct. 11 vs. Oregon (36 percent), Nov. 28 vs. Stanford (40 percent)

UCLA is loaded with returning starters and has enough program momentum to break through as a national championship playoff contender in 2014. But the schedule won't make it easy, with cross-division games against all three of the top projected opponents in the Pac-12 North. One way the Bruins can tilt a few unfavorable matchups their way will be to win the field position battle again in 2014 -- UCLA started drives nearly seven yards further downfield on average than their opponents last year.

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11. Michigan State Spartans (9-3; 6-2)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 34 offense, No. 5 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 17 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 13 at Oregon (24 percent), Nov. 8 vs. Ohio State (55 percent), Nov. 29 at Penn State (68 percent)

The Spartans have always been led by their defense under head coach Mark Dantonio, and though this year's unit will have a number of new pieces, the projection model expects the 2014 version to be just as smothering. Michigan State ranked No. 1 nationally in points allowed per drive last season (0.9) and gave up merely 0.3 points per drive on opponent possessions begun inside the opponent's own 20-yard line. The road trip to Autzen Stadium against Oregon doesn't project favorably, but a home game against Ohio State may prove to be the edge in the Big Ten title chase.

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12. USC Trojans (8-4; 6-3)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 21 offense, No. 6 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 6 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 6 at Stanford (23 percent), Oct. 11 at Arizona (61 percent), Nov. 22 at UCLA (38 percent)

New head coach Steve Sarkisian has the offensive pedigree to infuse new life in the USC attack, one that sputtered more often than it should have with such considerable talent on the roster. The Trojans went three-and-out on 35 percent of their possessions (82nd nationally) and produced a very pedestrian 2.1 points per drive. A Pac-12 South title projects to be decided on November 22nd against UCLA, mostly because USC has an easier conference path.

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13. Georgia Bulldogs (9-3; 6-2)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 20 offense, No. 17 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 11 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 13 at South Carolina (29 percent), Oct. 11 at Missouri (47 percent), Nov. 15 vs. Auburn (50 percent)

No other team on our top-25 list has a more challenging two-game start to the season than the Bulldogs -- games against Clemson and South Carolina will either kick start Georgia for a potential national championship run or derail the season before most of the rest of the country faces a major test. The Bulldogs lost four heartbreakers last season and can make sure they are on the right side of close games with more special teams success -- 119th in punt return efficiency last season, losing 0.3 points of field position value on every opponent punt (20 points over the course of the year).

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14. Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-4; 6-3)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 33 offense, No. 9 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 4 percent
Toughest games: 8/30 vs. Florida State (26 percent), Nov. 1 at Kansas State (47 percent), Dec. 6 at Oklahoma (24 percent)

The projection model is based primarily off of program trajectory, and few teams have as strong a profile as Oklahoma State. But this team, more than any other in the top 25, may have the most precarious outlook for 2014. The opener against Florida State and tough games in conference against Oklahoma, Kansas State and Baylor make a six- or seven-loss season even more likely than a championship run, but the Cowboys can keep themselves in the Big 12 race with a defense that allowed only 1.3 points per drive a year ago.

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15. Arizona State Sun Devils (8-4; 5-4)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 7 offense, No. 41 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 4 percent
Toughest games: Oct. 4 at USC (37 percent), Oct. 18 vs. Stanford (37 percent), Oct. 25 at Washington (51 percent)

Arizona State produced in boom-or-bust fashion throughout last season, ranking among the top 10 in plays of 20 yards or more, but only ranking 60th in first down percentage. That lack of consistent success will catch up with them again, especially if the defense continues to serve up big plays (17 percent of opponent drives averaged at least 10 yards per play against the Sun Devils last year, the 30th-highest rate nationally).

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16. Missouri Tigers (9-3; 5-3)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 35 offense, No. 23 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 7 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 27 at South Carolina (26 percent), Oct. 11 vs. Georgia (53 percent), Nov. 15 at Texas A&M (44 percent)

The Tigers were one of only 10 teams last season to start at least twice as many possessions in opponent territory than they allowed. That kind of field-position spark will be needed for Missouri to avoid falling back in the SEC East after heavy personnel losses this year (including the dismissal of Dorial Green-Beckham). Another year in which they win the turnover battle nine times will help as well. A lightweight nonconference schedule will get them started, but their first two conference games are against the presumed favorites in the SEC East, South Carolina and Georgia.

