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SENIOR BOWL: Saban on Julio Jones trade, Paterno

9:48 am January 24, 2012, by D. Orlando Ledbetter

Nick Saban

Alabama coach Nick Saban before his interview on NFL Network at the 2012 Senior Bowl on Monday. (D. Orlando Ledbetter/dledbtter@ajc.com)

FAIRHOPE, Ala. –  Alabama coach Nick Saban attended the South’s practice at Fairhope Municipal Stadium on Monday.

He said he wasn’t surprised that Falcons rookie wide receiver Julio Jones turned in a strong year and led the rookie class with eight touchdowns.

“He’s focused on what he wants to do,” said Saban, who coached Jones at Alabama. “He stays focused on the things that are going to affect his performance and he’s very mature about it. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he had a great year as a rookie. A lot of people criticized the Falcons for moving up to pick him. I think it was worthwhile for them and I think he proved them very much right.”

Saban on Paterno

Saban said that he considered former Penn State coach Joe Paterno a friend and that his death was a loss for college football.

“I can’t say enough about what he did for college football and his dedication to college football,” Saban said. “I don’t think anybody can; for the success that he had and the impact that he had and how he affected other people.”

–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog

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64 comments Add your comment

The Real Falcon

January 24th, 2012
9:59 am

Gave up too much.
Good season, but way too much!

Kopper

January 24th, 2012
10:02 am

Joe Paterno abetted a man that was molesting children in his lockerroom. He deserves nothing but our distain.

bucket

January 24th, 2012
10:03 am

Julio is a great player and I am glad he plays for the Falcons, but they gave up way too much to get him. That trade will haunt Atlanta for awhile.

Spanky

January 24th, 2012
10:04 am

Just like UGA, the Falcons need a revamped O-Line…but Julio does have some drops. He’ll get better!

BillyBob

January 24th, 2012
10:05 am

Not possible to make an intelligent decision on the Julio move for just one season. One season does not a career make. As far a Ryan, Breese and Rogers will also be watching the super bowl from a nice leather couch somewhere. Pass the dip please….

Sid

January 24th, 2012
10:18 am

Saban on Paterno:

Saban said that he considered former Penn State coach Joe Paterno a friend and that his death was a loss for college football.

“I can’t say enough about what he did for college football and his dedication to college football,” Saban said. “I don’t think anybody can; for the success that he had and the impact that he had and how he affected other people.”

Mark Bradley on Paterno:
Not worthy of regurgitation.

brew

January 24th, 2012
10:20 am

GREAT MOVE………GREAT MOVE……..GREAT MOVE. DID I MENTION THAT IT WAS A GREAT MOVE. YES THEY GAVE UP A LOT, BUT NOT TOO MUCH. WR IS ONE OF THE HARDEST POSITIONS TO COME IN AS A ROOKIE AND HAVE SUCCESS. HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO PLAY THE PRO GAME YET. HE IS BIG, STRONG, FAST, AND HAS THE WANT-TO IT TAKES TO BE OUTSTANDING IN THIS LEAGUE. THEN BRING IN A OC WHO WANTS TO STREGTH THE FIELD. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, I THINK IT WAS A GREAT MOVE!!!!!!!!!!!

Sid

January 24th, 2012
10:23 am

Kopper January 24th, 2012 10:02 am
Joe Paterno abetted a man that was molesting children in his lockerroom.
************************************************
You sound guilty of the same.

Let’s visit that big word you used: abetted
to encourage, support, or countenance by aid or approval, usually in wrongdoing: to abet a swindler; to abet a crime.

Good, now you know what it means.

AlanFalcon

January 24th, 2012
10:24 am

I hate to tell all of you that qualify as arm chair coaches that I trust Nick Sabin’s judgement over yours any day of the week.

Mr. Swamp Man

January 24th, 2012
10:25 am

hows it going? i need someone to talk to

Chi Town

January 24th, 2012
10:26 am

Everyone here needs to respect, Saban.

Sid

January 24th, 2012
10:27 am

Falcons gave up some serious draft picks to get Julio. He came out of college basically NFL ready and will pay huge dividends in the years to come. We will know after the upcoming draft what we really gave up for Julio but it won’t hold a candle to this guys career, hopefully as a Falcon.

