Three Tech exes get minicamp invitations
BY DON WILLIAMS l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, center Stephen Hamby and safety Daniel Charbonnet have accepted invitations to attend minicamps this weekend with NFL teams. However, none has any promises beyond that.
Harrell will leave Thursday for Cleveland, Hamby will leave Thursday for Washington, and Charbonnet will head out for Chicago.
“It’ll depend on what happens this weekend,” Harrell’s father, Sam, said of Graham Harrell’s invitation from the Browns. “He’s going to have to do something to impress them enough for them to invite him to training camp.”
Charbonnet, a first-team All-Big 12 safety last season, said his invitation from the Bears is along the same lines.
“I have to perform well, and hopefully they’ll see enough in me to give me a contract,” Charbonnet said.
The Bears took a safety on Sunday in the sixth round of the NFL draft and signed another as a free agent.
“There’s definitely going to be competition,” Charbonnet said. “I just need to take care of what I can control and perform to the best of my ability.”
At the Redskins’ weekend minicamp, Hamby said he will ”have to pretty much try out against three other centers.
“I don’t have a problem with doing that type of thing,” he said. “It’s not a big deal to me. We’ll know where I stand here pretty soon.”
Harrell was projected to go late in the draft or not at all. Still, on Sunday he had to deal with the reality of being bypassed despite being a two-time 5,000-yard passer in college.
“It’s good,” Sam Harrell said of his son’s mood. “He’s disappointed in what’s taken place, but he’s also excited about his chance to go. That’s what he wanted all along was his chance to perform.”
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Go show em what you got kid!!! Stop being this nice guy. This is the NFL – a bunch of a——s. Take charge and take care of your business.
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What about Rylan Reed? I assume his age held him back from being a solid prospect. He certainly did not have many peers at left tackle in college. Anybody know anything?
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That is part of the problem, they are nice guys and having a coach who is a jackass does not help their cause or the universitys either. But, well when the majority of folks in Lubbock are merely DRONES nothing will change…
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That’s it? I expected more details from Don on these players. Harrell and Charbonnet seemed to have been bypassed for reasons I can’t understand. I understand that certain systems allows players to overacheive. But to overachieve consistently means you’ve got something. Ask Wes Welker.
Good luck to all three invitees–I have seen many less capable players start on Sundays.
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Although its screwy that Harrell didn’t get picked over the 12 best QB in the Big 12 (who hardly even played last year), he isn’t mobile enough to be a scrambler and he isn’t big enough to be a pocket passer in the NFL. Even the most immobile of QB’s, Peyton Manning, is 6′5″ 235 lbs, which is a giant compared to Graham (6′1″ 210lbs). #6 will always be a Tech legend, but his legacy will be continued on the sidelines as a QB Coach, then O-Coordinator, then Head Coach (Hopefully for TTU). On a side note, I think Taylor Potts has the best chance of being a drafted player. He’ll be able to put up the same crazy numbers as all the rest of the Tech QB’s but he has the size 6′5 230 to play as a pocket passer in the NFL.
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Not a good sign for a big-time high school QB looking to come to Tech. You can be a 3 year starter, put up PlayStation numbers, and still not get drafted? Why would a kid that wants to play QB in the NFL go to Tech and run Leach’s offense?
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If you play for Leach he will expect you to take care of business in the classroom. Coaches that promise players they will help them get in the NFL are deceptive. Graham WAS a big-time QB out of high school. What hurt him was the all star game, slowest speed of all QB’s in the draft, and a poor Cotton Bowl outing. Theisman bashing Big 12 offenses didn’t help, but may have been true. A case of what have you done for me lately.
I hope Harrell gets a fair shot and proves all naysayers wrong. He was part of a very special year on and off the field. All seniors graduated and I don’t see Leach getting credit for that . Taylor Potts has the size and should he be 3/4’s as successful as Harrell, he will be drafted.
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Sounds to me like you three need to finish school (if you haven’t) and get a job in coaching or what your degree calls for.
There are lot less bumps and cuts if your working outside of the NFL.
It will be hard pressed for any of you to be more than scout team players.
