Living in the shadows of NYC, I have rarely attended college football games. When it was announced the new Yankee Stadium would host a bowl game, The Pinstripe Bowl, I made sure I would be in attendance. Being more of a Pro Football fan than college, I would take this opportunity to do my own personal scouting for the draft. In 2010 it was Daniel Thomas of Kansas State I came to see. He ran well, but was upstaged by Delone Carter as Syracuse would win late.
In 2011 it was Mohamed Sanu of Rutgers I was scouting. He ran good routes but the running game would carry the Scarlett Knights to victory. 2012 would see Syracuse return with a top notch passing game under Ryan Nassib. They were matched up against West Virginia with Geno Smith and his band of offensive stars. I was ready for the fireworks. However wind, freezing rain and eventually snow never allowed them to ignite.
2013 would finally bring a marquee college game to the Bronx. Once it was announced Notre Dame received the bid, ticket buying immediately followed. I’d be going with a few buddies who were big Irish fans. They spoke of their team and it’s star players…but one name kept surfacing again and again. Stephon Tuitt.
Around this time Steeler faithful were looking to the college ranks to find our next morsel, or should I say Big Snack. Casey Hampton’s career was at an end and fans clamored for the next immovable object in the middle. Draftniks pointed to a rotund lineman from South Bend. Louis Nix III had me watching the Notre Dame’s defensive front. Before Nix, the Irish had been starving for elite defensive linemen for years.
Bryant Young is the last interior defensive lineman that comes to mind that had the same type of impact on the field for Notre Dame. Nix started the first 7 games of the 2013 season but knee tendinitis started to slow him down. Just as his game was dipping, another lineman began to steal the show. Nix started the year as the #1 defensive lineman on the team, even sporting his new number 1.
However, it was a player with a number with a little more extension on top that looked to be the bigger star. As Nix began to miss time, it was #7, Stephon Tuitt, who became the ironman along the line. Nix, once an easy first rounder, was dropping on the draft boards…while his fellow Irishman started to climb. In late November, after having arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, it was announced Nix would miss the remainder of the season including the bowl game. It became Tuitt’s time to shine.
I had watched a handful of the Irish games and I was looking forward to the Pinstripe Bowl. I’d be focusing my eyes on #7, especially since Nix…was well, nixed. The Steelers did need a NT, but they were also in the market for a DE. Our seats were located in one of the endzones. There were a few sequences in the 2nd quarter where the Irish had their backs to us. This made it a perfect time to follow the D. While concentrating on Stephon Tuitt, I had to double check…did the Irish suit up more than one #7?
He played more like a linebacker than an end. He went sideline to sideline either making the play or chasing petrified players to awaiting tacklers. Stephon Tuitt ended the day “credited” with 4 tackles and 1.5 sacks…but it seemed like a whole lot more. I left the game knowing who I wanted the Steelers to take in April. As the draft approached Nix completely disappeared off the Steeler’s board.
Magnificent Mel still linked him to the Black and Gold in the first round…however we fans knew better. Nix had not been invited to Pittsburgh for a predraft meeting. However, to my delight, Stephon Tuitt was. Over the recent years my fellow fans have noticed the Steelers tend to lean towards drafting players that visit. This was a good omen. Unfortunately where the Steelers drafted in the first round was too high to take Tuitt. After not being taken on day one of the draft…that night there was still hope.
I will not regale you with stories of drafts gone by. There have been many a night before the college selection that I would dream of a certain player donning the Black and Gold. The only catch is it had to be someone that would be available when the Steelers drafted. The players I said prayers for that DID get selected by my team would go on to have very good careers.
I won’t bore you with details as one would tend not to believe my prognostication. However, back in 1987, I dreamed of a world class athlete to finally solidify a spot so poorly manned since the retirement of Mel Blount. Everywhere I read said no way Rod Woodson falls to the Steelers…even Chuck Noll was adamant he wouldn’t. But Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Browns. Knowing they picked ahead of the Steelers that year meant there was a chance. Well, we know how that one turned out.
Let’s see if my dream with Tuitt comes true.
1 comment
As I recall, we both still liked Nix, just not in the first. We were thinking 3rd or 4th.
Well, the Texans took him and he’s now had his OTHER knee operated on as well as the one that forced him to miss time at ND. He spent his entire rookie year on IR. Feels like a bullet was dodged to me.