OldCleat All Did Not Get Drafted Team ... Maybe not

The OldCleat All Did Not Get Drafted Team has some updates. Some are good, some are, well, not so good.

The only quarterback on the team, Xavier Lee, was moved to tight end by the Ravens. He didn't make it to first cuts, much less last cuts. So the team isn't going to have a lot of passing. Be interesting to see if there is another undrafted QB that makes a team. Dorien Bryant from Purdue was a top OldCleat pick to eventually become an NFL starter. Oops. Bryant failed his physical with the Steelers. I can't find that he's hooked on any where else.

More later.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat

Lou Piniella throws a birthday base

Lou Piniella turns 65 today. He was the World Series-winning manager for the 1990 Cincinnati Reds. One of my favorite teams of all time was the 1990 Cincinnati Reds ... I may have mentioned this before. I am not sure what became of Lou after, I don't know, about 1992. (Actually, I am going to Wrigley Field tonight, as it happens, to see Sweet Lou.) Happy Birthday, Lou ... throw a base for me.

John Hiatt, 56 Years Old today

John Hiatt turns 56 today. I am tempted to say somthing about the cracked rear view of his life, but I will resist that temptation. "Bring the Family" is I think one of the great all-time albums, and it may be the most overlooked great album of the last whatever years. The image is from Amazon.

OldCleat Draft and Undrafted Update: Injury Bug

OldCleat just recommends 'em, but they have to play. And to play, they have to stay healthy. Well, that ain't happening.

In redrafting the Bengal's draft, I would have taken Justin King over Bubba Caldwell for the Bengals in the third round. Barely. Well, King tore his toe ligament in the first preseason game and is out for the year. Caldwell is fighting for the No. 3 wideout position for the Bengals.

In the fifth round, I would have taken Jonathan Goff and Alvin Bowen over Jason Shirley (as well as a few other players). Goff injured a vertabrae (a fractured transverse process) and is out indefinitely. Bowen has a torn ACL and is probably out for the year. The big news about Shirley, all this according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, "is that he faces a Sept. 24 trial date in Fresno, Calif., on three misdemeanors: hit-and-run, driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol content of .08 or higher, the Fresno Bee reports. It will be his second trial. In June, a jury failed to reach a verdict after three days of deliberation. The trial had been scheduled to begin Aug. 27, but a judge at a hearing Thursday said he would give Shirley's lawyer more time to acquire and review transcripts of the first trial."

The OldCleat All Did Not Get Drafted Team, with updates, I picked Nehemiah Warrick as one of the top players not to get drafted. The Giants signed him. Warrick hurt his knee in the first preseason game and the Giants cut him. The tough thing is, while many teams keep several safeties because of special teams, there are more strong safeties coming out of colleges than free safeties. So we shall see about Warrick. Vince Hall, another top OldCleat pick, looked impressive in early Rams camp but was waived because of a hamstring injury.

Good news, though, Ali Highsmith is impressing the Cardinals staff. And Wesley Woodyard played very well for the Broncos and is moving up in an injury-depleted staff.

thankyouverymuch,
OldCleat

Danny Graves Born in Vietnam 35 Years Ago Today

Danny Graves, former Cincinnati Reds closer, was born in Saigon 35 years ago today. He is the first and thus far only Vietnamese-American player to have made the bigs. He was part of one of the best trade deadline deals in Reds history, and one of Jim Bowden's best deals as Reds GM.

Graves was part of the deal with Jeff Branson and John Smiley on July 31, 1997 that Bowden got from the Cleveland Indians. Bowden gave up Jim Crowell, Damian Jackson, and Scott Winchester. This was one of the great deals in Bowden's great deal-bad deal dichotomy.

Graves had seasons of 27, 30, 32, 32, and 41 saves for the Reds. They tried to make him a starter during that stretch, and he want 4-15 that season. But he was a helluva closer for several seasons. He is still active, pitching for the Twins Triple-A club. Minnesota was trying to make him a starter, but they recently abandoned that experiment. The image of Danny is from Sports Illustrated and Andy Lyons/Getty Images.

The Reds released Danny in 2005 after he gave the one-gun salute to some drunken moron who made racial slurs toward him at a game. Graves was really struggling, and it appeared that his time as a Red was coming to an end. While I almost always try to side with the fans--who I think are the least-considered stakeholder in pro sports--this time, no. I don't think Danny should have made the gesture. But they should have stuck with him at least for a while instead of letting that moronic damned fan "win."

Happy Birthday, Danny.

thankyouverymuch,

OldCleat