What a difference a few hours make.
As I sat down to write this post, I thought the Buckeyes had an excellent shot at landing both Josh Jenkins and Terrelle Pryor, thus securing a class for the ages. Vince 2.0 and four of the best o-linemen in the nation is a pretty good nucleus to build around.
Then came reports that Jenkins will sign with the Mountaineers (CL shoutout).
Okay, no Jenkins, but the Buckeyes are still the favorite to get Pryor, right? Uh.. maybe not.
Evidently a Buckeye fan sat next to one Jerome Bettis on a flight out of Pittsburgh yesterday. Bettis? Pryor? WTF?:
I just flew back from Pittsburg and guess who sat nect to me on the flight. Jerome Bettis. I sat and talked football with him for about 2 hours. Guess what he told me. Terrell Pryor is going to Michigan. Was never a doubt in his mind after the official visit. This was passed onto him from Charlie Batch who he had just been out with the night prior to his flight with me. As a Buckeye fan I'm crushed, and don't want to believe it. It even took away from the fact that I was sitting next to an NFL future HOF player and talking with him. I can furnish a photo upon request of myself and "The Bus" if needed. I hate when Darth Rodruigez and the evil empire wins.
This whole internet recruiting rumor game is completely bat-shit crazy and we're dealing with kids that change their minds every 21 minutes, but the poster does provide the photo you see above as well as some other relevant details.
Now, Bettis is a Notre Dame guy and any good Irish alum should like nothing better than to mindfsck the Wolverines, but then again, the Bus has a history of spilling secrets.
So, there's that.
Just another rumor. As has been the case for every day of the past month.
In a few hours, we'll know which one of these internet rumors was the truthiest. Or not.
Comments
more delay on the way, apparently: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/...
almost verbatim what Mike Farrell at Rivals came out a few hours ago saying.
Funny. Post Gazette says he is going to tOSU. These people don't know, they just print a story and hope it is the one that is correct.
http://bucknuts.com/news/story...
- presser is off, says Bucknuts
Jerome Bettis wears a suit when he's traveling on a plane? Why would he do that now that he's retired? I know he dresses that way on camera but most normal people get a little casual on plane trips. I say the story is a hoax. He probably got that picture two years ago.
I'll wear a sports jacket on a plane. Not to get all "tin-foil-hat-club, Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich" on this, but the Bettis in that photo looks more slender and game-ready than the Jerome I saw photographed in Hollywood a couple of weeks ago. Much more slender, in fact. I guess the home cooking is suiting Jerome well.
I won't say that I don't care where the kid goes, but I am growing weary of this whole process. This drawn-out, up-and-down decision, all accompanied by contradictory statements from himself and his "advisors" - sometimes on the same day - reminds me of those sad panels of "undecided" voters CNN brings together the afternoon of an election. If you can't decide between a Republican, Democrat or Other by the day of the election, you should have your voting card pulled.
Josh Jenkins IS going to WVU
Joe Fox, I was listening to ESPN Radio last week and Jerome Bettis was on and they were talking to him about how much weight he has lost and he was promoting some new website for eating healthy.....so he actually is skinny now...this doesn't look good.
Wil,
As a Steelers enthusiast, I'm no fan of a skinny Bettis. I liked him moving the pile.
I guess my eyes deceived me. I thought he looked very plump and portly just two weeks ago, but I'm glad to see he's getting in shape.
Yep, I'm worried now, too. It's a shame about Jenkins. I've got a feeling we're coming away with Johnson and no one else. JT's finishing skills aren't the best out there.
This is the last time I take a day off to watch recruiting unfold on my television.
I don't believe anything until TP finally says it with his own mouth, and then I don't believe anything until he gets the uni on.
I'm not worried. I try not to care too much about these guys until they commit.
Joe fox, he said he had gained weight after retiring but then had lost it and more.
I still want to see what Pryor says…..this thing is more of a he said, she said now….I don’t think we’ll ever know until he signs…..just think if he doesn’t sign today, then we’ll possibly have to deal with this sh!t till April 1st! Oh joy!
Wil,
Anyone reminded of Ken-Yon Rambo?
It's too bad Pryor has to drag this out more. Pennsylvania has the longest playoff system in the U.S., which didn't allow him to visit as many schools as he wanted. Their playoff system starts the first weekend in November and concludes middle of December.
It seems as though Jimmy T. is doing just fine today. I agree with Dave though, I am not going to believe one more word from the Pryor camp until a uniform is on this fall.
A lot like the used 2004 Corvette, you have to assume that something was up when the poster said he sat next to The Bus on the plane.
So Jerome Bettis travels alone in coach? Now I'm making assumptions based on personal appearance here, but maybe the poster got bumped into first class right?
You say that maybe the flight had no first class.
I can't imagine Jerome is nice enough of a guy to sit and talk with a random guy for 2 hours.
But the real kicker: That is DTW (Detroit Metro).
http://cache.viewimages.com/xc...
Do we really want this kid? He is an attention whore. I am afraid we would be landing another Clarette.
Joe Fox, yeah it does....minus the smell of ganja.
POE MCKNOE, it won't give me access to that page
Everyone, my brother just emailed me this quote:
"When we talked (Tuesday morning), I gave him my choice and he gave me his," said Pryor's father, Craig. "They weren't
the same. But it's his decision."
