After All That Work...

So similar - yet so different.

This was a big two weeks for outstandingly-talented yet academically-challenged defensive tackles. After three years trying to become academically eligible, Jerrel Powe has finally made it past the NCAA clearinghouse and can play for the Ole Miss Rebels. On the opposite side of the fence, our "Lion King" Marques Slocum has unfortunately flamed out and will probably not play college football for the forseeable future.

After hitting the books for three long years, Powe is probably a guy who knows what an opportunity like this means to him. If he plays well and doesn't screw up off the field, he is probably going to be a multi-millionaire in 2-3 years. As Brian has mentioned before, some kids are built for one thing and one thing only: football. If not for football, Powe would probably be stuck in a lower-middle-class lifestyle while working as unskilled labor somewhere in the South. Now, because he has a shot to capitalize on his greatest strength, he has the opportunity to live a life that most of us only fantasize of living. Good luck this year, Mr. Powe. You've earned your shot.

Marques Slocum was only two years away from paydirt. He showed promise his freshman year, and if he had solid sophomore and junior seasons, he'd probably be taking home a lion's share of NFL draft money in 2011. I'll never understand some people. All that talent and then they screw it all up. Maybe he'll pop up at a lower-tiered BCS school in a year or two, or some FBS team will take him on next year. He'll have to pass the clearinghouse again, which may be a bar he can't hurdle. Slocum may have destroyed his chances for living the good life - and if he says he regrets the way he acted this summer, I'll be he's not lion.