Pumchavas28
08-20-2006, 11:07 AM
Wow... saw this on-line...... Oliver pretty much says what we have said in the past about the comparison between McGee & McNeil, but I don't remeber anyone writing about it in a News Paper.
The part of McNeil on the Cell just laughing with someone when we were about to lose really pissed me off!!!!!
Richard Oliver: A&M has true leader in McGee
Web Posted: 08/20/2006 12:22 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
As the second half of last November's showdown against Texas bled away, along with Texas A&M's hopes for an upset, several Aggies in the stands behind the team's bench at Kyle Field noticed injured quarterback Reggie McNeal whooping it up.
And not in the school's traditional, good-bull kind of way.
:mad: McNeal, chipper as a yell leader, joked with teammates and chatted on his cell phone as the clock wound down on an eventual 40-29 loss to A&M's bitter rival. The moment, as much as any during a miserable 2005 campaign, symbolized something significant.
It was time for a change.
The evidence of it played out on and off the field against the eventual national champions. As the record-setting star counted down his final moments on the team in a No. 1 jersey and jeans, adding up his mobile minutes, his replacement was showcasing a gift that McNeal never seemed to fully possess.
Leadership. :gig:
:gig: Welcome to Stephen McGee's sideline. If you're looking for giggles, you're in the wrong place.
It's serious business these days in Aggieland, and there's reason for it. Underachievement has become as familiar a part of the landscape as thumbs, and the A&M populace has treated the development in stark contrast to McNeal's joviality.
That shrill barking you're hearing is not coming from Reveille. http://www.aggiefans.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif
The school and its alumni have funneled millions of dollars into the football infrastructure and personnel, including a new indoor practice facility and healthy salary for head coach Dennis Franchione, and most feel a return on the investment is knocking on overdue.
Enter McGee, a blue-collar worker who has won over teammates and fans with a fondness for treating adversity with a stiff back and lowered helmet. His tenacity, honed at Class 3A Burnet, has earned him comparisons to former Aggies quarterbacks Randy McCown and Bucky Richardson, celebrated as much for being firebrands as footballers on the field.
In their worlds, arm strength and savvy are nice enough, but nothing works better on occasion than a heaping dose of ornery.
McNeal, a second-day draft pick in April of the Cincinnati Bengals, always has operated in a different gear, preferring to lead with his actions instead of his words. A player who could chew up turf with thoroughbred ease often declined to chew out a teammate when needed.
"I'm humble, cool, quiet, just try to stay cool with everybody," he told the Cincinnati Enquirer recently. "I don't want any animosity with anybody."
Indeed, welcome to McNeal's new sideline. He's now a wide receiver.
As for animosity, A&M is coming off a 5-6 season and is 16-19 in three years under Franchione. It has become College Stagnation, and history dictates that some of the hungry fandom there is eyeing the head coach like Bevo at a barbecue.
Yet, the Aggies are positioned nicely for a rebound, thanks to a non-conference schedule that ranks right up there with warm cookies and milk, a reconstructed defense and a sophomore quarterback who toured campus last year in a black Chevy SUV that sported a bumper sticker for the school on one side and, fittingly, one for the Texas Trophy Hunters Association on the other.
Unlike McNeal, who floundered last season in A&M's restructured offense, McGee appears to understand the subtleties required of the option attack. He also understands so much more than the playbook.
At the A&M spring game two years ago, the small-school quarterback, only weeks removed from an early high school graduation, introduced himself by taking an explosive hit from linebacker Keelan Jackson, then vaulting back to his feet to yap in the senior's face.
At the recent Big 12 football meetings, Franchione recalled another collision in a recent practice, when McGee lowered a shoulder and bulldozed into defensive leader Justin Warren, 40 pounds heavier. The confrontation sparked a brief scrum on the field, and left the quarterback grinning.
"We need a little fire," McGee said later, "and a little heart."
It was time for a change.
The part of McNeil on the Cell just laughing with someone when we were about to lose really pissed me off!!!!!
Richard Oliver: A&M has true leader in McGee
Web Posted: 08/20/2006 12:22 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
As the second half of last November's showdown against Texas bled away, along with Texas A&M's hopes for an upset, several Aggies in the stands behind the team's bench at Kyle Field noticed injured quarterback Reggie McNeal whooping it up.
And not in the school's traditional, good-bull kind of way.
:mad: McNeal, chipper as a yell leader, joked with teammates and chatted on his cell phone as the clock wound down on an eventual 40-29 loss to A&M's bitter rival. The moment, as much as any during a miserable 2005 campaign, symbolized something significant.
It was time for a change.
The evidence of it played out on and off the field against the eventual national champions. As the record-setting star counted down his final moments on the team in a No. 1 jersey and jeans, adding up his mobile minutes, his replacement was showcasing a gift that McNeal never seemed to fully possess.
Leadership. :gig:
:gig: Welcome to Stephen McGee's sideline. If you're looking for giggles, you're in the wrong place.
It's serious business these days in Aggieland, and there's reason for it. Underachievement has become as familiar a part of the landscape as thumbs, and the A&M populace has treated the development in stark contrast to McNeal's joviality.
That shrill barking you're hearing is not coming from Reveille. http://www.aggiefans.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif
The school and its alumni have funneled millions of dollars into the football infrastructure and personnel, including a new indoor practice facility and healthy salary for head coach Dennis Franchione, and most feel a return on the investment is knocking on overdue.
Enter McGee, a blue-collar worker who has won over teammates and fans with a fondness for treating adversity with a stiff back and lowered helmet. His tenacity, honed at Class 3A Burnet, has earned him comparisons to former Aggies quarterbacks Randy McCown and Bucky Richardson, celebrated as much for being firebrands as footballers on the field.
In their worlds, arm strength and savvy are nice enough, but nothing works better on occasion than a heaping dose of ornery.
McNeal, a second-day draft pick in April of the Cincinnati Bengals, always has operated in a different gear, preferring to lead with his actions instead of his words. A player who could chew up turf with thoroughbred ease often declined to chew out a teammate when needed.
"I'm humble, cool, quiet, just try to stay cool with everybody," he told the Cincinnati Enquirer recently. "I don't want any animosity with anybody."
Indeed, welcome to McNeal's new sideline. He's now a wide receiver.
As for animosity, A&M is coming off a 5-6 season and is 16-19 in three years under Franchione. It has become College Stagnation, and history dictates that some of the hungry fandom there is eyeing the head coach like Bevo at a barbecue.
Yet, the Aggies are positioned nicely for a rebound, thanks to a non-conference schedule that ranks right up there with warm cookies and milk, a reconstructed defense and a sophomore quarterback who toured campus last year in a black Chevy SUV that sported a bumper sticker for the school on one side and, fittingly, one for the Texas Trophy Hunters Association on the other.
Unlike McNeal, who floundered last season in A&M's restructured offense, McGee appears to understand the subtleties required of the option attack. He also understands so much more than the playbook.
At the A&M spring game two years ago, the small-school quarterback, only weeks removed from an early high school graduation, introduced himself by taking an explosive hit from linebacker Keelan Jackson, then vaulting back to his feet to yap in the senior's face.
At the recent Big 12 football meetings, Franchione recalled another collision in a recent practice, when McGee lowered a shoulder and bulldozed into defensive leader Justin Warren, 40 pounds heavier. The confrontation sparked a brief scrum on the field, and left the quarterback grinning.
"We need a little fire," McGee said later, "and a little heart."
It was time for a change.