40 Acres Sports

The McAllen Monitor is reporting that former Horn [tag]Ramonce Taylor[/tag] is headed to the Canadian Football League. Taylor will reportedly sign with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after playing in only one game in arenafootball2 with the Rio Grande Valley Dorados. Excellent news for Taylor as the CFL is definitely a step up from afl2, and living in Winnipeg certainly sounds better than living in Hidalgo, Texas.

No other confirmation of the story is available at this time.

Former Longhorn [tag]Ramonce Taylor[/tag] wasn’t drafted in last weekend’s NFL Draft, but his playmaking ability should get him at least a shot at making some NFL team. If the NFL doesn’t work out for Taylor, he could be headed towards the Arena Football League. Dallas Desperados coach Will McClay said his team would consider Taylor if he didn’t land with an NFL team.

There’s certainly a lot more money in the NFL, but the Arena League could be perfect for Ramonce. He’s got the versatility to play either running back or wide receiver and of course return kicks as well. Since AFL players must play both offense and defense, his athleticism and experience as a high school cornerback should prepare him to play on the other side of the ball.

The kid has definitely made some bad decisions, but for some reason I’m still rooting for him to get things figured out. Whether his shot comes in the NFL or the AFL, hopefully Ramonce makes the best of it.

Ramonce Taylor getting interest from Cowboys & Falcons. Hopefully he goes somewhere where he can focus on football and stay away from trouble.

ESPN NFL Draft expert Todd McShay doesn’t just predict the first round, or even the second round, he’s got a full seven-round mock draft up and available for ESPN Insiders. McShay has a lot of love for former Longhorns, with cornerback Aaron Ross and safety Mike Griffin going in the first round. Guard Justin Blalock and defensive end Tim Crowder then go in the early second round in his prediction.

Those aren’t the only Horns he’s high on, here’s how all the Longhorns faired in McShay’s draft:

Round 1

24. New England – [tag]Aaron Ross[/tag]
The Patriots never act as if they’re handcuffed by needs during draft weekend, but the Asante Samuel situation should increase their interest in this year’s cornerback crop. Ross lacks ideal man-to-man cover skills, but he has the size, instincts and playmaking ability to emerge as a difference-maker in the type of zone-heavy defensive scheme the Patriots run. Ross also can help in the return game, which adds to his value.

26. Philadelphia – [tag]Michael Griffin[/tag]
Although the Eagles certainly could use depth at several different positions, it’s hard to find a glaring weakness at any starting spot on their depth chart. One thing is certain: Philly will not be handcuffed by positions of need in this year’s draft. With that in mind, Griffin is a good value because he brings experience and versatility to the table after notching 250 tackles in his last two seasons at Texas.

Round 2

39. Atlanta – [tag]Justin Blalock[/tag]
42. San Francisco – [tag]Tim Crowder[/tag]

Round 3

92. Buffalo – [tag]Tarell Brown[/tag]

Round 4

106. Minnesota – [tag]Brian Robison[/tag]

Round 7

251. Jacksonville – [tag]Ramonce Taylor[/tag]

Ramonce Taylor can’t juke the questions from NFL scouts. The balancing excuse sounds like more BS to me.

Ramonce Taylor. Surprised to hear his name? Yeah, me too. But according to the ESPN Bottomline, [tag]Ramonce Taylor[/tag] has indeed decided to forgo his last two seasons of eligibility to enter the 2007 NFL Draft.

Is it just me, or does getting arrested for marijuana possession and then missing a whole year at Texas College due to academic eligibility not seem like what NFL scouts are looking for? Ramonce definitely has the athletic talent to play at the next level, I just hope that he can keep his head on his shoulders and forget about the past.

Texas running back Ramonce Taylor was arrested early this morning when police discovered five pounds of marijuana in his car. Five pounds is a lot more weed than you can claim is for personal use so Taylor could be facing second-degree felony charges. A large fight had broken out at a party near his hometown of Belton, Texas and sometime during/after the fight Taylor had the window to his vehicle broken. Taylor contacted the police to report the vandalism. When talking with police about his broken window, Taylor gave the officers permission to search his car.

While interviewing Taylor at a convenience store, deputies were told by other officers at the fight scene that Taylor had been involved and had threatened to return with a gun. Taylor was placed in handcuffs. Taylor told deputies he didn’t have a gun and gave them permission to search his vehicle. Deputies reported finding the bullet and the backpack with the marijuana.

Taylor’s lawyer, Buck Harris, says the weed wasn’t his and for now I believe him. I can’t imagine Taylor would call the police if he knew he had more than $3,000 worth of marijuana in the back of his car. The fact that his window was broken out also leads me to believe someone could have chunked the weed into his car to hide it as the cops were showing up at the party. If you’ve got a felony’s worth of drugs in your car, you don’t call to report a misdemeanor and than let the cops search you car. You get the heck out of there and worry about the $100 window some other time.