Fan

January 24th, 2012
10:30 am

JJ trade will not hurt ATLANTA it is the BAD calls of the past DC & OC that have hurt the Falcons. Your are so negative in GA. This team will do well with a great OC & DC which the falcons just employed a few days ago. STOP THE NEGATIVE TALK

Not too much

January 24th, 2012
10:30 am

Julio Jones is a dynamic playmaker. His rookie season was exceptional for a wide receiver, especially considering he basically didn’t play 4 games. The question is whether Julio is worth three lower-tier players, and if you look at who the #1 and #2 would’ve been last year, I think that the answer is a resounding YES.

Alex

January 24th, 2012
10:31 am

gave up way too much. show me other teams that have given up so much for one player that had most of his plays against crap teams, like turner and ryan

D. Orlando Ledbetter

January 24th, 2012
10:34 am

Sid — Mark Bradley is a journalism beast!!!! Off to the North’s practice.

Sid

January 24th, 2012
10:46 am

Jounalism beast? Quoting ESPN on non-factual rhetoric, spreading rumor and innuendo, literary malfeasance, withholding factual information. Maybe monster is a better term.

Or maybe he is just ostentatious.

Joe Tess Fish House

January 24th, 2012
10:50 am

Im still mad at Patreno for leving the Flacons B 4 the season was over in 2007.

Fred

January 24th, 2012
10:55 am

Sid..if you want Mark’s job go apply for it @ AJC…

Didn’t care for ole Joe but he was a helluva coach that should have been fired.

Chan Gailey

January 24th, 2012
10:57 am

Nice blog Orlando. Keep up the good work.

Sid

January 24th, 2012
11:01 am

Reprinted without permission

Dan Mayhue

January 23rd, 2012
6:48 pm
Allow me to post this article from SI’s Rick Reilly, which may reveal more of the man than Mr. Bradley even knows:

“Maybe you will never be convinced Joe Paterno was a good man who made one catastrophic mistake, but do you have time for just one story?

In 2000, Penn State freshman defensive back Adam Taliaferro had his spine crushed when tackling an Ohio State player. He lay on that September field paralyzed and panicked.

The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was Paterno, who died Sunday at 85.

“He could see I was losing it, but his eyes stayed totally calm,” Taliaferro remembers. “And I remember that familiar, high-pitched voice, going, ‘You’re gonna get through this, Kid. You’re gonna be OK.’ And I just trusted him. I believed it.”

Taliaferro wound up in a hospital bed in Philadelphia, everything frozen solid below the neck. Doctors said he had about a 3 percent chance of walking again. And every other week, Paterno would fly to Philly to see him.

“He’d bring our trainer and a couple of my teammates,” Taliaferro says. “Nobody in the hospital knew he was there.” Paterno would tell him all the dumb things his teammates and coaches had done lately. Pretty soon, Taliaferro would be laughing his IVs out.

“I can’t tell you what that meant to me,” says Taliaferro, now 30. “I’m stuck in that hospital, and here’s Coach Paterno bringing a piece of the team to me, in the middle of the season. How many coaches would do that?”

Paterno and Taliaferro

For more of Adam Taliaferro’s memories of Joe Paterno, click here.
One midnight, Taliaferro moved a toe and the first person his dad called was Paterno. His dad held the phone to Adam’s ear and Paterno said, “You’re gonna prove ‘em all wrong, Kid!”

From then on, every visit, Paterno wanted to see Taliaferro move something new. “I got to where I wanted to be ready. A finger, a hand, whatever. I wanted to perform for Coach Paterno.”

One day, five months into it, Paterno walked in and said, “What’s new, Kid?” Taliaferro swung his legs over the bed, stood and extended his hand to shake.

“I’ll never forget his eyes,” he says. “They were already huge behind those Coke-bottle glasses, but they got even bigger.” Paterno gave him a 10-second hug and then said, “Kid, ya make me proud.”

A man is more than his failings.

I learned a lot about Paterno when I wrote a story about him in 1986 for Sports Illustrated. I’ve learned a lot about him since. He was a humble, funny and giving man who was unlike any other coach I ever met in college football. He rolled up his pants to save on dry cleaning bills. He lived in the same simple ranch house for the last 45 years. Same glasses, same wife, same job, for most of his adult life.

He was a man who had two national championships, five undefeated seasons, and yet for years he drove a white Ford Tempo. In 46 years as a head coach, he never had a single major NCAA violation.

He was the only coach I’ve ever known who went to the board of trustees to demand they increase entrance requirements, who went to faculty club meetings to hear the lectures, who listened to opera while drawing up game plans.

