All About Andre

6 comments so far September 14, 2006 by Darren K. Carlson

As a Husker fan, this week’s comments by Andre Jones made me absolutely cringe. Specifically, NU’s starting cornerback opened his yap and said - “When we beat USC, this is going to slingshot our whole season, we're ready to go in there and show the world that Nebraska's back on top - that the order is restored.”

Hearing it made many things spring to mind, but mostly the ignorance and brashness of youth, how this could have come out, the speed with which these things travel, and the potential for Mr. Jones to occupy a special place in my heart, one way or another.

What a dope

I’m sorry, but this is just stupid. I get that Andre is from a JC in Cali, and he chose NU over USC, and that he wants to beat them badly. But, jeez, the last thing the #2 team in the country needs is motivation. You don’t wake the bear. And, he wouldn’t even be playing as much if our best corner – Zach Bowman – hadn’t gotten hurt. Just…shut up, Andre.

And, who made him team spokesman? Andre Jones has been a Husker for all of, what, a week? Seriously, this kid has been with the team for less than three months and he goes and spouts off like this. I wonder how that played in the locker room and in the coach’s office.

A very small benefit of the doubt

Before I throw Andre completely under the bus, there is another factor to consider – context. One of the ugly truths in journalism is that they don’t report the questions (most of the time), just the the answers. And, typically it is the juiciest parts of those answers that become the quotes we read in the paper.

It’s possible that Andre answered a leading question, along the lines of “what would happen if you were to beat USC?” or that his quote was culled from part of a larger statement about the springboard effect a win would have. But, I simply don’t know. I wasn’t there. And, I certainly would never accuse the local papers of taking something like that out of context. Those folks at the World-Herald and Journal Star do a very nice job, really. I’m just saying that it is possible that he didn’t spout off in as egregious a manner as we all think. But, probably not.

Media effects

It’s old fashioned of me, I guess. But, I can’t get over how fast this spread. I never stop being amazed at the age we live in. It used to be that these things had at least some small gestation period. But now, in the age of 24-hour news, online reporting and message boards and (ahem) blogs, this stuff migrates across the country in minutes, and lands on bulletin boards in a matter of hours, not days.

And, the fact that it reached the USC locker room (via their sports information people, I believe) just confirms one thing I’ve been saying for quite a while. People in the program – players included – read this stuff. I get so tired of the “coach speak” about how they don’t pay attention to the press. That’s BS. The kids do for sure, and most programs have people specifically paid to pay attention to media. So coaches have to hear some of it too. And, it has a tangible effect.

Let me just talk to Andre for a second...

Young man, if you are going do all that squawking, you had better walk what you are talking. Hey, I feel you. Really, I do. It’s not trash if it is true, right? And remember, Joe Namath is only a legend because the Jets won. So, back it up, son. Just back it up.

-- Back to regular post --

All he’s really done is raise the expectations and stakes, as if that were necessary. If he’s got the stones to do that, then he’d better play one hell of a game. I want to see him have like 5 tackles, 2 pass breakups, an interception return for a touchdown, sell popcorn in the stands while the offense is playing, and march with the band at halftime.

So help me, if NU gets crushed and he gets scorched, I will refer to Andre Jones as “Mr. Guarantee” for the rest of his Husker career. And don’t think for a second that Steve won’t hold a grudge. He still won’t put Tyrone Williams on his All-Husker team because of the late hit penalty against FSU in the ’93 Orange Bowl. No kidding. Jones would officially be the first Husker to draw the ire of the Big Red Network, whatever that is worth.

So, what’s it going to be, Mr. Jones? Got the walk to go with all that talk?

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