SportsFanLive Reports

By DJ SIXSMITH
SportsFanLive.com

David Sills is just 13 but already knows where he will be attending college in 2015. The Delaware quarterback is headed to USC after verbally committing to a scholarship offer from head coach Lane Kiffin in February. The agreement made Sills the youngest athlete ever to verbally commit to a Division I school.

The rise in the number of athletes committing to a college at a younger age has become one of the hottest and most controversial topics in high school sports.

“It’s ridiculous. Most kids haven’t even kissed a girl and now they have to make a decision about where they want to play in college,” said MSG Varsity’s Mike Quick, who has 25 years of experience covering high school sports.

With the amount of pressure colleges are putting on athletes, recruiting can be so intense that the NCAA presented a proposal in June to push back the process to protect the younger high school players.

Created by the Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet, the new rule would ban colleges from making verbal -- or unofficial -- scholarship offers to recruits before July 1 in the summer between junior and senior year. In addition, athletes would be forced to provide coaches with academic records of at least five completed high school semesters.

There is a separate proposal to eliminate early verbal offers altogether, which would give coaches more time to evaluate players athletically and academically while also allowing students to thoroughly investigate the school.

The NCAA is hopeful that it can slow down the “arms-race mentality” that has led to earlier commitments by unproven prospects.

“When you’re in seventh grade, how can you make a commitment to college?” cabinet chairwoman Petrina Long said. “You don’t know physically if you’ll be ready. You can’t know.”

Although a decision will not be made on verbal commitments until January, the NCAA has already made progress in slowing down recruiting. Under a new rule, which went into effect in August, schools must wait until the fall of an athlete’s senior season to make an official scholarship offer. Schools had been allowed to make offers to high school players at the start of their junior year.

Under the old rule, this summer the Texas Longhorns would have already given official offers to the 22 football players who made verbal commitments last year for scholarships starting in the fall of 2011. But this year, Texas -- a school historically known for locking up high school juniors -- had to wait until the fall when those players became seniors before making its official offers.

“We try to look at the offer and the acceptance of a scholarship as that of an engagement between a couple,” Longhorns coach Mack Brown said in an email. “When you get engaged, you don't date other

people, and the commitment is firm as far as we are concerned. We will not withdraw a scholarship offer except in very unusual circumstances, and we expect the same from the student athletes.”

The personal relationship that Brown establishes with his recruits early in the process is just one of the many reasons why Jason Hickman, a reporter and editor for the high school sports website MaxPreps, believes that schools like Texas are able to get the top recruits in the country.

“With so much competition between schools, coaches are now recruiting two and three years down the line,” Hickman said. “The early recruiting allows them to get that worry out of the way and focus on winning.”

Time For Situations And Preferences To Change

The increase in earlier recruiting creates a greater likelihood that a deal between a school and player will not work out. Michael Avery’s story is indicative of that. Standing 6-foot-4 in eighth grade, Avery verbally committed to play basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats and head coach Billy Gillispie in 2008.

After Gillispie was fired in the spring of 2009 for breach of contract, Kentucky quickly backed out of the verbal agreement with Avery. Despite the breaking of the deal, Michael’s father, Howard, remains a proponent of keeping verbal commitments free from the proposed NCAA rule change.

“I would rather those kinds of decisions be left between the coach and family,” he said.

The accelerated recruiting, such as those of Sills and Avery, has put athletes in the position where they feel they cannot pass up an opportunity to sign. Consider Brendan Lesch, the soccer captain at Staples High School in Connecticut.

The striker went to visit Notre Dame on a snowy Tuesday in January and a month later made his verbal commitment. A part of Lesch’s recruiting process since early December, Staples head coach Dan Woog said jumping on a sure thing is why players make such a quick decision.

“The fear is that many involved feel the opportunity will come and go and if they don’t commit, the opportunity will slip away,” Woog said.

Woog has been coaching for 10 years. Before last year, he had only one player make a verbal commitment. Then he had two in one year with Lesch and his co-captain Frankie Bergonzi, both recruited as early as their sophomore year.

“I have changed the way I operate in terms of the way I talk to kids about college,” Woog said. “In the past I have spent the spring of junior year helping kids put together soccer resumes. However, now I’ve already started talking to a few of the sophomores on the team about college.”

Like soccer, lacrosse is a sport that is beginning to see sophomores heavily recruited. With very few scholarships to offer, Division I lacrosse schools are really beginning to expand the start the recruiting process.

Staples High lacrosse captain Kip Orban committed between his sophomore and junior seasons to play for Princeton.

“For me, Princeton University has been my dream school for a long time,” Orban said. “When presented with the opportunity, it was easy to commit.”

