Since before the Champs Sports Bowl, Irish fans have looked to the 2012 season to have someone other than Tommy Rees behind center. Tommy came off the bench early in the 2010 season to rally Notre Dame’s season as a true freshman. Although Rees made mistakes that were normal for a true freshman coming off the bench, he was winning - and winning big - against USC and in the Sun Bowl Game against the University of Miami. When the 2010 season was over, there were great expectations because he had played so well as a freshman. We thought that if he had a season to grow, learn, mature and develop his game, we’d fare better in 2011. However, Dayne Christ was named the starter, perhaps because Rees did not take his game to the next level during the off season and Kelly knew it. As we saw, after Rees took over at QB in 2011, it looked like a re-run, with decent plays and a few wins, but making the same mistakes and not having the signature wins over USC or a bowl victory.
Many of us have looked forward to seeing more of Andrew Hendrix during the 2012 campaign. Hendrix played well during his short stints of play calling during 2011 and was well recruited out of high school for a reason. He is a good runner, is a good size and has a very strong arm. Many others are looking to the 2011 Scout Team offensive MVP Evertt Golson. Super talented and athletic, Golson has been seen as Kelly’s guy and the future of this team. Perhaps Hendrix and Golson would share time, but either way, Rees seems to be the odd man out, especially with Gunner Kiel now in the mix. At 6’4” 220 lbs. and rated as the #1 quarterback by almost every rating service and the #1 overall recruit by some, as well as the fact that he is an early enrollee who will be able to attend spring practice, Kiel has to be taken somewhat seriously in the quarterback competition. Gunner may not be the “running” quarterback that Golson and Hendrix are, but he can run and can run the spread. Either way, Rees seems to be the odd man out.
After the Super Bowl I had a thought. Having never been a big NFL follower, I live on the fringes of the Pro Football world, but with the two-week, 24-hour coverage of the Super Bowl, I got more insight and information than I normally do. After the Giants win and the subsequent breakdown around Eli Manning, there seemed to be some things that made me think of Tommy Rees, which of course led me to thinking about Rees some more.
One radio talk show host commented on the ice water running thorough Manning’s veins and how calm, cool and collected his plays. Looking at Manning, he comes across as innocent, a bit naïve and perhaps a little bit of a “Homer,” which reminds me a little like Rees. As a young NFL quarterback, I recall his playing being less than spectacular and many saying he may not make it in this league, which sounds a little like Rees. As I looked back on how after such a decent freshman year and then being disappointed in the lack of development during his sophomore campaign, I had a thought. How many Division I sophomore quarterbacks are leading their teams to BCS Bowl victories? Jonas Gray had three below average if not disappointing years before his impressive senior season. What if Rees’s breakout year is his third? Most starters (if not stars) at major college football programs don’t play four years at a Heisman winning level. What if 2012 is Rees’s version of Manning’s 2007? Just a second thought.
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