Seriously, how did we land De'Anthony Thomas?

[ducklovinlady]

A SC poster had posted this:
I have a buddy who is a local city football coach who was down at the ESPN sportszone last night w/DeAnthony came in w/family to celebrate.
My friend who has a face recognition association w/DeAnthony,asked him why did he not sign w/USC/
He said that DeAnthony had a bright almost relieved type of smile.
DeAnthony told him in his heart he wanted to sign with USC but "for him", he had to get away.
He said that he was tired of being "the Black Mamba" not the football player but the guy that every leach and roach from his neighborhood was trying to get something from him.
He said that he knew that he would not be able to escape that aspect if he went to USC, the school that's right down the street from where he played not only his high school ball but also pop warner.
He said he wanted to get away from them and that aspect which he knew he would not have been able to shake if he had signed w/SC.
He said going to Oregon on the trip really opened his eyes about him being able to have some sort of life without all the hangups of being so close to his old neighborhood.
He said the bottom line was that going to Oregon, gave him the best chance outside of football to be just "DeAnthony" and learn how to become "a man not just the man"


After reading the quote about DAT changing his nickname from the Black Mamba and how comfortable he was in Eugene, it makes sense.

That summary reflects a very mature and intelligent young man.

I agree. I like this kid already.

Every article I've read on the guy shows him as mature, thoughtful and overall, a really nice kid. Butthurt SC fans keeps labeling him as a "me, me, me" or drama kid, but from what I've read from unbiased people, it doesn't sound that way to me.

[Sooth]

funny thought that hit me last night...

does anyone give a damn that oregon didn't get brendon bigelow now?

[buckmarkduck]

I didn't give a damn about not getting Bigelow 10 min after not getting him. I hope he stays healthy at Kal, but I didn't want to have another Costa on our hands.

[Bigducker]

A SC poster had posted this:
I have a buddy who is a local city football coach who was down at the ESPN sportszone last night w/DeAnthony came in w/family to celebrate.
My friend who has a face recognition association w/DeAnthony,asked him why did he not sign w/USC/
He said that DeAnthony had a bright almost relieved type of smile.
DeAnthony told him in his heart he wanted to sign with USC but "for him", he had to get away.
He said that he was tired of being "the Black Mamba" not the football player but the guy that every leach and roach from his neighborhood was trying to get something from him.
He said that he knew that he would not be able to escape that aspect if he went to USC, the school that's right down the street from where he played not only his high school ball but also pop warner.
He said he wanted to get away from them and that aspect which he knew he would not have been able to shake if he had signed w/SC.
He said going to Oregon on the trip really opened his eyes about him being able to have some sort of life without all the hangups of being so close to his old neighborhood.
He said the bottom line was that going to Oregon, gave him the best chance outside of football to be just "DeAnthony" and learn how to become "a man not just the man"


After reading the quote about DAT changing his nickname from the Black Mamba and how comfortable he was in Eugene, it makes sense.

That sounds great. If he ends up loving Oregon and Eugene it will be a great recruiting tool for other SoCal kids thinking about seeing another part of the world.

[woundedknees]

"learn how to become "a man not just the man", is something a huge number of pro athletes, and others never learn.

Welcome aboard, Baby DT!

[ducklovinlady]

Not sure if this article got posted here, but another great read about DAT:
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/c ... id=5905189

[greenyellow]

funny thought that hit me last night...

does anyone give a damn that oregon didn't get brendon bigelow now?

Who's that?

[Bigducker]

Not sure if this article got posted here, but another great read about DAT:
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/c ... id=5905189

Great article. Sounds like he's every bit as good of a kid as he is an athelete. Just the kind Chip recruits.

[EncinitasDuck]

Yesterday I read that when he visited UO the coaches had a computer simulation of him in our offense. They showed him in various plays and he saw exactly the creative ways we would use him. This just shows how innovative and detail oriented Chip Kelly is.

[Ducks1]

Yesterday I read that when he visited UO the coaches had a computer simulation of him in our offense. They showed him in various plays and he saw exactly the creative ways we would use him. This just shows how innovative and detail oriented Chip Kelly is.

That's nuts. Where did you read that?

[stlDUCKfan]

Yesterday I read that when he visited UO the coaches had a computer simulation of him in our offense. They showed him in various plays and he saw exactly the creative ways we would use him. This just shows how innovative and detail oriented Chip Kelly is.

That's epic. I guess Nike was right... "Everyone Loses. Few change the game."

I bet everyone does this know. That's an awesome idea.

[uodux1212]

Yesterday I read that when he visited UO the coaches had a computer simulation of him in our offense. They showed him in various plays and he saw exactly the creative ways we would use him. This just shows how innovative and detail oriented Chip Kelly is.

That's nuts. Where did you read that?

I read that too, but I read it on a SC message board and have no idea where... wearesc.com?!?

[wheaton4prez]

Here's another post from the SC board.

Not trying to argue, but how so? He was 100% honest with our coaches. He told them before he went to Eugene, that he was going. On Monday morning he called Lane and told him his reasons why he was de-committing and that he was going to Oregon. He tried hiding it from the public so he doesn't get bombarded with people bothering him about it, but than it leaked on the internet. Even if he de-committed officially on Monday he would have still been bothered just as much by the public. I honestly have no problem with what he did because he was 100% honest with our staff and team, hence they were congratulating him on Monday. A insider that has access to HH info, that Garry has confirmed to be legit, said that the gang thing was in fact true and confirmed De'Anthony was 100% honest and sincere with our coaches, and De'Anthony felt it was in best best interest to move to Eugene with less distractions. People that are claiming that he was playing SC the whole time are just talking out of there butt, because he clearly was very much committed to us prior to 1 week ago, hence why he was recruiting for us. This is not a Mesean Jackson or Josh Shirley situation, and Thomas does not deserve to be put in that category. He truly did what he thought was best for him and his future. While we, along with myself, feel SC was better for him, it was his decision and he will have to live with it. Let's just all me mature about this and wish him luck, except when he's playing against us.

Anyone know what "the gang thing" was?

[EncinitasDuck]

Yesterday I read that when he visited UO the coaches had a computer simulation of him in our offense. They showed him in various plays and he saw exactly the creative ways we would use him. This just shows how innovative and detail oriented Chip Kelly is.

That's nuts. Where did you read that?

I read that too, but I read it on a SC message board and have no idea where... wearesc.com?!?

Yep, pretty sure that's where I read it as well.

[Phenom]

He said "University of Oregon"....yay!