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17. Kansas State Wildcats (8-4; 6-3)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 22 offense, No. 46 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 3 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 18 vs. Auburn (45 percent), Oct. 18 at Oklahoma (22 percent), Dec. 6 at Baylor (43 percent)

The individual offense and defense projections are particularly high on Kansas State in the model, but the Wildcats have been one of the most projection-defying teams we have tracked over the years. Their ability to win games with field position and special teams (top-35 special teams efficiency in each of the last five years under Bill Snyder) gives Kansas State an opportunity to win every game, even though they are often overmatched in terms of program recruiting rankings.

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18. Texas A&M Aggies (8-4; 4-4)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 3 offense, No. 52 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 1 percent
Toughest games: 8/28 at South Carolina (25 percent), Oct. 18 at Alabama (15 percent), Nov. 8 at Auburn (28 percent)

Our measure of raw defensive efficiency calculates scoring rates by possession against expected scoring rates based on starting field position, and few teams were as poor defensively last season as the Aggies (111th nationally, 44 percent worse than an average defense). Texas A&M's offense should be productive, but that won't be enough to be an SEC West challenger without some significant improvement on the other side of the ball, and their road slate in the conference is about as difficult as it gets.

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19. Baylor Bears (9-3; 6-3)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 12 offense, No. 54 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 7 percent
Toughest games: Oct. 4 at Texas (53 percent), Nov. 8 at Oklahoma (21 percent), Nov. 22 vs. Oklahoma State (52 percent)

Baylor is getting more attention in preseason polls than the FEI projections are willing to give. With quarterback Bryce Petty and an always-explosive offense leading the way against a schedule that doesn't pose many challenges early on, it's easy to envision a hot start for the Bears. The projection model doesn't like the way Baylor's efficiency has waned late in the year, however. Baylor scored touchdowns on 61 percent of its non-garbage offensive drives in September and October last year, but only 28 percent of those drives after November 1st.

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20. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-5)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 17 offense, No. 30 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 1 percent
Toughest games: Oct. 4 vs. Stanford (33 percent), Oct. 18 at Florida State (15 percent), Nov. 29 at USC (31 percent)

The Irish welcome back quarterback Everett Golson who led them to a BCS national championship game in 2012 before serving an academic suspension in 2013. The schedule will keep Notre Dame out of the playoff mix this season according to the projection model, with games against Arizona State, Michigan, Louisville and North Carolina in addition to those listed above. New defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder promises to bring a more aggressive approach and improve upon their No. 77 national rank last season in forcing three-and-outs.

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21. Washington Huskies (8-4; 5-4)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 15 offense, No. 39 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 2 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 27 vs. Stanford (31 percent), Oct. 18 at Oregon (13 percent), Nov. 8 vs. UCLA (44 percent)

Will new head coach Chris Petersen's impact be realized in Washington on the offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball first? The defense is the bigger need heading into 2014, a unit that allowed opponents to run at least 10 plays on 21 percent of their drives (the fifth-highest rate in college football last season). A tough conference schedule means Washington may be on the wrong end of a few lopsided Pac-12 losses this fall, but the Huskies should be the best of the next tier in the league.

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22. Wisconsin Badgers (9-3; 6-2)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 26 offense, No. 28 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 15 percent
Toughest games: 8/30 vs. LSU (30 percent), Oct. 4 at Northwestern (47 percent), Nov. 15 vs. Nebraska (62 percent)

Wisconsin opens the season with a formidable opponent in LSU, but win or lose that nonconference game, the Badgers should take a great record deep into the season and their path to a conference championship game is wide open in a relatively light division. The Badgers defense allowed only 35 percent of available yards (measured from starting field position to end zone) last year, their second-straight season ranked in the top-10 in that metric.

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23. Clemson Tigers (8-4; 6-2)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 36 offense, No. 14 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 3 percent
Toughest games: 8/30 at Georgia (30 percent), Sept. 20 at Florida State (14 percent), Nov. 29 vs. South Carolina (38 percent)

The Tigers are saddled with a tough early schedule and it will be trial by fire for several inexperienced starters, especially on offense. The defense led the nation in forcing three-and-outs last year and projects to be Clemson's strength in 2014. If the Tigers can generate favorable field position situations again this year, they'll be in good shape -- 16 percent of Clemson's possessions started in opponent territory a year ago (10th-most nationally).

