So does CMIII inherit the DROY?

"pack93z" wrote:

"pack93z" wrote:

So is this incident based on his college days, or did it occur sometime over the 09 season?

"TheEngineer" wrote:

Incredible story. Clay Matthews Jr., once a 6-1 165 pound high school junior whose coach dad didn't even start him at Agoura High in California, will hit the NFL as a 6-3, 246 pound first round draft pick. In between that the player walked-on at dad's and uncle's alma mater USC to join the incredible line-backing crew as a DE.

There must a few million 6-1 165 pound high school kids walking around out there. Start lifting weights, eating healthy, and dreaming of the NFL -- although you may not have the genetics of Matthews -- because you too could be a first round NFL pick...if you know the right people.

Titans_to_host_prospects_clay_matthews_jr_and_wr As a junior at Agoura High, Matthews was 6-1 and weighed about 165 pounds. His body ached from growing pains and his father, the team's defensive coordinator, declined to start him.

"His mom was giving me the business, but he wasn't ready," the elder Matthews said, chuckling. "He wasn't very big and he wasn't very strong."

Matthews continued to grow during his senior season but drew interest only from local community colleges.

Rather than pursuing that route, Matthews told his father he wanted to walk on at USC, where Clay-Mat3thews brother Kyle was a walk-on safety in 2003.

Matthews showed up at unknown weight at USC; by 2005 he was listed as 6-3 225. Not bad gains over 3 years from high school: 165 to 225, although he does sport a 6-3 frame. By 2008, USC listed Matthews at 246. That's 81 pounds of weight 09000d5d80ee562b_gallery_600(muscle) on Matthews since a junior in high school (over 6 years), which is probably not unheard of for college linemen; for a linebacker to retain or increase speed while packing on 80 pounds, that's fantastic.

What's in the water at USC? Someone test it, especially in the off-season; those are super-human gains. Matthews and companion linebacker Brian Cushing overcame false rumors they tested positive at the NFL combine for roids, so they must be clean, right?

Not that we know USC for Mark McGwire, Brian Cushing, the Ting Bros, and other incredible muscle-gaining strories, not at all.

Well, well, well.

The word is out via Peter King that the Associated Press, which administers the post-season NFL awards, is trying to figure what do about the Defensive Rookie of the Year award won by Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing, who has now been suspended for violating the league's steroid policy during the 2009 season (Adam Schefter reports the positive test came in September).

You'd think they'd just give the award to Buffalo Bills safety Jarius Byrd (six votes), who finished second to Cushing (39 votes). Packers linebacker Clay Matthews was third (three), and Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo finished with two.

But there's a chance there might be a revote, as voter and AP "advisor" Dave Goldberg said in a Tweet this morning.

I can understand the reason why: voters just award first-place votes, not those for second or third, so the voting might turn out different.

However, voters now have a little bit of a different frame of mind since the award was voted on right after the regular-season. Will Matthews get more votes now after the Arizona Cardinals showed how vital he was to the Packers when the Cardinals shut him down in the playoff game? Will voters think twice about voting for Matthews because of his connection to Cushing?

All interesting questions that will get answered soon.

1. I think when I lived in New Jersey a few years ago, there were always whispers about how star high school linebacker Brian Cushing got so big and so strong so fast. And no matter how Cushing spins it in the wake of being suspended for four weeks for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance (Cushing denied to friend and workout pal Jay Glazer that what he tested positive for was a steroid), it doesn't matter. He'll have the scarlet letter on his chest for the rest of his career. It doesn't go away.

Cushing admitting that he appealed the positive test in February makes it virtually certain that he derived benefit from whatever illegal substance he took during his rookie season. And if this suspension is the result of a positive test at any point during the 2009 season, I'm in favor of stripping him of the defensive rookie of the year award and giving it to second-place finisher Jairus Byrd of Buffalo. These are awards lorded over by the Associated Press, not the NFL, so this is not an NFL decision. I plan to have more on this in my Tuesday column.

I am chuckling quietly at Shawn's inadvertently spamming for SI.

"Nonstopdrivel" wrote: