A little over a week ago Todd Gurley was suspended by UGA for allegedly receiving money for signing multiple memorabilia items. I wanted to write a piece on the issue a week ago, but I understood that my emotions were much too heavy to put together a meaningful article at that time. It was thefirst time in my life that I seriously felt sick to my stomach as a sports fan.I’ve had numerous disappointments in my life when it comes to UGA sports,including coming up 5 yards short of a national championship in 2012 (yes, we would have beat Notre Dame), being ranked pre-season #1 in 2008 and having a team loaded with NFL talent only to bomb the season 4 games in, and the list goes on and on. However, the only time I have truly felt sick as a fan came last Thursday when it was announced that Todd Gurley was suspended indefinitely. I wasn’t sick because I felt that the season was over. I fully believe that we will be just as capable as a football team of winning the SEC east and competing for a playoff spot, especially when Sony Michel comes back. It was the fact that I won’t get to watch Todd Gurley single-handedly control a defense as he has most of his career. I am not writing this article to debate whether or not receiving money for your “likeness” is wrong or right. I am writing this article for two reasons; 1) To address the issue that some people are claiming Todd Gurley is better off sitting the rest of the season out, and 2) to explain what Todd Gurley has meant to Georgia football fans over the last two and a half years.
I will address the issue on Gurley sitting out the rest of the season first. There have been many pundits quoted as saying that Gurley wins by sitting out the rest of the season and preparing for the NFL draft. I vehemently disagree! The main argument by these so called pundits is that Gurley will cash in on a big pay day this spring when his name is called at the NFL draft, and that all this controversy will be lost. First off, I believe that Gurley will be drafted no higher than #5 and no lower than #12 this spring. By analyzing the #5 through the #12 picks in the last two drafts (the two drafts since the most recent CBA) it is easy to see what kind of pay day Gurley can expect. In the last two NFLdrafts, the highest paid player selected in picks 5-12 was Khalil Mack (18.6M for 4 years). The lowest paid player out of those associated picks was D.J Hayden (10.2M for 4 years). So Todd Gurley can expect to be paid between 10 million and 19 million over the next 4 years. Now let’s discuss the lifespan of an NFL running-back. Since 2010 there have been 20 running-backs selected in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. Out of those 20, only twelve are still playing today. Eight out of the twelve running-backs still playing have had season ending injuries at some point in their career. In other words, there is only a 60% chance that Todd Gurley will be playing pro football 5 years from the day he is drafted, and there is an 80% chance that he will have a season ending injury within in his first 5 years in the league. So, let’s say that Gurley doesn’t play another snap of football at Georgia, gets drafted 5th overall and signs for 19 million for 4 years, has an injury riddled career (he’s already been somewhat injury prone), and signs a second contract 4 years later for 3-4 million. This would put his overall earnings in the NFL somewhere between the 22-23 million mark. Now let’s say that Gurley never signs autographs, continues on his torrid pace, rushes for 2,000+ yards, breaks Herschel Walker’s UGA TD record, and wins the Heisman Trophy (All of those things were a real possibility). If everything in the second scenario plays out, there is zero chance that Todd Gurley doesn’t make over $5 million on his likeness, and legend after he leaves UGA. Even if Gurley were to get hurt this season, he’s still a 1st round draft choice. That means that he is guaranteed at least $10 million at the NFL draft, and another $5 million throughout his life, on his legend alone.Those of you that don’t believe he could make $5 million alone on his likeness and legend should go to Athens and ask anyone who Herschel Walker is. This scenario would put Gurley’s total net earnings at roughly $15 million compared to $22-23 million. The difference isn’t huge and if Gurley were to play his cards right he could make up the difference easily on coaching, analyzing,running camps, and a myriad of other things. He’s also a business major. If Gurley were to win the Heisman trophy and bring it back to Athens, he would instantly become a legend that people will still be talking about 100 years from now! I am never one to live in the now and not worry about the future, unless it comes to sports. There is no time like the present when it comes to sports. There are too many variables in sports, especially in football. Athletes have to live in the now and try to improve upon their legend right now! The same pundits claiming that Todd Gurley should shun college football are the same pundits that said the same thing about Jadeveon Clowney last year. Breaking News: Jadeveon Clowney hasn’t played a meaningful snap of pro football to date. If Todd Gurley is given the choice he should immediately strap on the G’s and play like it’s the last time he’s going to touch the football field. Hero’s get remembered but legends never die!
