Football

Open Letter to Bret Bielema Concerning Kevin Richardson

Dear Coach Bret Bielema:

The purpose of this letter is express my strong recommendation of Kevin Richardson, WR/QB, DB/S, and PR/KR of Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Arkansas, to be a part of the 2013 Arkansas Razorbacks football recruiting class. With my experience working in the athletic departments at the University of Arkansas and University of Wisconsin-Madison, and my experience as a football coach, I contend I’m a suitable judge of the type of talent you have acquired in the past and the type of talent the University of Arkansas has selected in the past and needs. I invite you to look at the highlights of Kevin Richardson here: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/602351/highlights/2023389 .

Kevin Richardson would set the Razorbacks apart from all SEC teams: the Razorbacks would have the only player in the conference who can play quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back/safety, and kick and punt returner. For a long time, Arkansas has longed for a player with the skill of Kevin Richardson: a player who can who can play at a high level on offense, defense and special teams. Imagine how frustrating it will be for defenses when they will not be able to decipher what the offense is doing when Richardson is on the field.

When thinking about getting the most value for the allotted scholarships, Kevin Richardson can contribute for you in every aspect of the game: offense, defense and special teams. That’s like getting two or three players on one scholarship.

As a football coach, almost nothing pleases me more than hearing other coaches having limitless great things to say about an athlete. Kevin’s coaches never run out of great things to say about him. He’s a gifted and versatile football player. He plays the game the right way. You will never have to worry about Kevin not meeting his academic responsibilities. He has an ACT score that’s nationally competitive with all student-athletes in the 2013 recruiting class. Kevin is a leader on and off the field. He’s the right player to help the Razorbacks’ defense to develop into a national championship level defense.

I very much appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Antonio Maurice Daniels
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Related Articles

5 Ways Georgia Can Beat Alabama

Georgia Bulldogs

The 2012 SEC Championship Game between #2 Alabama and #3 Georgia will be a classic.  College football fans will have the chance to see two very good football teams square off against one another.  This game will determine who will face Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship Game.  Most people are already putting Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game before they even step on the field against Georgia.  Not so fast my friends!  Georgia has more overall talent than Alabama on both sides of the ball.  The game is being played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, which really makes it a home game for Georgia.  This piece offers five ways Georgia can defeat Alabama and win the 2012 SEC Championship Game.

1.  Throw the football early and often.  You have to be willing to exploit Alabama’s weak secondary.  This year, teams who have seriously committed to throwing the football have had success against Alabama.

2.  Don’t abandon the run.  Just because Alabama gets some tackles-for-loss in the run game does not mean you should not make an effort to run the football.  You must run the football to open up the play-action pass game, which Georgia is one of the best teams in the nation when it comes to play-action passing.

3.  Match Alabama’s physicality.  Alabama will try to simply beat you up if you let them.  Georgia can be just as physical as Alabama and will need to be as physical as Alabama to defeat them.  Georgia will match Alabama’s physicality.

 4.  Bring pressure often on defense.  It’s important for Georgia to put pressure on the quarterback.  When Georgia gets to the quarterback, they must sack him with great force.

 5.  Protect the quarterback.  If Aaron Murray gets the proper time, he can do real damage to the Alabama defense.  If Georgia’s offensive line protects Murray, and the offensive will protect him, Georgia will defeat Alabama.  Murray must be willing to take short passes, considering Alabama’s defense loves to give opposing offenses the short yardage passes.

 Georgia will defeat Alabama 21 – 17 and become the 2012 SEC Champs!

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison  

Related articles

Open Letter to NFL Owners

Dear NFL Owners:

The purpose of this missive is to implore you to end your attempts to gain an even greater share of revenues at the expense of millions of fans across the nation and globe who love and enjoy National Football League (NFL) athletic competition. At a time when we face great global economic turmoil, you are not showing fans any remorse by being avaricious. As you continue to look to mollify your own selfish interests, you only cause global morale to sink further. While I am not willing to completely agree with some players who claim that you are treating them like “modern slaves,” I do posit that you do economically exploit the professional athletes who work for you. It’s a derisory postulation for players to try to present themselves as “modern slaves” when they are millionaires. This faulty argument made by some NFL players, however, does not let you off the hook.

