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Couple of you were interested in my impressions of Sage over in the Derrius thread. Thought maybe I'd indulge in a separate thread for this guy, though. He deserves it ...
*
I wouldn’t recommend Sammy Light for an everyday support system, but for the occasional flirtation, it’s pretty righteous.
Not unlike Darryl Gardener. Hey ... many of us knew what we were getting - a rental duplex of a knucklehead looking to make hay (mixing metaphors is an art form, don’t you think?) in a contract year. And in that role, he proved quite capable. Helped solidify the middle of what had been, for about a decade, a veritable turnstile – both in terms of personnel AND performance – in the middle of the DL. Darryl did a good job; allowed the LB’s to roam a bit and make plays ... and then, after the season, bolted for more money, just as we suspected he would. Few Skins fans wanted to pony up to keep him around this year, not at the Bentley prices he was quoting, and with that back thing.
Acura maybe. Not Bentley.
Sage!
On draft day, he was purely a WTF pic. Marty Schottenheimer, so the story goes, strode (Marty doesn’t walk – he strides) up to the draft board in the 4th round, set his jaw, pointed at the name and said, “I want THAT guy.†Which caused everyone else in the room to crank their own jaws shut, shuffle their papers for a moment, surreptitiously shrug their shoulders (lest The Marty see), and respond with, “... er ... okay, coach.â€Â
Not only was Sage not on anyone’s radar, neither was taking a frickin’ QB at that point. But that’s history now.
As is Marty.
Sage showed up and quickly impressed with his aw shucks demeanor and surprising athletic ability ... albeit about as raw as any QB many of us had ever seen at this level. I attended a couple of Skins training camp practices that year, and watched him closely, and remember being pleasantly surprised with his instincts and arm strength, but rather convinced that it would be at least 3 or 4 years before he’d be ready to go against live bullets in the NFL. He was clearly a project.
That was ... what ... about 3 years ago. :)
He did nothing in Marty’s Year of 2001 on the field (okay in preseason, showed a flash or two), but DID become something of a cult figure on Skins boards. On mine in particular (www.extremeskins.com – humble moderator here, at your service) several member of his LARGE family became members of the board, and shared some amusing and endearing insights, and then we even played a huge April Fool’s joke on the board by creating a Sage account, and separate Sage Forum, where the redhead himself was gonna grace us with his presence. Didn’t last long, sadly, because a couple regulars there know better than to believe anything we tell them, the bast@rds.
Anyway, everybody loved his attitude, his strong arm, and the flashes of instinctive-looking QB we thought we had seen. And THEN, when Spurrier showed up to start 2002, on the first day of the first mini-camp, when asked about his QB’s, the coach’s first comments were that the best of the bunch that day was none other than ... Sage Rosenfels. PARTY!! People were hooked.
Bear in mind, however, during this Happy Time, the only real competition on hand was Danny Wuerffel and the just-drafted Patrick Ramsey. I know, I know ... buzzkill.
Sage did okay in preseason, showing all the same qualities we’d seen all along, but it became apparent that he had no real shot here, not after Shane Matthews was brought in. Shane and Wuerffel were both going to make the team, as was 1st round draft pick Ramsey. Getting let go here wasn’t anything Sage did wrong – or failed to do right – it was pure numbers, and the reality of a new head coach with a clear idea of what he wanted and needed on his team.
You won’t find a Skins fan anywhere who has a bad thing to say about Sage. I think he has enough tools and work ethic to last in the league a while. I’m not altogether convinced he has the juice to be a starter ... truth is, my gut tells me he’s more suited to being a solid #2 guy. In a place where the QB isn’t asked to carry the load, however, given the chance to be a “system QB†with good talent around him, and asked to simply manage the offense, he might yet develop into something beyond that.
Which is why I’m glad he’s in Miami. He can throw the deep out that Norv employs as a staple, and with Ricky Williams, certainly has a ground game to lean on. Haven’t gotten to see him handle the ball since he left here, so I don’t know if his play-action stuff is ready to sell on the Big Stage. It was NOT when I last saw him play. I don’t think Sage will ever “earn†a starters job in practice – I just don’t think he “flashes†like that. What I DO think is that, if and when he gets an opportunity in live action, he might just surprise and turn out to be a Gamer.
I don’t want him to get his shot at anyone else’s expense via injurty or anything, but I think the only way Sage Rosenfels ever becomes other than a message board hero is to get in a couple of Real Games, and show that he’s been able to polish the raw stone that he was coming into the league. Hope he gets it, because you couldn’t create a more heart-warming story if you tried.
