James Pearce: Big part of Vol outlook

#29
#29
JohnWardForever said:
westwords "James Pearce is a big guy, 6-5 and 242. There is enough of him for three or four Tennessee coaches to share the credit for his accomplishments and claim an investment in lofty projections." Marvin West's Great Piece on Tennessee's Best Defensive Player since ; Eric Berry?? westwords click & enjoy Yall!
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Pure Vonnegut.
 
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#31
#31
Volador said:
Sorry, this post was from my perspective, not VN's. Big John was IMO, a solid player at UT but, an NFL disappointment - enough so that I could never put him on the Mt Rushmore of Tennessee Talent. (and sorry if you disagree w me. Hope you are ok that I am allowed to have my own opinion Adam)
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And if Pearce is the #1 draft pick but flames out?
 
#33
#33
pimo1 said:
NFL disappointment? Bro made 2 pro bowls and a 2nd team all pro. Played 9 years for bad teams. Do you know how few players make one Pro Bowl much less 2? Especially at DT. For his position he was dominant.
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Yup. Great DTs often overlooked because they are double teamed or asked to be a run stuffer. Their hard stats don't always show up among the best in the league, unless they are a true freak like Donald.

Henderson may not have been an elite DT in his time like Sapp or Seymour was, but he was very, very good. Would easily compare him to someone like Dexter Lawrence in today's NFL. Just an all around really good DT.
 
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#34
#34
Carp said:
Yup. Great DTs often overlooked because they are double teamed or asked to be a run stuffer. Their hard stats don't always show up among the best in the league, unless they are a true freak like Donald.

Henderson may not have been an elite DT in his time like Sapp or Seymour was, but he was very, very good. Would easily compare him to someone like Dexter Lawrence in today's NFL. Just an all around really good DT.
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People don't understand how DL works or understand what a NT is asked to do. It's not typically to get sacks and TFLs
 
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#37
#37
Vol865 said:
People don't understand how DL works or understand what a NT is asked to do. It's not typically to get sacks and TFLs
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or even tackles....they eat up blocks to free up the LB's to eat. For every Probowl MLB with 200 tackles, there was a NT or DT up front that most fans never heard of keeping him clean to shoot gaps.
 
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#39
#39
Volador said:
Then Mt Rushmore will not be in his future.....
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But I'm confused. You said the Mt Rushmore of TENNESSEE talent. Why would his nfl success define that? What if he got a bad injury and he was never the same then retired early?
 
#41
#41
tn4elvis said:
Why do we hold any of them over Doug Atkins. Possibly the greatest defensive player of all time. Mr Atkins told me at a golf tournament that they did not keep stats on sacks when he was playing. He went on to say that he had multiple games a season that he would have six or seven tackles of the quarterback during a game. I was thinking about that years later and realized that he might have had multiple 20 plus sack seasons that he will never get credit for.
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I loved Atkins, but the truth is that, at least in college, it was a lot easier to dominate, because we hadn’t integrated yet. He’s definitely the best pre-integration DL in history though, and I have him right up there with the others we’ve mentioned.
 
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#42
#42
adam.vol said:
I guess it’s because most people were not alive to see him play, there are few stats, and very little to read that would distinguish him from any other player of his time. I believe you guys, but I have no reference for comparisons.

I’m saying this out of respect. The only thing I can picture when you guys talk about Atkins is “Bill Brasky” from SNL.
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That and college football was easier to dominate without any black players on the field. Still love Atkins, but I doubt he’d be as dominant in an integrated sport. Not to say that he wouldn’t still be great, but some say he’s the best DL of all time and I don’t know how you can come to that conclusion when the competition was watered down.
 
#44
#44
Rockytop10nessee said:
I loved Atkins, but the truth is that, at least in college, it was a lot easier to dominate, because we hadn’t integrated yet. He’s definitely the best pre-integration DL in history though, and I have him right up there with the others we’ve mentioned.
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I met him when he was in his sixties and he looked like he could still be playing. .The reason I think he could have played in any era was he was recruited as a basketball player. So not only was he a huge man but he was extremely agile and athletic. His game would even have translated into todays game in my opinion
 
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#45
#45
JohnWardForever said:
westwords "James Pearce is a big guy, 6-5 and 242. There is enough of him for three or four Tennessee coaches to share the credit for his accomplishments and claim an investment in lofty projections." Marvin West's Great Piece on Tennessee's Best Defensive Player since ; Eric Berry?? westwords click & enjoy Yall!
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Not sure if it is a good idea to have so many voices in his ear. Course, I don't know how the coaching system at the UT really works. But too much noise is often a bad thing.
 
#48
#48
Rockytop10nessee said:
That and college football was easier to dominate without any black players on the field. Still love Atkins, but I doubt he’d be as dominant in an integrated sport. Not to say that he wouldn’t still be great, but some say he’s the best DL of all time and I don’t know how you can come to that conclusion when the competition was watered down.
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It don’t matter the color of a man he would’ve still dominated him!
 
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#49
#49
JohnWardForever said:
I love John Henderson. I remember in 2001, Tennessee was preparing to go to Gainesville for the only late season matchup with the Gators (9-11) and Big John Henderson said "We are going down there and we are going to beat Florida". (paraphrased) The story was in USA Today. And Henderson, Hanesworth, and Co backed it up! Of course Travis Stephens' near 300 yard day helped !
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Sometimes you can just sense something before it happens, and it was that way for me the week of the 2001 game at Florida. Two Ceramic Tile Reps from Miami who were big gator fans came by my Flooring store (Mobile) and were predicting a big Uf win, I said, "NO , Tennessee is going to win that game", basing it on John Henderson's confident quote to USA Today. Well Florida was a big favorite, (17 Points!) so they left, laughing all the way to their car. Final Score was UT 34-32, and those guys never showed up again!
 
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#50
#50
Rockytop10nessee said:
That and college football was easier to dominate without any black players on the field. Still love Atkins, but I doubt he’d be as dominant in an integrated sport. Not to say that he wouldn’t still be great, but some say he’s the best DL of all time and I don’t know how you can come to that conclusion when the competition was watered down.
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Well he went and dominated an integrated NFL sooooo, your point?

If anything, he looked a little skinny in college, you give him modern nutrition and weight training and he is insane.
 
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