There’s no shame in not making it, Zebbie can tell you that.
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“Not a good sign for a big-time high school QB looking to come to Tech. You can be a 3 year starter, put up PlayStation numbers, and still not get drafted? Why would a kid that wants to play QB in the NFL go to Tech and run Leach’s offense”?
Do your math…the probabilities of playing QB in the NFL no matter what system you come from are astronomical…it’s comparable to saying I want to win the lottery. So Bradford at OU has no shot with their fast break ‘O’. Idiot savant!
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All weekend I watched and prayed for Graham to be drafted…It was very painful to see all the QB’s drafted that did not even come close to Graham’s results. I have never met him but I have admired his work for the last three seasons. It is hard for me to believe that results and leadership does not count in the NFL. I know that there are big plans for Graham. Keep the faith…..
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harrell will play in the NFL.
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TECH had four players taken in the first four rounds. Very positive.
Which is better, 1) to be very successful in college football and not get drafted, or 2) to not be successful in college and get drafted? Graham is a WINNER, and will be successful no matter where life takes him!
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Kind of ironic after Leach’s comments on Mangina. The QB ratings of the Brown’s current stable should give Graham some hope.
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Graham’s stats don’t count, Why should he get “passing yards” for shuttle passes behind the line of scrimmage, quick screens, etc. These are “runs” by a different name. I saw the game against Nev. He showed poorly on deep balls.
More often than not, NFL quality players will get drafted. These is a reason why four TTU players were drafted and GH wasn’t. They don’t perceive him to be good enough. Maybe they are wrong, but I wouldn’t bet that way.,
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I got a grand idea. All these wannabes can be part of the Lubbock Windmills, an independent NFL-2 team.
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Facts are the OU game and the Bowl game and then the senior bowl killed Graham. he had three bad games and he did not show the leadership or drive to bring his teams back in any of these games.
I love tech, Leach and Graham, but sometimes a player has to put the team on his back and carry them……Graham did not seem to have the ability to do that at the end of the season.
Grahams size is also hurting him. NOW, josh fricking freeman is out of a spread offense and sucks all the way around-stephen mcgee has talent but who knows how much, at this point not as much as Graham. Stafford will be a rich splash in the pan. For my money i would have Graham on my roster. colts. pats and new orleans are perfect places for him.
By the WAY to the guy that was talking crap about kingsbury, cliff has a superbowl ring on his finger. he was able to be in a back up roll behind brady………..does vince have one?
Next leach’s system is no different than texas, florida and any other team that runs the spread. the things the nfl does not like about the spread are linked to all spread offenses, not just leach’s version.
Leach, good for you!!!!!!!! Stand up for your players and tell it like it is. You are right on.Al davis is a idiot.
As for as the dumb ass that said why would any qb want to go to tech? i cannot imagine what part of your brain is still working if any…….God, TECH is the best place in the world to play, or would you like to sit on the bench at Texas and never play and never get drafted. let’s look at when texas had a big time qb before vince and vince is an awful pro……..20-30 year dry spell come on……….
atm is a great place to recruit qb’s bucky richardson and the back up to elway——wow that’s exciting.
baylor-never mind, ou never mind,. osu never mind. colorado-slash never mind, ku mever mind. ksu-JOSH FRICKING FREEMAN-A JOKE, mizz-never mind……….
SO YOU TELL ME WOULD YOU RATHER THROW FOR 5000 YARDS 2 YEARS IN A ROW, BE ON THE COVER OF EVERY FOOTBALL MAGZINE THAT COUNTS OR BE A UNKNOWN OUTSIDE OF THE BIG 12……….
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Don’t knock Harrell or Leach’s “system”. Being a great college QB and a great NFL QB are two completely different things. Does the flop of Vince Young in NFL keep high school QBs from wanting to go to tu. No. Seems to me that Brady barely got drafted and set on the bench a couple of years before he became premier NFL caliber QB so Graham keep your head up and go show what you can do!!!!!!