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24. Michigan Wolverines (8-4; 5-3)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 31 offense, No. 31 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 4 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 6 at Notre Dame (37 percent), Oct. 25 at Michigan State (28 percent), Nov. 29 at Ohio State (26 percent)

Overall defensive efficiency wasn't Michigan's biggest problem last year, but the Wolverines allowed too many opponents to extend drives, and the projection model indicates the same issues may be in play this year. The Wolverines ranked 84th nationally in limiting opponent value drives, possessions that moved into field goal range across the Michigan 30-yard line. That drive success aggravated a field position issue (117th in opponent starting field position) and put Michigan in tough spots against both good and mediocre teams in 2013.

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25. UCF Knights (9-3; 7-1)




Opponent-adjusted projection: No. 32 offense, No. 22 defense
Chance to finish 11-1 or 12-0: 14 percent
Toughest games: Sept. 13 at Missouri (33 percent), Oct. 2 at Houston (47 percent), Oct. 9 vs. BYU (63 percent)

Teams outside of the of the Big Five conferences don't project to be playoff contenders this season, but UCF is used to defying expectations and may find itself with a gaudy record that can't be ignored at season's end. Nine starters are back on a defensive unit that kept big plays in check (11th in limiting opponent explosive possessions) and made teams work the length of the field (fifth in opponent drives started at least 80 yards from the end zone).
 
Former FSU star Lamarcus Joyner’s story is one of survival

Former FSU defensive back Lamarcus Joyner, a star at St. Thomas Aquinas and Southwest Miami High, survived a rough childhood in Liberty City to make it to this week’s NFL Draft.


Former Southwest High defensive coordinator Cory Johnson hasn’t forgotten the scene he encountered the first time he took Lamarcus Joyner home after a track meet.

As soon as Johnson’s car pulled into the Victory Homes projects in Liberty City, he saw a group of people “about the size of a Little League football field” gambling with dice in the middle of the street.

Nobody wanted to move out of the way. Instead, they stared into his car, trying to figure out who had the guts to drive into one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Miami unarmed at 10 at night.

“Once Lamarcus rolled his window down, and they realized it was him, one of them whipped his head around and told him, ‘Don’t bring people around here we don’t know,’ ” Johnson recalled. “I told Lamarcus, ‘You’re going to need to get your [butt] home earlier than this.’ This is crazy up in here.”

The truth was Joyner, a consensus All-American defensive back at Florida State, didn’t have to look outside his window to see danger. He lived it every day. It was inside his home. It was a part of his life.

Joyner said he was 6 the first time he saw his dad slap his mother. The abusive relationship carried on for nine years before he finally had enough and talked his mother into leaving him for good. Joyner said he hasn’t spoken to his father since his freshman year at FSU.

By the time Joyner was a freshman in high school, his older brother Keenan was on his way to prison, locked up for armed robbery.

Two years later, as Joyner was just becoming one of the nation’s premier high school football talents at Southwest, his eldest brother, Michael, was busted on a gun charge, Joyner said. Joyner said both brothers are due to be released from prison next year.

So how is it that the fourth of Rose Joyner’s five children has managed to escape suffering the same fate as his older brothers? How is it that he’s heading into this week’s NFL Draft expected to be a first- or second-round pick and not dead, on drugs or in prison?

“It has to be God,” Joyner said. “I’ve never smoked or drank a day in my life. And I was always around it. I know you’re supposed to fear God only. But I feared my mom and God. I just wasn’t going to disappoint my mama.”

ROUGH UPBRINGING

Joyner did that once in middle school when he was 12. He got into a fight with a classmate, was suspended and spent a night in a juvenile detention center.

“I remember telling myself I never wanted to be here again,” he said. “My mom showed up the next day crying, saying, ‘You disappointed me Lamarcus. I thought you were different.”

“I said, ‘Mom I’ll never disappoint you again.’ I felt so bad. I felt like a loser. We laugh about it to this day because I’ve never let my mom down again.”

And he hasn’t. Since that fight, Joyner, now 23, has channeled much of his energy toward football. Despite being categorized as undersized — he’s listed at 5-8, 190 pounds — Joyner plays with the mantra: “Everybody has a plan until they get hit.”

That attitude is what made him an All-County standout for three years at Southwest, a program he led to its first district title in 2008 before leaving for tradition-rich Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas his senior season. At Aquinas, Joyner was named USA Today’s 2009 National Defensive Player of the Year.

Critics point to his size and average NFL Scouting Combine numbers (14 bench-press reps of 225 pounds and a 4.55 40-yard dash time) as reasons why Joyner might not be a successful pro.

“I just tell people to put on the film and trust your eyes,” said Joyner, who in his four years at FSU started 40 games and never missed a game because of injury. “I’m not a track star. But put on the film and tell me who the best player on the field was.”

