40 Acres Sports

After testing the NBA draft waters Longhorns guard [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] has made the decision to return to Texas for his senior season. AJ made the announcement at a press conference today, the last day he could withdraw his name and retain his eligibility.

He had a few workouts with NBA teams but was not invited to the league’s pre-draft camp and it was clear he would not be drafted. Returning to Texas will allow AJ to get his degree while also improving his chances of playing professional basketball. He’s not going to be the team’s starting point guard but he’ll likely have more ball handling responsibilities and at least a chance to prove he’s more than just a spot up shooter.

Watch video of an excerpt from AJ’s press conference and comments from Kevin Durant and [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] below:

Welcome back AJ.

Another Topps photo shoot video interview, this time with former Texas wide receiver [tag]Limas Sweed[/tag]. I think Limas is going to be a steal for Pittsburgh in the middle of the second round. I don’t know how many passes he’ll catch in his rookie season but it won’t be long before he’s a favorite of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Watch the interview below:

Limas is pretty comfortable in front of the camera and seems like a nice, intelligent young man. I love the fact that he’s learning the “geetar” and that he thinks an Audioslave song from 2002 is kinda an older song you might not know.

Name: Deon Beasley #7
Position: Cornerback
Hometown: Orange, TX (West Orange Stark)
HS Rating:

Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 175 lbs
Class: Junior

Background

Deon Beasley is one of Texas’ top young defensive backs. Played as a nickel back in his first two seasons and expectations are sky high that he’ll be the team’s next big time cornerback. He’s an incredible athlete with great speed, fluid hips, and good ball skills in coverage.

In high school Beasley was heavily recruited as an athlete after starring at West Orange Stark as a quarterback, receiver, and defensive back. He was recruited by Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Miami.

Career Stats

The Chiefs’ Derrick Johnson learns to adjust to life without dad. His first father’s day without him.

Steelers hold high expectations for Limas Sweed. Limas got fired from Blue Bell for falling into a vat of strawberry ice cream.

Name: Ryan Bailey #39
Position: Placekicker
Hometown: Austin, TX (Anderson)
HS Rating: NR

Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 205 lbs
Class: Senior

Background

Ryan Bailey was completely unknown to even the most die hard Texas fans before his gamewinning kick against Nebraska in 2006. The former walk-on kicker earned a scholarship the following season. An excellent student, Ryan was a first team Academic All-Big 12 selection in 2007 and is also a five-time member of Texas’ Athletics Director’s Honor Roll.

During his junior season Ryan connected on a school record 5 of 6 field goal attempts against Central Florida and scored 17 total points in the game. He kicked a career-long 52 yarder against Rice that same season in his only career attempt over 50 yards.

Career Stats

NFL rookie camp: Tony Hills. Interview with Tony about how things are going up in Pittsburgh.

Summer update: Rashad Bobino. Rashad recently graduated and is eager to get back to work.

Topps held a photo shoot recently to get shots of all the NFL rookies in their new uniforms. Former Longhorn running back [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] was one of the players on hand. It’s the first time I’ve seen Jamaal in a Kansas City Chiefs jersey.

They’ve posted a ton of interviews from the event on YouTube, many of which are disappointingly uninteresting. This age group just didn’t collect cards like mine did, plus football cards were never as popular as baseball.

Watch the interview with JC below:

Jamaal still isn’t exactly the world’s best public speaker but he’s gotten much more comfortable in interviews than when he first came to Texas.

Those can’t be regular sized shoulder pads by the way. He looks tiny.

Daniel Gibson has surgery on left ankle to remove bone spurs and loose cartilage. He should be ready for training camp.