Colin Lacy
Draft Day
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
On April 24th, the NFL world flocked to Lambeau Field where over 100,000 fans from across the 32 NFL teams showed out to see who the newest additions to NFL rosters would be as the home of the Packers hosted the 2025 NFL Draft.
The first couple of picks were as expected in the sense of which players were going with which pick, but there was a little shakeup with who would be taking those players.
The night began with Miami QB Cam Ward going first overall to the Tennessee Titans.
Ward has an incredible story of climbing from FCS Incarnate Word to Washington State before finishing his college career for the Hurricanes in Coral Gables.
Ward took the ACC by storm leading all of FBS with 39 touchdowns, and I think could see even more success in the NFL in a pro system.
Not many were shocked to see Travis Hunter go off the board with the second pick, but there was a “Draft Day”-like trade made as the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to pick up the second overall selection from the Cleveland Browns.
The Jags and first year Head Coach Liam Coen get what many have called “the Unicorn” of football as Hunter is expected to continue to play both offense as a wide receiver and contribute as a defensive back on the flip side as well like he has for Coach Prime at Colorado and Jackson State.
This can be a franchise changing and possibly league changing selection if it goes how DUVAL expects. Like the way the Shohei Ohtani has changed the Dodgers and the game of baseball as a two-way player, Hunter can be that for the Jags and the NFL.
The trenches took the show for much of the first round as eight of the next eleven selections (3-13) were a combination of four offensive linemen and four defensive linemen.
The hometown Atlanta Falcons would stay in the state of Georgia and select a Georgia Bulldog from Athens as LB/DE Jalon Walker would become the newest “Dirty Bird.”
Rece Davis shocked many by bringing up the fact that the Falcons had never picked a UGA player in the first round in the modern history of the draft, but this selection finally addresses a need that the Falcons have had for a number of years in pass rush.
I think you may see Walker more as a defensive end in the Atlanta version of the red and black, but the versatility of Walker makes him an extremely appealing selection for the Falcons.
Walker was the second Kirby Smart disciple off the board as four picks earlier, the San Francisco 49ers would select Georgia Edge rusher Mykel Williams.
The 49ers have a huge history of developing pass rushers, and Williams becomes a fantastic option to play opposite of Nick Bosa for San Fran.
The Falcons made a late trade for the 26th overall pick from the LA Rams in order to add another SEC pass-rusher with the selection of Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr.
I was concerned when I saw the Falcons give up a 1st rounder for next year’s draft as part of the trade, but love where Atlanta goes with this pick.
In the span of about an hour, Atlanta completely changed the outlook of the defensive side of the ball in the Benz.
As Ohio State O-Lineman Josh Simmons was selected by the Chiefs to wrap up the first round, the final tallies have come in.
The trenches continued to run the show as 8 O-Line and 10 D-Line were taken in the first 32 picks.
There were also only 2 QBs (Cam Ward 1st overall and Jaxson Dart 25th overall) and 4 DBs off the board.
Non-surprisingly the SEC led the way with 15 picks hailing from the SouthEastern Conference and the Big Ten setting a conference record with 11 1st round selections.
We mentioned earlier that there was a lot of “chalk” in the first round, but a couple of surprises of names that have to wait for day two would be Will Johnson (Michigan CB) who has been dealing with questions about injuries over the years and Shedeur Sanders (Colorado QB) who, along with his dad, have been vocal about being “picky” of what team to select.
With The 1st Pick
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
“With the First Pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans select Cameron Ward, Quarterback, Miami…”
That’s not only the phrase that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell uttered making Cam Ward the first overall selection in the Draft on Thursday night, but it’s also a phrase that many people would have laughed at even a year ago. Cam Ward’s path is one that isn’t replicable but it’s one that is special and untraveled.
Ward’s story really takes off at Columbia High School, a (in relation to Texas High Schools) smaller school less than 60 miles southwest of Houston. The Columbia High tradition isn’t of star quarterbacks going to the NFL, their tradition is…. the wing-T offense.
