By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
If you were reading up on all of the Baylor player NFL draft stories, you likely came across the passage in the Terrel Bernard story that Baylor having four players taken in the first three rounds equaled what happened in the 1959 draft.
That made the RJB check into that year, the midway point of Dwight Eisenhower’s second term. What was the biggest song of that year?
Well, it takes us to someone who loved ballads. Loved historical ballads. Was a rockabilly, country and western and honky tonk specialist.
Johnny Horton sang of legendary themes and historical moments because they just worked. At the height of his career at age 35, Horton was tragically killed in 1960 in a head-on collision driving from Austin to Shreveport. Ironically, this past Saturday would have been his 97th birthday.
But his recording of “The Battle of New Orleans” – and there were many other recordings of it – had a connection like no other. Maybe the way he emphasized the comical points of the song, “…the gator lost his mind’’ gave the song that jazz.
“The Battle of New Orleans” was No. 1 in the Billboard 100 and topped the country chart. For international flavor, it peaked at No. 16 in the UK and No. 20 in Italy.
In that era country and rock crossed over quite a bit. Today? Not so much.
Side note: The RJB’s favorite Horton recording is “North to Alaska”
*****
When you think back to the events of this past weekend for Baylor and the NFL draft, we can agree that it went far better than it was planned.
Of the seven that were invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis the first week of March – Jalen Pitre, Tyquan Thornton, JT Woods, Terrel Bernard, Trestan Ebner, Kalon Barnes and Abram Smith – only Smith was the one not to be drafted.
And he still gets an opportunity as a priority free agent.
Success played a role in the first six being selected. Development and football IQ added to the package. You don’t get drafted by playing stupid football.
When 31 NFL franchises and officials representing the XFL and Canadian Football League come to pro day (March 30 at Baylor) are breaking down your film and every piece of technique that comes with the measurables and test results and are willing to risk their careers by drafting you in whatever round it is, that should tell you something.
Baylor has a history of putting developed players in the NFL and watching them stick around for a while. Between Matt Rhule and Dave Aranda, they identified the foundation and then developed them to be worthy of pro considerations.
Friday’s flurry of Pitre, Thornton, Woods and Bernard in the second and third rounds to Houston, New England, LA Chargers and Buffalo wasn’t a coincidence. From those college all-star games to the combine to private workouts and interviews, they had the skill and character level.
The same goes for Smith (New Orleans), Xavier Newman-Johnson (Tennessee), Raleigh Texada (Green Bay), Jairon McVea (LA Rams) and Drew Estrada (Houston) who signed as free agents.
That’s 11 players who put themselves in this position.
The surprises for me were Thornton (2nd) and Bernard (3rd) and the rounds they were selected. I figured they were fourth and fifth round guys based on all the mock drafts that I tracked.
I was also surprised Smith didn’t get selected. But he’s better served signing as a free agent because there’s historically better security than being taken in the final round. I would not have been surprised had Barnes not been selected. Had it not been for his former college coach in Rhule he was headed for the free agent route. The same goes for Ebner.
What this all goes to show is that the eyes of the beholder in talent evaluation between the experienced national pundits, to the franchises to people like me to the fans is a total crapshoot. The only ones paid to make decisions are the ones who work for the franchises. Either they’re going to get it right or wrong.
I dare say there can be an element of over evaluation where there is paralysis by analysis.
How players move up and down on each team’s draft boards is a product of what happens between early March and late April. A bad day at one place could be followed by a great day at another.
It just worked for Baylor that Pitre went right where many thought he would, Woods was in a similar position and Thornton and Bernard went higher than the projections.
To be sure, they will soon be wealthy young men once they get their contracts finalized. I mentioned between the first four that the projected contract value is going to be roughly $26.2 million with nearly $8 million in bonuses.
Add Ebner ($3.8 million, $165 bonus) and Barnes ($3.7 and $86 bonus) and that’s $33.7 million and about $8.2 in bonuses. NFL contracts are not guaranteed. The bonuses are.
All anyone wants is an opportunity. These 10 have theirs. Now, the rest is up to them.
*****
Since this is being published on May 1, your publisher would be remiss by not including the following.
*****
So let’s visit the University of Texas part of the NFL draft.
When you’re a football program that considers itself to be a blue blood – I personally believe the number of those who also believe that are dwindling by the day – only to produce a goose egg over these three days in the number of players selected, that should be more telling about what has become of this thing and why the national respect it believes that it’s entitled to is waning.
