re: Byrd throws QBS under the bus

Thanks Ro,

For reinforcing the report from Sports2 of how things went down. I wish the best for DByrd. Maybe this is a sign of things to come. Good luck on the NFL.

He will get a chance. He will not get as much $ initially as if he would have demonstrated good attitude through the admittedly tough past year. Nothing excuses quitting on your teammates, but you can understand his frustration.

If he does produce in the NFL, all sins will be forgiven and he will be rewarded appropriately.

Go tigers.

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the qb situation was what it was. had he shown some leadership he would've been able to say..."we had some young guys at QB last year so I knew our production might be down a little in the passing game, so I tried to do everything I could to show some leadership and work hard on every route"

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Well said and IMO very true. To be critical of teammates in a public forum (even if accurate) is small.

I'm not going to review 13 games from '08 (how painful would that be), but can say against Troy he pulled-up on what appeared to be a well thrown ball from JL and a sure TD in the SE corner of TS. At least that would have been one more catch and TD on his stats.

Hope Byrd does have regrets over his '08 performance and hope he excels in the NFL.

Maybe JL and JJ should issue a statement to the end that "DB never quits on a play and his attitude would be welcome in any NFL camp" (obvious sarcasm).

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I'm not saying if its right or wrong, but if we can bash the QBs on here, we can't complain if Byrd bashes them too.

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#1: There's no rule against people on this board complaining about anything, no matter how silly, baseless, inaccurate, hypocritical, or assinine the complaints are.

#2: The people on here are ranters, fans, posters on an anonymous free internet message board they visit through their own means on their own time for their own reasons. Byrd was a scholarship football player for LSU. Hell yes, I expect a hell of a lot better behaviour from him than I do from the rabble that populate this board. If the standard of behaviour for our players were to become, "well, if posters on the Rant do it, then it's okay," we will quickly become the most embarassed group of fans in the history of sports.

#3: I don't bash QBs on here, and neither do many others. So your point, to which I do not subscribe, would not even apply to many of us.

Byrd should show more maturity and team vision (even for a past team) than to openly blame others for his lack of production. Even if it were true (and it was at most only partially true), and he had filled his role last year, he should be smart enough to simply show his stuff and let the NFL people figure out what the problems were. The fact that he has to make statements like this suggest to me that he is well aware that his lackluster performances were not always someone else's fault, and he is trying to cover his arse for that.

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I was surprised. I would have thought he would have hid behind excuses, but he owned it.

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Well, whether you suggested the QBs couldn't get it to him or not, the fact that he went with it was pretty much hiding behind excuses (even good excuses are still excuses). I'm curious, though: what was his reaction when you said, "QBs who couldn't get you the ball"? Did he even try and take up for the QBs?

It'll be okay

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If it wasn't for him LSU loses the Auburn, Florida, Alabama and the Tennessee games and no 2007 BCS title.

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And no one is suggesting he wasn't great in 2007. People are specifically addressing the poor reaction he showed to the struggles at QB in 2008.

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I would too be frustrated if I was a senior and my future depended on a terrible QB.

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Many people would. And some of them would put aside that frustration, and work as hard as possible to make sure that whenever they did get the chance (i.e., when the QB did make a good pass to them), that they were giving 100% effort and making the plays. They would also work very hard to keep their frustration and the frustration of others from becoming a distraction by being openly and vocally supportive of their struggling teammates. We call people like that "leaders."

Some other people, when they were frustrated by the problems the QBs were having, would allow their frustration to bubble over and sap their efforts. This would lead to them not working as hard as they could have, and sometimes not giving full effort on every play. These people sometimes also allow their frustration to become a distraction to the team by airing their frustrations with public criticism of their struggling teammates, hurting team chemistry and adding even more fuel to their own frustration as well as the frustrations of others on the team. We do not call people like that "leaders."

Byrd appeared to have made what I consider the wrong choice regarding this issue much of the year. This interview suggests that he may have improved on that choice somewhat, but still has a long ways to go to get into that "leader" category.

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i wouldn't if he didn't short arm stuff and quit on routes multiple times.

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Exactly. I would have no problem with him throwing Lee under the bus had byrd not pussied out on plays.

Lafell didn't quit on his team and he ended up with plenty of catches. Byrd quit on the team by short arming balls and not running good routes. Lee was and easy scape goat for him though

good to see byrd at leas manned up for his bad attitude. wish he would have done this during the season

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not too take up for Byrd's laziness but Lafell ran alot more shallow crossing routes while byrd often ran the deeper ones for us.

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Ever think this was because the coaches KNEW that Byrd would not catch the ball over the middle. Run him across the middle and he develops alligator arms.

True