In an offense that is well known for quarterbacks that are more magicians than gunslingers, Ward’s offense ran the ball four times as much as throwing.
Cam’s family knew the talent that ward possessed in the arm, and his mom, Patrice (who was a basketball coach at Columbia) went to the coaches to talk about it. Cam finally told his mom to not say anything else and he would “show everyone in time.”
The first glimpse of stardom came at a 2019 football camp at Incarnate Word. UIW’s head coach at the time was Eric Morris who was the one who recruited Patrick Mahomes to Texas Tech when he was the offensive coordinator for the Red Raiders.
Morris saw Ward standing out pass after pass and asked his QB Coach, Mack Leftwich and asked, “Who is this kid?” and the response was “I have no clue.” As the day went on and Ward continued to impress Morris and Leftwich tracked down his name and directly after the camp to look at the tapes and were surprised to see the Wing-T offense.
Through a relatively light recruiting process, Ward would land at Incarnate Word and hit the ground running as a freshman. In year one as a collegiate quarterback, Ward would upset the FCS #19 McNeese State on the road in his first college start and average 47 pass attempts per game including 65 pass attempts in one game.
Two seasons at Incarnate Word would see 71 touchdowns and just shy of 7,000 passing yards, then questions would come.
Ward has said that he would have been content to play his entire career as an FCS quarterback, but after his sophomore season, Eric Morris would get the chance to become the Washington State offensive coordinator.
Because of the trust between Morris and Ward, Cam would follow to the Pacific Northwest. Although Morris would only spend one season with the Cougs before returning to the Lone Star State to North Texas, Ward stayed for two seasons at Washington State then declared for the NFL Draft.
Ward thought that a mid-round selection would determine his path, but his cousin, Quandre Diggs (NFL Pro-Bowl Safety) convinced him to return to college. Ward says that Diggs told him “If you’re not a first-round pick, you’re looked at as a project. Sometimes it works, sometimes you get buried in the organization.” With that in mind, Ward welcomed offers to transfer and finally landed in Coral Cables, Florida with Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes.
It turned out to be a great decision as Ward paced the FBS with 39 touchdowns and finished second in the nation with 4,313 passing yards. That sets Ward up for the night he’s always dreamed of.
In the shadows of Labeau Field, Cam Ward became a Tennessee Titan and looks to get the franchise that has struggled mightily the last few years back on track, and through all the naysayers, against all odds, Cam Ward is the number one pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Down On The Farm
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Although the Braves may be off to a slow start to the 2025 season, we’ve said a couple of times/ways that “it’s not time to hit the panic button for Braves fans.”
Although the main reason for that is that it’s only April, another piece is what’s coming for the Braves along the horizon.
When most fans think of the “future” of a club, they think about the minor league system, and we’ll get there, but to start a trio of familiar names closer to making a major impact on the big club in the ATL.
Spencer Strider is the closest. After two dominant outings in his rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett, rumblings say that Strider could be activated in Atlanta as soon as next week.
Ronald Acuna Jr. seems to be trending in the right direction as well. The former NL MVP is hoping to get cleared to start cutting and start/stopping while running which is one of the final hurdles before beginning his minor league rehab trip.
While those two are the front of mind for Braves fans, one that could be a dark horse is Craig Kimbrel. The Braves signed Kimbrel back to his original team late in the process of Spring Training, so Kimbrel has had to work his way back into season shape and is close to facing live hitters.
Once that happens, it would make sense that he has a little more extended time at a couple different minor league levels, but some say that (assuming all goes well and he’s effective) Kimbrel could be back on an Atlanta mound in May.
As far as the farm goes for the Braves, four of the top 5 Braves prospects are expected to see time in the big leagues this season.
The Braves top prospect actually broke camp with the team in Drake Baldwin. Now that Sean Murphy has returned from injury, Baldwin is now the backup. Although the first thought may be “why not send him back to Triple A to get consistent at-bats?”