He was a Depression kid who wouldn’t allow stars on helmets or names on jerseys. And he hated expensive tennis shoes.

He’d see a player wearing Air Jordans and say, “It’s not the sneakers, Kid, it’s the person in them.”

One day Taliaferro wore an entirely different pair into his office, a pair of “Air Paternos” he’d made himself. “He freaked out,” Taliaferro remembers. “He was about to call Nike. He thought they were real!”

They represented everything the coach did not stand for.
If a player was struggling with a subject, Paterno would make him come to his house for wife Sue’s homemade pasta and her tutoring. One time, he told a high school blue chipper named Bob White he wouldn’t recruit him unless he agreed to read 12 novels and turn in two-page book reports to Sue. They were the first books he ever finished. White wound up with two degrees and a job at the university.

Paterno was other things, too, like controlling and immovable. He lingered as head coach when he promised time and again he wouldn’t. And when he needed to follow up on what he’d been told about Jerry Sandusky and a child in the shower in 2002, he failed miserably.

But he followed up for thousands of others.

Even though Taliaferro would never play football again, Paterno stayed on him to keep moving. “I came to Penn State to become a lawyer,” he told him. “But I never made it. You could, Kid. You’re smart.”

He got the fully recovered Taliaferro a summer internship with the NFLPA in New York and, before you knew it, Taliaferro was a corporate lawyer in Cherry Hill, N.J. He successfully ran for local office there and is now running for the Penn State board of trustees, where he wants to help his school heal from a scandal Paterno made worse with his neglect.

“The last three months, I’ve just wanted to go up on a rooftop and shout, ‘I wish you knew him like I do!’” Taliaferro says. “I know, in my heart, if he’d understood how serious this situation was, he’d have done more.”

I believe that, too. But if you don’t, I respect that. I only ask this:

If we’re so able to vividly remember the worst a man did, can’t we also remember the best?”

falconsrus

January 24th, 2012
11:02 am

Julio is going to be…fun to watch next year he will definately improve

Sid

January 24th, 2012
11:03 am

Fred January 24th, 2012 10:55 am
Sid..if you want Mark’s job go apply for it @ AJC…
*********************************************
Why debase myself?

Bishop Eddie Longs Red Panties

January 24th, 2012
11:23 am

Nice read Sid

Big Crimson 75

January 24th, 2012
11:49 am

Nick Saben will coach Julio Jones again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can’t wait — one more un-inspired year from Smitty —

HELLO COACH SABEN

eastbound and down

January 24th, 2012
12:21 pm

Paterno should be allowed to rest in peace, but Saban has credibilty?
“Alabama lured Saban from the Miami Dolphins, ending five weeks of denials and two days of deliberation. Saban, who two weeks ago declared “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach,” accepted the Tide’s job offer job and abandoned his attempt to rebuild the Dolphins after only two seasons” of course, some knucklehead will defend these actions.

BamaGuy

January 24th, 2012
12:39 pm

Let me defend Saban…You are a moron…You are fan of some team that suffers from a lack of results and so Saban is evil in your eyes…However, if he was with YOUR team and won 2 out of 3 BCS Championships then he would be the greatest coach ever…Fact is, He may be an A$$ but he is our A$$ and he produces where your guy doesn’t…Quit crying over the past and give the man credit for what he has accomplished. Don’t hate just because your team can’t get the same results…Period

Dr. Warren

January 24th, 2012
12:46 pm

Falcons don’t need Saban. They need Satan to make a deal with so they can actually win a Superbowl someday.

BamaGuy

January 24th, 2012
12:47 pm

As everyone knows, No good way to handle leaving one team and going to another…So many people are affected by a decision like that and you cannot please everyone…I am sure he wishes that he had the answers back then on how to handle the situation better…Too bad he didn’t hear from you as you seem to always make the right decision and do the right thing…Right? Lets hope no one looks into every decision that you ever made and then explains to you how you could of done it better…Check your own eye?

SENIOR BOWL: Saban on Julio Jones trade, Paterno | football-feed.com

January 24th, 2012
12:59 pm

[...] to Original Content From Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog): read more Related Articles Share About Author [...]

Shug

January 24th, 2012
1:29 pm

“In 46 years he never had a major violation.”

If only he applied that same attention to detail to preventing child anal rape.