More Pressure On High School Coaches To Manage Recruiting Process

With the increase in recruiting intensity, the responsibility placed on a high school coach has never been greater. In addition to guiding a player through the process, coaches are now forced to deal with keeping recruits healthy and out of harm's way.

Last year, linebacker Khairi Fortt of Stamford High School was the top football prospect in Connecticut. He committed to Penn State in early October while he was recovering from a knee injury. Stamford's coach at the time, Kevin Jones, faced the struggle between wanting to win and keeping the player healthy.

"With Khairi the hardest part with his situation was to determine when he would come back," Jones said. "I didn’t want to be the guy to ruin it for him.”

After dealing with Fortt’s situation last year, Jones said it is necessary for an athlete to have the right people around when making a verbal commitment.

“I think that athletes should feel lucky to have parents help them make the decision," Jones said. "Unfortunately some don’t have a strong home structure with many only having a single parent.”

With a decision coming on the NCAA’s proposal in January, this may be the last time that schools have an opportunity to get a head-start on recruiting. Although the intensity of early recruiting can be overwhelming, some say verbal commitments allow athletes to relieve a huge burden from their lives.

For Christian Suntrup, a quarterback at Chaminade College Prep in Missouri, the sense of relief was the best part about the process. The 15th-best quarterback in the nation, according to Rivals.com, verbally committed to Boston College, allowing him to enjoy his senior season.

“It is great to get the decision out of the way," Suntrup said, "because now I can focus on the season and, most importantly, focus on helping my team win.”

By DANIEL RUBENS
SportsFanLive.com

The Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan Wolverines have a long-standing hockey rivalry, facing each other multiple times every season. But one game last season in Madison was different from any previous meeting between them.

Wisconsin’s 3-2 victory on Feb. 6 was played outside, at the home of Badger football, Camp Randall Stadium.

Just as Michigan and Wisconsin did in February, many collegiate teams, especially those in the Big Ten, have begun to experiment with the idea of playing regular-season hockey and football games in professional or larger than normal venues.

A number of these games have been played in 2010, including Boise State-Virginia Tech at FedEx

The home of the Redskins featured Boise State-Virginia Tech in September and will host Penn State-Indiana in November.

Field just outside Washington, and more are scheduled in the coming months.

“I think [these games] are trending upwards,” Wisconsin director of athletic communications Brian Lucas said. “It was interesting to hear the people who installed the ice rink. They see a lot of business, and their take was that at every venue, it’s new. For those 55,000 people at Camp Randall, it was usually their first of these games.”

College football in professional stadiums is not necessarily a new trend with many games in the early 1900s being played at venues like Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field. But now such games are enjoying a renaissance, and they’re designed to be machines for ticket sales and fan interest.

Cowboys Stadium in Dallas will be the site for LSU-Oregon next year and Alabama-Michigan in 2012. FedEx Field, the home of the Redskins, already has a game in 2018 booked between Maryland and Texas.

Northwestern will host rival Illinois on Nov. 20 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It will be the first college football game at Wrigley since 1938.

Sports Illustrated college football writer Stewart Mandel said the decision for Northwestern to play at Wrigley Field just made a lot of sense.

“It’s a no-brainer to play a game at Wrigley, which will bring out more casual fans and get a ton of media coverage it wouldn’t have were it just a regular game in Evanston,” Mandel said in an email.

Northwestern assistant athletic director Mike Wolf said that the main reason for the game was to generate higher ticket sales. Northwestern has used the Wrigley Field game to give fans an incentive to buy season tickets.

On the same day as the Northwestern-Illinois game at Wrigley Field, Penn State plays Indiana at FedEx Field and Notre Dame faces Army at Yankee Stadium. For Notre Dame, neutral-site games are less about revenue and more about making games accessible to its national fan base.

"We feel that we can make these [games] equivalent to the money we can get from a home game,” said senior associate athletics director John Heisler. “Some of this goes back to us as an independent trying to play a national schedule. We had to make a decision about the new 12th game, and we looked at doing these neutral-site games.”

Mandel believes that the neutral-site games can be beneficial for teams and fans.

“Obviously, schools don’t like to give up home games, so to justify doing so, it has to be for a special occasion, whether it’s TCU and Oregon State getting to play in Cowboys Stadium, LSU and North Carolina playing in the popular Chick-fil-A kickoff game in Atlanta or, in these two cases, playing in a historic and famous baseball stadium,” Mandel said. “Notre Dame, as an independent, is always looking for good neutral-site opportunities, and it works out well with the new Yankee Stadium looking to get more into college football and the history there with Notre Dame-Army."

After the Irish played a game last season at the Alamodome in San Antonio against Washington State, the initlal thought for this year’s neutral-site game was that it should be played in the Midwest.