Craig Pryor said he did not pick Ohio State, but he did not indicate what school his son chose.
Craig Pryor also told his son that playing immediately might not be the best way to make progress. He said it wouldn't
hurt if he sat back and watched while he tries to learn to read defenses.
"He's not worried about playing right away," Craig Pryor said. "It will give him time to learn and adjust to the speed
of the game."
My bet is his dad said PSU and that might be why he is delaying it to take a visit to PSU.
A little bit of good news is that all of our verbals have signed:
http://footballrecruiting.riva...
Bettis grew up in Detroit.
Orhian Johnson is a Buckeye:
http://rivals100.rivals.com/vi...
Charlie Batch? Jerome Bettis? Huh?
"Umm, no. I will not be making my commitment today."
- TP
"F" this guy.
The general feeling in my living room is that Terrelle going to Penn State would be like Johan going to the Mets. Nobody would feel so bad about it now that he's starting to pull this crap.
Based on his measurables, I'd say Orhian Johnson looks like another Chris Gamble.
As for Bettis, I'd still say that picture was probably taken back when he was a player. But I've been wrong before.
I still don't think it is crap yet Dave. While he has had plenty of time to decide where to go, apparently he needs more time. This kid has played sports non stop since the beginning of August. At this point, I can't blame him. Did you hear his coach say they had 5 bball games to make up? I think it is time to give all the TP talk a rest and focus on the guys who did sign with OSU today.
Even without TP it is a top 5 class, incredible considering the national hatred towards Ohio State and their display in the last two bowl games.
I totally understand the whole two sport thing and all they keep saying on ESPNU is how good of a decision and how wise it is, but I really do not like all the hype. It's the whole appearances thing that bothers me.
Just to get my "facts" straight...This guy sits next to Jerome Bettis on a flight from Pitt to Detroit (45 min?) and in that time, not only does Bettis talk to this guy but gets into random personal knowledge about a high school recruit. Then, not to be disbelieved, guy gets his picture taken with Bettis as he is snagging his own bag at the claim... OK, I know plenty of millionaires that grab their own luggage, sit in coach, spill recruiting info (from a personal source no less) to a completely and totally random tOSU fan...only to tell him he is 100% going to their arch rival. One guess...maybe the bus is a little bitter about that 600+ yds we put up on Charlie-the-hut in the 05 Fiesta.
I have said it before, I will say it again. Put this guy's story and his proof picture in the Corvette file.
Harris to the U
no real surprise there
The living room consensus is that putting on the Miami helmet was a good touch.
So far, another sub-par LOID for OSU. I don't know why we don't close well.
Michigan, on the other hand, is having a pretty good week:
# 5 Center **** Ricky Barnum
# 41 Athelete *** Justin Feagin
# 44 Wide Receiver **** Roy Roundtree
# 9 All Purpose Back **** Terrence Robinson
and now they just took this guy away from Penn State:
# 7 Running Back **** Michael Shaw
I'm not liking the way this looks!!!!!!
Don't forget they're still going to be a Rich Rodriguez coached team, so there's that. Clemson has had an unbelievable class this year.
That Jerome Bettis is full of shit man!
"Clemson has had an unbelievable class this year."
Clemson has good classes every year, and still manages to finish 9-3, and out of their conference game. Weird. I can't imagine what the problem could be....
m*ch*g*n is turning in a pretty good class, considering how rocky the last two months have been. Things will start looking up in *nn *rb*r pretty soon, I think, so we'd better be ready.
I think my favorite quote of the day came from the Clemsom RB recruit (Jamie Harper), who turned to his high school teammate, also going to Clemson and pronounced:
"Your gonna have to do it on your own your senior year, because I am going to Clemson for three years."
Yeah, Clemson could not have felt good about that. At least he'll be taken care of spiritually at that school. The school he's thankful to Jesus Christ who died for our sins to go to.
"The school he’s thankful to Jesus Christ who died for our sins to go to."
ROFL
According to an ESPN story (linked below), Pryor was going to sign with OSU today, but then his father and some others convinced him to take an official visit to PSU. He felt he should at least give them a chance, because they had been recruiting him pretty hard and talking a lot with his father. In other words, the Jerome Bettis story is a crock. Either that, or you have to believe an ex-NFL player would pull that story out of his rear-end just to blow smoke at a random OSU fan. Take your pick.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa...
It was definitely going to be OSU until pops started rocking the "We will defend this house (PA)" rhetoric.
Come on pops....don't be hatin on tOSU!
Looks like Michigan might lose McGuffie to Cal also, he said he might not sign today and wait too.
If anyone is familiar with Mcguffie, his highlights are RIDICULOUS...granted he is a small guy but really fast. Since I work with with a bunch of UM fans, things like this cross my desk...keep in mind, this is not Mcguffie, hilarious nonetheless...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Michigan just recieved McGuffie's letter of intent
By the way, Brewster is going to take over Gun Show's #50. Hes probably the best to try and fill it out after his massive arms stretched it out.
At least we know Rich Rod will bring his "solid" D with him too.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap...
not that germane, but certainly neat in light of the 11w lite feed.
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