Friday, January 14, 2011

Not so 'Little Nicky' enters the draft; in our minds he's going to Carolina

Nick Fairley, the co-MVP of Auburn's national championship team, is going out on a high note.

The nation's top lineman announced this afternoon that he will enter the NFL draft. Fairley is one of a handful of prospects -- most from the SEC -- competing for the No. 1 draft pick of your Carolina Panthers. Read more here

Fairley brutalized quarterbacks and ball carriers -- sometimes beyond the bounds of fair play -- throughout Auburn's unbeaten season. His size, speed and aggressiveness undoubtedly make him an attractive pick to a lot of NFL teams, and he is expected to be the first lineman drafted.

Auburn faces quite the off season. It loses more than 20 seniors along with Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Cam Newton who, like Fairley, is leaving a year early. The NCAA continues to investigate Newton's recruitment.

In fact, Fairley's aggressiveness and the cloud of scandal hanging over Newton made Auburn the most controversial team in college football, as well as the best.

mg

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The misuse of grammar, punctuation and capitalization in the headline of this post is astounding for a supposedly big-city newspaper.

Anonymous said...

On further reflection, though, given that this blog is written by and for people with SEC allegiances, it's entirely unsurprising.

Anonymous said...

He has family here...so...that's good.

Big Perm said...

Little Nicky got that cash at they college level and bout to get they cash at they next level, kid. Know wud I sayin dogg? Doggin on dat like scatta papuh.

Michael said...

Anon,

You wouldn't happen to be a fan of North Carolina, which single-handedly made athletic tutoring one of the fastest-growing job sectors in the state?

Anonymous said...

Bring him on. Slap his name on the back of the #90 jersey and have at it.

Don't overlook the champs for next year. Lots of talent going out, but this staff can recruit.

Anon 3:23 - if your allegience is to anyone in the ACC, go ahead and identify. We all have at least a dozen jokes at the ready for all 12 ACC schools...

Anonymous said...

He would be uh very pimp-tight addition ta da Panther team otay buh-weet

Anonymous said...

Just so you know, the ACC was undefeated against the SEC in bowl games this year. The thing I love is how SEC fans not only root for their own team, but 11 others. That is retarded. Many Bama fans cheered for Auburn in the national title game, and they are rivals??? Seems like butt buddies to me. Ohio State doesn't root for Michigan, UNC doesn't root for Duke, but Bama roots for Auburn. That's cool. I'll tell you one thing, not one UNC fan cheered for Duke in the NCAA tourney last year because they are rivals and don't like to see their biggest rival win national titles. I guess its different in the SEC.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Auburn facing quite the offseason, did ya see that Kris Frost from Butler committed to Auburn? Perfect replacement for Darvin Adams, assuming Frost plays WR instead of LB. We've got 18 recruits now, and Chizik is quickly proving he can recruit as well as he can coach.

Of course it's nearly impossible to replace what we're losing, so I don't think we'll be in the BCS title hunt next year. But we're continuing to stockpile talent and I fully expect us to be in a major bowl. WAR EAGLE!

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:01 - I give you a big salute and "congratulations" for your win over the worst Tennessee team in the last 100 years and your win over an SC team that lost its best player on their second play from scrimmage. And I should point out that the loser of the SEC title game is always defined for bowl slot purposes as the #2 team in the SEC. In reality, SC was the 4th-best team in the SEC, behind Auburn, LSU and Ar-Kansas (and an argument could be made that by year-end, 'Bama was better as well). If Va Tech, the #1 ACC team, had played Auburn, LSU, Ar-Kansas or 'Bama, Va Tech would lose by at least 30 to any of them.

So again, congrats on the #2 ACC team beating the #4 SEC team and the #3 ACC team beating the #9 SEC team.

Also, I don't know any 'Bama people that were rooting for us. Gordon had begrudgingly admitted we were #1, but if you read his blog of the BCS title game, you will not come away thinking, "That 'Bama guy was rooting for Auburn."