Bill Courtney's Blog
May 7, 2014
My Thoughts on the 2014 NFL Draft
I think Jadeveon Clowney will get first pick to the Texans – he is simply the NFL prototype and the Texans need that. Khalil Mack is a great player, but the need for the Texans at DE just makes him a more sensible pick for them – Who knows for sure where Mack goes, but Oakland needs help at LB, so maybe there. It’ll be interesting to see Oakland’s picks in a post-Al Davis Raiders franchise.
Everyone knows Clowney was spoiled and didn’t play hard all the time at SCAR. That’s a scary prospect paying all that money and using the coveted #1 pick, but whoever makes the pick will know a lot more about him than any of us arm chair drafters.
I would be surprised to see the Rams actually take Manziel at #2 pick. If he gets past the Browns at 4th pick, and Al Davis was still around, the Raiders would be a likely candidate – but given that has changed, St Louis is hoping he will fall to #13 pick. He’s a perfect fit for the Eagles’ new offence, but I just don’t see him getting to 22. They would have to trade up to get him. If pressed, I’d say he goes to the Browns at #4, but it is both interesting and confusing – which makes it exciting.
Manziel is a kid who got way too much way too soon and didn’t control it. If you listen to his teammates and his coaches at A&M though, the kid is a winner and a competitor. While I didn’t like many of his antics, I wonder how I would have handled it at his age. I’ve watched him play; I’ve met him twice in person. Based on his competitiveness, I believe he’ll have a successful professional career.
Bill Courtney
Everyone knows Clowney was spoiled and didn’t play hard all the time at SCAR. That’s a scary prospect paying all that money and using the coveted #1 pick, but whoever makes the pick will know a lot more about him than any of us arm chair drafters.
I would be surprised to see the Rams actually take Manziel at #2 pick. If he gets past the Browns at 4th pick, and Al Davis was still around, the Raiders would be a likely candidate – but given that has changed, St Louis is hoping he will fall to #13 pick. He’s a perfect fit for the Eagles’ new offence, but I just don’t see him getting to 22. They would have to trade up to get him. If pressed, I’d say he goes to the Browns at #4, but it is both interesting and confusing – which makes it exciting.
Manziel is a kid who got way too much way too soon and didn’t control it. If you listen to his teammates and his coaches at A&M though, the kid is a winner and a competitor. While I didn’t like many of his antics, I wonder how I would have handled it at his age. I’ve watched him play; I’ve met him twice in person. Based on his competitiveness, I believe he’ll have a successful professional career.
Bill Courtney
February 28, 2014
NFL Is Right To Implement Penalty For Use Of N-Word, Says Oscar-Winning Inner City Football Coach
With the National Football League expected to start penalizing players for using the N-word racial slur on the field, one notable football coach, Bill Courtney, applauds the effort, saying it is a matter of civility and respect.
Courtney, the subject of the 2011 Oscar-winning film, Undefeated, which chronicled his coaching the Manassas High School football team in inner-city Memphis, says “As a coach, one of my three rules is that no one is allowed to use the N-word in any way - derogatory or not. The word devalues the champions of the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s, those including Rosa Parks, James Meredith, MLK and the freedom riders who fought specifically so that no black person ever had to be called that name again. Every time I hear the word today it feels like a desecration of their efforts. I see it as the most demeaning words that one human can say to another, and I applaud the NFL for its leadership.”
While some would argue that the N-word has become a cultural term in the black community and, therefore, is acceptable in a limited way, Courtney disagrees.
“I am well aware that it is used as a term of endearment. I have actually had black players use it in referring to me. I fully understood that was an amazing compliment in my player's mind coming from them, a black kid, to me, a white coach. Nevertheless, I wouldn't allow it and I always explained why to that player.”
For Courtney, it really comes down to a matter of civility, something he finds lacking in America today. In fact, he discusses civility in his upcoming book, Against the Grain: A Coach’s Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family and Love, which comes out this May.
He adds, “We are a nation of freedoms and in order for our freedoms to work at their highest potential, we must approach them with a civil, open mind. In order to have civility, it is extremely important to teach it to our youth and reinforce it in our adulthood so society can continue to progress and evolve. I can't think of anything less civil than calling another human being an N-word. So to me, it is more than just a slang or derogatory word, rather it is one of many impediments to progress that we often forget.”
Courtney, the subject of the 2011 Oscar-winning film, Undefeated, which chronicled his coaching the Manassas High School football team in inner-city Memphis, says “As a coach, one of my three rules is that no one is allowed to use the N-word in any way - derogatory or not. The word devalues the champions of the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s, those including Rosa Parks, James Meredith, MLK and the freedom riders who fought specifically so that no black person ever had to be called that name again. Every time I hear the word today it feels like a desecration of their efforts. I see it as the most demeaning words that one human can say to another, and I applaud the NFL for its leadership.”
While some would argue that the N-word has become a cultural term in the black community and, therefore, is acceptable in a limited way, Courtney disagrees.
“I am well aware that it is used as a term of endearment. I have actually had black players use it in referring to me. I fully understood that was an amazing compliment in my player's mind coming from them, a black kid, to me, a white coach. Nevertheless, I wouldn't allow it and I always explained why to that player.”
For Courtney, it really comes down to a matter of civility, something he finds lacking in America today. In fact, he discusses civility in his upcoming book, Against the Grain: A Coach’s Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family and Love, which comes out this May.
He adds, “We are a nation of freedoms and in order for our freedoms to work at their highest potential, we must approach them with a civil, open mind. In order to have civility, it is extremely important to teach it to our youth and reinforce it in our adulthood so society can continue to progress and evolve. I can't think of anything less civil than calling another human being an N-word. So to me, it is more than just a slang or derogatory word, rather it is one of many impediments to progress that we often forget.”