“The game was originally going to be played at Soldier Field,” Heisler said. “We became aware that Yankee Stadium would be interested in hosting college football, and getting the chance to be the first game at Yankee Stadium was pretty exciting.”

Heisler also said that the team is planning on playing future games in neutral-site locations. Notre Dame has already scheduled games for 2011 with Maryland at FedEx Field and 2012 against Miami at Soldier Field. The Irish will face Navy at the new Meadowlands Stadium this year and in Dublin, Ireland, in 2012.

In addition to its game against Notre Dame, Army will host three other games at Yankee Stadium

Yankee executives unveil the football configuration for the new Yankee Stadium, which will host the Notre Dame-Army game Nov. 20.

through 2014. Yankee Stadium will also host a college football bowl game this year.

Mandel is not sure if the trend of these neutral-site games taking place in famous baseball stadiums will expand.

“They’re not all configured to host football, they’re generally smaller than football stadiums and most of them are not all that unique,” Mandel said. “Besides Wrigley and Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park is the only other one I could see there being interest, and I don’t know off hand whether that’s do-able.”

Mandel is also skeptical of the viability of similar games in the future.

“I believe they will garner extra coverage and make for fun trips for fans,” Mandel said. “But they will have to prove financially successful for schools to continue it.”

Lucas said the Wisconsin hockey team would have to play entire weekend series in its regular arena to equal the financial effect of the outdoor game against Michigan.

The playing of hockey games outdoors, unlike the neutral-site football games, has been a recent idea. The first such game, dubbed “The Cold War,” was played Oct. 6, 2001, with almost 75,000 fans watching Michigan and Michigan State play to a 3-3 tie in Spartan Stadium. Three more have been played, including a Wisconsin-Ohio State game in 2006 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Others are scheduled, and the NHL has copied the idea with the Winter Classic.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity,” Lucas said. “We hosted the hockey doubleheader last year and the one at Lambeau Field, and it was a tremendous opportunity to showcase our team, facilities and our entire university. We had record attendance for both games, so a lot of people who aren’t able to get to the Kohl Center were able to [get to Camp Randall].

“The fans loved it, the weather cooperated for the most part, and the men’s game was a very close game. Just to be able to do ‘Jump Around’ at a hockey game was a really fun experience for everybody.”

"Fringe" star Joshua Jackson is a huge hockey fan, so perhaps it was fitting that his break into Hollywood came in the form of the three "Mighty Ducks" movies. Jackson then became a fixture on "Dawson's Creek" and now headlines "Fringe," a sci-fi/cop drama on Fox. Season 3 premieres Thursday Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. A native of Vancouver, Jackson is still crazy about the Canucks and is always happy to talk pucks.

Q: So it's no surprise that you're a big hockey fan because you're Canadian, right?
Jackson: It goes with the territory. Even in most places you have counter-cultural people, like the refusenicks, like a German who hates soccer. In Canada, even counter-cultural people love hockey.

Q: It's not even like that with football in the U.S.
Jackson: I don’t know if it’s because it’s still an intimate game. It hasn’t become such a large corporate behemoth and the history of the game still means something, so people really take pride in it. I don’t know what the connection is, but it still feels like it’s very much our game.

Q: It doesn't have corporate feel.
Jackson: It’s sort of like when you’re in high school and you had that band that you loved. I mean I went through that with Nirvana and every other band that came out of Seattle. We heard about them first because we were in the region. You think this is mine. It’s precious. Then when everybody else knows about it, it somehow becomes less cool. You feel like a jilted lover. So maybe hockey never got to that level, so Canada is not yet its jilted lover.

Q: The players seem to have smaller egos than guys in the NFL or NBA.
Jackson: If you play basketball or football in the states and you’re really good, from the time you’re 12 or 13, that’s the sole focus of your life. You know, you get drafted into these high schools that really don’t teach you anything other than playing basketball or football. Hockey is not like that. You have to play it for passion. Your parents are getting up at 4:30 in the morning to drive you to the rink. It’s more family oriented.

Q: Because you're a Canucks fan, we must ask. Todd Bertuzzi, felonious miscreant or misunderstood avenger?
Jackson: Misunderstood avenger. But felonious? How about a miscreant avenger? Because it wasn’t a felony what he did and he was avenging legitimately a wrong that had been done to a close personal friend of his. ... You know, there’s a reason they call him Moose, like he is a miscreant above and beyond everything else.

Q: Of course, he only played one more season with the Canucks after that attack on Steve Moore.
Jackson: Now he plays for Detroit, a team I couldn’t hate more. I guess it’s heartbreaking. I don’t know what to do with myself.

