For Casey Dick’s sake, here’s hoping every Hog has his day
Here he is, everyone: the pampered athlete.
Four different offensive coordinators and four different quarterbacks coaches in four years. His redshirt wasted eight games into his freshman season to save a team in the tank. His next two seasons on the brutal end of fan backlash — by no fault of his own — in a state where every day begins and ends with someone, somewhere, Calling the Hogs.
“You can sit back and say it was tough,” says Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick. “Or you can do what you’re asked to do and have faith that it will all work out in the end.”
Want someone to root for this fall? Here he is: the mistreated athlete.
When Arkansas made the bold move last December to pull coach Bobby Petrino away from the NFL, the first person I thought of was Dick, the guy who couldn’t get a break in his first three seasons. Now he’s set up for everything to finally fall his way.
No one develops quarterbacks like Petrino. No one sees the game, understands defenses and calls plays like Petrino. No one prepares quarterbacks and puts them in better position to succeed.
Eight months ago, Dick was pretty good at handing off. Eight months from today, Dick will be rising on NFL draft boards.
sportingnews.com
6/14/08
Magnolia Tribune