HELPING HANDS

Jon Drummond was the first of many to help Joyner escape the projects.

An assistant coach at Southwest High eight years ago, Drummond said he got a phone call one day from his old Pop Warner coach at Tacolcy Park who was looking to get Joyner to take classes outside of his neighborhood.

Soon, Drummond was picking Joyner up at his house at 5 a.m. to take him to school across town. When Drummond wasn’t there, Joyner would take a city bus to the Metrorail station, ride the train and then take another bus before walking a mile to campus each morning.

Joyner did the same at Aquinas before he started spending school nights at the home of Michael and Laura Simmons, whom he calls “my second parents now.” Laura is a secretary in the Aquinas football office who offered to take Joyner in after seeing him walk in the rain to school one day.

“For him to get on the bus that early every morning and have stellar attendance, not miss days, for four years, it was remarkable,” said Johnson, now the head coach at Killian. “There’s not a kid in this draft that plays with the hunger, tenacity and desire of Lamarcus.”

Drummond, Johnson, former Southwest coach Patrick Burrows, Aquinas assistant Cris Carter and many others did a lot to help Joyner.

Drummond would drive him to the beach for morning workouts on the days he didn’t have school and would take him to church on Tuesday and Sunday nights.

Joyner said Johnson showed him tough love and taught him two of the most valuable lessons of his life: “To be humble and to be clutch,” Joyner said. “When I wanted a pat on the back he would say ‘You’re supposed to do that.’ He also taught me that it doesn’t matter what you do during the first 59 minutes of the game if you don’t make the play at the end.“

Joyner, who has a 3-year-old son named Jamarcus, is three classes short of graduating with a degree in sociology. His plan is to finish college online and use football as his platform to get his story out to other kids from the projects. He wants them to know that no dream is impossible.

He also wants to help his mother move out of Victory Homes once and for all once he gets his NFL money.

For years, Rose has struggled financially on her own, cooking conch fritters, fries and chicken wings in her home to make whatever money she could selling food in the neighborhood. Things were so tight, Lamarcus said there were nights the family went to sleep without air conditioning so they could save on electric bills. To deal with the South Florida heat, Lamarcus would soak his T-shirt in the bathroom sink and sleep next to a fan.

“I don’t regret one minute of it,” Joyner said of living in the projects. “I loved living in that environment. It taught me so much. It taught me right and wrong, taught me loyalty, dedication, everything. Without it, I wouldn’t be the man I am today.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/05/4099661/former-fsu-star-lamarcus-joyners.html#storylink=cpy
 
renegade34474 said:
Former FSU star Lamarcus Joyner’s story is one of survival

Former FSU defensive back Lamarcus Joyner, a star at St. Thomas Aquinas and Southwest Miami High, survived a rough childhood in Liberty City to make it to this week’s NFL Draft.


Former Southwest High defensive coordinator Cory Johnson hasn’t forgotten the scene he encountered the first time he took Lamarcus Joyner home after a track meet.

As soon as Johnson’s car pulled into the Victory Homes projects in Liberty City, he saw a group of people “about the size of a Little League football field” gambling with dice in the middle of the street.

Nobody wanted to move out of the way. Instead, they stared into his car, trying to figure out who had the guts to drive into one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Miami unarmed at 10 at night.

“Once Lamarcus rolled his window down, and they realized it was him, one of them whipped his head around and told him, ‘Don’t bring people around here we don’t know,’ ” Johnson recalled. “I told Lamarcus, ‘You’re going to need to get your [butt] home earlier than this.’ This is crazy up in here.”

The truth was Joyner, a consensus All-American defensive back at Florida State, didn’t have to look outside his window to see danger. He lived it every day. It was inside his home. It was a part of his life.

Joyner said he was 6 the first time he saw his dad slap his mother. The abusive relationship carried on for nine years before he finally had enough and talked his mother into leaving him for good. Joyner said he hasn’t spoken to his father since his freshman year at FSU.

By the time Joyner was a freshman in high school, his older brother Keenan was on his way to prison, locked up for armed robbery.

Two years later, as Joyner was just becoming one of the nation’s premier high school football talents at Southwest, his eldest brother, Michael, was busted on a gun charge, Joyner said. Joyner said both brothers are due to be released from prison next year.

So how is it that the fourth of Rose Joyner’s five children has managed to escape suffering the same fate as his older brothers? How is it that he’s heading into this week’s NFL Draft expected to be a first- or second-round pick and not dead, on drugs or in prison?

