He is a QUITTER, plane and simple. Whenever anyone thinks of the list of great Pitt safeties, Paris Ford will not be a name that is mentioned.
Paris Ford quits
- Thread starter Slick Manager of Champs
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Yeah that was an exaggeration. he hated him after he left of course--and disparaged him publicly and classlessly-- but I know he'd have kept him if he could have. That said, the original point was that Narduzzi does not adapt. Canada was very different in that way.
I get Ford's perspective. I like what he brought to Pitt and his health is the most important thing at this point. The competitor in me doesn't like it. To leave the team during the middle of the season is tough. If Pitt was 5-2 and just lost a tightly contested game against Notre Dame would he have made the same decision?
This is a predictably long thread already so it’s likely debated already. But your reply prompts the obvious question.....what’s the demarcation on # of games into the season or how bad of a losing record before doing this gets labeled as a ‘quitter to your team’ vs a ‘smart thing for Your own personal interests’?
How bout 3 games played and 0-3, 4 games and 1-3, 5 games and 1-4 or 2-3. You’re saying 7 games and 3-4 is acceptable, heck, he should have just packed it in at 3-3.
Come on, what he did to "piss off" the coaches was pretty evident. He was playing poorly. And so in the 4th quarter of a blowout they decided to take him out and give the backup some snaps. Oh, the horror! That's never happened in football before!
By the way, before the game was over pretty much every starter on the team got benched. Did they all do something to "piss off" the coaches? Or when they all got benched was it about getting backups some playing time in a blowout?
Hard to believe the ND incident and the team taking a nose dive aren’t big factors.
He thought this was going to be a special year and came back to help both the team and his draft status.
While it’s likely his teammates are a little hurt that he didn’t stick it out with them, they probably also realize that at this point- with 4 straight losses - there is not enough up side left to outweigh the possibility that
A) he could get injured (hurting his draft status)
or
B) that PN might again pull him out of future games for mistakes - making him look bad and taking away chances to add to his highlight reel.
It’s easy to see where Ford thought, how is stay at this point helping me?”
So it does look kind of bad for Paris, if you don’t take everything into consideration.
He thought this was going to be a special year and came back to help both the team and his draft status.
While it’s likely his teammates are a little hurt that he didn’t stick it out with them, they probably also realize that at this point- with 4 straight losses - there is not enough up side left to outweigh the possibility that
A) he could get injured (hurting his draft status)
or
B) that PN might again pull him out of future games for mistakes - making him look bad and taking away chances to add to his highlight reel.
It’s easy to see where Ford thought, how is stay at this point helping me?”
So it does look kind of bad for Paris, if you don’t take everything into consideration.
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So it's the getting benched that will make him look bad and not the actual poor play?
Ford is pretty athletic. If he runs in the 4.4-4.5 range, he'll really boost his draft status. He's terrific against the run and everyone recognizes his ability to fly to the ball. He is tied for most interceptions in the nation with three this season. Every scouting report has concerns over his ability to diagnose and react to routes in front of him. I think teams will overlook that because he can be developed. He has good height and room to gain another 10 pounds or so to be that "prototypical" safety size. I think he can also play free or strong safety at the next level. I'm not sure if he's a first-round pick, but definitely second round and will be one of the top safeties available. I'm excited to see him play at the next level.
Well, . . . I would! 😁
Sounds about right. He needs to mature in many ways to have a successful NFL career. Remember it was him and LaMont Wade the 2 big wpial guys that year. Even with his premature exit, I think Ford had a better college career/more impactful.
The sad truth of college athletics is that it’s big business and even if the players are being paid illegal benefits it’s small potatoes compared to an NFL contract . There‘s a time to be selfless and a time to be selfish . He needs to protect his future and if someone feels his best interest is to not risk injury or illness playing for a team going nowhere so be it .
Who cares? Everyone on this board seems to agree this season is a lost cause... so why should someone who has the ability to make a lot of money playing this game stay for a lost cause that will only hurt his draft standing. And news flash... HE HAS EVERY RIGHT TO DO SO!!! It's HIS body... HIS decision. Let the brother go earn a living.
He's a Pitt man and always will be. Let it go.
He's a Pitt man and always will be. Let it go.
Avonte Maddox got burnt regularly and now very good NFL player. Defensive scheme puts players in a bind.
