I Blame Kelley Washington For This Whole Mess

#26
#26
Sheik Yerbouti said:
He was a 22-year-old freshman in 2001 who lit the world on fire. It was obvious that he was going to be a team leader, and that the younger guys were going to look up to him. Then he appears on the cover of ESPN magazine, calling himself "The Future", and the 2002 Vols lost 5 games. the whole team was awash with hubris and self-centeredness that season. Washington's attitude was awful in 2002, and we had several other bad apples at about that time as well. for example, after the 2002 Georgia loss, Clausen spouts off: "If I'd played in that game, we would have won by at least a couple of touchdowns . . . I could have played on one arm and we probably could have definitely beat Georgia." Obnoxious.

I've seen the argument made that 2002 was the bump in the road that should have alerted everyone to the pending collapse. Well, in my opinion, Kelley Washington was the force that started the ball rolling. If he had been more mature, more humble, and a better leader, who knows what would have happened.

Of course, it was Fulmer's responsibility to correct these kinds of attitude problems... so, there's that.

Anyway, I'm just a guy on the internet. What do I know?
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Alrighty then
 
#27
#27
It's not really Washington's fault; he's a symptom of the larger problem. Washington is exhibit number 1 in my case that Phil Fulmer is not a very strong leader, however. Before Cutcliffe cam back on staff, E. Ainge was walking around dressed in stupid pimp suits and wearing flashy jewelery. He also sucked at football. Cutcliffe turned that around pretty quick and, regardless of whether you really like Ainge, he did seem to benefit from Cutcliffe's leadership.

Fulmer is an "aw shucks" type, and he doesn't seem to be able to control his players. If your fumble-prone, painfully slow, Senior running back is yelling at you on the sideline, you bench him and play one of your other talented backs. It's not all that difficult. I've no idea why Fulmer handles things the way he does, but I would not have played Kelley Washington a single down in the first couple of games if I had been head coach in 2002. I'd bench Foster now. How else are these kids going to learn?

I have no idea how you go about benching the Mustang Package...
 
#28
#28
Yeah with that prevent defense it took about 6 seconds for UGA to march 50 years, I remember that. I remember at the end of the 01 season when SOS quit, the media was annointing Fulmer leader of the pack.
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I wont put it on one possession of the Georgia game as we lost a close one and came back to win at Florida.

The second half of the SECG was a total team collapse that showed no heart on both sides of the ball. That is the epitome of todays team. I dont think the program has recovered from that game.
 
#29
#29
Sheik Yerbouti said:
It's not really Washington's fault; he's a symptom of the larger problem. Washington is exhibit number 1 in my case that Phil Fulmer is not a very strong leader, however. Before Cutcliffe cam back on staff, E. Ainge was walking around dressed in stupid pimp suits and wearing flashy jewelery. He also sucked at football. Cutcliffe turned that around pretty quick and, regardless of whether you really like Ainge, he did seem to benefit from Cutcliffe's leadership.

Fulmer is an "aw shucks" type, and he doesn't seem to be able to control his players. If your fumble-prone, painfully slow, Senior running back is yelling at you on the sideline, you bench him and play one of your other talented backs. It's not all that difficult. I've no idea why Fulmer handles things the way he does, but I would not have played Kelley Washington a single down in the first couple of games if I had been head coach in 2002. I'd bench Foster now. How else are these kids going to learn?

I have no idea how you go about benching the Mustang Package...
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i just looked at sheik yourbouti:lolabove: wonder if there is a wife named shait yourpanti
 
#31
#31
Sheik Yerbouti said:
He was a 22-year-old freshman in 2001 who lit the world on fire. It was obvious that he was going to be a team leader, and that the younger guys were going to look up to him. Then he appears on the cover of ESPN magazine, calling himself "The Future", and the 2002 Vols lost 5 games. the whole team was awash with hubris and self-centeredness that season. Washington's attitude was awful in 2002, and we had several other bad apples at about that time as well. for example, after the 2002 Georgia loss, Clausen spouts off: "If I'd played in that game, we would have won by at least a couple of touchdowns . . . I could have played on one arm and we probably could have definitely beat Georgia." Obnoxious.

I've seen the argument made that 2002 was the bump in the road that should have alerted everyone to the pending collapse. Well, in my opinion, Kelley Washington was the force that started the ball rolling. If he had been more mature, more humble, and a better leader, who knows what would have happened.

Of course, it was Fulmer's responsibility to correct these kinds of attitude problems... so, there's that.

Anyway, I'm just a guy on the internet. What do I know?
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Nothing????

I hate the way of pomposity and I hated the way some of the Vol nation pulled the rug from under the feet of Kelly in the Georgia game.

I hate the way some will trade a slab of common concrete for a ride on a magic carpet.

"If I'd played in that game, we would have won by at least a couple of touchdowns . . . I could have played on one arm and we probably could have definitely beat Georgia." Obnoxious.