A bit of a conspiracy theory and orange-tinted glasses, but right now it actually seems more likely than the alternative.

As for Ramonce’s Longhorn football career it may be in trouble whether he’s guilty or not. This isn’t Taylor’s first time to make news for the wrong reasons and his return in the fall was already questionable. You can’t just lock yourself in your dorm room for four years, but if you’ve already got two strikes against you than you’ve got to be more careful where you party and who you hang out with. Reports had been leaking that he had gotten his grades in order, so if this incident turns out to be nothing then there’s still a chance he’ll be back. I imagine his status depends as much on what the Texas coaches think of him as a young man as it does on the outcome today’s events.

For Taylor’s sake I hope he gets things figured out. If he makes smart decisions (and stays away from poor decision making friends) he’ll have the chance to get a UT degree and set himself up for an NFL career

Mack Brown announced yesterday that running back [tag]Ramonce Taylor[/tag] would be excused from spring workouts so he can focus on academics. He’s not ineligible, but it sounds like he was headed down that path and Brown is trying to do what’s best for Taylor and the team now. “I felt like he needed to focus on his academic work,” Brown said. “He can now go work with [academic adviser] Brian Davis and his staff. We want him to have full focus on that, and we want him to understand it’s important for us that he do his work.”

Spring practice isn’t too important for most veterans, but if Taylor was hoping to earn his share of carries in a crowded backfield he’ll share with Jamaal Charles and Selvin Young in the Fall he needs to prove he could be an every down back. He needed to work on running more North/South and becoming a true running back instead of just a ridiculously talented athlete. Missing the spring won’t just effect Ramonce, RB/DE Henry Melton will be seeing a lot more time on the offensive side of the ball in Taylor’s absence. I was really looking forward to seeing what the physical freak could do chasing down quarterbacks instead of getting three carries a game buried in the running back depth chart.

Definitely a disappointment as Longhorn fans are expecing a lot out of Taylor next season and this will be a set back for him on the field. Hopefully the time off will allow him to get his studies in order so that he’s eligible in the fall.

Let’s see how this goes. I’ll post as often as I can stand to. Horns and Trojans are about to get underway.

BIG FREAKING GAME!

Did we win the coin toss, defer, and USC chose to kick? Will we receive to start both halves? Nevermind, the official said it wrong.

First Quarter

• Great deep kick and good coverage on Reggie Bush. Great start to the game for the Horns.
• Bush stopped for a loss on the game’s first play. Now let’s do that 60+ more times.
• Texas’ defense in the backfield with great penetration on the first 3 plays.
• Holy crap! [tag]Aaron Ross[/tag] fumbled the punt. Crap crap crap. Come on defense step up. Crap.
• Reggie Bush has no class. Hand the ball to the ref instead of flicking it up in the air after a 5 yard run. Let’s hope he actually gets ejected if he punches someone again this game.
• Too bad helmet-to-helmet contact isn’t illegal in college football. Plus [tag]Cedric Griffin[/tag] hit him in the chest.
• Stupid penalty by [tag]Robert Killebrew[/tag]. He seems to get one per game, let’s hope this is it. Come on D!
• Turnover costs the Horns 7 points. Game started off fantastically and then suddenly went downhill from there.

Texas 0, USC 7

• Let’s go Vince, get fired up.
• Looks like no huddle for the offense to start things off again this week. I like it.
• Poor spot on 2nd down leads to 4th and 1. [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] elects to go for it and Horns get nowhere. Turnover on downs at midfield. All the momentum is going USC’s way now. Defense has to make a big play here and get things back going Texas’ way.
• Apparently guy in charge of the clock doesn’t realize it should stop after incomplete passes.
• Freaking Rose Bowl and national championship and the clock breaks?
• Horns go to 3 down linemen on a 3rd and long. Interesting look.
• Texas makes the stop but a face mask on Michael Huff gives USC the necessary yards for the first down.
• [tag]Drew Kelson[/tag] in the game early instead of [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag] (I think that’s who isn’t in there.) [tag]Gene Chizik[/tag] getting more speed on the field.
• [tag]Tarell Brown[/tag] has a pick go in and out of his hands.
• Reggie Bush gets about an extra 2 yards thanks to the generous spot. These simple plays need to be reviewed as much as any others.
• Another generous spot for Matt Leinart on the 4th down QB sneak but I still think they’re short. Come on!
• Horns stop them and get the ball back. Let’s go let’s go!
• Meanwhile ABC is on commercial break #26 after like two minutes of football.
• Bad play design or something as [tag]Billy Pittman[/tag] and [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] end up next to each other on pass routes. Complete to Pittman for the first though.
• Another freaking fumble. Charles bumps into David Thomas and just drops it. Crap. Lost 5 yards. Kills the offense’s momentum.
• Bud Light commercial featuring the “daredevil” are dumb.
• Lost takes such long hiatuses that they have to have recap shows by the time they come back.
• Interesting counter play from USC. Kind of a WR and FB counter instead of a GT counter.