-- JENNY HONTZ

By JENNA LAINE
SportsFanLive.com Reporter
Posted on August 1, 2010 at 11:50 p.m. ET

Tony Washington waited eagerly for three days to hear his name called from Radio City, but according to his agent Vann McElroy, he never even got a phone call. In the weeks after the NFL Draft, teams scrambled to fill their rosters with undrafted free agents. But Washington -- a Division II All-American offensive tackle from Abilene Christian whose status as a registered sex offender was reported six weeks before the draft -- wasn’t one of them.

Then the Dallas Vigilantes of the Arena Football League stepped in to offer a chance to Washington, whom some NFL scouts had touted as being worthy of a second-round pick.

It was a risky move for two reasons. It was already more than a quarter of the way through the season, and the Vigilantes, content with their offensive line, were signing Washington, a true offensive tackle listed at 6-7 and 310 pounds, to play defense. And there was the potential backlash, from fans and teammates, because of Washington’s back story.

“This is not something that any of us would ever take lightly,” Vigilantes General Manager Gene Nudo said. “None of us would potentially put somebody in harm’s way because of it.”

As SportsFanLive first reported, public records show that in 2003 Washington was convicted of Prohibited Sexual Conduct, defined by law as having sex with a blood relative. He was 16 at the time in his hometown of New Orleans. According to multiple sources, including Washington’s college coaches and NFL scouts, the act was consentual, and the blood relative was Washington’s 15-year-old biological sister. He served five years probation.

Then-Vigilantes coach Rich Ingold first contacted McElroy about Washington before Nudo was named general manager on May 12. Nudo stood by the decision to pursue Washington, citing an “outstanding recommendation” from Abilene Christian coach Chris Thomsen.

“I’m a firm believer that, as egregious as a mistake may be in life, we should be given an opportunity,” Nudo said.

The signing of Washington, who declined to be interviewed for this story, hasn’t created any tension

in the locker room, according to interim head coach James Fuller.

Some members of the team knew about Washington’s past from reading online reports and asked Fuller about it at the time of the signing. Fuller said Washington’s new teammates have welcomed him. Two who are aware of Washington's background declined to comment for this story out of respect for his privacy.

But Washington’s former college teammate, Trevis Turner, was willing to speak on his behalf.

“He’s actually been a brother to me,” said Turner, who played on the offensive line with Washington for one season at Trinity Valley Community College and two at Abilene Christian. “The stuff that they’ve said about him on the Internet –- I didn’t take too lightly to that. He’s a close friend.”

Turner said he first found out about his teammate’s troubled history in 2008 during a midseason game against West Texas A&M.

“I heard the defensive end that was on him, in between plays, blurting all this stuff out about ‘child molester’ and all this other stuff,” Turner said.

After that game, Turner and Washington had a conversation about Tony’s past.

“When I did find that out, I had to ask myself, ‘As his friend, and being as close to him as I’ve been, do I want to be his friend still or not?’” Turner said.

“I just think it was something that was mishandled. I just really think that what’s on paper and what’s on the Internet is blown way out of proportion than what it really is.”

Turner stuck by his friend’s side, continues a close friendship with Washington and has driven to Dallas to watch him play.

“He’s always had my back no matter what,” Turner said. “I’ve always had his back no matter what. I’m not going to change the way I look at him. I learned a lot of things from him and I’m grateful for that. I thank God for that, that he did put a person like that in my life. The way I needed him, he needed me.”

According to Fuller, Washington’s presence hasn’t caused problems for the Vigilantes.

“You would never know when he comes into the locker room,” Fuller said. “You would never know that any of that stuff had happened to him or that he went through all that. He’s trying to move forward with his life and that’s kind of how we’re looking at it. He’s been good to us. As long as he’s good to us and he does everything right, we’ll be good to him.”

It’s an opportunity Fuller says his young athlete is grateful for, despite the initial disappointment of going undrafted.

“He thanks me every day,” said Fuller, who feels Washington’s greatest asset is his relentless desire for improvement. “He’s called me three or four times this week. He wants to know his role. He wants to know what he’s doing right, what he’s doing wrong, if I’m OK with everything.

“I always believe you deserve another shot, that you deserve another chance. And him getting a chance to go to the NFL or any other job out there will tell us a lot about him –- what is he going to do with his chance. He’s been nothing but a gentleman since he got here.”

Nudo also talked about Washington’s maturity and mentioned how his wife and children attended a recent Vigilantes game. Washington is 24 now and has had no run-ins with the law since his conviction, Thomsen said. Additionally, he spent two years at Abilene Christian, a university that has mandatory daily chapel sessions as part of its curriculum.

Playing to Washington’s strength, the Vigilantes switched him back to offense and started him at guard against Tulsa in June.