We’ve recited the arguments against Texas to the point where it comes second nature. How else could consistent Top 5-10 national recruiting classes consistently bust and then show themselves to be window dressing? This weekend is usually considered a referendum on your program.
And the message from the NFL to UT probably has been over the last several years, “You’re not very good. Your players aren’t developed. They’re soft. We’re over it. Let us know when you figure it out.’’
Baylor support notwithstanding, it’s really embarrassing when the flagship university of the state with extraordinary resources – a state where football is a pastime - doesn’t have a name called from its football program.
Their supporters know it. Some will admit it. Some are in denial.
With this evidence supported by all that mediocre football, I have to wonder if the national college football media will get it.
Stewart Mandel from The Athletic had a great tweet over the weekend.
However, I’ll bet you a nickel that between now and mid-July when the publications have their preseason national rankings, Texas will find its way on to them.
I call it the annual national media Texas summer bromance.
If your program had a track history of great success and was coming into a season with many questions at certain positions, it likely would get the benefit of the doubt and get ranked.
Why? I just said why.
So why doesn’t it translate to Texas? Why does this habitually underperforming program get the same benefit that say a Clemson does?
If Texas had one-tenth of what Clemson has done over the last 10 years, then I wouldn’t be writing any of this.
Yes, Texas is a big name. A brand. And there could be editorial decisions from above the writers to push the UT narrative. Never dispute that.
Now, the Longhorns will possibly be ranked low in the Top 25s. But the media will justify it in the form of making Texas “prove it”.
That would be a mistake. There needs to be some real courage among these national publications and writers to resist the temptation of buying the hype and being sucked in.
In his tweet, Mandel presented himself as being incredulous over that stat. But those facts and Texas’ failings have a direct correlation.
People like Mandel must be consistent because what they say in August must match what they say on the last day of April.
Besides these highly rated recruiting classes, Texas has not given a reason to prove otherwise. However, the national media won’t hold this program accountable.
Instead of anointing Texas, it would be refreshing if the national media took the approach of making Texas earn something…for once.
*****
Now, a look at other Baylor sports…
>Baylor track and field closed its 2022 regular season in Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday, winning two collegiate gold medals in the process and setting many new personal- and season-best marks.
Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi found his familiar spot at the top of the javelin throw standings, this time behind a 239-8 throw on his second attempt. Prosper Nnamdi topped the 2021 national champion, LSU's Tzuriel Pedigo, by under two meters.
Baylor moves on to the Big 12 outdoor championships May 13-15 in Lubbock.
>Baylor men's golf shot a 1-over 289 in the final round to claim a seventh-place finish at the Big 12 Championship at Whispering Pines.
BU improved its score in each of the final two rounds, highlighted by the fifth-best round of the day on Wednesday.
>No. 3 Baylor men's tennis earned a multitude of All-Conference postseason awards, announced by the Big 12 on Thursday.
Headlining the awards announcement was Adrian Boitan, who earned Big 12 Player of the Year. The junior from Romania was also named a first-teamer for singles and individual season champion for court one. In addition, he and Paroulek were named individual season champions for doubles court three.
The Bears await their seeding in the NCAA Tournament, to be announced via live stream on NCAA.com on Monday, May 2, at 6 p.m. CT.
>Baylor women's golf earned the No. 3 seed at the NCAA Stillwater Regional during the 2022 NCAA Women's Golf Selection Show. The three-day tournament will be played May 9-11 at Oklahoma State's Karsten Creek Golf Club. Baylor is coming off a tie for second at the Big 12 Championship, where grad transfer Addie Baggarly and sophomore Rosie Belsham finished second and seventh, respectively, garnering All-Tournament honors.
>Baylor landed three players on the 2022 All-Big 12 Women's Tennis Teams with Alicia Herrero, Mel Krywoj and Alina Shcherbinina all taking home honors.
Herrero and Krywoj were named to the first-team doubles squad as the duo, currently ranked No. 7 in the country, are 15-4 in dual play this season.
The two seniors were also named to the second-team singles team. Shcherbinina joined them as a second-team member.
Shcherbinina was also named to the All-Freshman team, marking the first Bear to receive the honor since Livia Kraus and Kristina Sorokolet in 2018.
>Baylor softball (27-21, 5-10) fell in the series finale, 6-1, Sunday afternoon at Getterman Stadium, as Iowa State took the series 2-1. The Lady Bears close out the regular season Friday-Saturday at Texas.
Let’s make it a great week!
