First of all, as to my Saban comments- they were unnecessary and I deleted them. I always kind of liked Alabama- as to the Saban element I'll just let that be. As to Alabama and their recent and past success, more power to you. Having grown up in south Florida, I've spent plenty of time watching periods of dominance by UM, UF, FSU and the Gators, who crushed Alabama regularly if I recall correctly. The upshot of it all is that I really don't care, I was never particularly partial to any college team, it just doesn't matter to me. UF won 2 recently, the U, FSU- we've had plenty of championships that I really couldn't care less about- btw UM should have had one more but for the Ohio State fleecing. But again, no big deal, college football isn't particularly important to me. Unfortunately, because of the Saban connection, I find myself these days rooting against Alabama, but that's neither here nor there. I can assure you that Florida football fans have been equally ambivalent as to what the good people of Alabama thought of our teams over the decades of our dominance. As a side note, I did get a chance to meet Barry Krauss's parents a few times quite a few years ago, very nice people, from Pompano I believe.
As a Dolphin fan I am, by the way, very gratelfull to the Tide for Bob Baumhower, Dwight Stephenson and one of my all time favorites, Don McNeal.
As to the conferences- I'd have to revisit tape of Rodgers at Cal to see what mechanical changes, if any, have taken place. As with the Pac 10 when Elway and Aikman were there, I wouldn't judge those two guys by a lack of defense in that conference 30 years ago, nor am I disuaded froom being a huge fan of Weeden because of the same. Case Keenum, Timmy Chang, take your pick- stats do lie, some conferences to play better defense than others, I get that.
RG III lights it up in Weeden's conference- I like him, but I far from love him. I love Weeden's game, and I don't need to see him play an SEC team to confirm that. Everything clicks, starting with the absolutely stellar arm, the power, the accuracy, the size, the deceptive mobility, the character, the mental comprehension and approach to the game (as he's considered basically another offensive coach out there from what I gather).
It just works for me, from his quck feet and smooth movement in the pocket, his decision making, take your pick. It might not look quite as easy if he were playing in the SEC, I'll grant you that for sure, but Weeden's qualities would still shine through. No QB that I've seen in the SEC can touch him, with the possible exception of Tyler Wilson, who I like very much.
I would guess that the Senior Bowl will be a great opportunity for Weeden to dispell some of those "weak conference opposing defense" concerns, and my guess is that he'll do just fine. If I recall correctly Josh Freeman played in Weeden's conference- I like but don't love him, but seriously, there are only so many franchise QBs to go around. Peyton might be done, I like Matt Stafford quite a bit, Brady and Brees are Big 10 guys, but when all is said and done I'm not terribly concerned about the conferences in question- I'm concerned about the player. There are plenty of Chad Hennes for every Tom Brady, that's just how it goes. The conference doesn't make the player- an obvious assessment no doubt, but nonetheless true. For better or worse I'm jusging Weeden by what I see from him, not by the conference that he plays in. And what I see is a supremely talented QB who will be a steal, due to his age, in the second round if in fact he lasts that long.
So congrats to the Tide, they deserve it, and it is quite a feat for the state of Alabama to have both UA and AU win titles back to back, something that the people of Alabama can be proud of for sure. Saban has done one hell of a job over there, and despite my dislike for the guy, no one can take that away from him.
