Boulware is realistic. Ya gotta like him.

[mrknowitall]

35 minutes ago, top dawg said:

One thing that I'd like to point out is that Boulware is hungry compared to another guy that's trying to make the roster. His attitude appears to be starkly different from that of Damiere Byrd's who basically (in my opinion) said that he should make the team because he did last year (before getting cut and re-signed again).

 

I think you're reading too much into his statement. He didn't "basically" say that he SHOULD make it because he made it last year. He's just being confident, and looking at it logically. He DID make the 53 last year, and he didn't get cut because he was trash as a wideout. He got released because he was a scratch each game, and we kept losing offensive lineman and corners. It's not like he was released for a different wideout.

Now maybe he is too comfortable. Maybe he isn't working hard enough. Who knows? But there's no way to parse that from his statement.

If I were in his position, where I made the 53 roster by working hard, then we lost two of the receivers in front of me, I haven't gotten worse (only better), I have in game experience (in which I played well), I would be confident too.

I think for Byrd to say that he's at the bottom of the totem pole would be foolish. They likely have twelve receivers in that room right now, and he's had more years in the playbook then all of maybe four. He's not at the top, but he's certainly not at the bottom. They can both be realistic about their situations, without one being less gung-ho then the other.

[MechaZain]

Byrd's also a WR so a little extra braggadocio and confidence comes with the territory.  I don't think he'll make it but that statement doesn't worry me at all. 

[top dawg]

52 minutes ago, mrknowitall said:

I think you're reading too much into his statement. He didn't "basically" say that he SHOULD make it because he made it last year. He's just being confident, and looking at it logically. He DID make the 53 last year, and he didn't get cut because he was trash as a wideout. He got released because he was a scratch each game, and we kept losing offensive lineman and corners. It's not like he was released for a different wideout.

Now maybe he is too comfortable. Maybe he isn't working hard enough. Who knows? But there's no way to parse that from his statement.

If I were in his position, where I made the 53 roster by working hard, then we lost two of the receivers in front of me, I haven't gotten worse (only better), I have in game experience (in which I played well), I would be confident too.

I think for Byrd to say that he's at the bottom of the totem pole would be foolish. They likely have twelve receivers in that room right now, and he's had more years in the playbook then all of maybe four. He's not at the top, but he's certainly not at the bottom. They can both be realistic about their situations, without one being less gung-ho then the other.

I see your point, but I still disagree. 

I'm not trying to pick on Byrd. I've defended him in the past when people were incorrectly stating that he did less during the preseason games than Brown or others. I have always liked his general attitude, and he seems like a good kid by all accounts. All that being said...

From a player in Byrd's position, he has to realize that yesteryear don't mean poo (purposefully grammatically in error)! It's a new day with new players in a similar position trying to take his spot. He has anything but arrived! You say that he was cut because of injuries (that's fair), but he was still cut. He's too close to the edge to use a year in which he was cut---whatever the reason---as a backdrop of confidence. Duke, Clay, Garrett, Ross, Graham (who has perhaps the most practical reason to be confident out of any of them) are on Byrd's heels. It's OK to be confident, but you better always be aware of the big picture and know why you're confident, and make sure you're confident for the right reasons. Conditions, coaches, and players change, and I would bet that most of our receivers are mostly focusing on the future---giving reasons today, based upon today, to be retained for the future because that's all they have.

[Snake]

He's this years udfa favorite. Before the preseason ends people will have him as a pro bowl LB that we cut because we have no vision. 

[mrknowitall]

1 hour ago, top dawg said:

From a player in Byrd's position, he has to realize that yesteryear don't mean poo (purposefully grammatically in error)! It's a new day with new players in a similar position trying to take his spot. He has anything but arrived! You say that he was cut because of injuries (that's fair), but he was still cut. He's too close to the edge to use a year in which he was cut---whatever the reason---as a backdrop of confidence. Duke, Clay, Garrett, Ross, Graham (who has perhaps the most practical reason to be confident out of any of them) are on Byrd's heels. It's OK to be confident, but you better always be aware of the big picture and know why you're confident, and make sure you're confident for the right reasons. Conditions, coaches, and players change, and I would bet that most of our receivers are mostly focusing on the future---giving reasons today, based upon today, to be retained for the future because that's all they have.

I wholeheartedly agree. The only thing I disagreed with is the idea of adding a backdrop of complacency to his particular statement. Throughout the article you linked, he mentions other things that shows where his confidence comes from (i.e. Being a four-way guy on special teams, understanding the terminology, and being in the playbook for three years). 

Also, there's an interview on the Panthers website that seems to show that Byrd isn't just coasting on the fact that he made the team last year. http://m.panthers.com/news/article-2/Damiere-Byrd-training-camp-QA/7847e21e-7505-472c-ae1b-072dec6f70d3

Now I can't really say for sure what Damiere Byrd's intent was with the statement you quoted, but my guess is that he's simply saying that making it last year proved to him that it's within him to make this team. He doesn't have to become a completely different player. And I think that's how most people feel when they break through. 

For example, I aspire to be a screenwriter, and before I ever finished a feature length screenplay, I wasn't sure that I'd ever be able to do it; it just seemed so difficult to imagine enough story to write that amount of pages. But after I finished writing my first one, the idea of writing screenplays became less scary because I'd already done it once. I didn't study writing less. I didn't start slacking. But I was more confident in the idea that my ability was enough. 

I think that's what he's implying. He may even work harder now than he had before, because making the team last year proved that his hard work wasn't pointless. 

[trueblade]

2 hours ago, MechaZain said:

 he's just getting more coverage by our media team than a lot of our starters even and it feels like it's only because he has a big personality. 

I think the disproportionate coverage can be somewhat attributed to much of the area (and especially the upstate of SC) being a huge college football fans. Boulware's college teammate Watson has the top-selling jersey in both North and South Carolina. There are many Clemson fans rooting for both Boulware and Watson and the coverage plays into that popularity. 

[Bartin]

2 hours ago, Snake said:

He's this years udfa favorite. Before the preseason ends people will have him as a pro bowl LB that we cut because we have no vision. 

He is this year's UDFA favorite for sure but people have been shockingly realistic about him for the most part. Everyone's rooting hard for him but everyone seems to also be well aware of his limitations and his low ceiling. 

[Snake]

41 minutes ago, Bartin said:

He is this year's UDFA favorite for sure but people have been shockingly realistic about him for the most part. Everyone's rooting hard for him but everyone seems to also be well aware of his limitations and his low ceiling. 

It's early. 

[iamcline]

People 'round these parts talk about Damiere Byrd like he's a golden boy yet I can't picture him. I've never missed a game or a snap. I can picture players all the way back to Derrick Moore but can't place a finger on Byrd.

[Snake]

3 minutes ago, iamcline said:

People 'round these parts talk about Damiere Byrd like he's a golden boy yet I can't picture him. I've never missed a game or a snap. I can picture players all the way back to Derrick Moore but can't place a finger on Byrd.

I would be shocked if Byrd did anything. 

[uscgamecocks]

Damiere Byrd says hi

[therealmjl]

3 minutes ago, uscgamecocks said:

Damiere Byrd says hi

i like this guy.

 

LETS GO GAMECOCKS!!!!!!!

[top dawg]

3 minutes ago, uscgamecocks said:

Damiere Byrd says hi

I've been a Byrd supporter when others weren't (and because of his play), but the statement was still unadvised. 

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

Innocuous statement. "I know I have what it takes to make the team, because I made it last year." What's wrong with that, exactly?

Why are football fans so hungry for platitudes? Those of us in the coaching world are less impressed by "OMG COACH I'M GONNA BUST MY ASS 'TIL MY EYES FALL OUT GOD BLESS AMERICA" bullcrap than you might think. It's the language every no-talent suckup speaks fluently.

As you'll see when Boulware gets cut.