“In his first day of practice, I watched him against one of the premiere defensive linemen in our league, and he just grabbed him and locked him out,” said Nudo, whose involvement with the AFL as both a head coach and executive dates back to 1987. “And this was against a good football player, a 31-32-year-old mature man who’s been playing football at the professional level for the last eight or nine years.”

When asked if his young talent had the ability to play in the NFL, Nudo responded, “Absolutely! In football, we have an old saying: ‘If he can fill the door up …’ Well, he fills the door up pretty good. He’s athletic and lean at his height and weight. He’s got long arms. He’s a tremendously talented athlete.”

Not that there were ever doubts about Washington’s ability. It garnered him top performance honors in multiple events at the NFL Combine, the Lone Star South Division Offensive Player of the Year Award two years in a row, and he was also a 2009 finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award (best Division II lineman, offensive or defensive).

“He’s a guy that needs to be playing on Sunday,” said Fuller, who marveled at Washington’s rare combination of size and quickness –- qualities that have characterized legendary offensive tackles.

Turner agrees, and hopes that Washington’s future teammates, and whatever NFL team is willing to give him a chance, will look beyond his past and see his capabilities.

“I would hope that they are grown enough to not act like all these callous people,” said Turner, who alluded to the childish behavior that often exists in college locker rooms. “I would hope they would be more mature about that. ‘Hey if you don’t want to hang out with the guy, don’t hang out with the guy. Just play football.’”

The Vigilantes just finished their season, and their staff wonders if Washington might get a late invitation to an NFL training camp.

“I’m hoping that he continues doing what he’s doing, that he’s with us for a short period of time, and that he proves to the other people out there that he needs to be on a different level,” Nudo said.

Kirk Morrison sounded eager about getting a fresh start with the Jacksonville Jaguars and playing for coach Jack Del Rio.

"I've got high expectations," Morrison said from the red carpet at the ESPY's Week Playboy Mansion Party. "I'm excited about it."

He also said the lessons he learned with the Raiders will help him in Jacksonville. But there was no sugar-coating all those losses during his time in Silver and Black: "Five years in Oakland. It's been tough."

With LeBron James on board, the Miami Heat is facing high expectations. Jose Canseco, who grew up in Miami, is predicting a championship next season.

"Do you see that team that they have?" Canseco said from the red carpet at the ESPY's Week Playboy Mansion Party. "Are you kidding me?"

Michael Buffer took time to discuss college football and the World Cup, but like all boxing enthusiasts, he is gearing up for a potential Pacquiao-Mayweather bout.

"Just as long as they fight and I get to be there," Buffer said from the red carpet at the ESPY's Week Playboy Mansion Party. "That's the best thing right now. I'm hoping for it."

Buffer said he enjoyed lacing up the gloves himself back in the Army but found one reason to dislike the sport.

"I hated that rule where the other guy is allowed to hit you back," he cracked.

Cobi Jones, who played in three World Cup for the United States, reviews the 2010 tournament in South Africa while working the red carpet at the ESPY's Week Playboy Mansion Party.

By JENNA LAINE
SportsFanLive.com Reporter
Posted on March 8, 2010 at 6:12 p.m. ET

An offensive tackle from a small Division II Christian school, Tony Washington went to Indianapolis virtually unknown. After top performances at the NFL Combine, the Abilene Christian standout has seen his draft stock climb as high as the second round. But he bears the burden of a troubled past – one that’s causing some NFL teams to think twice.

Washington is a registered sex offender.

Until now, he has not publicly addressed the specifics of his situation, but in a statement provided exclusively to SportsFanLive.com, he confirmed what is likely to haunt him for the rest of his life.

“I made a mistake at the age of 16, and for that, I am deeply sorry,” Washington said. “I will not try and excuse or justify anything. I have worked extremely hard to do everything right so that I might have an opportunity to give back. I only hope that someone in the NFL will give me the same opportunity that Abilene Christian and Trinity Valley gave me.”

In May 2003, Washington was convicted of having sex with a relative that multiple NFL and college sources say was his 15-year old biological sister. The act was consensual, according to his college coaches and two NFL scouts, who spoke to him about the incident. The sister does not wish to speak publicly on the case, according to Washington’s agent, who added that the siblings are now on good terms and talk often. Washington received five years probation and did not serve jail time.

Due to the nature of the crime and Washington’s status as a juvenile, records specifically related to the crime itself could not be obtained in requests made to both the Texas Department of Public

Safety and the New Orleans Police Department. But if this had been "sexual assault," Washington’s report on the sex-offender registry would have listed a different offense.

Inside the interview rooms at the Combine, scouts questioned him at length about his past. Some are willing to give him a chance. After all, Washington had the best broad jump among offensive lineman at 9 feet, 6 inches and the sixth-best time in the three-cone drill. Despite that talent, other scouts may not be so forgiving.

