A five-piece order of Nuggets, for your perusal:
Thanks for the emails and social media messages you sent in response to my story Sunday on the dozens of players who the 2005 Texas team sent to the NFL.
While researching the article, I spoke with Roy Williams, whom I consider one of the two greatest receivers to ever play here (Jordan Shipley gets my other vote). Williams left two years before Texas ran the table and beat USC for the 2005 national title, but he did play one season with quarterback Vince Young, the unquestioned man of the hour that championship season.
Young turned out to be one of the most electrifying quarterbacks in college football history, but Williams said he had his doubts about whether Young would make it during their one season together.
"I was a senior, and I'm looking at this guy and I'm saying, ‘This guy can't play on this level,' " Williams said. "I'm playing with him and whenever the No. 1 receiver is not open, he just takes off running. There's no way they can ever win anything with this guy."
But Texas did win with Young. And along the way, he earned the respect of a nation of college football fans.
"It just goes to show the maturation with the kids and the coaches at Texas," Williams said. "Every year they do it."
Speaking of Young, it's surprising that no NFL team has signed him to a free agent contract, since he'd come much cheaper than the reported $58 million he signed for with Tennessee in 2006, $25 million of that in guaranteed greenbacks.
It makes me wonder whether Young is finished in this league. His physical skills are still there, but he hasn't been a picture of confidence over the past couple of years. Still, when you see players like Derek Anderson signing with teams, it becomes a head scratcher.
The questions facing any team interested in Young: Will we get the playmaker who owns a 61-21 record as a starter (dating back to his days at Texas), or will we get the inconsistent performer who has thrown more interceptions (51) than touchdowns (46) in his five NFL seasons?
Young appeared on the NFL Network last week and told NFL.com that he would love to play for his hometown Houston Texans, who face a bit of uncertainty with starter Matt Schaub coming back from foot surgery. It's still puzzling to see the Texans not go after a name free agent to back up Schaub. Surely there's someone better than T.J. Yates available. If anything, Young would sell some tickets.
Former Longhorns receiver Ramonce Taylor just signed a contract with the Allen Wranglers of the IFL, meaning he's now a teammate of Terrell Owens.
"Just signed with the Allen Wranglers. Bout to make plays with T.O." Taylor posted on his Facebook page.
Many look at Taylor and say, "Oh, what could have been." He's one of the top five athletes Mack Brown has ever recruited, in the same class with V.Y. and Jamaal Charles. The only thing that kept Taylor from NFL millions rested between his ears. Let's hope he has found his positive path.
Point guard Myck Kabongo suffered through periods of bad decision-making during his first season at Texas, but he made the correct read Monday when he decided to return for another season. Kabongo isn't ready to play in the NBA, and another year in the Big 12 gives him some time to get stronger against good competition.
You can't blame coach Rick Barnes for being excited to have his point guard back. As for Texas' other guard, J'Covan Brown isn't ready to announce yet, but it would surprise me to see him come back.
We lost a real gem Sunday in famed boxing scribe Bert Sugar, who died at the age of 75 from a heart attack. Sugar was to boxing what Bud Collins is to tennis — an old-school historian respected by the athletes he covered and by writers who were fortunate enough to sit alongside him at major events.
Sugar's trademark fedora and unlit cigar dangling from his lips sometimes overshadowed how brilliant he was. He was a law school graduate and the owner of a rapier wit. The sport and the journalism community will miss him greatly.
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