It is strange. While everybody is laughing at Auburn and poking fun all over the country, all Auburn has done is go out there and dominate the recruiting scene.
There is a chance Auburn will pick up another five-star athlete and few more four stars before all is said and done. On top of that, there are a bunch of “Early Enrollment” kids in the class too.
They will be much more ahead starting in January than August. I will say this: people everywhere including a bunch of Auburn fans as well expect Auburn to crash and burn. They think Auburn has no shot to be any good.
For one thing, Auburn was highly competitive in all but one game. Yet another, Auburn has absolutely no expectations of succeeding this coming season.
You guys got what you wanted so badly. You hate expectations. Well, they are gone now. Enjoy it folks you wanted it bad enough this season so have fun with a complete off-season of absolutely positively no expectations at all. You guys enjoying that?
People everywhere including a bunch of Auburn fans as well expect Auburn to crash and burn.” That statement perfectly describes a small but very active contingent within the AU family although attitudes and outlooks seem to be improving. Just a few weeks ago, the sky had fallen since AU was only #19 (or whatever) in some silly recruiting rankings. Look at things now. “Auburn was highly competitive in all but one game.” Just a few plays here or there and this is, at worst, a 9-3 season in the SEC West.
Granted those plays weren’t made (for easily identifiable and therefore correctable reasons) and the result is an extremely frustrating 6-6. But things obviously aren’t as bad as some both within and without the Auburn faithful have contended. Much better days are ahead provided the necessary corrections .
“He understands he made a mistake. He has been remorseful,” Malzahn said during an appearance on ESPN’s Numbers Never Lie. “Up until that point, he had been a model student, citizen, all of the above, but he made a mistake. He’s our quarterback. The quarterback is the face of our program, so he’ll have some things he’ll have to pay for. I have not decided that for sure right now, but it will be in a short period of time I’ll have that figured out.”
Gus Malahn – Head Football Coach – Auburn Tigers
Life sometimes teaches us lessons that if the lesson does not kill
Nick Marshall Auburn QB on many watch lists this year for athletic awards./Getty Image
us it makes us stronger people. Nick Marshall got caught on the other side of the law during a July traffic stop in Georgia. He received a ticket for eight to nine grams of marijuana when police pulled over his purple Dodge Charger for illegal window tint, and released him.
” I am aware of the situation that happened earlier today with Nick,” Head Coach Gus Malzahn said in a statement given to the media. “I’m very disappointed and I will address it with him accordingly”.
“He understands he made a mistake. He has been remorseful,” Malzahn said during an appearance on ESPN’s Numbers Never Lie. “Up until that point, he had been a model student, citizen, all of the above, but he made a mistake. He’s our quarterback. The quarterback is the face of our program, so he’ll have some things he’ll have to pay for. I have not decided that for sure now, but it will be in a short period of time I’ll have that figured out.”
Passion of marijuana of less than one ounce is a misdemeanor under Georgia state law. Possession is punishable by probation and a fine, which the court sets.
As the face of the Auburn football program heading into the 2014 season Marshall made a huge mistake. As a role model for many young people and being in the national spot light under consideration for athletic awards his off the field incident has already proved costly for the rising senior.
Some of the football related consequences for Marshall’s off the field action this summer rolled in just as the story went virile on the internet . He did not attend 2014 SEC Media Days as planned in Hoover, Alabama, according to Auburn spokesperson Kirk Sampson.
Senior tight end C.J. Uzomah attended in his place.
Anyway you look at it, using or possessing Pot is wrong. It can damage your brain and wreck your future going forward in life. This young college quarterback needs to stop using marijuana and get back on the right path in life. He needs to also realize his actions have far-reaching impact on other people, as he serve as a leader on and off the field for the Auburn football program to many young kids who watch him play on Saturday afternoons.
The really sad thing about this drug possession citation is it may very well have lasting results on the Tigers football campaign in 2014. Marshall is old enough to know that pot is illegal in Georgia. He also knows he should not be in possession of this drug or using it. It does not matter that he is a college football starter or not. Marshall should have to follow the laws just like the rest of us. He should not receive any special treatment when it comes to marijuana or any illegal drugs. Although Marshall may not understand this so now, the best thing that could have happened is he got caught with the drugs. Now he can step up and be a man, facing the conquests that go along with his earlier actions.
If Mr. Marshall continues on the path of smoking the Devil’s weed he is subject to having his life and athletic career come tumbling down like a bulldozed house. So now that his drug use has come to the light, it’s not too late for him to turn things around and get back on the correct path in his life.
As reported by USA Today in mid-July that Marshall’s mother paid his drug citation, so this means the legal aspect of his drug possession is over. He will not have to attend a court hearing on September 10. But he still faces consequences and punishment from Coach Malazahn.
Auburn’s drug policy states that “voluntary disclosure of the use of a banned substance by the student athlete will be considered a positive drug test. However, the penalty in this situation will not include loss of playing time and is available only for the first drug offense.”
Under Auburn’s drug policy, the first penalty for a positive test for marijuana includes no loss of playing time, weekly testing and counseling sessions. A second positive test includes suspension for 50 percent of a team’s competitive season, and a third positive test results in being dismissed from athletic competition and athletic facticity
Gus Malzahn announced after the first practice of training camp on August 1, although the senior will play in Auburn’s season-opener, Marshall, will not start against Arkansas This means Jeremey Johnson, a raising sophomore will get the call to start for the Tigers.
Following a 3-9 season in 2012, Marshall led Auburn to a SEC title and within seconds of a BCS National Championship victory in his first season as quarterback.
Marshall threw for nearly 1,976 yards, rushed 1.068 and accounted for 26 touchdowns on his own.
His explosive 2013 season found the rising senior on a number of preseason Heisman watch lists as well as the Maxwell award watch list.
It is strange. While everybody is laughing at Auburn and poking fun all over the country, all Auburn has done is go out there and dominate the recruiting scene.