Trinity Valley Community College coach Mark Sartain faced the same challenge back in 2005, when he met Washington, then a high school senior.

“He e-mailed me several times asking for an opportunity to play and finally sent me a grainy tape,” Sartain said. “You could barely see him in it.”

The only evidence of his potential as a football player was the massive 6-7, 300-pound frame he carried. Everything else, including his home, was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

“Katrina was a total disruption of his life and his high school career,” said Sartain, a coaching veteran of 26 years and father of two, who now heads up the football program at East Texas Baptist University.

Then Washington told him: “Coach, there’s something you need to know.”

Although it was unsettling, Washington’s confession did not cause Sartain to shy away from his young recruit. In fact, because Washington volunteered the information, Sartain realized “this young man deserves a second chance.”

The product of what Sartain calls a “dysfunctional” family, Washington arrived in Athens, Texas, with emotional needs that had long been neglected. “I don’t want to say he was emotionally ‘crippled,’ but with that traumatic time in his life, he skipped a phase, so to speak, in his emotional development,” the coach said.

His unique situation required authorities in both New Orleans and Texas to accept his transfer of residence, something law enforcement officials in his home state of Louisiana initially refused to do. It meant Sartain and his staff had to jump through hoops to get Tony into their program.

“They were ignoring him and not returning calls because they didn’t want to deal with him,” Sartain said. “We had to fight for a couple weeks to get that whole thing done.”

Abilene: Faith And Football

Like Sartain, Abilene Christian coach Chris Thomsen felt his profession was a calling from God, with the decisions he makes on the football field dictated by his faith. “It’s what guides me,” he said.

So when Sartain, a friend of 15 years, spoke of a promising left tackle who wanted to come play at Abilene but had some off-the-field issues, Thomsen took a closer look.

For Washington to enter Thomsen’s program, he had to pass through five levels of clearance, which the school considers protocol any time an at-risk student seeks admittance. He first needed approval from Thomsen, then the athletic director, the dean of student affairs, the chief of police and finally the president of the school.

“The biggest concern I had was, ‘Is he going to be a threat to the community?’” Thomsen said.

After a thorough investigation, the school agreed to accept him. “Even the chief of police thought Tony was a low risk,” Thomsen said.

Under Thomsen, Washington thrived on the football field. He became a two-time Division II All-American, was awarded the Lone Star South Division Offensive Player of the Year Award two years in a row and was a 2009 finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award (best Division II lineman, offensive or defensive).

Under his coach’s strong Christian influence and Abilene’s required daily chapel sessions, Washington began to thrive spiritually too, Thomsen said, by learning of Biblical figures such as Moses, David and Paul -- men who committed murder -- and Peter, who was impulsive.

He learned the power of forgiveness at Abilene, because he saw it firsthand from his coach. Thomsen has a reputation for taking on troubled athletes like Bernard Scott, who had several arrests before being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals last year.

Thomsen also takes pride in the fact that he can help mold young men, like Washington, not just into better football players, but better people. “That’s what you want as a coach,” he said. “You want to see guys grow as players, you want to see them grow as people, and I saw that with Tony.”

But will NFL scouts be as forgiving as Thomsen and Sartain? Will the public?

“We all knew this day was coming,” Sartain said.

The Stigma

The juvenile justice system forgives troubled minors who break the law by sealing their records. But because Washington committed a sex crime, he must register annually as a sex offender – something that will follow him for the rest of his life.

“He just made a mistake. He made a bad choice, in a bad situation, in a bad environment,” said Sartain, who understands that Washington must live with the consequences but doesn’t believe he should have to be humiliated for something he did at a young age.

He added that because of Washington’s troubled life at home, he was forced to make a “quick sprint into adulthood.”

“I don’t want to cry ‘victim’ and he never has, per se, but I really believe that he was a 16-year-old victim of his own environment,” Sartain said. “It’s unfortunate that the counsel that he got at the time led him to have this label on him the rest of his life.”

It’s a label he couldn’t escape in his hometown of New Orleans, where as a high school student, he bagged groceries at Save-a-Lot until 5 a.m., went directly to school, then practice, then back to work. He couldn’t escape it when he came to Athens, Texas, and had his name printed in the local newspaper as part of the required community notification of his status.

But if he truly wanted to run from his past, he would have given up long ago. Instead, he’s choosing to face it, something Sartain hopes people will appreciate.

“I find it hard to believe that people cannot realize the resolve, the perseverance, the character and determination that this young man has had to get where he is,” Sartain said.

Thomsen points to the fact that his former player has had no run-ins with the law since his offense seven years ago.

“I have no fear in my mind of anything like that happening with Tony again,” Thomsen said. “I wouldn’t have brought him here if I had that fear. And I have no reservations about anything like that happening again in his future.”

