How HBCU's fared during the NFL Draft and college selection weekend!

The Monday Musings!

Nobody asked me, but...

The NFL Draft took place this past weekend and over the span of three days, 262 college athletes were drafted by one of 32 NFL teams with hopes of earning roster spots and riches this summer. 

Kudos to the fortunate 262, including four selected from HBCU's one year after ZERO HBCU players were picked:

•Joshua Williams - Fayetteville State - 4th Round, #135 (Chiefs)

•Decobie Durant - South Carolina State - 4th Round, #142 (Rams)

•James Houston IV - Jackson State - 6th Round, #217 (Lions)

•Ja'Tyre Carter - Southern - 7th Round, #226 (Bears)

Congrats, young Brothas!

I admit that the NFL Draft ended on a rather somber note for me as I expected Markquese Bell (#5 below), the star safety from Florida A&M University who knocked heads off on the field—and turned heads by testing off the charts at the NFL combine—was not selected despite projections that he could be picked anywhere from the second to the seventh rounds. 

When the Draft ended, Bell signed a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys; each year, a number of young men who were not drafted make NFL rosters as active players or members of a team’s practice squad.

One need not be a genius to realize that the NFL culls talent far cheaper through undrafted free agency than they do through the Draft. And while draft picks are not guaranteed a roster spot, their pathway is little less fraught with peril than rookie free agents who must claw and scratch for practice reps in camp.

Still, the opportunity is there, as Wally Williams, a scholar-athlete that I grew up with who dominated while playing football for the Jake Gaither Park Giants, Rickards High School Redskins, and FAMU Rattlers before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Cleveland Browns, can attest. Big Wally would later play nearly 15 years—and make multiple millions of dollars—for the Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and New Orleans Saints before retiring!

2018 pic of me with two of my childhood friends turned FAMU football legends: Former NFL star lineman Wally Williams (left) and former FAMU star linebacker Cedric Jones (center).

Thus, I extend congratulations to all of the HBCU players who got signed after the NFL Draft and still have their hopes alive, including Bell and his FAMU teammates Keenan Forbes (Seattle Seahakws) and Savion Williams (New York Jets).

The simple reality is that there are thousands of college players who will never play in the NFL, just like there are tens of thousands of high school players who never get the chance to play in college. Every boy that puts on pads knows that a day will come when they will never dress out again, which is why any player who makes it to an NFL camp, be it drafted or as a free agent, is in rare company and is to be commended!

And yet, I could not shake my sense of frustration about Markquese Bell because as I've written before, this young man is the fastest and hardest hitting safety that I've watched since Sean Taylor (RIP) was terrorizing receivers and runners two decades ago for the Miami Hurricanes and the Washington Redskins (now Commanders). 

The late Sean Taylor was killed in 2007 when burglars broke into his off-season home in the Kendall section of South Miami. A Richmond Heights native, Taylor was 24-years-old and heading towards a sure-fire NFL Hall of Fame career when he died.

Taylor ultimately received first round riches, while the undrafted Bell will have to show and prove on the field before he hits the jackpot, which I have no doubt that he will! In a twist of irony, I grew up a fan of the Washington Commanders so, should Bell start for the Cowboys, it will be the first time I've ever cheered for the Blue and Silver 😆. 

Good luck, Brother Bell and to all of the young men chasing their professional football dreams. 

***Speaking of dream chasing, if you have a Facebook page, then you have undoubtedly watched as high school seniors from across the country have made their college selections known over the past two months. This weekend, I was overjoyed to see so many of my kin and real life/social media friends posting pictures and videos of their children revealing that they will pursue their educations at any number of colleges and universities across America, including quite a few HBCU's. 

Last week, my dear friend and Spelman Sister Jamie Bennett asked me to speak about my own experiences at Morehouse College with her son, Bryce Alan Bennett, who was torn between Morehouse and a number of fine institutions. I was honored to do so, and truly enjoyed conversing with such a brilliant and respectful young man who clearly has been raised the same way that our generation was raised back in the day.

Thus, I was most pleased to arise and learn that young Mr. Bennett has chosen to take his talents to Dear Old Morehouse—the best is yet to come!

Also joining Mr. Bennett is Mr. Charles Cherry, III, a young man whose father, Charles, II, is my Morehouse Brother and was my boss at the Florida Courier newspaper in the early 2000's!

Cherry, whose mother Lisa Rogers Cherry is a Spelman alumna, will also follow in the legacy of his sister, Chayla Cherry, a recent Phi Beta Kappa inductee who led the Spelman HCASC quiz bowl team the last two years.