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Rematch with a [tag]Colorado[/tag] team that the Longhorns handled easily back in mid-October. The Buffs were flying high then but they’re reeling now after two straight losses and backing into this game. They’re certainly a good enough football team that Texas can’t overlook them and just cruise through. They need to get up early and then just pour it on.

Give it up to ABC for actually managing to show the game in high definition, of course only ABC could manage to keep that a complete secret all week long. Seems like that might be the kind of thing that a network would want people to know to draw in viewers. This will be my first ever Texas game to watch in HD, it’ll be interesting to see if I can stand not being able to rewind and watch replays that ABC doesn’t bother to show.

First Quarter

• Colorado doesn’t run the option like Texas A&M does, but they definitely watched film of that game and Oklahoma State. They come out early and run a successful toss sweep for a first down. Texas defensive ends and linebackers must do a better job against the outside run.
• I don’t know what Robert Killebrew was just doing in pass coverage. Third and ten and he lets the Colorado TE get free for the reception. It was a zone defense but he and Aaron Harris were essentially holding hands in the middle of the field while leaving the flats wide open.
• Fumble! Michael Huff makes a sure tackle and forces the CU receiver to fumble the football. Big break for Texas.
• Designed run for Vince Young early to get him involved in the rushing attack. VY breaks a tackle and goes for 18. Good to see him running and fired up.
• Look who’s freaking back! Great scramble by Vince. Several good moves and then just plows over a tackler and takes it down to the one yard line.
• Henry Melton behind the right side of the line for the one yard touchdown. Horns get on the board first.

Texas 7, Colorado 0

• Time for the defense to answer. Offense game out and got early points, now we need the defense to get a quick stop.
• Why does the 25-yard line have special coloring? Isn’t it always the 20? The refs just spotted the ball in the wrong place after a touchback because of it.
• Huff all over the place early in the game and two CU dropped passes help the Horns force a three and out.
• That’s the first time I’ve heard anyone talk about Mack Brown’s lack of a conference title as a coach with any logic. There’s not a ton of excuses for not having one in his time at Texas, but in his previous stops at Tulane and North Carolina there’s not much hope of winning one.
• Jamaal Charles looks healthy and fast. Wooo! Just took an option pitch from Vince for a big gain.
• No huddle is great, but I kind of wish we’d huddle up for a third and 3 inside the 20 yard line.
• I’d much rather have the ball in Charles’ hands than Ramonce Taylor’s on a third and short. Much better at just getting down field and picking up the necessary yards.
• I just love having Jamaal Charles in the backfield. Simple and easy arrow route out of the backfield and he catches the pass for a touchdown.

Texas 14, Colorado 0

• Just a reminder to myself before I relax too much, Texas was up 14 – 0 against A&M last week too.
• Good kickoff coverage.
• Buffaloes are holding like mad men. The CU running back just used his legs to wrap up a guy in pass protection.
• Crap, Michael Huff is hurt. Maybe an arm or shoulder?
• Holy crap are we pathetic against the option. Joel Klatt looked half-retarded on the play but he managed to drunkenly stumble for a big gain.
• Now the other safety is on the ground hurt. Michael Griffin decided to lead with his helmet instead of wrapping up and making a sound tackle and hurt himself.
• More blocking with their legs by Colorado. I guess the refs are going to allow that crap today.
• Another option but this time the Texas defense actually plays it correctly. Linebacker slow-played Klatt and forced the pitch while giving the rest of the defense time to get out there.
• Big third and 11.
• If the guy in the Citi Simplicity commercial is paying his credit card online, why does he need a paper copy of the bill to make a payment?
• Looks like they have decided to stop Colorado’s constant holding, two calls against them in a row. Aaron Ross breaks up the pass and forces a field goal try.
• Blocked field goal!! Brian Robison got his white ass up and got a solid hand on it. Ross tries to pull a Nathan Vasher and picked up a ball he shouldn’t have for the return. Not a bad return by him but there’s an illegal block and Texas is backed up to their own 6.
• Crap. Limas Sweed doesn’t make the catch on what might have been pass interference and CU intercepts the pass. Crap.

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