I have long held the belief that the major difference between playing football @ PSU and Pitt is that @ PSU you are (WE ARE) only important to the extent you make PSU look good. At Pitt, your importance is determined by what you do for yourself and others.
A PSU friend quipped to me last year that Tyler Boyd "should have gone to Penn State". I wasn't up for teaching him so I just chuckled.
HAD TB gone to PSU, he "might" have had the career he has had at Pitt. But when you look at the change that occurred at PSU and the climate that made O'Brien puke to the point of leaving, you understand that at PSU, it is always about PSU. Individuals don't matter. I thought college was about preparing yourself for the "real" world....not making the prof look good. That is what I did and I suspect all of you.
Pitt is not some heaven on earth in any regard...no place is....but look at how PN has handled Conner's injury. How easy would it be for a first year first time HC to rush a player back because of the all important "W"? Boyd would have suffered under Hackenberg's regression, PSU's bad O line and Franklin's hubris.
There are many reasons why I like Pitt even though I did not attend school there....most imprtant to me is that it is a place where what you do during school does not define your life....what you do during school prepares you for it...sometimes, that requires being the only person to dial 911 when others are in peril.
A PSU friend quipped to me last year that Tyler Boyd "should have gone to Penn State". I wasn't up for teaching him so I just chuckled.
HAD TB gone to PSU, he "might" have had the career he has had at Pitt. But when you look at the change that occurred at PSU and the climate that made O'Brien puke to the point of leaving, you understand that at PSU, it is always about PSU. Individuals don't matter. I thought college was about preparing yourself for the "real" world....not making the prof look good. That is what I did and I suspect all of you.
Pitt is not some heaven on earth in any regard...no place is....but look at how PN has handled Conner's injury. How easy would it be for a first year first time HC to rush a player back because of the all important "W"? Boyd would have suffered under Hackenberg's regression, PSU's bad O line and Franklin's hubris.
There are many reasons why I like Pitt even though I did not attend school there....most imprtant to me is that it is a place where what you do during school does not define your life....what you do during school prepares you for it...sometimes, that requires being the only person to dial 911 when others are in peril.
