Merry Christmas Michael Clayton and Marcus Spears
This year we're spending Christmas with my wife's family, and I am reminded of my first Louisiana Christmas.
It was December 2000, and we had been married only six months. It was, obviously, the first time I had spent a Christmas away from my immediate family. My indelible memory, though, is of my father-in-laws euphoria over two high school football recruits who committed to play for LSU that week.
The key to this story is to remember just what football means to a Southerner. To quote the G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised in the South) book, there are four seasons: Recruiting, Spring Training, Practice and Football.
LSU was in the process of building the team that would win the 2003 BCS National Championship. The Tigers were coming off a good year and headed to the Peach Bowl. The week of Christmas, however, Nick Saban landed two of his biggest recruits -- Marcus Spears and Michael Clayton. Both Clayton and Spears were ranked as five-star players coming out of high school in Baton Rouge.
Generally speaking, I put only a little bit of faith in high school player rankings. Highly ranked players often make good on their potential, but just as often they can fail to live up to the hype. Clayton and Spears, however, have lived up to the potential. Both players were major contributors in their time at LSU and played predominant roles in the championship season. Clayton, who declared for the NFL draft after his junior year at LSU, is now in his second season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Spears is a rookie for the Dallas Cowboys. So, in hindsight, landing these two players was a big deal for Saban and LSU.
Where this story becomes a light-hearted memory is the reaction of my over-joyed father-in-law. "Clayton and Spears, Momma. We got Clayton and Spears," he would say over and over again. "Clayton and Spears, Momma. We got Clayton and Spears!"
So Merry Christmas Michael Clayton and Marcus Spears. Thanks for helping make my first Christmas with my wife and her family a memorable one.
It was December 2000, and we had been married only six months. It was, obviously, the first time I had spent a Christmas away from my immediate family. My indelible memory, though, is of my father-in-laws euphoria over two high school football recruits who committed to play for LSU that week.
The key to this story is to remember just what football means to a Southerner. To quote the G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised in the South) book, there are four seasons: Recruiting, Spring Training, Practice and Football.
LSU was in the process of building the team that would win the 2003 BCS National Championship. The Tigers were coming off a good year and headed to the Peach Bowl. The week of Christmas, however, Nick Saban landed two of his biggest recruits -- Marcus Spears and Michael Clayton. Both Clayton and Spears were ranked as five-star players coming out of high school in Baton Rouge.
Generally speaking, I put only a little bit of faith in high school player rankings. Highly ranked players often make good on their potential, but just as often they can fail to live up to the hype. Clayton and Spears, however, have lived up to the potential. Both players were major contributors in their time at LSU and played predominant roles in the championship season. Clayton, who declared for the NFL draft after his junior year at LSU, is now in his second season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Spears is a rookie for the Dallas Cowboys. So, in hindsight, landing these two players was a big deal for Saban and LSU.
Where this story becomes a light-hearted memory is the reaction of my over-joyed father-in-law. "Clayton and Spears, Momma. We got Clayton and Spears," he would say over and over again. "Clayton and Spears, Momma. We got Clayton and Spears!"
So Merry Christmas Michael Clayton and Marcus Spears. Thanks for helping make my first Christmas with my wife and her family a memorable one.
posted by russell at 6:05 PM
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