seed702
A dyin' breed.
Everyone is constantly checking their favorite sports site to see who's leaving for the NFL for their millions. We all are in love with the passion and dedication of players like AJ Hawk and Bobby Carpenter, and I think I speak for all Buckeye fans that it's an exciting and well deserved situation for these young men who will be making 7-8 figures in 3 months. I thought I'd take a second to give everyone a little peek at the other end of the spectrum.
I work for the City of Henderson in Nevada, and we recently hired JaJa Riley.
For those of you with short memories, JaJa came in with the same class as Maurice Clarett and this year's departing seniors. After seeing what MoC did in his freshman year, and not seeing the field a whole lot, he decided to transfer, and came here to UNLV. As you can imagine, there was a little bit of a buzz here in Vegas about a player coming from mighty Ohio State to play for the Rebels.
Well, he didn't make much of a difference as UNLV continued (and will continue) to post another losing season.
Keep in mind he was hired as a Recreation Assistant III, where the only prerequisite job requirements are a high school diploma and a drivers license.
I saw him at the mall yesterday, and that's what brings me here to talk about it. He was walking around in his Ohio State #34 game jersey, complete with his name on it. I got all excited at first thinking I might get a little photo op with Maurice Wells, but a millisecond later my brain told me "hey, there's a little lack of hair."
I don't know how I feel about it. I mean, he kinda quit and went to another team, and even if it was UNLV, still, he left OSU. But on the other side of the coin, he might have made a calculated decision based on his best interests. But if that's the case, ...he came to UNLV. UNLV's football facility is located 20 miles away from campus, and there are never more than 10-12k fans at the games, and UNLV gets NO national exposure, and is a borderline doormat of the Mountain West.
It kinda just goes to show the different paths these youngsters take. Take AJ Hawk and JaJa Riley. Both came into OSU, one was recruited ALOT more than the other, and now works part-time and is trying to find other work. The other is 11 weeks away from making millions of dollars and is a college football household name. I know that everyone isn't going to have overwhelming success, but I'm not sure JaJa has finished school yet. It's kinda of disheartening to see someone with such lofty expectations end up struggling after their football career is over.
But at least he's not doing as bad as one person who was a key factor in him leaving OSU.
:osu:
I work for the City of Henderson in Nevada, and we recently hired JaJa Riley.
For those of you with short memories, JaJa came in with the same class as Maurice Clarett and this year's departing seniors. After seeing what MoC did in his freshman year, and not seeing the field a whole lot, he decided to transfer, and came here to UNLV. As you can imagine, there was a little bit of a buzz here in Vegas about a player coming from mighty Ohio State to play for the Rebels.
Well, he didn't make much of a difference as UNLV continued (and will continue) to post another losing season.
Keep in mind he was hired as a Recreation Assistant III, where the only prerequisite job requirements are a high school diploma and a drivers license.
I saw him at the mall yesterday, and that's what brings me here to talk about it. He was walking around in his Ohio State #34 game jersey, complete with his name on it. I got all excited at first thinking I might get a little photo op with Maurice Wells, but a millisecond later my brain told me "hey, there's a little lack of hair."
I don't know how I feel about it. I mean, he kinda quit and went to another team, and even if it was UNLV, still, he left OSU. But on the other side of the coin, he might have made a calculated decision based on his best interests. But if that's the case, ...he came to UNLV. UNLV's football facility is located 20 miles away from campus, and there are never more than 10-12k fans at the games, and UNLV gets NO national exposure, and is a borderline doormat of the Mountain West.
It kinda just goes to show the different paths these youngsters take. Take AJ Hawk and JaJa Riley. Both came into OSU, one was recruited ALOT more than the other, and now works part-time and is trying to find other work. The other is 11 weeks away from making millions of dollars and is a college football household name. I know that everyone isn't going to have overwhelming success, but I'm not sure JaJa has finished school yet. It's kinda of disheartening to see someone with such lofty expectations end up struggling after their football career is over.
But at least he's not doing as bad as one person who was a key factor in him leaving OSU.
:osu:
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