Now I will discuss what Todd Gurley has meant to the UGA football program, and more importantly, the UGA fan. I wasn’t alive during Herschel Walker’s heyday. I wasn’t alive to see him rush for 5,502 yards, and 52 touchdowns. I wasn’t even thought about when he hoisted UGA’s second Heisman trophy in 1982, and I wasn’t alive when he led my beloved bulldawgs to a national title as freshman.Throughout my life I have always been fascinated with athletes that could single handedly take over a game. There have been several basketball players that have been blessed with this skill, fewer baseball players, and even fewer football players. Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, and Peyton Manning are a few of the professional athletes that I would put into the category of having the capability to completely win a game single handedly. When you think about college football players that can completely take over a game in the sense of which school they came from it is extremely rare for a program to have more than one of these players in a 10-15 year span. Names like Vince Young (Texas), Cam Newton (Auburn), Tim Tebow (Florida), and Reggie Bush (USC) come to mind when thinking about programs that have had a game changer in the last decade. If you look at those names it is easy to see how hard it is to land a talent like that numerous times in a 10-15 year span. In other words, there hasn’t been a running-back comparable to Reggie Bush to enroll at USC since 2005, Florida hasn’t had a QB that could hold Tim Tebow’s jock strap since he left, and Texas fans pray every day for the next Vince Young. Todd Gurley is a once in a decade type of player.
Todd Gurley grew up in a trailer park playing football in a dusty lot with his childhood friends. Gurley probably never dreamed that one day he would be in the race for the most sacred individual trophy in the history of sports, the Heisman Trophy. Todd Gurley announced to the world on January 16, 2012 that he would be coming to UGA to play football because Athens felt like home and he and RB coach Bryan McClendon had established a great relationship. I remember sitting in the break room at work in the summer of 2012 and reading an article about how Todd was tearing the defense apart in pre-season camp. I knew then, that the Dawgs had landed a stud. Gurley never disappointed. He rushed for nearly 1400 yards as a freshman and led the Dawgs to within 5 yards of a national championship, he came up a couple yards short of another 1,000 yard season his sophomore year after playing in only 7 and a half games, and this year he was on pace to shatter Herschel Walker’s TD record and rush for 2,000 yards. It was a joy to watch Gurley run wild on defenses while he strapped it up for the Dawgs. He ran with a purpose. He ran violent, yet controlled at all times. He could read a defense before the ball was ever snapped, change directions faster than a cat, and could bowl you over like an Abrams tank. He had the physical assets, the humility, and the vision of a senior in his first game. He could hurdle you, pass against you, run past you, run around you, or run through you. Todd Gurley is the best running-back, and best player that has ever strapped on the G’s since I have been alive. Before Todd Gurley came to Athens every time the Dawgs recruited a good running-back fans around the state would get in an uproar stating, “This kid is the next Herschel!” We heard it when Tim Worley was in Athens. Dawg fans heard it again when Garrison Hearst ran for 1,594 yards in 1992 and finished third in the Heisman race. We heard it when Knowshon was running wild in 2007. Todd Gurley wasn’t the “next Herschel”, he’s OUR Herschel. I used to envy those Dawg fans that were blessed to be alive during Herschel’s run, but no more! I am guilty of taking for granted the opportunity to watch Todd Gurley suit up against opposing defenses. However, I feel blessed to have been able to watch the best Georgia running-back to grace Athens since 1982. I don’t know if Todd signed any autographs. If he did, I don’t know why he did. All I know is that Georgia fans should feel privileged to have had the opportunity to watch such a talented, physical specimen, run the damn tater for the red and black! Thanks Todd and let’s go you Silver Britches!!!!!!!!
TheSlopChute 
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