I think keeping him in “The Show” is absolutely the best move. With him expected to be a huge piece of the Braves’ future, having him learn the big-league level and also being able to catch and get to know the pitching staff is unbelievably beneficial.
While the #2 overall prospect in the organization is still a couple of years away in theory with Cam Caminiti in Rookie Ball, Prospects #3-5 are expected to make an impact in the Bigs this year.
Hurston Waldrep is starting the year in Gwinnett with the Stripers. The former Florida Gator is off to a 1-0 start of the year with Gwinnett with eight strikeouts in nine innings of work.
The 4th best prospect in the Atlanta System is starting the year on the injured list, but Nacho Alvarez Jr. had thirty at-bats last season with the big club.
The middle infielder has a huge up-side with the glove and is a career .284 hitter in over 900 minor league at-bats.
Finally, the 5th best prospect, Drue Hackenberg is a former dominant force in the ACC with the Virginia Tech Hokies which led him to be a 2nd round pick by the Braves in 2023.
Hackenberg starts the 2025 season with the newly formed Columbus Clingstones (Double A affiliate). In two years in the Braves organization, Hackenberg boasts a 3.14 ERA in 30 career starts.
All of this to say, yes, the first two weeks of the season haven’t been what Atlanta was looking for, but while it evens out, also know reinforcements are on the way to the ATL.
Raw Deal
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The final day of March was one that Braves Manager Brian Snitker must have been hoping was either a bad dream or an early April Fool’s Day prank.
In one day, the Braves not only dropped their fifth straight game to open the season, but also learned that Reynaldo Lopez needed to be placed on the IL with arm issues along with the gut punch that key offseason acquisition Jurickson Profar was suspended for 80 games by the Major League Baseball Commissioner’s office for testing positive for a banned substance.
Profar was dinged for testing positive for Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) which is a performance enhancer that is in violation with MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
Profar will be suspended for the next 80 regular season games which will remove him from the Atlanta plans until the end of June.
In addition, the second piece of the penalty is that if the Braves make it back to post-season play, Profar is not allowed to participate in any post-season games this year.
The 32-year-old Profar was the closest to a splash that Atlanta had this past offseason when Alex Anthopolous signed a three-year, $42 million deal in January.
The suspended outfielder was coming off by far his most productive season at the plate last year with San Diego (which coincidentally or not is where the Braves had just wrapped a four-game season opening series the night before when the news broke on Monday).
Last season for the Padres, Profar hit .280 with 24 homers and drove in 85 (all career highs) in route to his first career All-Star Game selection.
The former Padre also set a career high with 158 games played and marked just the third time in his 12-year career that he played in more than 140 games which leads to the question that has been swirling around the baseball world… “is it actually a coincidence?”
You can’t help but question how much coincidence is in the scenario that he has a career year in more games than he’s ever played in a single season, then four games into the following season, gets popped for PEDs.
Profar did say in a released statement on Monday that, “I want to apologize to the entire Braves organization, my teammates, and the fans. It is because of my deep love and respect for this game that I would never knowingly do anything to cheat it. I have been tested my entire career, including eight times last season alone, and have never tested positive. I would never willingly take a banned substance, but I take full responsibility and accept MLB’s decision.”
Now where do the Braves go from here? The Braves signed and subsequently on Tuesday activated Stuart Fairchild to help fill the void.
Fairchild, a career .224 hitter knocked a career best 8 homers and 30 RBI in just 94 games last year with Cincinnati.
Along with Fairchild, Bryan de la Cruz was signed by the Braves in the offseason, so it looks like a combination of those two will be the band-aid in the interim until at least Ronald Acuna Jr. returns from knee surgery (which is expected to be May at the earliest).
The Braves also signed Alex Verdugo late in Spring Training but isn’t expected to be ready for live games for at least a couple of weeks.
While the Braves must in the interim find a leadoff hitter and outfielder, I think another look needs to be taken at some of the screening that players must go through in that pesky “pending a physical” clause at the bottom of the headline signing.
Less than 3 months after signing the contract to be suspended for PEDs is a little quick for my liking, and I would be shocked if that’s not looked into already in Atlanta.
