Mel Kiper on Kevin Boothe

[aip888]

Heard this on ESPN Sportscenter...

"When you look at Kevin Boothe out of Cornell...here's a guy, an offensive lineman who can play both guard spots and both tackle spots.  He was a man among boys in the Ivy League.  Kevin Boothe out of Cornell, I believe in the 2nd or 3rd round.  NFL ready, very smart and very versatile.  He would be a heckuva pick in the 2nd or 3rd round.  I believe if you can get him at that point, he'd be a wise choice."

[atb9]

The clip occurs 47 minutes into the hour.

[Pete Godenschwager]

Found an article on the Browns website about Kevin Boothe:

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news_room/news/arts/5294.0.html

[David Harding]

[q] The Ivy League, seldom known for its football talent - at least since the 1920s - got some attention this season when former Harvard quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick emerged from obscurity and appeared in four games for the St. Louis Rams after injuries plagued his position group.[/q]  Grumble...  Cornell's run continued into the (very) early 1950's.

[RichH]

[quote David Harding][q] The Ivy League, seldom known for its football talent - at least since the 1920s - got some attention this season when former Harvard quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick emerged from obscurity and appeared in four games for the St. Louis Rams after injuries plagued his position group.[/q]  Grumble...  Cornell's run continued into the (very) early 1950's.[/quote]

Well, considering the Ivy League didn't officially exist until 1956, the 1920s comment doesn't make sense.  Also, as we all know, the league had a legitimate Heisman candidate in 1971.  I guess that can count under the word "seldom" in the above statement.  With the league's move to I-AA in the early '80s, that pretty much ended any chance for major national attention.

FYI, the student assemblies and councils of Harvard, Princeton, Penn, and the Ivy Council recently passed proposals calling for the elimination of the post-season football ban.  That's nice to see.  However, I'm more in favor of extending the hockey game limit for obvious reasons.

http://www.i-aa.com/news/ivy.shtml
http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/uwire/040606aah.html

[Beeeej]

[quote RichH][quote David Harding][q] The Ivy League, seldom known for its football talent - at least since the 1920s - got some attention this season when former Harvard quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick emerged from obscurity and appeared in four games for the St. Louis Rams after injuries plagued his position group.[/q]  Grumble...  Cornell's run continued into the (very) early 1950's.[/quote]

Well, considering the Ivy League didn't officially exist until 1956, the 1920s comment doesn't make sense.  Also, as we all know, the league had a legitimate Heisman candidate in 1971.  I guess that can count under the word "seldom" in the above statement.  With the league's move to I-AA in the early '80s, that pretty much ended any chance for major national attention.[/quote]

Plus, have they already completely forgotten about Jay Fiedler?!

Beeeej

[mgl11]

and 4 time pro-bowler Matt Birk? Or Cornell alum Seth Payne? There are probably 20 - 25 players from the Ivy league in the NFL...it's not that much of a rarity. The NBA, that's a totally different story.

[Beeeej]

On the other hand, an Ivy Leaguer actually getting attention in the NFL is pretty rare.  Far fewer qualify, which is why I only mentioned Fiedler.

Beeeej

[Chris \'03]

This looks to be up to date only through 2004 (and who knows how accurate it is...), but it lists NFL players (past and present) by college: http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerbycollege.htm

Someone else can count, but I think 20-25 is on the high side. 10-15 is more likely.

[Tub(a)]

[quote Beeeej]On the other hand, an Ivy Leaguer actually getting attention in the NFL is pretty rare.  Far fewer qualify, which is why I only mentioned Fiedler.

Beeeej[/quote]

Well, I guess negative attention is still attention. :-P

Marcellus Wiley (Columbia) had a good run a few years ago where he was getting a lot of accolades. I don't think he is so highly regarded currently.

[David Harding]

[quote aip888]Heard this on ESPN Sportscenter...

"When you look at Kevin Boothe out of Cornell, here's a guy, an offensive lineman who can play both guard spots and both tackle spots.  He was a man among boys in the Ivy League.  Kevin Boothe out of Cornell, I believe in the 2nd or 3rd round.  NFL ready, very smart and very versatile.  He would be a heckuva pick in the 2nd or 3rd round.  I believe if you can get him at that point, he?d be a wise choice."[/quote]Thiurd round is over and he hasn't been picked yet.  Whoever compiles the assessments on the NFL site was not terribly enthusiastic.  http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/2006/boothe_kevin
Also, I hadn't realized that we had a junior who declared for the draft, Stephen Tulloch.  http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/2006/tulloch_stephen  Is that as good a sign for the football program as our hockey players leaving early is for the hockey program?

[ugarte]

[quote David Harding]I hadn't realized that we had a junior who declared for the draft, Stephen Tulloch. Is that as good a sign for the football program as our hockey players leaving early is for the hockey program?[/quote]A Cornell that leaves school early despite the low grade given to him by the NFL makes me think that the nfl scouting report isn't the only problem that he is having with low grades. Rank speculation - and admittedly unfair - but I can't see why else a marginal prospect would leave a school like Cornell early.

[Ronald '09]

Tulloch is actually mislabled, he is a linebacker from NC State.  I saw that too on a site, and when I clicked on his profile, it said he goes to NC State.  I looked at it further to see which was right.  He does not go to Cornell.  I'm not sure how they made a mistake like that, but they did.

[ugarte]

[quote Ronald '09]Tulloch is actually mislabled, he is a linebacker from NC State.  I saw that too on a site, and when I clicked on his profile, it said he goes to NC State.  I looked at it further to see which was right.  He does not go to Cornell.  I'm not sure how they made a mistake like that, but they did.[/quote]I was wondering why I didn't recognize the name at all. Apologies to Mr. Tulloch. I hope this decision works out for him.

[Ronald '09]

he just got drafted 116th by tennessee anyway