He stated the truth. As one great man once told me, most people don't want to hear the truth.

Winston Churchill said the same;

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth but most pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened."

Washington had no attitude problem, he had a sense of humor, defensive backs would try to talk smack with him and he would lay stuff on them that they didn't catch until two or three plays later.

Obnoxious is for any fan to ask any and/or all players to take all sorts of public abuse and then say nothing about it in public.

Now that is what I call OBNOXIOUS (as well as a few other choice word phrases.)
 
#32
#32
GAVol said:
IMO, the criticism of Kelley Washington is way overblown.
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I don't know that it was overblown, but he is far from being the only player like that in Fulmer's time as head coach.

Back to the OP's point, I think a lot of it started in '99.
 
#33
#33
I never was upset with Clausen's claim on the Georgia loss. When any team starts with a back up QB, reason would tell your that that will hurt the offense. And, I think it safe to say had UCLA had their 1st QB in the game would have not been even close. We would have had to come from behind!
 
#35
#35
volsforever27 said:
I don't know that it was overblown, but he is far from being the only player like that in Fulmer's time as head coach.

Back to the OP's point, I think a lot of it started in '99.
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Keep your hands upon the wheel and your eyes upon the road when you're not staring at your rear view.

Flathead said:
I never was upset with Clausen's claim on the Georgia loss. When any team starts with a back up QB, reason would tell your that that will hurt the offense. And, I think it safe to say had UCLA had their 1st QB in the game would have not been even close. We would have had to come from behind!
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We had no back up QB was the problem.

I don't agree with your take on the Bruin game either.
 
#36
#36
The most idiotic idea in the history of VolNation.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#37
#37
GAVol said:
What did he ever really do that was so wrong? It was ridiculous that the whole "Future" thing somehow became controversial.
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Did I mention the future thing? I mean his whole overall attitude, plus the fact he was bragging about going to the NFL while Florida was pounding them.
gsvol said:
Keep your hands upon the wheel and your eyes upon the road when you're not staring at your rear view.
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No one cares.
 
#38
#38
Peerless Price had ten times the ego. He really hurt the Vols, didn't he?
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#39
#39
kptvol said:
Peerless Price had ten times the ego. He really hurt the Vols, didn't he?
Posted via VolNation Mobile
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Point to me where I said that Kelley Washington was the lone cause of UT's problems, then or now. He was an example of a bigger problem.

I'm not blaming him as much as some of you seem to think, but I don't think he's totally blameless either. Then and now, there's enough blame to go around.
 
#40
#40
volsforever27 said:
Point to me where I said that Kelley Washington was the lone cause of UT's problems, then or now. He was an example of a bigger problem.

I'm not blaming him as much as some of you seem to think, but I don't think he's totally blameless either. Then and now, there's enough blame to go around.
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I was mainly referring to the original poster. Kelley played about 1.25 seasons for UT and played phenomenally during that period. His responsibility for the current situation is minimal.
 
#42
#42
UT sucked in 2002 for a whole lot of reasons.

Nearly every offensive linemen was injured
Young, untalented defensive line
Early season-ending injuries to Kevin Burnett and Kevin Simon
Midseason injury to Julian Battle
Kelley Washington's injury
Casey Clausen's injury
Plan B, CJ Leak, was horrible
Cedric Houston's injury
Inability to properly utilize Jason Witten
Lack of experienced receivers

Honestly, there were several more injuries. We lost a few games we could've won, but we just weren't a very good team with all the above taken into account.
 
#43
#43
I think you make a good point. Sure it's the coaches place to deal with prima donna's, and bad attitudes, etc. Until Washington all of Fulmer's big play guys seemed to be pretty stand-up guys. Including Clausen until Washington started hanging out with him.
 
#44
#44
Flathead said:
I never was upset with Clausen's claim on the Georgia loss. When any team starts with a back up QB, reason would tell your that that will hurt the offense. And, I think it safe to say had UCLA had their 1st QB in the game would have not been even close. We would have had to come from behind!
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the thing is, if clausen would have played in that game, we probably would have won.
 
#46
#46
kptvol said:
I was mainly referring to the original poster. Kelley played about 1.25 seasons for UT and played phenomenally during that period. His responsibility for the current situation is minimal.
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He played well in 2001. That's it. He stayed hurt in 2002, and was one of many distractions during that time. He has no effect on today's problems, he is just one of many examples of what has happened since '99.
 
#47
#47
volsforever27 said:
He played well in 2001. That's it. He stayed hurt in 2002, and was one of many distractions during that time. He has no effect on today's problems, he is just one of many examples of what has happened since '99.
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He played in 2002 until being injured against UGA. He played well up to that point. I really don't see why an injured wide receiver should be a distraction for a college football team. Kelley had nothing to do with any loss during the 2002 season.
 
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