Former Rice star Quarterback Chase Clement has officially left Hamilton Tiger Cats training camp. According to his Dad, Craig, Chase is currently on a flight back to San Antonio. I spoke with Craig earlier today via cell phone.
His dad stated the reasons why he left camp. For those of you reading this, I think I can safely say as a College Football Analyst, at the very core, Chase's leaving camp had nothing to do with his abilities.
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Meanwhile, what teams do you think might give him a shot at making their roster?
"I think I can safely say as a College Football Analyst, at the very core, Chase's leaving camp had nothing to do with his abilities. ... Meanwhile, what teams do you think might give him a shot at making their roster?"
ReplyDeleteYou've got to be kidding.
If he cut and run because of a few "schemes", how is he going to fare in the - allegedly - superior NFL.
Could it be that his pron career was a wild goose chase?
I don't think so. If you look at this closely, we're talking about a different day in time. Now---that said, I covered the Oilers and Warren Moon, who I thought should have been drafted by an NFL team. He won a Rose Bowl and he did have a SUCCESSFUL career in the Canadian League, without question. I think playing in the Canadian League helped himn to have success in the NFL on is way to the Hall of Fame...can't deny that!
ReplyDeleteBUT, this is a different day in time where the NFL has multiple offenses geared specifically to the talents and abilities of a Chase Clement.
The problem with the NFL and College ball now is that there is a much greater talent pool with so few spots in the NFL and everybody will not get an opportunity.
Doesn't mean that a guy who doesn't get a shot to play in the NFL should TOTALLY abandon his philosophies to enter into total oblivion just to seek a dream. One can get killed on the field that way. If I'm goin' down, It'll be my hand that takes me down.
There are some teams out there that can use Chase...he's the same type QB as Drew Brees...just needs reps.
Check out the article I wrote about Chase should be afforded an opportunity to tryout for an the NFL team and read what the Jerry Rhome had to say...www.examiner.com.
Let me know what you think...and BTW...I'm not a homer on this...I'm just seeing the glass half empty and half full.
BTW Tazeworld...good play on words at the end!
ReplyDelete"The problem with the NFL and College ball now is that there is a much greater talent pool with so few spots in the NFL and everybody will not get an opportunity."
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why the level of play at QB in the CFL is so high. Once the 32(?) NFL teams have had their pick, we get the best of the rest - and rookie players like Chase are unwise to underestimate the competition at even a rookie camp... We had the same problem last year with Chris Leak, arguably a bigger US College name. Take a look at YouTube before you sign up guys.
From what I gather the big problem with CC was arm strength - the wide field can really expose a weak arm on wide outs. Plus there are those pesky "schemes". The other TiCat rookie QB, Jason Boltus, was rated much higher on the NFL draft rating despite being from div 3 precisely because of these issues.
BTW how do you define "total oblivion" here? I didn't know Rice U was the centre of the universe. Everyone knows that it's Hamilton.
:-)
You have a good sense of humor!!!! "Total oblivion"---what might seem so far from what's right for a specific individual. Or, totally unfamiliar territory.
ReplyDeleteFor that matter, we should take a poll and see who knows which the best. Hamilton would win!!!
No! Rice doesn't get the attention that most top D-1 football schools get like Texas, Ohio State, Florida, USC, etc., unless I'm applying for a job in the real world...and then Rice is considered Top Ten.
But in football, this season, C-USA was fairly competitive and the NFL took notice which is why the conference had their fair share of players drafted.
Back to Chase, I'm sure he realized a few minutes into practice, looking at the field, angles, the playbook, having to realize a different set of rules, etc., he used some rationale and most should especially in a situation such as his.
Like I said in the last post, if I'm going to fail, it will be at my own hand. Clement probably felt that he would be exposed by the CFL for all the reasons you mentioned, and thinking logically, let say it did happen, all bets are off that he would have any shot in the NFL.
So, NFL teams really don't know if he can play in their league or not and we REALLY don't know if Clement would or would not have survived in Canada. But, obviously his heart wasn't in it and he didn't see success. At least he knew early enough for both himself and the Ti-Cats and I applaud him for that. Again, like I said in my last post...let me fail on my own terms. However, I think Chase can be successful in the NFL.
Quarterbacks in the that league have to be able to read defenses and find the open target quickly. That's what Chase did so well at Rice in Conference USA and why the Owls won 10 games and a bowl game...good talent around him. But, the QB is the gun.
Just needs a break and the way things work in the NFL, he'll just need to be patient.