News About Ryan Mallett
NFL QB Ryan Mallett dies in apparent drowning
Former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, who went on to have a seven-year career in the NFL, died Tuesday in an apparent drowning at a Florida beach, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. He was 35.
The sheriff's office said first responders were called to a beach in Destin, Florida, around 2:12 p.m. local time, as a group of people swimming in the Gulf of Mexico near a sandbar struggled to make their way back to shore. One of the individuals, later identified as Mallett, was not breathing when he was pulled out of the water and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Coach Ryan Mallett," White Hall, the Arkansas school district where Mallett coached high school football, wrote in a post on its website. "Coach Mallett was a beloved coach and educator. We ask that you remember his family, team, students, fellow coaches, and the White Hall School District staff in your prayers."
Mallett played for the University of Michigan for one season before transferring to Arkansas, where he passed for 7,493 yards and 62 touchdowns in two seasons. As a redshirt sophomore in 2009 under coach Bobby Petrino, he led the Razorbacks to an 8-5 record and win in the Liberty Bowl, for which he earned Offensive MVP honors.
His best season came in 2010, when he threw for 3,869 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions with a 64.7 completion percentage, earning second-team All-SEC honors for a second straight year. He finished seventh in voting for the 2010 Heisman Trophy.
"We are shocked and saddened by the passing of Ryan Mallett," the Arkansas football program said in a statement posted to Twitter. "He was a Razorback legend with larger-than-life talent and a personality to match. He led our program to some of our best moments in recent memory. He will be missed by everyone who knew him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his mother Debbie and his extended family."
The New England Patriots selected Mallett in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft, at No. 74 overall. Coach Bill Belichick explained at the time that the team could never have enough depth at quarterback, which led to it selecting Mallett as one of Tom Brady's backups.
"We just felt like he was a good player," Belichick said at the time. "He's won everywhere he's been -- high school, college. He's an impressive guy to talk to."
Belichick detailed how the Patriots had followed Mallett's college career, starting at Michigan in 2007, and then when he transferred to Arkansas as a result of a new Wolverines coaching staff installing a different offense. At Arkansas, Belichick noted how Mallett effectively operated in a pro-style offense under Petrino, saying in 2011: "He's pretty far along relative to some other quarterbacks we've seen."
In a statement Tuesday, Belichick said he was "extremely saddened by Ryan's tragic passing" and offered his thoughts and prayers to Mallett's family "and the many people whose lives he touched."
Brady, in a social media post, wrote: "We lost a great man. Thank you for everything, Ryan."
Mallett played just 24 snaps as a backup to Brady in New England, a result of Brady's durability and seldom coming out of games. He was traded to the Houston Texans ahead of the 2014 season, where he played nine games, making six starts, over parts of two seasons with the team before he was released in October 2015. He subsequently signed with the Baltimore Ravens, for whom he made two starts in eight appearances through 2017.
"Ryan was a part of us," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a Twitter post by the team. "I will always remember the love he had for his teammates and for making the most of, and enjoying every football day while here."
In his first start on Nov. 16, 2014, Mallett directed Houston to a 23-7 victory at Cleveland. His first career TD pass was a 2-yarder to defensive end J.J. Watt.
"Horrible news to read about Ryan Mallett," Watt wrote in a tweet. "Gone way too soon. Rest in Peace brother."
Mallett appeared in 21 NFL games for his career, making eight starts. He completed 190 of his 345 attempts in the NFL for 1,835 yards and nine touchdowns with 10 interceptions.
In 2022, Mallett was hired as the head football coach at White Hall High School in his native Arkansas after beginning his coaching career as an assistant at Mountain Home High School.
"I always knew I was going to coach," Mallett said after he was named the coach at White Hall, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "It's just natural for me. I understand it. I get how everything works, and then I just love football. You get to teach kids the right way at a young age, and that's something I really enjoy."
ESPN's Mike Reiss, The Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.
Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy says 'ultimate goal is to win the title
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Quarterback J.J. McCarthy's two years at Michigan have been defined by wins over archrival Ohio State, Big Ten championships, and College Football Playoff losses.