Yep. One thing I’ve learned over years of reading these boards is that if a local kid goes somewhere other than Pitt, his name rarely ever comes up again.
If a kid decides to Shai away from Pitt, fans just don’t Foster any interest regardless if he played ball in Western PA Pryor to college.
You're making the argument without using the words. Character matters. A quitter displays low character. It'll follow him. He may well be drafted but he'll be a bust. Give me a hard worker and a bust your ass attitude over a pre madona quitter any day.
Former teammates, and who cares what those losers think? Win more games, then he may have stayed.
This statement is absurd on so many levels because even the dopey color analyst on the ACC network occasionally recognizes the fact that Pitt's safeties predominantly play 5 yards off the LOS. There is no human on the planet who can react so close to the LOS - which is why Pitt leads the ACC in big plays given up year after year.
He'll be fine in the NFL.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
It's kind of funny to read all of the bravado about quitting and letting the team down. This isn't HS football or your rec league nonsense. This is real life. This board regularly celebrates the accomplishments of players that left the program early. This is a career decision that every kid in that locker room would love to be in a position to make.
Understand your position but disagree.
By the time the combines are over, if Ford scores well, the NFL will not care one bit that he "quit".
And....as posted in another thread, this is just the beginning.
More and more NFL worthy players will opt out mid season if there is nothing to play for.
The NFL is the height of hypocrisy. There's plenty of felons who are playing in the league today or at least recently.
Don't do that. Don't bash a kid who could have gone anywhere in the country to play but stayed home and was LOYAL even when the biggest schools in the nation put on the full court press. #12 is 412 to the bone and if more people thought like him Pitt would be ranked much higher. Do you have any idea how much he did for inner city youth in Pittsburgh? Kids staying out of trouble because they want to be the next "diddybop". I know he isn't perfect but no one on this board is. He went through hell while he was at Pitt seeing loved ones killed and being pulled on from so many directions. He gave his heart and soul to Pitt and when he gets drafted Im buying several of his jerseys. And no Im not a relative just a guy who knows how hard it is to make it out of the inner city and proud as hell to see one of our own reach his dreams. Good luck young man you have nothing to apologize for!!!
I'm not sure that getting a degree, or at least overcoming challenges to get oneself in academic goodstanding and remaining in goodstanding, and being a role model for kids are mutually exclusive things.
Paris doing this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can be justified in terms of him potentially doing what is best for his future. On the other hand, it is pretty obvious that he is quitting on his teammates and coaches because the season is not going well. So an understandable action has a bad look about it.
I think it does effect his draft status in this regard. He's probably a 2nd rounder as of last week. If he finished the season strong, get some more good stuff on tape, and does well at the combine....maybe sneaks into the first round. I doubt that happens now, even with a good combine. His tape this years wasn't as good as last year's and now he also quit during the season. I'd guess mid-to-late 2nd round with a strong combine. 3rd round with even an average-ish combine.
Also, hearing Wade is looking like a 7th round/UFA grade.
Also, hearing Wade is looking like a 7th round/UFA grade.
If I were a GM, I would significantly downgrade players who are bad teammates or don’t love football. And yes, quitting mid-season makes you a bad teammate.
I understand your sentiment, but I believe someone posted above about how grueling a football season is, and how physically taxing on a body even a 4 game stretch can be, especially for someone that plays as physical as Paris. In some ways, as a GM, if I have a choice between one guy whose body is broken down more than another guy, I want the guy whose body isn't as beat up.
I remember his last year here people had serious doubts about Whitehead. There seems to be a recurring theme here that talented DB's look bad in Narduzzi's system.
Yet when a coach quits on his team to take another gig, why is there not the same reaction?
For sure, the injuries are a big consideration. And, once a paycheck is on the line, a player with a history of quitting in his team may well continue to perform. For me, as a GM I would need a nice discount to make a pick worth the risk. I am guessing some GMs share my philosophy, and some don’t. The good news did Ford is that so long as some don’t, his business decision is sound.
Often there is the same reaction, especially if done in the middle of the year.
Not color analysts on the ACC Network, guys who scout and write about college players for a living. Every player has a weakness and this happens to be the one they've identified with Ford. No one said he wasn't going to not succeed in the NFL because of it.
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