Wes Welker-Dolphins

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Watched this guy play yesterday as a KR/PR/WR. Very impressive. He had one fumble which may be the death knell of the kid. His numbers were good. Looks like he is very speedy and the Dolphins used him a good deal at wide-out.


He is number 83 and exciting to watch. Kind of a Tim Dwight built looking kid at 5' 9" and about 185. Quite the hot-rod and I hope he does well.
 
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Damn! Guess I better look at the other threads more closely. Ice Speed had one started on this boy from last year. LOL! Oh well.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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the interesting thing about Welker is that he's really not very fast. he only ran a 4.7-40 at his timing day after his senior year. that, combined with being a short white guy, kept him from being drafted. but, as we all know, if given an opportunity a talented player will make plays as Wes has done. he has tremendous wiggle, above-average hands, and is incredibly quick. these facts were all overlooked on draft day though... but shockingly he is already 2nd in Dolphins history as both a kickoff and punt returner for a season.

on a side note, a 4.7 is the fastest 40 jerry rice has ever run.
 

Don Wassall

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He had 4 receptions against the Broncos. Miami used him very little at receiver last year so that's very encouraging. Gus Frerotte usually excels at throwing the deep ball so maybe Welker will have some big plays too.
 

white lightning

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I am so happy for Welker but I can't help but be sad for Derek Abney who is short,white,and runs a legit 4.3 in the 40.He never got a shot.The same could be said about Steve Suter out of Maryland.No NFL for this guys.That sucks.Oh,one more,Dan Sheldon,another 4.3/4.4 guy.Why is Welker the only one to get a chance.All of these other guys are just as good and could possible be even better if given the chance!!
 

Don Wassall

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You're so right, White Lightning. There have beensome outstanding white kick returners the past few years in I-A and none have gotten a chance in the NFL except Welker, and he barely made it, having been cut by the Chargers despite tearing it up for them.


Another one is Jim Leonhard. He did make the Bills roster, but is buried at the bottom of the depth chart at safety and isn't even listed as one of their two punt returners.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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the thing that keeps cropping up is this: there are only a very select few white players who have enough talent and self-belief to overcome the racism that haunts them at every level of the game. that being said, as any statistics class will teach you, it takes a large sample to get a reliable result. with white skill-position guys, that's not viable in the current caste system. therefore, any small stumbling block (injury, a fumble, a dropped pass, etc.) causes the incredibly small chance of white success to fall to nil. Abney got hurt in training camp, Suter suffered a knee injury in college, Sheldon didn't have incredible hands, and so forth... on top of the fact that they were white and short, they each had another hurdle to overcome. Welker, on the other hand, was the rare exception, a guy who made a play EVERY time he got the chance. but even that doesn't guarantee success in the caste system, look at Tom Crowder for the Cowboys. he made a ton of plays, stayed healthy, was the ideal size (6'2", 205) and had blazing speed, yet still got relegated to practice squad duty.

it sucks, but for the racist outlook in the NFL to be overcome, a lot of guys are going to have to put up with a lot of crap in order to finally get a shot. and if they ever do, every guy MUST make enough plays to break the pro-black agenda down enough for even the unwilling to notice. that's gonna take a lot of time and a lot of sacrifice from a lot of intelligent and talented white guys who could just as easily do what they've been doing for the last 40 years: moving on to the business world where they are treated with more respect.
 

Don Wassall

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How about Wes Welker with 3 catches for 97 yards today? Yet another white receiver shines in the NFL when given an opportunity.
 
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