The fact that the offense was committed as a juvenile means the odds are in his favor. According to a report published by the National Center on Sexual Behavior of Youth, adolescent sex offenders have a 5 percent to 14 percent chance of sexual re-offenses.

Dr. Fred Berlin, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and founder of the Sexual Disorders Clinic, believes that unlike adult offenders, juveniles are “highly treatable” and “rarely go on to become adult offenders.”

According to Berlin, who has treated juvenile sex offenders, in some cases a young offender must simply accept the consequences of his mistakes and learn how to behave differently in order to move on. Other times, more intensive treatment, such as medication, is needed to ensure they are not a threat to others, or even to themselves.

Berlin has been an advocate for shielding juvenile sex offenders from the harsh stigma and even humiliation that accompanies placement on local and national registries.

“We want adolescent sex offenders to go on and become productive members of society, but they can’t do that if we’re constantly throwing barricades in front of them,” Berlin said.

Berlin cautions that each individual must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. But he says the fact that Washington’s wasn’t a forced act, that there was just a one-year age difference, and that he has not had any reported run-ins with the law since, suggests that as long as Washington has had the appropriate counseling, “the likelihood is very high that he’s going to go on and live a good, responsible life.”

Scouts Weigh In

One NFL scout, who asked to remain anonymous, isn’t so sure. He points to the fact that the 24-year old has already been divorced, which could suggest a pattern of broken relationships. “I worry about this kid. Whether it's that again or something else, he has a history of serious problems,” he said.

“What disturbs me is that I don't know if he sees anything wrong with it,” the scout added. “He said

where he comes from, this kind of thing happens all the time. I don’t think he’s at all ready for the rejection he's about to face once people find out.”

Another NFL scout, who also asked for anonymity, worries about the reception Washington would receive in the NFL. Despite his concerns regarding the sex-offender status, the scout said that Washington's performance at the Combine was unquestionably good and gave him a "second-round" grading.

“I’m not so much concerned with the incident. It happened seven years ago,” the scout said. “But I am concerned with his maturity level. He’s going to walk into an NFL locker room where it’s tough enough being a rookie, but this – this takes it to a whole new level. And I worry about how the media in whatever market his team is in is going to take this.”

Thomsen disagrees with the assessment that his former player is “immature,” saying he was a model citizen, and “never had any off-the-field incident or any problems whatsoever” at Abilene Christian.

Rather than preparing for the Combine at one of the trendy high-end training facilities, Washington chose to work out privately with former Ohio State linebacker Anthony Schlegal, who was the campus president for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“He’s surrounding himself with good people,” Thomsen said. “He wants to succeed. And that’s what he needs.”

Washington’s choice of agent is also telling. Vann McElroy is not only a former NFL safety who won a Super Bowl with the Raiders, but he is also the son of a pastor.

“We didn’t put people like Anthony Schlegel in Tony’s life,” McElroy told SportsFanLive.com. “He reached out to them. He chose to go to Abilene Christian. To me that says a lot.”

According to a third scout, “He’s too talented not to get drafted. Plus there are a handful of teams out there who would give this guy a chance.”

Berlin agrees that Washington deserves a chance to play in the NFL, just as he believes other juvenile offenders deserve a right to move on with their lives after serving sentences for their crimes.

“We need to do everything we can to support those folks in turning their lives around rather than doing things that might act as an impediment,” Berlin said.

Sartain feels Washington could use it as a platform to potentially inspire others who have overcome personal struggles and bouts with adversity.

“I believe that in God’s plan for Tony, he’s going to turn all of this that’s happened to him and turn it into something very positive," Sartain said. "And I’ll stand right there beside him through it if I need to. I really believe in this man.”

Berlin echoed Sartain’s sentiment.

“I would like to believe that there are a lot of people out there who would cheer him on, and to the extent that he succeeds, be very happy that someone who has gone astray has really turned it around and made a success out of his life," Berlin said.

“His story is only in the early chapters – his book shouldn’t be closed prematurely as though it has to have an unhappy ending.”

The next chapter in Tony Washington’s life will be written the third week in April in New York City at the NFL Draft.

He missed the first team bus and almost arrived late for the second, but on a fourth-quarter play with three minutes left, cornerback Tracy Porter arrived early –- crossing in front of Reggie Wayne and intercepting Peyton Manning for a touchdown.

He trekked 74 yards into the end zone and already visions of the Lombardi Trophy flashed across the field.

Actually, those weren’t visions -– just Porter’s haircut, which had the Super Bowl trophy and the Louisiana Superdome shaved into his head.

“It was a last-minute haircut,” said Porter, whose barber Reggie flew in from New Orleans just to maintain his playoff ritual. "I actually got it a couple of hours before we had to leave for the game."