Soaring Eagle
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In this crazy business of sports media that we love, one of my favorite parts of it is the relationships that you create and grow over the years.
One that I’ve been blessed to grow for over a decade now is with Georgia Southern Baseball head coach Rodney Hennon.
Last week on a weekend game in Buies Creek, NC, Coach Hennon collected his 860th career win at Georgia Southern in a game against Campbell.
With that win, he passed legendary head coach Jack Stallings to become the all-time winningest coach in Georgia Southern Baseball history.
That feat for any college baseball coach raises eyebrows but for a program like Georgia Southern, that is a monumental accomplishment.
Georgia Southern Baseball has been consistently one of the best and most respected baseball programs in the mid-major ranks because of the consistency.
That consistency isn’t only in wins and on-field successes (which has been plentiful over the years), but also within the staff. Rodney Hennon is in his 26th season at the helm of the Eagle Baseball program and only adds to the lore of Georgia Southern baseball of continuity at the top of the program.
Since 1949, the blue and white have only seen five head coaches. Two of those five have their names on the facility Georgia Southern calls home in J.I. Clements (Stadium) who was the head man from 1949-1966 and in 1968 along with Jack Stallings (Field) who manned the dugout for twenty-four years from 1976 until 1999.
The other two are Ron Polk (1972-1975) who is regarded as the “Father of SEC Baseball” with his career at Mississippi State, and Bill Spieth who led the Eagles for four years in the early 70’s.
While it’s impressive what Hennon has been able to do as the longest tenure head coach in Eagle history, it’s the consistency of excellence that rises above.
In the 25 previous seasons under Coach Hennon, Georgia Southern Baseball has won 30 games in all but two of those and have seen 40 wins in eight seasons including 2022 when Georgia Southern secured the 16 seed in the NCAA postseason and hosted the first ever regional in Statesboro.
Although the list of accomplishments for Hennon could cover the Blue Monster wall in right field at J.I. Clements Stadium, when talking to those closest to “10” like former players, coaches, staffers, etc., the first thing that comes up is the character and the type of man Coach Hennon is day in and day out.
Getting to see and get to know Coach Hennon for the 10 years I was lucky enough to cover Georgia Southern Baseball for the Georgia Southern Sports Network and was one of the true pleasures of my career to this point.
He truly is one of the greatest molders of young men I’ve been around. There’s a lot of “old school” coach in him where when someone needs a wakeup call, he will get into a player, but it’s always coming from a place of caring about them both as a player, but even more-so as a young man.
Coach Hennon credits a lot of his mentors to not only his dad, Lamar, but also Keith LeClair and Jack Leggett from his days at Western Carolina both as a player and coach.
The great part of this is the tree doesn’t end with the branch of Coach Hennon. While we’ve mentioned the impact that “Skip” had on his players, it also applies to those that were lucky enough to coach with him.
Names like BJ Green, who was the pitching coach for Hennon for many years has since moved on to be the Associate Head Coach at UAB.
Recently Alan Beck was the hitting coach for the Eagles who took the head coaching job at both his and Coach Hennon’s alma mater Western Carolina after the 2022 season.
Jason Richman, who was not only a standout pitcher for Coach Hennon, but also on his staff for a few years is now the Director of Pitching for Georgia Tech Baseball.
The list goes on and on of those impacted by the coach, mentor, and man of God that Rodney Hennon is and now (and likely forever) holds the distinction of the winningest coach in Georgia Southern Baseball history.
Sophomore Encore
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This time a year ago, the name Drew Burress stirred up some buzz on the flats as the Houston County native was just beginning what would turn into one of the most spectacular seasons (let alone freshman years) in Georgia Tech Baseball history.
Last season would turn into so many accolades from ACC Freshman of the Year to Freshman All-American even the D1 Baseball and Perfect Game National Freshman of the Year, but what is Drew Burress beyond the stat sheets?
