Elephant in the room not race, it's foolishness Wednesday, April 26, 2006 I n case you didn't know, Oregon State wide receiver Mike Hass is . . . eek . . . Caucasian. I only point this out because a local radio personality asked Hass in an interview on Tuesday if he thought his skin color was causing him to be unfairly stereotyped when it comes to this weekend's NFL draft. Don't blame the host. The question wouldn't have been asked if fans, posting on draft message boards and e-mailing this columnist, hadn't already been bringing up Hass' skin color. Hass, who seemed taken aback by the question, said he hoped people didn't think that way. So today's deep question is: Huh? Let's see. Hass, a walk-on, led the country in receiving last season. He's one of 10 players in college football history to have three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. And he won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver. He runs great routes. He has arguably the best hands in the entire draft. And for all of this, Hass is expected to be drafted somewhere between the third and fifth rounds, long after a handful of less talented receivers with better 40-yard dash times have been selected. This is not a race issue. This is a brain issue, people. As in, if we opened the heads of NFL scouts and player personnel directors, we'd have a giant pile of sawdust on our hands. There's no other way to explain how often the NFL scouting people miss when it comes to evaluating college talent. Which is why scouts, one bad pick away from being canned, have been trained to rely upon tangible, neat, tidy criteria such as 40-yard times, vertical jumps and shuttle runs when really, they should just pick the best football player available. "Competed well, but against sub-par college competition." "Mediocre 40-yard time." "Has lapses in concentration that cause him to drop too many passes." Oh, those remarks aren't about Hass. Former 49ers coach Bill Walsh once told me that those were the things scouts once said about Jerry Rice, who ran a shaky 4.59 in the 40-yard dash at the 1985 combine, then went on to score more touchdowns than any player in league history. San Francisco saw something in Rice. So the 49ers, coming off a Super Bowl victory, traded its first-, second- and third-round picks to New England for the Patriots' first- and third-round picks so they could move up from 28th to 16th in the first round to take Rice. He made them look smart. Which brings us to Hass, who has the potential to make some regular front-office dolt picking in the third, fourth or fifth round look like a genius for getting such a good player so late. T hat's not to say Hass is the next Rice. Think more Hines Ward (third round, 1998). But he's going to go down as one of the best values in this draft because the guys making the picks have forgotten that football is more than running really fast and jumping really high. Or else Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses, and not Rice, would be a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Hass has done everything within his control, but in the end, he had no chance to beat a system that can't see past silly numbers on a clipboard. Skin color? Let's not go there. If Hass had run faster, he'd be a lock for the first two rounds. Making him the latest poster child for "White Men Can't Jump," is ridiculous. The scouts wouldn't care if he were purple or blue if he could run a 4.35. We've been watching Hass perform in high school and college, which is why we won't be surprised when he makes a roster next season, then finds himself starting someday, then spends his Sundays making fans in some NFL city say, "Yeah, best part is, we never saw him coming." Yeah, we know. We've been saying it for years. Also, according to NFLDRAFTCOUNTDOWN.COM, Mike Hass has outstanding hands, will go across the middle, has all the intangibles you look for in a WR, and is an exceptional downfield blocker......Sounds to me like a nice fit in our new regime
lol I just don't get why people still have that mentality, it's freakin 2006. I know you're joking Haz, I'm referring to the article.
Didnt hurt Matt jones. face it mike hass is a great college player that doesnt have the physical tools to be that great in college. Even Rashaun woods was a great colllege player and we see what his lack phisical tools did for him. got him traded in 2 years. this article playing the race card is stupid
Matt Jones was 6'6" with a sub-4.4 forty. That's a height/speed combo that has never been seen before, and he was a special exception to eveyr rule.
exactly my point race doesnt play a factor. if has was running a 4.4 not a 4.7 he would have been drafted higher
You are talking about a white QB turned TE not a white WR. There are a lot of white TEs in the NFL. Thats like comparing a white RB to a white FB. Matt Jones was a freak for any color.
Did you have to compare him to someone who played in the 1950s and 60s, I had too google his name to see who that was. Would Steve Largent work?
I just remeber whatever was being said about Anquan Boldin when he was coming out. "well he's got good game speed...but his forty time was really bad.' i think this article just shows how much teams really determine if a reciever is a possesion reciever or a speedster by their combine numbers, kind of forgetting everything they did during games. it seems that often they presume a player will have such a hard time transitiong that a player with better intangibles will have a easier transition. personally I'm always a fan of the player that CAN CATCH THE BALL rather than look pretty dropping it and gets injured because they can't take a hit. I remember hearing this guy Mike Hass' name alot the past couple of years. The NFL game is certainly faster, but i think though it's hard to measure, being able to read defenses/ or offenses and learn playbooks effciently are the real intangibles that seperate one player from another. I don't think it's their speed, but for wide recievers, ability to get into open space and make seperatoin from defenders, and then actualyl catching the ball. the wr's ability to run well after catching are certainly important, this is where that gamebreaking speed can make a player a real offensive weapon. but a player who can play tough and fend of db's can still get good yardage afterwards.
I think that him being white definatly does work against him with the people who know nothing (me and urself) but i would hope that the GMs and Head Coaches would see over this.... i mean IF he can jump and catch and run as well as any other reciever then he is a better player and deserves to be picked up... its simple
Also i have no problem playing TE or Wr because thers like no black people in Australia... im not being a racist or anything but we dont have like any african american people here at all I seriously dont think i know one person with a western african background. So little white boy me can jump high enough
Well, of course you guys wouldn't have any African Americans...what would be the PC term for them be though, African Australians? I actually am pretty sure that Matt Jones plays WR now. About Mike Hass, I think he can probably be compared to Jerricho Cotchery, great hands, not afraid to get hit, but just doesn't have the speed to really excel at the pro level.
Maybe in your area there aren't but in my area there are many different people of different nations. Alot of Africans around Australia