Legal Eagle

January 24th, 2012
1:32 pm

Sid, no one’s questioned Paterno’s devotion to his players and The Program. If only he were more devoted to those who couldn’t help him win games, for example, helpless children being preyed on by his assistant.

DAN

January 24th, 2012
1:34 pm

PATERNO WAS A GREAT COACH AND HE MADE A MSTAKE OF HOW HE HANDLED THAT SITUATION BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULDNT HAVE KNOWN THE RIGHT PATH TO TAKE ON THAT EITHER. IT WAS TERRIBLE FOR THAT KID AND I HOPE JUSTICE WILL COME FOR HIM BUT PATERNO WAS A GREAT MAN AND HE DID GO TO OTHER PEOPLE TO HANDLE IT WHO HE THOUGHT WOULD BE BETTER QUALIFIED TO KNOW WHT TO DO. THE GUY WHO COMMITED THE ACT NEEDS TO BE PUT AWAY FOR A LOMG TIME.

Eye Zen Hower

January 24th, 2012
1:49 pm

Saying “it was terrible for that kid” but Paterno was a great coach is like saying “too bad for Anne Frank but Hitler sure could paint.”

Bigg Don

January 24th, 2012
1:59 pm

Go Julio. Can’t wring our collective wrist over whethe he was “worth” it or not. It’s in the past. However, the future for the kid is pretty dang bright. Looks like a freaking race horse when he gets in the open fiedl with smooth gliding and striding.

Joe Pa: You screwed the pooch. Lapse of judgment? Come on, man. I have no pity for what’s happened. Karma is a true bitch.

falkonsfan

January 24th, 2012
2:09 pm

I hear a lot of bashing for Joe Paterno, but what about bashing the guy WHO actually saw the attack and did NOTHING!

falkonsfan

January 24th, 2012
2:10 pm

I meant against Joe Paterno

Shonuff

January 24th, 2012
2:26 pm

Don’t try to defend Saban on an AJC blog. This is where bitter Georgia fans reside.

Dee

January 24th, 2012
3:11 pm

The Falcons did right moving up to get Jones.

Harvey Updyke...proud bamalamard

January 24th, 2012
4:06 pm

He’s still a sleazeball cheater….time to move on to your next job saban

Iceman

January 24th, 2012
4:24 pm

Why are you so called Falcons fans so ‘pessimistic’ about everything?

bird

January 24th, 2012
4:29 pm

The trade was worth it.

bird

January 24th, 2012
4:32 pm

Saban can move on if he wants to, he has nothing else to prove at the college level.

bigcalidawg

January 24th, 2012
4:45 pm

I’m ready to trade Roddy for Michael Crabtree and a 5th.

BvgNeedsaHaircut

January 24th, 2012
4:58 pm

Big Crimson 75,

Dude at least spell your head coach’s name right.

Saben?

Really?

Really?

Bluto

January 24th, 2012
5:09 pm

Laughing at all of these cowards taking shots at a dead coach. They are like little dog nipping at the heels of a dead animal. When it was alive and kicking they were all hiding and whimpering. Now that it is dead they all take a piece of flesh and pump their chest out, on the internet no less.

JoFo

January 24th, 2012
5:48 pm

Wow! Billy Bob learn to spell! You only got one Qb’s name right out of three! :)

Ryan Daniel

January 24th, 2012
11:09 pm

It cracks me up when people say the Falcons gave up too much for Julio. Nobody knows what we gave up because it was just draft picks people. Picks that will not play on our team. We could have “given up” the next Jamaal Anderson (DE), or Sam Baker. We also may have missed out on the next Tom Brady. The thing is, NOBODY KNOWS WHAT WE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN! We went after a sure fire big play threat that could immediately help our offense, and guess what, he did. Way more draft picks flop then turn up gold. Coulda woulda shoulda never did. We went out and grew a sack and got a performer. All we gave up was potential. In 2009 we wanted around at #24 and got Peria Jerry…how’s that turning out for us? We could have jumped up just a few spots and gotten Percy Harvin. Or, we could have jumped up to #12 for instance and gotten Knowshon Moreno. If we would have gotten Moreno people would have been saying we gave up too much for him…when in essence we would have just been giving up Peria Jerry and maybe another mid rounder that year. The point is, we don’t know what we gave up, so you can’t say we gave up too much. We do know we got a WR that is a big play threat anytime he touches the ball.

flyingvv

January 25th, 2012
8:23 am

Joe Paterno looked the other way on a very serious situation. That makes him as guilty as the pervert who harmed the child. Praise him for what he did at Penn State, But what bothers me is that People idolize the man that could have stopped it from ever happening again at that school

IKillTrollsAllDay

January 25th, 2012
8:28 am

Thank you for stating the obvious Ryan! Seriously! Peria Jerry is a bust in a beasts clothing! He’s getting out played by a third rounder named Corey Peters. Robinson should not be a corner on the team. Reminds me of “No Big Play Ray Buchanan”. Why did we pick up Edwards? He had two decent games, while Sidbury rode the bench. What?