As McCarthy prepares for his third season at Michigan and second as the starter, his goals are clear: Keep the first two trends going and reverse the results in the third category. Michigan, which had not made the CFP until 2021, is 0-2 in the event after semifinal losses to Georgia and TCU. The Wolverines are seeking their first national championship since 1997.
"That's my ultimate goal," McCarthy told ESPN on Tuesday. "I have a lot of goals, we have a lot of goals, but it's to bring a national championship to Ann Arbor. We're just so close."
McCarthy, who took over as Michigan's starter early in the 2022 season, set a career-high with 343 passing yards against TCU. He accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), a 2-point conversion and a career-best 39-yard run. But he also had two interceptions returned for touchdowns as Michigan trailed 21-3 and 34-16 before falling 51-45.
Although McCarthy had appeared in Michigan's CFP loss to Georgia, he played mostly in the second half with the game out of reach.
"[TCU] definitely hurt a whole lot more," he said. "When I went in freshman year and we were playing the defense of the decade, it was kind of like, 'All right, let's see what I can do out here.' Realistic expectations set in, like, 'It's going to be tough.' But this TCU one, it was all in my hands. It was obviously a team effort, but I was in the driver's seat. It's a whole different pain that I've felt and one that's still driving me today."
Before the TCU game, McCarthy had not thrown multiple interceptions all season and had accounted for four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in Michigan's win over Ohio State, the team's second straight and first at Ohio Stadium since 2000. Michigan hasn't beaten the Buckeyes in three straight seasons from 1995 to 1997.
In 2021, McCarthy was the backup quarterback and completed his only pass attempt as Michigan ended an eight-game losing streak to the Buckeyes.
"My 1A goal is to bring a national championship to Ann Arbor; 1B is to never lose to [Ohio State]," McCarthy said. "That will mean a lot to me. From the guys that play scout team to the guys that are touching the ball every play, we have to be our best at all times. That's not always going to look pretty, but we just got to keep pushing, keep pushing and growing in every aspect, and we'll be where we want to be by Nov. 25."
McCarthy has approached the offseason with a mantra of, "100 percent, 100 percent of the time," making adjustments to his training and diet. He's set to lead a Michigan offense that returns largely intact and will feature standout running backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, and others.
"He's locked in, you can see it in him, he wants to win," offensive lineman Zak Zinter said. "You're going to see the best version of him. He's dynamic, he's a playmaker, he can sit in the pocket and throw long gone like he showed at the end of the year. He can scramble out and make a play, throw while he's running, he can take off and run the ball. He's really an all-around threat."
McCarthy remained on the field long after both of Michigan's CFP losses, watching Georgia and TCU's celebrations. He says experiencing pain and regret -- "Sit in it, soak in it," he said -- is an important step to creating motivation for future goals.
The postgame scene struck Michigan president Santa Ono, who says the Wolverines have three ingredients -- talent, experience, and hunger -- to win a title this season.
"We have an enormous talent, everybody knows that probably one of the best teams I've ever seen," Ono told ESPN. "You have a much more experienced quarterback who learned from that TCU game. And the hunger part, all these players coming back, they want the national championship. For me, the image that's most poignant illustrates the hunger in the games that they lost, when everybody else had gone back to the locker room, there was one guy looking at the other team win. That was J.J. McCarthy.
"He really wants this. Actually, we all really want this."
Athletes can renege on NLI under certain circumstances
The governing body for the National Letter of Intent Program on Tuesday announced new policies allowing athletes to back out of NLI agreements without penalty under certain circumstances.
The signing of letters of intent has been part of the recruiting process in NCAA divisions I and II since 1964. It is intended to be a binding agreement between an athlete and a school. The athlete promises to attend the school for one academic year in exchange for a full or partial athletic scholarship for one academic year.
An athlete who does not fulfill his or her NLI agreement traditionally must sit out one season of competition at the next school they attend.
Following a committee review of NLI policy, the Collegiate Commissioners Association will not penalize an athlete who requests a release due to a head-coaching change. Neither will an athlete be penalized for leaving their original school after one quarter or one semester as long as a release is requested.
