As the Olympics close, and American hockey fans everywhere but Pittsburgh curse Sidney Crosby, let’s catch up on an eventful weekend for a few former members of the Irish.
* Any questions about Golden Tate’s speed were answered today, as the Biletnikoff winner blazed times that were measured as fast as a 4.36 (but officially recorded as a 4.42) forty and impressed in just about everything he did this weekend.
Here’s a great link to the NFL Network’s coverage of Tate’s performance, which should have him miraculously shooting up draft boards everywhere. As I’ve said from the beginning, Tate’s exactly the kind of guy that should go -- and thrive -- after being picked at the tail end of round one.
I caught up with Golden via an email, and he confirmed running a great forty was a big weight off his shoulders. “One less thing to worry about,” he said.
I look forward to Todd McShay somehow backpedaling on everything he’s said and sliding Tate into the late first round, and eventually moving Jimmy Clausen there as well.
Here’s more from Tate if you’re looking for it, who spent five minutes talking with NFL Network reporters.
(And how about those Nikes on Golden? Didn’t take long to chuck the Adidas...)
* Moving onto that Clausen character, the NFL Network’s Charley Casserly made waves Saturday when he reported that Clausen wouldn’t be ready for his Pro Day workout on April 9th.
Not so, Jimmy said.
“That is what I’m shooting for and that is what the doctor told me,” Clausen said when asked if he’ll be ready. “I went through (the medical exam) process yesterday. It look quite a bit of time. They said it looks really good and it’s healing. They told me to take my time and not push it too much.”
Meanwhile, the sentiment is growing that St. Louis Rams, the holders of the first pick of the draft, are choosing between Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford or Clausen as the first pick. And while neither of them threw a football or worked out, this weekend brought out more than a few opinions on who had the better interview sessions.
As he did on Saturday, Casserly seemed to do his best to knock Clausen down a peg. “On interviewing people, it was unanimous on Bradford over Clausen,” Casserly told the Tulsa World, after claiming to have spoken with 16 teams. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Mel Kiper thinks that Clausen will end up being picked ahead of Bradford.
“Once he’s fully recovered from his toe surgery, he’ll show teams he can make throws, but there’s more to it,” Kiper said. “His intelligence, competitiveness and toughness will impress personnel people and his stock will rise. Clausen has under-center experience and was as close to mistake-free as he could be given his surroundings this past season.”
For anyone getting too worked up about this, please realize that the draft isn’t until April 22nd, nearly two months from now.