Click here to read the full story on NFL Blog Blitz.

-- JENNA LAINE

His numbers don’t command staggering attention. His coach even conceded that the team needs to improve running the football. But Colts running back Donald Brown has already made an immeasurable impact – not just on the playing field for his Super Bowl-bound team but on the world around him.

He thinks before he speaks, striking some as guarded and others with the notion he’s got wisdom beyond his years. It’s not often you meet a 22-year old who turns down a Christmas gift, matches it dollar for dollar and donates it to a soup kitchen in his hometown.

“He is something special,” said his agent Jamey Crimmins, who took notice of the prolific running back after discovering that both were from New Jersey. “My first impression was that he’s a polite and articulate young man who says things like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Clearly, his parents raised him the right way.”

UConn’s all-time leading rusher with 3,800 yards, Brown entered the draft as a junior, becoming the Colts’ first-round pick in 2009.

But before he could pound the line of scrimmage and help the Colts to an AFC Championship, Brown set out to attack a more pressing issue – mentoring the youth in his community.

Click here to read the full story on NFL Blog Blitz.

-- JENNA LAINE

Saints cornerback Tracy Porter shared some interesting personal insights about his teammates with BlogBlitz/SportsFanLive.com correspondent Jenna Laine. Among them:

Most Likely To Do Dancing With the Stars:
“I definitely know one guy that would want to do it. Anthony Hargrove. Absolutely. He’d definitely want to do it.”

Most Likely To Accidentally Start A House Fire Trying To Cook:
“I don’t want to wish bad luck on anyone, but I’d say Usama Young.”

For more on Porter's takes of his teammates, click here to read the full story on NFL Blog Blitz.

They averaged almost 32 points a game with 400 yards on offense split among a plethora of speedy running backs and wideouts. Their defense forced five turnovers against the untouchable Brett Favre.

Yet the one thing flashier than the New Orleans Saints’ style of play has nothing to do with the football field – it’s their hair.

No other team in the NFL commands such coif-related attention.

Forget the mega-hit Remi Ayodele laid on Favre. Let’s talk about Ayodele’s mammoth of a Mohawk.

“I consider my Mohawk the best Mohawk in America. I consider mine ‘super fabulous,’” said the third-year nose tackle out of Oklahoma, who acknowledged his greatest challenge has been getting his hair to cooperate with the humid South Florida weather.

“I usually use Bed Head, but this weather is killing me.”

When asked what image he hopes to project with the do, he replied, “Rock Star.”

For more on the Saints and how they're styling, click here to read the full story on NFL Blog Blitz.

-- JENNA LAINE

By far the most entertaining outlet on Super Bowl Media Day was the newly formed OCNN – Ochocinco News Network. That’s right, Chad Ochocinco even has a news team to make sure he gets all the media spotlight he deserves. Wow! Ray Rice was serving as a roving reporter for OCNN and got some laughs by asking the Colts defensive players, “Hey man, why did you hit me so hard?” and other poignant questions. Yes, friends, it was truly an entertaining experience that reinforced the old adage that reality is stranger than fiction any day.

We also got a chance to catch up with the Internet's two best jokesters, Jake and Amir from CollegeHumor.com. They were in town to join the OCNN reporting team and were kind enough to give us a couple minutes.



Soon it was on to Mr. Rice, though, as we caught a few of his interviews in the media circus.



Here he is with Colts defensive end and fellow Rutgers alum Gary Brackett.



And finally talking to Marques Colston, Saints wide receiver.



For complete coverage of the Saints Media Day, click here for our exclusives on NFL Blog Blitz.

For complete coverage of the Colts Media Day, click here for our exclusives on NFL Blog Blitz.

For a look at a Super Bowl Cheat Sheet, click here to see what the folks at SportsPickle.com have put together.

Among a team of All-Stars, there are some stars that shine brighter than others. Love him or hate him, Chad Ochocinco is one of the true characters in the game, and he always draws an audience. Personable, affable and accessible, Chad always knows how to put on a show for the audience. As a fan, if you wonder what it's like to be inside of the locker room after the game, here's an insiders view after the 2010 Pro Bowl.

In the segment Chad opines on:

- Communicating with Commissioner Goodell

- Thoughts on coming back to the Pro Bowl, this time in his hometown of Miami

- Super Bowl prediction (Manning, Indy at the end)

- Attending the Super Bowl -- He'll be watching the game in the box with Mark Anthony and J-Lo (Suite 247 in case you are wondering), and he needs a date

- Ray Lewis, coming out of the shower, calls out Ochocinco for his overt showmanship in playing to the media

- Also, check out his gold watch ... very understated.



-- DAVID KATZ