“It has to be God,” Joyner said. “I’ve never smoked or drank a day in my life. And I was always around it. I know you’re supposed to fear God only. But I feared my mom and God. I just wasn’t going to disappoint my mama.”

ROUGH UPBRINGING

Joyner did that once in middle school when he was 12. He got into a fight with a classmate, was suspended and spent a night in a juvenile detention center.

“I remember telling myself I never wanted to be here again,” he said. “My mom showed up the next day crying, saying, ‘You disappointed me Lamarcus. I thought you were different.”

“I said, ‘Mom I’ll never disappoint you again.’ I felt so bad. I felt like a loser. We laugh about it to this day because I’ve never let my mom down again.”

And he hasn’t. Since that fight, Joyner, now 23, has channeled much of his energy toward football. Despite being categorized as undersized — he’s listed at 5-8, 190 pounds — Joyner plays with the mantra: “Everybody has a plan until they get hit.”

That attitude is what made him an All-County standout for three years at Southwest, a program he led to its first district title in 2008 before leaving for tradition-rich Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas his senior season. At Aquinas, Joyner was named USA Today’s 2009 National Defensive Player of the Year.

Critics point to his size and average NFL Scouting Combine numbers (14 bench-press reps of 225 pounds and a 4.55 40-yard dash time) as reasons why Joyner might not be a successful pro.

“I just tell people to put on the film and trust your eyes,” said Joyner, who in his four years at FSU started 40 games and never missed a game because of injury. “I’m not a track star. But put on the film and tell me who the best player on the field was.”

HELPING HANDS

Jon Drummond was the first of many to help Joyner escape the projects.

An assistant coach at Southwest High eight years ago, Drummond said he got a phone call one day from his old Pop Warner coach at Tacolcy Park who was looking to get Joyner to take classes outside of his neighborhood.

Soon, Drummond was picking Joyner up at his house at 5 a.m. to take him to school across town. When Drummond wasn’t there, Joyner would take a city bus to the Metrorail station, ride the train and then take another bus before walking a mile to campus each morning.

Joyner did the same at Aquinas before he started spending school nights at the home of Michael and Laura Simmons, whom he calls “my second parents now.” Laura is a secretary in the Aquinas football office who offered to take Joyner in after seeing him walk in the rain to school one day.

“For him to get on the bus that early every morning and have stellar attendance, not miss days, for four years, it was remarkable,” said Johnson, now the head coach at Killian. “There’s not a kid in this draft that plays with the hunger, tenacity and desire of Lamarcus.”

Drummond, Johnson, former Southwest coach Patrick Burrows, Aquinas assistant Cris Carter and many others did a lot to help Joyner.

Drummond would drive him to the beach for morning workouts on the days he didn’t have school and would take him to church on Tuesday and Sunday nights.

Joyner said Johnson showed him tough love and taught him two of the most valuable lessons of his life: “To be humble and to be clutch,” Joyner said. “When I wanted a pat on the back he would say ‘You’re supposed to do that.’ He also taught me that it doesn’t matter what you do during the first 59 minutes of the game if you don’t make the play at the end.“

Joyner, who has a 3-year-old son named Jamarcus, is three classes short of graduating with a degree in sociology. His plan is to finish college online and use football as his platform to get his story out to other kids from the projects. He wants them to know that no dream is impossible.

He also wants to help his mother move out of Victory Homes once and for all once he gets his NFL money.

For years, Rose has struggled financially on her own, cooking conch fritters, fries and chicken wings in her home to make whatever money she could selling food in the neighborhood. Things were so tight, Lamarcus said there were nights the family went to sleep without air conditioning so they could save on electric bills. To deal with the South Florida heat, Lamarcus would soak his T-shirt in the bathroom sink and sleep next to a fan.

“I don’t regret one minute of it,” Joyner said of living in the projects. “I loved living in that environment. It taught me so much. It taught me right and wrong, taught me loyalty, dedication, everything. Without it, I wouldn’t be the man I am today.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/05/4099661/former-fsu-star-lamarcus-joyners.html#storylink=cpy
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Not that this applies to FSU but to st.Thomas that school has been stealing players from schools forever. St.Thomas is next exit from my house literally less then 5 mins away and I'm in fort Lauderdale. There's no way Joyner went from a school in liberty city to st.Thomas without something crooked going on. You gotta pay tuition to go to st.Thomas and I know he didn't pay for that. Goes to show that this corruption goes all the way threw to the high school ranks to.
 
It's a private school, they can essentially do what they wanna do. Just like U School used to do. They offer scholarships. Ppl move from out of state to play for STA
 
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