Publisher
If you were reading up on all of the Baylor player NFL draft stories, you likely came across the passage in the Terrel Bernard story that Baylor having four players taken in the first three rounds equaled what happened in the 1959 draft.
That made the RJB check into that year, the midway point of Dwight Eisenhower’s second term. What was the biggest song of that year?
Well, it takes us to someone who loved ballads. Loved historical ballads. Was a rockabilly, country and western and honky tonk specialist.
Johnny Horton sang of legendary themes and historical moments because they just worked. At the height of his career at age 35, Horton was tragically killed in 1960 in a head-on collision driving from Austin to Shreveport. Ironically, this past Saturday would have been his 97th birthday.
But his recording of “The Battle of New Orleans” – and there were many other recordings of it – had a connection like no other. Maybe the way he emphasized the comical points of the song, “…the gator lost his mind’’ gave the song that jazz.
“The Battle of New Orleans” was No. 1 in the Billboard 100 and topped the country chart. For international flavor, it peaked at No. 16 in the UK and No. 20 in Italy.
In that era country and rock crossed over quite a bit. Today? Not so much.
Side note: The RJB’s favorite Horton recording is “North to Alaska”
*****
When you think back to the events of this past weekend for Baylor and the NFL draft, we can agree that it went far better than it was planned.
Of the seven that were invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis the first week of March – Jalen Pitre, Tyquan Thornton, JT Woods, Terrel Bernard, Trestan Ebner, Kalon Barnes and Abram Smith – only Smith was the one not to be drafted.
And he still gets an opportunity as a priority free agent.
Success played a role in the first six being selected. Development and football IQ added to the package. You don’t get drafted by playing stupid football.
When 31 NFL franchises and officials representing the XFL and Canadian Football League come to pro day (March 30 at Baylor) are breaking down your film and every piece of technique that comes with the measurables and test results and are willing to risk their careers by drafting you in whatever round it is, that should tell you something.
Baylor has a history of putting developed players in the NFL and watching them stick around for a while. Between Matt Rhule and Dave Aranda, they identified the foundation and then developed them to be worthy of pro considerations.
Friday’s flurry of Pitre, Thornton, Woods and Bernard in the second and third rounds to Houston, New England, LA Chargers and Buffalo wasn’t a coincidence. From those college all-star games to the combine to private workouts and interviews, they had the skill and character level.
The same goes for Smith (New Orleans), Xavier Newman-Johnson (Tennessee), Raleigh Texada (Green Bay), Jairon McVea (LA Rams) and Drew Estrada (Houston) who signed as free agents.
That’s 11 players who put themselves in this position.
The surprises for me were Thornton (2nd) and Bernard (3rd) and the rounds they were selected. I figured they were fourth and fifth round guys based on all the mock drafts that I tracked.
I was also surprised Smith didn’t get selected. But he’s better served signing as a free agent because there’s historically better security than being taken in the final round. I would not have been surprised had Barnes not been selected. Had it not been for his former college coach in Rhule he was headed for the free agent route. The same goes for Ebner.
What this all goes to show is that the eyes of the beholder in talent evaluation between the experienced national pundits, to the franchises to people like me to the fans is a total crapshoot. The only ones paid to make decisions are the ones who work for the franchises. Either they’re going to get it right or wrong.
I dare say there can be an element of over evaluation where there is paralysis by analysis.
How players move up and down on each team’s draft boards is a product of what happens between early March and late April. A bad day at one place could be followed by a great day at another.
It just worked for Baylor that Pitre went right where many thought he would, Woods was in a similar position and Thornton and Bernard went higher than the projections.
To be sure, they will soon be wealthy young men once they get their contracts finalized. I mentioned between the first four that the projected contract value is going to be roughly $26.2 million with nearly $8 million in bonuses.
Add Ebner ($3.8 million, $165 bonus) and Barnes ($3.7 and $86 bonus) and that’s $33.7 million and about $8.2 in bonuses. NFL contracts are not guaranteed. The bonuses are.
All anyone wants is an opportunity. These 10 have theirs. Now, the rest is up to them.
*****
Since this is being published on May 1, your publisher would be remiss by not including the following.
*****
So let’s visit the University of Texas part of the NFL draft.
When you’re a football program that considers itself to be a blue blood – I personally believe the number of those who also believe that are dwindling by the day – only to produce a goose egg over these three days in the number of players selected, that should be more telling about what has become of this thing and why the national respect it believes that it’s entitled to is waning.