Start at the beginning of the college career for the former Houston County High standout. Burress was seriously on several teams’ draft boards for around the third or fourth round, but his commitment to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets stood firm unless a first-round call would come.
Coming into the 2024 season, Jackets Head Coach Danny Hall said multiple times through pre-season media availability that there were two things that Drew wasn’t shy about…He wanted to be a first-round pick, and he wanted to graduate from Georgia Tech in three years.
Georgia Tech Baseball has had twelve first round selections over the years, but in the 130 years of Georgia Tech Baseball nobody has ever graduated in three years while playing baseball.
Burress was a highly heralded recruit and was rated as the 6th best player in the nation that made it to a college campus, but the first inning of his career didn’t pan out as everyone expected.
Burress was the leadoff man for the 2024 season, and in his debut at-bat, Drew would strikeout. The Jackets, however, had an impressive bottom of the first inning against Radford and batted around, so Burress came up for a second time in the inning. Alas, Burress would strike out again for the second time in his first inning of college baseball.
As Burress returned to the dugout after the second, Head Coach Danny Hall put his arm around Drew and said, “Don’t worry about it, you’ll homer next time.”
Little did Coach Hall know how right he would be because not only did Burress do just that and launch his first career homerun in the next at-bat, but he would homer in both of the next two at-bats.
As we mentioned, the accolades would roll in for Burress as a freshman in 2024 and so did the records.
Burress set the Georgia Tech freshman homerun record with 25 long balls on the season shattering Jeremy Slayden’s previous record of 18.
He also would become just the twelfth Jacket to win the team triple crown (lead the team in average, home runs, and RBI), and the first since Matt Gonzalez did it in 2016.
Burress also became just the third Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket to be named a National Freshman of the Year by a major publication joining Mark Teixeira and Derek Dietrich.
Finally, while the offensive exploits get so much of the attention, he also rewrote the defensive records by setting the record for outfield assists in a season by gunning down ten assists in the year.
After the heralded freshman campaign, Burress’ hunger for the game and improving his craft has only grown.
In a work ethic like I’ve never seen, especially in someone so young, a lot of it comes from his family.
Drew’s dad, Andy Burress, was a baseball player back in his day after being a 6th round pick and playing in the Reds organization.
After his playing career, Andy founded and continues to run one of the premier travel ball organizations in the country with 5 Star National which has produced an extensive list of draft picks and college signees.
Even with all of the accolades, and in a time where college athletes get the mantra of “only concerned about the money” Burress couldn’t be farther from that.
Through the 2025 preseason, Burress said “I’m not worried about the stat lines if we’re in Omaha (for the College World Series).”
I’m fortunate enough to get to call Drew Burress dazzle every game on the Georgia Tech Sports Network, but the most dazzling part of the young man isn’t the on-field prowess.
The most impressive part of the Georgia Tech’s sophomore is how he carries himself through all the publicity and all the success.
The guy is a grinder, coming to the ballpark every day trying to be as good as he can be while also leading by example and showing a young Georgia Tech team how the best in the game goes about doing it.
I can’t wait to see what this year turns out to be in, what Wiley Ballard called in Burress’ Walk-off Grand Slam call his “sophomore encore.”
Play Ball
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s college baseball’s Opening Day! With the beginning of the season looming, let’s dive into what this season could look like for a couple clubs across the state of Georgia.
Georgia Tech: This season will be the 130th season of baseball for the Jackets and 32nd year under head coach Danny Hall.
Last season saw the white and gold finish with a 33-25 record thanks to rattling off four straight series wins in ACC play in the month of April and winning five of the last seven series in the regular season.
The 2024 campaign ended in the finals of the Athens Regional as a 10-inning loss at the hands of the in-state rival Georgia kept the Jackets from advancing to a Super Regional and continues the drought that hasn’t seen the Jackets advance past a regional since 2006.
The 2025 season will see many fresh faces to the Flats with 31 newcomers into the program this season. Inside that list of newcomers includes the nation’s #2 ranked freshman class by Perfect Game with 21 freshmen coming into the program.