You make significantly more money off of the labor these professional athletes provide for you. It’s only greed that continues to motivate you to want more and more money for yourself. When people are struggling just to put food in their mouth, you are thinking only about how you can obtain more money to purchase yet another yacht or luxury automobile.

For many people across the globe, the only luxury they have is pulling up a chair to their television and watching an NFL game on Sunday. Because you cannot let your selfishness and insatiable appetite for money go, you are threatening to take away this luxury for people across the globe.

Do you not care anything about the health of your players? By extending the regular football season two games, this increases the likelihood of your players incurring season-ending injuries. The current 16 game regular season is already arduous enough for athletes. To help you to pay for your huge stadiums and bring in more ticket revenues, you would rather mortgage their health. Have you no scruples? The health of NFL players is more important than your bottom line.

You should go back to the negotiating table with NFL players with a serious mindset resolved to reach an equitable agreement with them. Have you ever heard of equity before?

If you prevent people across the globe, especially the American people, from watching their favorite athletes on television and in person, they will make you pay by turning a blind eye to you when football begins the next year that you come to an agreement with the players. Consumers will remember that when they were hurting the most, you took away something that offers comfort to them. I hope that you don’t think that consumers are unsophisticated and gullible. They know that you are responsible for this lockout.

Make a commitment today to reach a solemn agreement with the players, so that football fans can have an assurance that they will be able to witness another great season of NFL football. You may think that you are going to war with the NFL players, but you are really going to war with the fans, and I’m confident that we will inevitably have the last word with you about what we think about your conspicuous selfishness. Do the right thing!

Sincerely,

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Longing for Condoleezza Rice to be NFL Commissioner

While you might have not liked Dr. Condoleezza Rice as a member of the Bush Administration, you might just like her as a replacement for the current National Football League (NFL) Commissioner, Roger Goodell. Roger Goodell is so horrible that I’m willing to give anyone an opportunity to do a better job than him. Dr. Rice certainly could not do any worse. Since Dr. Rice is a conservative, you can expect her to make decisions that will be good for the economic well-being of the NFL. Therefore, she knows that allowing the football players to actually play football sells tickets. With this in mind, I would anticipate that she would not punish and fine players for simply delivering good football hits. Roger Goodell is currently moving the NFL closer to a flag football league. Mr. Goodell, the NFL is for grown men—act like it!

Dr. Condoleezza Rice has expressed many times that her dream job is to become the NFL Commissioner http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05EFDE1F3CF934A25757C0A9649C8B63.

For liberals who usually like to see government play a more active role in the people’s lives but who would like to see the NFL Commissioner play a less active role in how players play the game, you might just be pleased to see a conservative Dr. Condoleezza Rice assume this position. The more “hands-off” approach of conservatives could be just what we need to improve much of what’s wrong with how Roger Goodell is managing the NFL.

Dr. Rice is a highly accomplished woman. She’s certainly one of the smartest persons in the world that I know. As President George W. Bush’s Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, she has had to handle problems that are much more difficult and important than those that occur in the NFL. She, therefore, has the necessary preparation for solving problems and responding to great challenges to be an effective NFL Commissioner.

I know that some people’s strong dislike of this woman politically will not even allow them to consider supporting her as the NFL Commissioner. I just would like you to know that as NFL Commissioner she would not be handling serious issues pertaining to war and peace. It’s important for us to keep an open mind about many things in life. When we’re not willing to keep an open mind about phenomena in life, we could really miss out on some great things.

Think about how wonderful it would be to have an African-American woman as the NFL Commissioner. The fact she is a woman and African-American would send such a positive and much needed message about diversity throughout the NFL, sports, America, and world.

Even if you don’t like Dr. Condoleezza Rice politically, I encourage you to entertain the idea of supporting her as a possible future NFL Commissioner. The NFL is making some progress with advancing, retaining, and hiring African-Americans in leadership positions, although it’s very inadequate progress. The presence of Dr. Condoleezza Rice in this position would convey a strong message that the NFL truly welcomes African-Americans in leadership positions.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison