bigsixfive 328 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I'll paste it here to keep everyone from having to register with a communist organization. Irons Brothers Overcome Their Doubts, Then Become Leaders for Auburn By RAY GLIER Published: August 14, 2006 AUBURN, Ala., Aug. 11  One week into his college football career, David Irons Jr. was so distraught over a knee injury that he was not sure he would play again. One game into his sophomore season at South Carolina, Kenny Irons, David’s younger brother, was so disappointed with his coach, Lou Holtz, that he wanted nothing to do with him. “Oh man, yes, serious hiccups,†said their father, David Irons Sr., 43. “This wasn’t in the plans. One thing you can’t let happen, though, is for your children to panic. “I put my arm around David and said, ‘You worked too hard. We’ll make it.’ Kenny said some things to Coach Holtz and then I told Kenny to be quiet. I told them to look for solutions.†After two operations, David Irons Jr. has recovered from the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which he injured during preseason practice in 2001 at Butler Community College in Kansas. He went to Butler after failing to qualify academically at Auburn, then joined the Tigers in 2004 but missed the season after having surgery on the same knee during the preseason. He was named to the Associated Press all-Southeastern Conference second team in 2005 as Auburn’s starting left cornerback. Kenny Irons, unhappy with his role in Holtz’s offense, transferred to Auburn in 2004. He led the Tigers and the SEC in rushing in 2005, with 1,293 yards and 107.8 yards per game. Now a senior, he is considered one of the top running backs in the country and a significant reason Auburn is a consensus top-10 team heading into the season. David Irons Sr. runs a fitness center in Duluth, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. The center is used by a number of professional athletes. His sons have gone through a methodical regimen that qualifies David Sr. as more than their father; he is also their athletic trainer and mentor. “I pushed, but my dreams were their dreams, too,†he said. “They are good enough that they could be the first brothers taken in the first round of the N.F.L. draft in the same year.†David Jr. has been timed running the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds, said his father, who slid a folder across a table with comments he said were from various N.F.L. general managers and player personnel directors. The comments, which were not attributed, said N.F.L. scouts marveled at David Jr.’s ability to turn his hips, accelerate quickly and be physical, even though he is only 5 feet 11 inches and 188 pounds. David Sr. admitted that the scouts had questions about his son’s surgically repaired knee. The knee injury is not even the most serious adversity David Jr. has faced. As a week-old infant, his father said, David Jr. had an allergic reaction that put him in intensive care for three days at a hospital in Camden, N.J. The family is certain the trauma contributed to David Jr.’s learning disability, a diagnosis that was made when he was in second grade. By the time he was 12, when the family moved to Dacula, Ga., from Camden, he had been through years of ridicule. David Jr. received a bachelor’s degree in sociology last Monday, after Auburn’s summer session. A professor in the university’s sociology department recently charged that Auburn football players routinely took courses in sociology and adult education because they were guaranteed an A. Auburn announced last week that two heads of departments had resigned after an inquiry into easy courses. David said that Auburn academic advisers had not steered him toward the sociology department, where he focused on social work. “I wanted that major so I could learn social work and how to help kids like me,†he said. “I earned this. I always wondered what people thought of me when they would walk by the classroom with just a few of us kids in it. I know they were saying, ‘There is the team’s star player, but he’s just a dumb football player.’ †Kenny Irons wondered what people thought about him, too. In 2003, when he was a sophomore, he was expecting to be the feature back for the Gamecocks. He was unaware that Holtz, in order to sign Demetris Summers  one of the top high school running backs in the country and a South Carolina native  had promised Summers that he would start and take the first carry of the season. (Holtz later told reporters about the promise.) Kenny Irons said that Summers missed a majority of the preseason practices with an ankle injury and that he was furious when Summers opened the season as the starter. “You can’t say in the paper what’s going on behind the scenes; that’s when you get labeled as a cancer to the team and I always wondered if I talked too much if people would think I was a bad guy,†Irons said. “Coach and I had a meeting, and he asked me what could happen to make things better, but nothing changed really.†Irons, who was recruited nationally while in high school, slipped to fifth on the depth chart and was told to play in a junior varsity game, which is usually reserved for redshirt freshmen and true freshmen. His father, after meeting with Holtz, told Irons to play out the season quietly. After carrying the ball just 19 times for 51 yards in 2003, Irons asked to be allowed to transfer to Auburn so he could play with his brother. Irons also knew that the all-American running backs Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown would probably be leaving for the N.F.L. after the 2004 season, so playing time would be available. A month after Williams and Brown led the Tigers to a 13-0 season, Irons was leaving Auburn’s Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum with other Auburn football players after a basketball game against rival Alabama. On the way to their bus, the Alabama basketball players shouted insults at them. “They yelled at us, ‘You guys don’t have Carnell and Ronnie running no more,’ †Kenny Irons said. “I’m sure some people here were thinking the same thing: ‘Is Irons just going to be a third back? Are we putting a guy on scholarship who is going to be a bust and couldn’t hack it at South Carolina?’ †Auburn offensive tackle King Dunlap said: “I heard that stuff from people that we were in trouble without Ronnie and Carnell. I just tried to keep quiet with my friends who go to Alabama thinking they’ll find out about Kenny Irons.†Irons, who is 5-11 and 208 pounds, gained 103 yards in a 28-18 victory over Alabama in November. Al Borges, the Auburn offensive coordinator, said Irons might weigh 208 pounds, but he runs as if he is 230. “He hammers the ball and runs through the line like his hair is on fire,†Borges said. “He punishes people; he’s a little like Ronnie Brown that way.†Kenny Irons won Auburn’s 2006 off-season conditioning award, which his father said should put to rest any talk that he was a difficult player to manage. “I remember last year after the South Carolina game when Kenny didn’t play well, his position coach and I talked and said we had to shake him up,†David Irons Sr. said. “The coach called me that week and said he was benching him for the start of the Arkansas game. I said, “Great; it will be good for him.’ “Another back got injured in that game and Kenny got in the game and ran for 182 yards. He needed somebody to get his attention. I think he’s O.K. now. They’re both O.K. now.†Link to nasty website - be careful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saniflush 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 good article and thanks for posting so I didn't have to give my e-mail out to the socialists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerOne 1,152 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 so nice to know that this overrated fish wrapper is so concerned about little ole Auburn. Guess they are trying to overcome the bad journalism (or whatever) in the previous article. Most of the state papers have had better articles on the Iron's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsixfive 328 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 good article and thanks for posting so I didn't have to give my e-mail out to the socialists. No problem. I gave em my gmail account so all the spam propoganda will get routed there, and I shouldn't see it. Part of me is wondering if they're setting us up for another fall. I was really surprised there was no mention of the "athletic scandal" that shook the world a few weeks ago. If you think about what the NYT likes/sides with, its kind of funny. NYT dislikes: Republicans/Conservatives, Christians, Auburn NYT likes: Terrorists, ACLU, athiets, uat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saniflush 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 David Jr. received a bachelor’s degree in sociology last Monday, after Auburn’s summer session. A professor in the university’s sociology department recently charged that Auburn football players routinely took courses in sociology and adult education because they were guaranteed an A. Auburn announced last week that two heads of departments had resigned after an inquiry into easy courses. David said that Auburn academic advisers had not steered him toward the sociology department, where he focused on social work. There was still a sligh jab taken by them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsixfive 328 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 David Jr. received a bachelor’s degree in sociology last Monday, after Auburn’s summer session. A professor in the university’s sociology department recently charged that Auburn football players routinely took courses in sociology and adult education because they were guaranteed an A. Auburn announced last week that two heads of departments had resigned after an inquiry into easy courses. David said that Auburn academic advisers had not steered him toward the sociology department, where he focused on social work. There was still a sligh jab taken by them. I missed that somehow. What a bunch of turd baskets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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