In addition, there will also be a good nucleus of returners for GT led by Drew Burress who took the college baseball world by storm last season.
Burress in his rookie season last year set the Freshman record for homeruns at Georgia Tech with 25 long balls in route to hitting .381 and driving in 67 RBI while collecting ACC Freshman of the Year and named a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist.
Obviously, there are huge expectations for Burress coming into 2025 being named the D1 Baseball pre-season ACC Player of the Year, but other names add to the list of returners to watch.
Tate McKee also showed flashes as a freshman last year on the mound and is expected to be the Opening Day starter for the Jackets on the bump to build off the 4-5 record in 18 appearances (8 starts) last season.
Again, I may be biased (calling GT Baseball games on radio every day), but this Jackets club has the potential to be special.
Drew Burress said it perfectly in the pre-season media availability when he said, “This team has a lot more talent than last year, so the celling is so much higher, but at this point the floor is much lower because we haven’t hit the field.” A lot to prove, but also a lot to be excited about in Midtown Atlanta.
Georgia: Year one for the Bulldogs under new Head Coach Wes Johnson proved to be successful with hosting a Super Regional at Foley Field after winning the Athens Regional.
The off-season has been about construction. In the literal sense, Foley Field has undergone a $45 million renovation upgrade process with incredible additions to one of the country’s best atmospheres to begin with. In the figurative side, Wes Johnson has gone to work “constructing” a much deeper club for the Dawgs in 2025.
Even with the departures of Charlie Condon and Corey Collins in the middle of the lineup, many across the country believe that UGA will be deeper and more balanced up and down the lineup than last year with both returners and some portal acquisitions.
Two of the three outfielders expected to trot out of the dugout this weekend for the Dawgs come from the transfer portal with former Duke Blue Devil Devin Obee and Kentucky transfer Nolan McCarthy expected to play left and center, respectively.
Pair those two immediate impact players with some returners of Tre Phelps, Kolby Branch and Slate Alford, and Wes Johnson has a much deeper starting 9. While the Dawgs finished 2024 with an impressive 43-17 record, the pre-season #9 team in the nation has one thought on the mind…Omaha.
It’s a wonderful time of year. In addition to high level basketball, baseball season is here as MLB Pitchers and Catchers reported earlier this week, and this weekend, the bats will ping, the smell of hotdogs and popcorn will roll through college baseball cathedrals, and it’s time to play ball.
Pro Bowl Sting
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NFL world flocked to Orlando last weekend to watch the game’s best in the 2025 Pro Bowl Games. The “game’s best” applies in a couple of different scenarios.
The obvious is that of Jared Goff, Fred Warner and Bijan Robinson, some of the best in the NFL, but also applies to the names Jaci Kitchings and Jadyn Williams.
Jaci and Jadyn are two seniors that wrapped up their careers at Southeast Bulloch with the school’s fourth consecutive state championship back in December but represented the NFC squad in the first NFL Girls Flag All-Star Game.
The inaugural event put on by the NFL saw thirty high school girls from all over the country (even two from Alaska) which included the two SEB Yellow Jackets competing in a flag football All-Star game to kick off the festivities on Sunday at the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl Games.
The NFL rolled out the red carpet for the Girls Flag Football All-Star Game participants including Kitchings and Williams.
The two Jacket players were flown down to Orlando on Friday before the Sunday afternoon game and not only got gear for the event, but the opportunity to take in some of the local attractions in Orlando and events with the NFL Pro Bowl players.
“They have had the best experience,” said SEB Head Flag Football Coach Marci Cochran. “What a great event by the NFL and I’m super excited they both got to participate.”
Jaci and Jadyn found out that they were named to the thirty-girl roster just before the semifinals of the GHSA state tournament and were ecstatic to get the news but had unfinished business to take care of.
They would find themselves in familiar ground on the stage in Atlanta after an overtime thriller having won their fourth consecutive state championship and capping off an 82-1 record in their SEB careers.