The policy change takes effect with the 2023-24 signing periods for 2024-25 enrollees.
The CCA also will expand the program to provide an athlete transferring from one four-year school to another an opportunity to sign an NLI as long as he or she has entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Big Sky Conference commissioner Tom Wistrcill, chair of the NLI policy and review committee, said the changes are meant to modernize the NLI program so it more accurately reflects the recruiting landscape.
New NCAA rules conflict with some state laws over NIL deals
The NCAA's national office informed member schools Tuesday that some methods schools have started using to get more directly involved in helping their athletes make money from name, image, and likeness deals are violations of the association's rules.
New NCAA guidelines directly conflict with some state laws that are already in effect or will go into effect by the end of the summer, setting up a potential clash that will once again test the association's legal ability to enforce its rules. In a letter sent to the schools Tuesday afternoon, Stan Wilcox, NCAA executive vice president of regulatory affairs, wrote that even if state laws allow for some specific types of NIL activities, schools could be punished by the NCAA for pursuing them.
"The Association has been clear and maintains that schools must adhere to NCAA legislation (or policy) when it conflicts with permissive state laws," Wilcox wrote in the letter. "In other words, if a state law permits certain institutional action and NCAA legislation prohibits the same action, institutions must follow NCAA legislation.".In recent months, several states have passed laws that allow for fundraising groups that are legally separate yet closely partnered with universities to start paying athletes for NIL endorsements. In Texas, for example, a law is set to go into effect Saturday that would allow fundraising groups such as the Longhorn Foundation or the 12th Man Foundation -- which support the athletic departments at Texas and Texas A&M, respectively -- to raise money for NIL deals. Similar laws have been passed in Arkansas and Oklahoma, among others.
The NCAA said Tuesday that schools are responsible for making sure these fundraising organizations do not pay athletes for NIL deals.
The new law in Texas will also allow schools to provide perks to fans who donate to these NIL funds. Schools such as Texas and Texas A&M said in the past month that they are planning to provide priority points to fans who donate to NIL funds that will help the fans get better tickets at home games or have preferred access to tickets to bowl games or postseason events. The NCAA said Tuesday that this kind of incentive to donate to a NIL fund is a violation of its rules.
In an interview with ESPN before Tuesday's letter, Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said the 12th Man Foundation planned to start providing that benefit to its fans later this summer. When asked whether those plans would proceed even if the NCAA decided that type of perk was against its rules, Bjork said the Aggies and their partners planned to do as much as Texas law allowed.
"The state law is going to govern how we do business," Bjork said. "We will continue to communicate with the NCAA on a variety of matters, but in terms of this, the state law will reign."
Tim Buckley, the NCAA's senior vice president of external affairs, said the NCAA isn't forcing schools to break any state laws. It is instead letting schools know that just because a state permits a certain type of activity doesn't mean NCAA members are allowed to do it.
"Until the rules change, the rules are what they are for every member institution whether you are in state A or B," Buckley told ESPN earlier this week.
However, the new law taking effect in Texas also includes a provision that says the NCAA and its conferences are prohibited from punishing any school that takes advantage of these new types of NIL activities. If the NCAA sanctions a school in Texas for providing perks to donors in exchange for NIL dollars, that school could pursue legal action against the NCAA. Buckley said those types of situations include too many hypothetical elements to comment on how a potential showdown between the NCAA's rules and the law of Texas might play out in court.
Other clarifications included in Wilcox's letter include:
Boosters (including collectives) are not allowed to meet with recruits to discuss potential NIL opportunities in order to encourage them to attend a particular school.
NIL deals can't include clauses that require an athlete to attend a particular school or live in a particular geographic area.
Event sponsors cannot pay a NIL collective, which in turn pays athletes, as part of a contract for a team to participate in an event. For example, some schools have signed contracts with midseason basketball tournaments that include a promise from the tournament organizer to donate thousands of dollars to the collective group associated with that school. Football bowl game sponsors have explored similar arrangements.
Comments
Post a Comment