We’ve recited the arguments against Texas to the point where it comes second nature. How else could consistent Top 5-10 national recruiting classes consistently bust and then show themselves to be window dressing? This weekend is usually considered a referendum on your program.
And the message from the NFL to UT probably has been over the last several years, “You’re not very good. Your players aren’t developed. They’re soft. We’re over it. Let us know when you figure it out.’’
Baylor support notwithstanding, it’s really embarrassing when the flagship university of the state with extraordinary resources – a state where football is a pastime - doesn’t have a name called from its football program.
Their supporters know it. Some will admit it. Some are in denial.
With this evidence supported by all that mediocre football, I have to wonder if the national college football media will get it.
Stewart Mandel from The Athletic had a great tweet over the weekend.
However, I’ll bet you a nickel that between now and mid-July when the publications have their preseason national rankings, Texas will find its way on to them.
I call it the annual national media Texas summer bromance.
If your program had a track history of great success and was coming into a season with many questions at certain positions, it likely would get the benefit of the doubt and get ranked.
Why? I just said why.
So why doesn’t it translate to Texas? Why does this habitually underperforming program get the same benefit that say a Clemson does?
If Texas had one-tenth of what Clemson has done over the last 10 years, then I wouldn’t be writing any of this.
Yes, Texas is a big name. A brand. And there could be editorial decisions from above the writers to push the UT narrative. Never dispute that.
Now, the Longhorns will possibly be ranked low in the Top 25s. But the media will justify it in the form of making Texas “prove it”.
That would be a mistake. There needs to be some real courage among these national publications and writers to resist the temptation of buying the hype and being sucked in.
In his tweet, Mandel presented himself as being incredulous over that stat. But those facts and Texas’ failings have a direct correlation.
People like Mandel must be consistent because what they say in August must match what they say on the last day of April.
Besides these highly rated recruiting classes, Texas has not given a reason to prove otherwise. However, the national media won’t hold this program accountable.
Instead of anointing Texas, it would be refreshing if the national media took the approach of making Texas earn something…for once.
*****
Now, a look at other Baylor sports…
>Baylor track and field closed its 2022 regular season in Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday, winning two collegiate gold medals in the process and setting many new personal- and season-best marks.
Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi found his familiar spot at the top of the javelin throw standings, this time behind a 239-8 throw on his second attempt. Prosper Nnamdi topped the 2021 national champion, LSU's Tzuriel Pedigo, by under two meters.
Baylor moves on to the Big 12 outdoor championships May 13-15 in Lubbock.
>Baylor men's golf shot a 1-over 289 in the final round to claim a seventh-place finish at the Big 12 Championship at Whispering Pines.
BU improved its score in each of the final two rounds, highlighted by the fifth-best round of the day on Wednesday.
>No. 3 Baylor men's tennis earned a multitude of All-Conference postseason awards, announced by the Big 12 on Thursday.
Headlining the awards announcement was Adrian Boitan, who earned Big 12 Player of the Year. The junior from Romania was also named a first-teamer for singles and individual season champion for court one. In addition, he and Paroulek were named individual season champions for doubles court three.
The Bears await their seeding in the NCAA Tournament, to be announced via live stream on NCAA.com on Monday, May 2, at 6 p.m. CT.
>Baylor women's golf earned the No. 3 seed at the NCAA Stillwater Regional during the 2022 NCAA Women's Golf Selection Show. The three-day tournament will be played May 9-11 at Oklahoma State's Karsten Creek Golf Club. Baylor is coming off a tie for second at the Big 12 Championship, where grad transfer Addie Baggarly and sophomore Rosie Belsham finished second and seventh, respectively, garnering All-Tournament honors.
>Baylor landed three players on the 2022 All-Big 12 Women's Tennis Teams with Alicia Herrero, Mel Krywoj and Alina Shcherbinina all taking home honors.
Herrero and Krywoj were named to the first-team doubles squad as the duo, currently ranked No. 7 in the country, are 15-4 in dual play this season.
The two seniors were also named to the second-team singles team. Shcherbinina joined them as a second-team member.
Shcherbinina was also named to the All-Freshman team, marking the first Bear to receive the honor since Livia Kraus and Kristina Sorokolet in 2018.
>Baylor softball (27-21, 5-10) fell in the series finale, 6-1, Sunday afternoon at Getterman Stadium, as Iowa State took the series 2-1. The Lady Bears close out the regular season Friday-Saturday at Texas.
Let’s make it a great week!