Nom Nom Nom Chucks....Taylor or Norris, I don't care

January 25th, 2012
12:03 pm

OMG DAN, PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK IDIOT….you must be an old dude.

Ryan Daniel

January 25th, 2012
2:47 pm

Hey IKillTrollsAllDay, I used to call Ray Buchanan, and you may have heard this one, “Give Up the Big Play Ray.” Thought I’d share in case you wanted to use that nickname from now on!

Falcons > Everyone

January 25th, 2012
11:02 pm

Julio Jones > Greg Little, Jonathan Baldwin and Owen Marecic, aka three of the draft picks we traded to Cleveland. Please tell me you’d rather have these three guys instead and have Julio in Cleveland. After that, slap yourself.

Th

January 26th, 2012
11:37 am

Are wide receivers as good as Julio so rare they are worth 5 draft picks to get one and do wide receivers have so great an impact that it is worth 5 draft picks to have Julio instead of Jenkins? No and No. I wouldn’t use 5 draft picks to get Jerry Rice in his prime.

What did the Giants and Pats give up for their WR’s (or TE’s in the case of the Pat’s)? Victor Cruz wasn’t even drafted and the Pat TE’s were 2nd and 4th round.

I would give 5 draft picks for a really good player evaluator or coach and maybe a proven QB.

Domeinate

January 26th, 2012
9:47 pm

What else did this journalist expect Saban to say about Julio Jones?? Why not ask a Dad if his daughter is ugly?

Rob

January 27th, 2012
7:24 am

What would you expect him to say? He’s just like a politician.

Mikey

January 27th, 2012
10:01 am

I also like the JJ11 pick. Time will tell but so far he is doing better than expected. With his work ethic, size, speed and capability, the sky is the limit. Saban knows football at least as well as ALL negative Falcons fans combined.

Gritsfalcon

January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm

Good move by the Falcons on Julio Jones. I like it. It was bold and we start getting out 1st and subsequent draft picks next year. Gotta work on that O line, though.

Runnin with the Dawgs

January 28th, 2012
9:26 am

The Falcons gave up Harvey Dahl and Michael Jenkins to make room for Julio on the payroll. Was it REALLY worth it?

Runnin with the Dawgs

January 28th, 2012
9:34 am

Another thing that I don’t understand is adding Quizz to the roster. Do we REALLY need a running back that’s 5′6″. He hasn’t proven to me that he is any better than Antone Smith, yet he stepped into the lineup ahead of him.

cdog

January 28th, 2012
10:40 am

why don’t falcons fans use common sense?.the move to get julio jones was a dream come true.if the falcons get the right quarterback who’s not scared and is a winner jones, will be better than jerry rice and all of the great recievers ever in the game.he’s just the right QB away.he and johnson of the detroit lions are the top now. difference, johnson has a QB and jones don’t

SENIOR BOWL: Saban on Julio Jones trade, Paterno | NFL Online News

January 28th, 2012
5:56 pm

[...] Atlanta Falcons This entry was posted in Atlanta Falcons and tagged Bowl, Jones, Julio, Paterno, Saban, senior, Trade. Bookmark the permalink. ← Del Rio replaces Allen as Broncos’ defensive coordinator [...]

Laughing Out Loud

January 30th, 2012
7:06 am

Sid, thanks for posting the Mayhue story. It almost made me change my name from laughing out loud for that story is no laughing matter. The phrase “A man is more than his failings is awsome.”

I usually just read but....

January 30th, 2012
1:18 pm

I’m a dawg fan, always have been, always will be. BUT, If you control the hire of their coach one day and it can be Saban or Mark Richt who’s it gonna be? For that matter, Saban or any other coach you can think of, who would it be. Sure, he’s a jerk but…. I don’t care. He don’t do draw plays with 20yds to go on 4th down!!