Sounds to me like Lee "using LSU" is total supposition. I guess it could be the case, but seems a bit far fetched. There was no reason to believe that LA would come near this kind of $ given their history. And the kid was not a marginal QB prospect. He was legit. It's just as likely that he saw the explosion of LSU pitching injuries and decided he wanted no part of that. But even that is a conspiracy theory. Maybe Dr Evil is nowhere to be found. Sometimes sh!t happens.
While Lee did get alot of money from baseball he got chump change compared to what he would have gotten had he been a top rate QB. Players like this get insurance policies all the time to protect them in college. Even this AM, I still think that Zac Lee while smiling about his bank account is wondering what could have been and loves football more than baseball. We will never know for sure and will move on as he will.:geaux:
i agree. and back at the time, everyone thought zl was a lock. i have heard from a few places that garrett was not wanting to take reps and put in the work needed. if that is the case, do we really want that kind of attitude leading on the field? doesnt sound conducive to success. sums it all up perfectly to me. i think he did want to be at lsu, unless he got something he couldnt refuse. an amount that the dodgers were not known to offer up. if anyone thinks no matter how much he wanted to be at lsu he could turn down that big an offer, they need their head examined. miles gambled and he lost. but had he not gone after zl and the kid land at another school and not sign to play mlb.... whooo boy. i can hear some of the "critiques" now. miles would have been strung up for not taking the chance. and nootch mentioned it earlier. who would have come in with zl as a qb recruit? who would have been willing to be the 5th qb on scholly? should clm have tried harder to find one? in hindsight, yes. but would any have been willing? all of that post was good. go back and read the past few months in this and recruiting threads. no one believed the dodgers would ante up. i still say f' em cause they picked a hell of a time to change their cheapskate ways. i think he intended on staying unless the dodgers found the magic number. a number, which btw, was ridiculously high, especially for the dodgers. given the kid turned down an offer earlier in the day most would have jumped at, i think it indicates he knew he could be happy at lsu and it was gonna take a hell of a lot to get him away. not impossible, just a hell of a lot. i wish the kid success. however, i hope the dodgers implode as an organization and have so much bad gris gris thrown on them they will never shake it off. i hope it makes the goat curse on the cubs look like childs play.
true. we are all focusing on his college fb career. there was a baseball one also. in either one he could get injured and it end a mlb career. and yes kids get insurance. but insurance cant come close to what the kid can make. so when over 5mil (shyt, thats a lot) was thrown at the kid, how could he refuse? from all indications about this kids character, he wasnt just thinking of his future, he likely saw this as a way to give some insurance to his family for the future. i dont think any kid trying to do the responsible and right thing would turn that offer down. to turn down an earlier offer of over 2 mil took cajones that most on this board wouldnt have.
Hardly true. MLB pitchers get paid. Example: CC Sabathia, NYY 2009-15 $23,000,000 Johan Santana, NYM 2008-13 $22,916,667 Carlos Zambrano, Cubs 2008-12 $18,300,000 Barry Zito, SF 2007-13 $18,000,000 Jason Schmidt, LAD 2007-09 $15,666,667 These salaries are per year. The chances of him getting hurt in the two sports are not even close. Longevity is far greater in baseball. And it would have been at least 4 years before he had a chance to be one of maybe 2-3 QBs in the draft that would have gotten a multi-million $ deal. Added to that, not much of a learning curve for the jump to MLB. He has 3 stellar pitches already. Lots to learn to succeed in college @ QB and then again in the NFL. Let's face it, these reasons are why most kids sign when we are only taking about a few hundred thousand, not $5+ million. Lee made the right choice, and anyone who claims they would have picked LSU/football over this contract is full of it.
As much as I would have liked to see him suit up in purple and gold, Lee did the right thing. It's a no-brainier. He's always kind of maintained that they would have to offer him something huge, and they did. There's no doubt in my mind that part of him wanted to stay and play football, but when that kind of money is staring you in the face for doing something you love to do, you have to jump on it. People don't typically come across those opportunities very often in life, if at all. It was win/win for him as I don't think he figured they would offer him that much.
I don't blame the kid. I would have taken the money also. No question. That being said, I would have signed instead with Alabama. That way, I would have had a multi-million dollar offer from a booster to weigh against the Dodgers offer.
Will someone please find the phone number of Navy's offensive coordinator and give it to Les Miles? Considering our depth and skill level at the QB and RB positions, handing the ball off or running the option 60 times a game may be more successful than running the plays currently in the books.