Kudos to Brothers Bennett and Cherry—I will watch your matriculations with great interest over the next four years!

***Last Friday, I commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Rodney King verdicts and subsequent riots in Los Angeles and Atlanta in this column space.  

Well, on a lighter note, as I reminisced this past Sunday about all of the Hell that was raised on the Morehouse and Clark campuses that week, I burst out laughing at the memory of the scene in Spike Lee's classic movie “School Daze” when Dap (Laurence Fishburne) was asked by his boys at Mission College: "Do Revolutionaries eat KFC" before they drove off to eat (and almost fight some hecklers) near campus.

Well, 30 years ago, after our day long uprising against an Atlanta Police Department under orders to prevent AUC students from marching peacefully downtown (which ended when tear gas was dropped on us from helicopters circling the campuses), the famished Morehouse Florida Boyz ended our day of revolt quite strong by walking up the hill to West End for some fine Mexican eating—at Taco Bell 😆.

“Alleged” photo of Morehouse Florida Boyz Victor Owens, Richard Alan and Hobbs eating Popeyes chicken (and whatnot) circa '92, and looking like distinguished “Morehouse Men” circa ‘95.

***On another note, with all of the ponderings about college and school days past and future, I sometimes find it very hard to believe that Florida Gov. Ron Desantis holds actual degrees from Harvard and Yale. In my mind, you see, I like to think that one can still be a conservative and reasonably intelligent, and I do have some conservative friends who are really smart people. But the sad facts are that these days, red meat from red state politicos is thrown out for the dumb ass masses to consume—even if it makes no logical or legal sense!

Last week in this blog space, I wrote at length about Gov. Desantis's temper tantrum that led to his Republican legislative do-boys stripping Walt Disney World of its special tax status, a move that will exponentially increase taxes on ALL citizens in Central Florida, including Republicans! 

Bear in mind that for my entire 50 years of living, conservatives have prided themselves on being the party of "less government" and "Big Business." Well, in the span of one not-so-special special legislative session, Desantis and his conservative minions have expanded governmental overreach into the affairs of Florida's largest corporate employer! 

Nevermind that much of Desantis's agenda with regards to the "Don't Say Gay" Bill that started his fight with the Mouse House, and the stripping of Disney's special tax status, will fail in court; to this governor and his fans, anything that they can laugh at while chugging beer and claiming to "own the liberals" makes for great policy—even if it will be gutted like fresh fish in federal court. 

But as I always say, don't blame me for Desantis—I voted for the far more intellectually gifted (and experienced) Andrew Gillum in 2018...

***As a World War II history buff, I've always given great deference to the phrase "Never Again," one coined to commemorate the Holocaust and the over six million Jews who were killed by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime during that conflict. 

And yet, here we find ourselves—once again—watching a European dictatorial madman (Vladimir Putin) murdering innocent Ukrainian civilians in a wholly unnecessary war that has the entire world teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust. 

Yesterday on the CBS news program Face the Nation, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger noted his plans to introduce an authorization for use of military force (AUMF) resolution that would grant President Joe Biden the authority to defend Ukraine with American military power should Russia use biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons in its nascent war. 

From my perspective, Mr. Kinzinger is one of the more intelligent Republicans in Congress, and I do not doubt the sincerity of his desires to defend Ukraine. My concern, though, is that when so-called "red lines" are introduced, that one side had best be ready to act should the other side cross it. Which basically means that should this AUMF get passed, and should Putin then use, say, a tactical nuclear weapon on a target in Ukraine, then the U.S. is basically committed to a proportioned response that could lead to full-scale nuclear war. 

Now, I've never been a coward in my life—but I've never been a fool, either, and charting a course towards nuclear war is the very definition of folly—and a pathway to mass destruction! 

Most of my fellow Americans tend to agree; according to the latest Washington Post /ABC News Poll,  76 percent of Americans believe that that the U.S. should provide more humanitarian aid to Ukraine, sixty-seven percent believe that the U.S. should increase economic sanctions on Russia, but 72 percent of Americans, nearly three-fourths, oppose direct U.S. military action in Ukraine.

Methinks that our political leaders, from the president to members of Congress, need to remember that ours is a representative republic, which means that the whims of the people should outweigh even the honest (but still deadly) whims of politicians. Politicians who, should nukes start to fall, will be very well sheltered at sites that the general public will not be able to access as we, the people, catch the literal Hell fire. 

Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a wonderful week!