Southeast Bulloch Flag Football burst on the scene in 2021 when the program began (when Kitchings and Williams were freshmen) and have won the state championship each of the first four years of the program’s existence and winning 82 out of 83 games played in program history. The lone loss in program history came this year against the private school sector in Calvary Day out of Savannah.
I got to catch up with SEB Head Coach Marci Cochran as she watched Jadyn and Jaci play in the All-Star game in Orlando and looking back on the last four years she said “After starting four years ago and lost our first game this year which was devastating but in the long run it helped us win another state title. Four in a row which is more than any other team in the state of Georgia. We’re super excited about the growth of our program and adding a middle school program last year which helped us too.”
Coach Cochran has seen every snap that both Jadyn and Jaci have taken in their flag football careers and have become not only trendsetters on the national level at the Pro Bowl Games but also helped set the fantastic foundation of the SEB program.
“They’re the first seniors that have completed all four years, so they’re very special to us and we hate to be losing them,” Cochran said holding back tears. “Jaci has grown so much. Her development and dedication are awesome. Jadyn was always a really good player, but to watch her learn the game and understand the game is fun and to watch both of them grow from freshmen to seniors is really impressive.”
The NFL has made a concerted effort from the NFL League Office all the way down to the different teams investing in the sport of flag football at all levels, but especially at the high school level.
“For the sport as a whole, the Falcons itself sponsor a team in Alabama and there’s a couple other states that they’re starting to dive into to be able to start flag football there,” said Cochran. “Just the money and support they give for all these schools to be able to provide a flag football program without it having to come out of their own pocket is huge. It’s expensive to start a new sport, so their involvement in flag football has been awesome.”
While Kitchings and Williams will get to do it one more time as SEB heads to Canton, Ohio for the National Flag Football High School Tournament, the experience at the NFL Pro Bowl Games really put a nice bow on a historic career for these two and would have been hard to believe a couple years ago said Coach Cochran.
“To see them get to play down here (in Orlando) and see this opportunity. To be in this stadium, to have the game broadcasted on ESPN even with the Goodyear Blimp. Who would have ever thought that four years ago? So, it’s really special to be down here with them.”
Useless?
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Before the NFL crowns a champion in Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL world flocks to Orlando for the Pro Bowl (or what has turned into being called the Pro Bowl Games).
Instead of a full exhibition game, the NFL has made the change to a Flag Football game along with a collection of skills competitions and “field day” type events.
While there’s no question that the honor of being named to the Pro Bowl, does the actual event mean anything?
Before we dive into the current rendition of the pro football version of the All-Star Game, let’s look back at how we got here.
There have been many iterations of a “Pro Bowl,” and it began in January of 1939 as the NFL All-Star Game. The NFL All-Star Game saw that year’s league champion (starting with the 1938 New York Giants) against a team of all-stars from the other teams around the league. The first time that the phrase “Pro Bowl” was used came in the 1951 when the best from the American/Eastern Conference taking on the top of the National/Western Conference.
After the merger of the AFL & the NFL in 1970, the celebration of the game’s best turned into the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. The league’s exhibition match-up largely looked the same until 2023 (aside from the league flirting with a nonconference format from 2014-2016).
2023 marked the first rendition of the Pro Bowl Games with flag football and other random events that have changed each of the last three years.
Most fans remember that for three decades (1980-2009) the Pro Bowl game was held in Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii. The game would be moved to Miami for the 2010 rendition of the game before returning to Hawaii in 2011 until 2014.
There have been a couple of mainstays in the skills competitions over the last three years with Flag Football and dodgeball, but each year brings new competitions with some being more…creative…than others.
I’ve been able to be at this year and last year’s Pro Bowl Games and to be on the field in Orlando around the game’s best.
While many fans and even media have written the game off as a waste of time, this game still truly means something to many of the players bestowed with the honor of being named to the Pro Bowl.
That being said, you do have players each year that “opt out” of the Pro Bowl.
In fact, this year has 16 players named to either the AFC or NFC squad that won’t be in Orlando participating for a litany of reasons which doesn’t include the eleven combined members of the two teams that are competing in the Super Bowl a week later.