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Wow, gig’em, that was really a well thought out post. Vince is putting up big numbers as a pro QB. Wait a minute, he got beat out by a 40 year-old guy. How’s your top QB recruit Childs doing? Sorry, I forgot, he’s so good he switched to WR. You guys have a large number of QB’s from TU and aTm starting in the NFL don’t you. Oops. wrong again, you don’t.
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One more thing for gig the horns. I was shocked, SHOCKED, to learn that not one NFL team had a starting QB from TU or aTm. Must be your “system.”
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why awaiting moderation?
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Did anyone notice at the Heisman Awards they didn’t spend much time going over stats?????
Graham has them all………..
It isn’t because of some fluky system or one great receiver, the boy can flat out play ball.
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Tech’s cry for compassion
By
Doug Pils
on Apr 28, 09 10:26 PM
Mike Leach shouldn’t be surprised that the NFL doesn’t think highly of his quarterbacks.
In fact, one would think the Plains Pirate had come to accept it.
It’s not like Graham Harrell, undrafted after three record-setting seasons for Texas Tech, had great tradition to lean on when it came to the NFL draft. The four guys who came before him since 2000 hadn’t exactly paved the way.
New Braunfels’ Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Sonny Cumbie and Cody Hodges have combined to throw for at least 234 touchdown passes since leaving Lubbock, but all of those have come on arena league or European football fields.
That didn’t stop Leach from saying “the truth of the matter is that the NFL drafts quarterbacks notoriously bad. That’s indisputable.”
In comparison, Mark Sanchez’s predecessors since 2000 at Southern California are Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and John David Booty. That’s a Bengals starter, a Cardinals backup and a Vikings third-stringer, not to mention a pair of Heisman winners.
Heck, Matt Cassel, who spent his time at USC as a backup, almost led the Patriots to the playoffs last year and will be the starter in Kansas City this fall.
That history and playing with legitimate hopes for the national title every year helped put Sanchez, the fifth overall choice by the Jets, in a good spot before even throwing a pass in his one year as the Trojans’ starter.
He also didn’t have the following pedigree to live down.
Kingsbury, an assistant on Kevin Sumlin’s staff at Houston last fall, was drafted in the sixth round in 2003 by New England and had the longest NFL stint. Aside from the Patriots, he was with Denver, the New York Jets, New Orleans and Buffalo, but threw only two regular-season passes. He completed one for 17 yards in Week 11 of 2005 for a four-win Jets squad.
Houston drafted Symons in 2004’s seventh round, but the guy with a 5.20-second 40-yard dash and without arm strength couldn’t stick there or in Chicago. He was last seen on the roster in Tampa Bay of the Arena Football League.
Cumbie has been an AFL star, throwing for 193 of those TD passes, including 83 in 2007 for the Los Angeles Avengers.
Hodges landed in af2, arena football’s secondary league. He played in 2007 with the Fort Wayne Fusion, but concussions cut that season short. One could assume it did the same to his career. I find no mention of him playing in 2008. His biggest impact has been speaking to elementary, middle and high school students about kindness and compassion in a program called Rachel’s Challenge.
So, if things don’t work out for Harrell in Cleveland, where he’s auditioning for a training camp spot, Cumbie might need a backup in 2010 when the AFL starts up again.
Or Harrell can see about making sure Hodges gives one of those speeches to Leach.
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Here’s an accurate explanation of the logic that lead to Harrell’s exclusion from the draft. You’ll really enjoy this one Mr. Aggie/Tea Sip.
http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/11688118
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Esteban, so how do you explain the failures of the other Tech QB’s to make it in the NFL ?
I bet Mike Leach thinks the Navy Seals are “clue less” after killing the PIRATES !
Leach is so smart !!
The NFL does not need qb’s who have no accuracy beyond 20 yards.
HELLO ARENA FOOTBALL !!
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I don’t recall any QB from Texas or A&M settin’ the NFL on fire either. Unless you wanna count Bobby Layne (’44-’47). Simms got close but he’s on his third team now.
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Esteban, no A&M qb has set the NFL on fire and no A&M coach or former qb is “bad mouthing” the NFL like Leach.