Here’s to jewelry.
And Sammy Light.
I’m serious ... try one.
*
I wouldn’t recommend Sammy Light for an everyday support system, but for the occasional flirtation, it’s pretty righteous.
Not unlike Darryl Gardener. Hey ... many of us knew what we were getting - a rental duplex of a knucklehead looking to make hay (mixing metaphors is an art form, don’t you think?) in a contract year. And in that role, he proved quite capable. Helped solidify the middle of what had been, for about a decade, a veritable turnstile – both in terms of personnel AND performance – in the middle of the DL. Darryl did a good job; allowed the LB’s to roam a bit and make plays ... and then, after the season, bolted for more money, just as we suspected he would. Few Skins fans wanted to pony up to keep him around this year, not at the Bentley prices he was quoting, and with that back thing.
Acura maybe. Not Bentley.
Sage!
On draft day, he was purely a WTF pic. Marty Schottenheimer, so the story goes, strode (Marty doesn’t walk – he strides) up to the draft board in the 4th round, set his jaw, pointed at the name and said, “I want THAT guy.†Which caused everyone else in the room to crank their own jaws shut, shuffle their papers for a moment, surreptitiously shrug their shoulders (lest The Marty see), and respond with, “... er ... okay, coach.â€Â
Not only was Sage not on anyone’s radar, neither was taking a frickin’ QB at that point. But that’s history now.
As is Marty.
Sage showed up and quickly impressed with his aw shucks demeanor and surprising athletic ability ... albeit about as raw as any QB many of us had ever seen at this level. I attended a couple of Skins training camp practices that year, and watched him closely, and remember being pleasantly surprised with his instincts and arm strength, but rather convinced that it would be at least 3 or 4 years before he’d be ready to go against live bullets in the NFL. He was clearly a project.
That was ... what ... about 3 years ago. :)
He did nothing in Marty’s Year of 2001 on the field (okay in preseason, showed a flash or two), but DID become something of a cult figure on Skins boards. On mine in particular (www.extremeskins.com – humble moderator here, at your service) several member of his LARGE family became members of the board, and shared some amusing and endearing insights, and then we even played a huge April Fool’s joke on the board by creating a Sage account, and separate Sage Forum, where the redhead himself was gonna grace us with his presence. Didn’t last long, sadly, because a couple regulars there know better than to believe anything we tell them, the bast@rds.
Anyway, everybody loved his attitude, his strong arm, and the flashes of instinctive-looking QB we thought we had seen. And THEN, when Spurrier showed up to start 2002, on the first day of the first mini-camp, when asked about his QB’s, the coach’s first comments were that the best of the bunch that day was none other than ... Sage Rosenfels. PARTY!! People were hooked.
Bear in mind, however, during this Happy Time, the only real competition on hand was Danny Wuerffel and the just-drafted Patrick Ramsey. I know, I know ... buzzkill.
Sage did okay in preseason, showing all the same qualities we’d seen all along, but it became apparent that he had no real shot here, not after Shane Matthews was brought in. Shane and Wuerffel were both going to make the team, as was 1st round draft pick Ramsey. Getting let go here wasn’t anything Sage did wrong – or failed to do right – it was pure numbers, and the reality of a new head coach with a clear idea of what he wanted and needed on his team.
You won’t find a Skins fan anywhere who has a bad thing to say about Sage. I think he has enough tools and work ethic to last in the league a while. I’m not altogether convinced he has the juice to be a starter ... truth is, my gut tells me he’s more suited to being a solid #2 guy. In a place where the QB isn’t asked to carry the load, however, given the chance to be a “system QB†with good talent around him, and asked to simply manage the offense, he might yet develop into something beyond that.
Which is why I’m glad he’s in Miami. He can throw the deep out that Norv employs as a staple, and with Ricky Williams, certainly has a ground game to lean on. Haven’t gotten to see him handle the ball since he left here, so I don’t know if his play-action stuff is ready to sell on the Big Stage. It was NOT when I last saw him play. I don’t think Sage will ever “earn†a starters job in practice – I just don’t think he “flashes†like that. What I DO think is that, if and when he gets an opportunity in live action, he might just surprise and turn out to be a Gamer.
I don’t want him to get his shot at anyone else’s expense via injurty or anything, but I think the only way Sage Rosenfels ever becomes other than a message board hero is to get in a couple of Real Games, and show that he’s been able to polish the raw stone that he was coming into the league. Hope he gets it, because you couldn’t create a more heart-warming story if you tried.
Here’s to jewelry.
And Sammy Light.
I’m serious ... try one.