Full transparency, I was skeptical of what the point of the event was going into my first experience with the game a year ago, but after talking to players and folks around the game, for the players it’s a wonderful experience.
Obviously it’s a tremendous honor to be named to the rosters, but you have some players that are experiencing it for the first time as a young player and get to be around the best of the best for a few days and pick the brains of those that they likely grew up idolizing.
Others use it as a chance to catch up with friends or former teammates that they may not have seen since the last Pro Bowl.
Whatever the individual rational, there was one overwhelming theme that came up time after time. That it was a fantastic way for their families to get away and decompress after a long and grueling season and be around families that are wrapping up the same grind and strengthen the community between the families.
So, does the event draw the TV numbers or revenue that even this game once did? Not even close, but it absolutely means a great deal to the guys that this game is intended to honor.
Profar Potential?
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Finally…Finally we have a newsworthy headline coming out of Truist Park. The Atlanta Braves and Jurickson Profar have agreed to a three-year deal to bring the 2024 All-Star to Braves Country.
After an offseason that seemingly only had departures from “the A,” the Braves fill a void in the outfield that virtually everyone around the Braves organization had in the top 2 of needs going into the 2025 season.
Profar had by far his best season of his 11-year MLB Career with the Padres in 2024 and knocked out many career firsts. The Curacao native notched his first career All-Star Game appearance, first career Silver Slugger and finished in the top 15 in the voting for the NL MVP Award.
Career bests were aplenty in 2024 for Profar. The 31-year-old knocked an eleven year best .280 average while driving home a career high 85 RBIs and a career most 24 homeruns.
While last season for Profar was spectacular, was it an anomaly? Profar is a career .245 hitter with only three 20-homer seasons including 2024 (the others coming in back-to-back years in 2018 & 2019). Is Profar able to replicate the successes of 2024 while donning the Braves uniform in 2025? Only time will tell.
Should this alleviate the frustrations of Braves fans that were caused by the quiet off-season? To me, that answer is… partially.
This could be a good piece for Atlanta. Besides coming off the career year for Profar, he is also a versatile veteran that has appeared at seven different positions in his big-league career (has only not appeared as a pitcher and catcher).
While Profar has settled into a leftfielder (148 of the 158 appearances coming in LF), he has seen significant time in a year at shortstop, second base, and first base. This is unquestioned an attempt to fill the outfield void, but I’m just playing devil’s advocate that there are other plus sides to this move that may not shine through until a worst-case scenario comes to fruition.
The flip side of the stance that this move partially curbs the frustration of Braves Country is that this move can’t be THE move of the offseason.
Earlier it was mentioned that filling the void in the outfield was probably in the top two needs moving forward for the Bravos, the other would-be starting pitching.
The Braves have already seen Max Fried sign with the Yankees and Charlie Morton sign with the Orioles pairing that with the fact that Spencer Strider won’t be fully healthy when the team breaks camp to begin the 2025 campaign, it means the Braves have to bring in a solid at worst starter.
Before the Profar signing, Braves beat writer Mark Bowman reported that sources inside the Braves organization had said the club would be sitting right around the $33 million range for added salary going into 2025. Now that Profar is earning $12 million of his 3-year $42 million deal in 2025, assuming that number stays similar, it gives the Braves about $20 million to work with to find rotation help.
Atlanta had talks with Nathan Eovaldi for figures around that $20 million mark before Eovaldi signed a three-year deal with the Rangers worth a total of $75 million.
So, who is still on the market for starting pitching? There have been a couple free-of free-agents that have been picked around and still available in guys like Jack Flaherty, but the free-agent market is starting to become bare. I believe a trade is the more likely target for General Manager Alex Anthopolous.
All of that said, I’m not saying that Jurickson Profar is a wasted move. It’s a good piece added to the Braves lineup and at least partially answers the outfield question, but it can’t be the biggest move of the offseason if the Braves want to be reloaded and ready to roll into 2025.