By the way, at least one former Aggie QB is an NFL head coach…just look at the Houston Texans.
Like I said…..say hello to Arena Football Graham.
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Rick Lattimer great post! You forgot Chance Mock and the tall goofy blonde haired kid whose Dad played in the NFL. also Major Apple Dumpling Gang. Fact none have made good anything after not graduating from UT. Ricky “weed” Williams or Cedrick “Stoner” Benson have been so so. Earl The Pearl was the real deal though!
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Jeff, you’re a complete idiot and obviously just jealous of Graham (and other former TTU QBs) and the success he’s enjoyed in college… especially when they get to play against that embarrasment of what A&M has called a team the last decade. Let me give you and all these other fools a little run down on your comment about the “failures of other Tech QBs in the NFL”… Kliff Kingsbury’s “failure” goes like this= Drafted in 6th round, had a 3 yr NFL career and made over $720,000. BJ Symons= drafted in 7th round and made over $400,000 in a year and a half. This was as 22 year old guys out of college!! These “failures” owns multiple homes and condos in Houston, Lubbock and Dallas… PS- These figures also don’t include tens of thousands they made in marketing/ endorsements on things such as football cards and autographed pictures dorks like you beg them to sign and then try reselling on ebay to your rediculous “Gig Em” nation to pay for things like Franchione’s “insider” website, guy cheerleader uniforms, and Sherman’s underachieving contract.
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Past, Current, or Future Tech QBs= AFL 2nd stringers, sideline reporters for Tech Talk or a ghost job at Tech. Not a bad deal…all anyone of them needs to do is entertain the farmers and the holy rollers.
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Graham accomplished everything in college…….and it did not help him get drafted in the NFL.
Even you (EB) could throw the 5 yard slant pattern pass to Crabtree.
Say hello to Arena Football Graham because it is a perfect fit.
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What is it that A&M and UT duds enter TTU space just to bash the Raiders? The remark one made about Symons 5.2-second 40 and weak arm is out of line. He was injured late in his senior season, but came back to lead Tech to a bowl win. He had a great arm and could throw the ball downfield for over 70 yards. His immobility hurt his chances ans he just never came back strong enough after the injury. Kingsbury, the first of Leach’s QB’s was highly inteligent and an excellent quarterback. His lack of a strong arm did do him in over the long run, though. The other two were good college QB’s but just have not been able to adapt to the pro-style game, which is true. The four mentioned were not rated out of high school or college on th same level as Harrell, who has all the tools, including the size, arm strength and inteligence to succed in the NFL. Give him a chance. As for the QB;s from UT and A&M making it in the pros, the only one who did do well was UT’s Bobby Layne. The only A&M QB to stick was Gary Kubiak, a career backup, but a very good coach, I think. None from the post-2000 teams have done anything outstandin, not even Vince Young. He may, but not yet. Mike Leach has grown as a coach (maybe sometimes a little mouthy, but still a good coach) to the point he will place really good, even great teams on the field for many years ahead. Check back in 10 years to see how former Tech players are doing in the pros then, because they are going to get a lot better.
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Like Leach will even be there in 10 years.
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Aggies must be bored. They could only wish they had a coach like Leach, or our 3rd string QB’s. Baylor finally gets a rival in Baylor.
How many aggies got drafted?
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Hey Pirate, I took your money and laughed.
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There have been a few Texas Tech players stick around and make “Scout Teams”, after their try-outs at minicamps.
I say go for it, who knows, one or all of you may get lucky…….
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I have to admit I am amazed at how Longhorn Fans can not get over the 39-33 score. Guys you lost. UT has one thing to hang their head on the highest arrest rate of any program in the Big 12.
Now that UT is addressed next is A&M .You guys are the new laughing stock of the BIG 12. I am elated that you boring bunch of Skinheads, thought you had a coup when you hired Fran and Coach Sherman. With all the resources A&M has common sense is not one. I am glad to have a Coach that has the highest graduation rate in the Big 12 and wins, baby he just wins. Guess what he coaches and stands up for his players as someone that played football for 15 years, I always wanted a coach that had my back.
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