Jake Locker May Have Figured It Out
Friday, April 29th, 2011College players are often criticized for coming out too early. The University of Washington’s Jake Locker experienced the polar opposite. He had become the poster child for staying too long.  During the 2009 football season, the (not-so) experts were predicting Locker to be the first overall pick in the following draft. Jack snaked everyone when he decided to return to the U for another year.
After the so-so season the Huskies, led by Locker, had in 2010, his decision appeared to be one of the classic bonehead moves of all time. The same guys who had him pegged as numero uno now backpedaled and began listing his inferior skills that the season had exposed. He was projected as a second round pick, meaning he’d earn a pretty good living, but it also meant he lost out on a fortune.
Before coming down too hard on him, consider what has ultimately (until today, anyway) happened to Locker. Even better, think about what he didn’t have to face. From all indications, Jake Locker is a reasonably intelligent individual. He must have weighed his options and, for whatever reason - he didn’t think he was ready to play professionally, he enjoyed college life so much and realized he would be drafted the following year, or some other unknown factor - he decided to continue his college career. For a while, it certainly was tough - hearing how wrong everyone had been about him the previous year, that he was overrated, that he couldn’t do whatever the pundits claimed he did better than anybody a year ago.
Consider what would have been his plight had he left school last year. Although we’ll never know, chances are he would have struggled mightily in the NFL and would have been booed to an even greater extent, if for no other reason than all the money he was making. Instead, he patiently waited, obviously improved his game (especially the part about dealing with adversity) and still got picked eighth in the first round! Sure, expectations of the Tennessee fans will be high (especially after they dumped Vicne Young who had a 30-17 record as their starting QB) but nowhere near what he would have had to endure had he selected #1 overall.
And he doesn’t fare so badly when it comes to the financial end. Oh yeah, he lost a lot of money, but how much does a guy his age need? It’s not like he’ll be on food stamps anytime soon.  In many people’s minds, he made the right decision, which seems to have been based on the adage:
“Pigs get fat; hogs get slaughtered.”     Â