‘Time management’ the toughest part for Georgia’s Isaiah Crowell
ATHENS — Isaiah Crowell is learning lessons right and left these days, sometimes the hard way.
Crowell
Take Tuesday, for instance.
Tuesdays of game weeks are always extremely busy. Georgia holds its weekly press conference, which brings dozens of media members into town, all needing content in advance of that week’s game. The Bulldogs, of course, open the season Saturday against Boise State. Crowell, a freshman phenom who will play a significant role in the game, is the subject of much interest. So everybody wants to talk to him.
Crowell was instructed to be available for interviews after practice on Tuesday. But instead of showing up for 10 minutes as instructed, Crowell blew them off.
This did not sit well with Georgia.
So UGA sports communication personnel tracked down Crowell, reportedly at an academic tutorial appointment, and brought him back to Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall afterward. It was after 10 p.m. when he finally showed up. He was greeted by seven reporters who had waited around to hear from him (another four or five bailed out). I was among the reporters who stayed.
To Crowell’s credit, he was polite and accommodating when he finally arrived. He was also contrite when asked about making the adjustment to big-time college football, which comes with all kinds responsibilities and demands beyond gaining yardage and holding onto the football.
“It has been overwhelming,” said Crowell, who attended classes all morning Tuesday, had meetings and practices in the afternoon, then tutoring in the evening. “In high school, if you didn’t do something, there wasn’t too much going to be said about it. If you didn’t go to treatment, nobody cared. Sometimes I didn’t even go to class. Nobody really said anything about it. But here, any time you’re one minute late, somebody will know about it. Time management has been the toughest thing for me.”
Crowell is still working on that. Saturday we’ll find out how that football part is going. By all accounts, it’s going well.
“He’s every bit as good as advertised,” quarterback Aaron Murray said Tuesday. “The kid has turned people’s heads every day in practice. He’s a tremendously talented running back. He’ll show everyone this year. He’s going to make some plays that people’s jaws are going to hit the ground like, ‘Wow, that kid just made that move.’ ”
Said offensive coordinator Mike Bobo: “I’ve been really happy with him. I think he’s going to be a great player here. Is it going to happen game one? I don’t know, but I think he’s going to be a great player. Just let the guy play football and let’s see how he develops.”
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271 comments Add your comment
just sayin'
August 31st, 2011
12:14 pm
As Bobo said, “..just let the guy play football..” Don’t worry about that other stuff like classes, etc. At least Bobo has his priorities straight. Too much hype for any 18-19 year old kid.
LawDawg
August 31st, 2011
12:16 pm
shouldn’t class and academics come before a press conference? it’s one thing to blow it off to go watch TV, but it’s another to blow it off to go to tutoring.
DawginLex
August 31st, 2011
12:18 pm
I just hope he creates a big nightmare for upcoming opponents by showing us this Saturday that he is a “gamer” and just lives to play in the actual game.
If we develop a running game with this kid, Murray is gonna be lights out and not have to win the games by himself.
ATL Sports Fan
August 31st, 2011
12:20 pm
ATL Dawg, needs some space? What kind of space do they need. The media is given 10 minutes to interview some freshman at different points during the season. They are not alone during these interviews. Usually a person associated with the football program is there monitor time and what is being asked.
McDawg
August 31st, 2011
12:20 pm
i can’t wait to see this guy once he gets into the secondary
schmeckdawg
August 31st, 2011
12:22 pm
Big Earl
August 31st, 2011
11:41 am
Hey Chip…if you waited 10pm to talk to him where are your questions and his answers?
******************************************************************************************
GREAT POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AceDawg
August 31st, 2011
12:24 pm
Go Crowell, Go.
Bull Dog
August 31st, 2011
12:24 pm
Sounds like some of the media got their feelings hurt for being blown off. Let’s just hope he hits the hole in time on Saturday, and that there is a hole to hit.
beebee
August 31st, 2011
12:25 pm
Go ahead and treat him like the football KING you all think he is.
After a busted career of maybe 2 years later, you’ll all be wondering what went wrong. Again!
Kid hasn’t done NUTHIN yet but he’s put before the press like he’s Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl.
ATL Sports Fan
August 31st, 2011
12:25 pm
I truly believe some Dawg fans you can not please. Being a UGA alum and two sport letterman, I am ashamed to see what has happened to some of the fan base. Take for granted maybe 10% of the posters on these blogs are UGA alums/fans. Something has to give. We are becoming the most pessimistic and non pleasing fans around.
You just can not please some people, your going to gripe and complain about everything. Case in point last year at the Tech game. Washaun run the ball for about a 12 yard gain and went out of bounds and the person and his friend next to me were complaining sayin “Damn, why didn’t he run the ball out of bounds, he could have picked up an extra yard. What a damn joke”. Exact words.
I love how people comment about what these players should have done on the field when they couldn’t even hold these players jocks!
BirdDog
August 31st, 2011
12:25 pm
Welcome to big time college athletics kid! Everyone’s accountable and your coaches will find out if you stray too far… Go Dawgs!
GIVE ME A BREAK
August 31st, 2011
12:26 pm
Hope he has a good game.
ATL Sports Fan
August 31st, 2011
12:27 pm
Beebee, have you ever been to an interview session? You are aware that all major D-1 colleges have interview sessions, and yes some freshman are present. He didn’t have a press conference, it was a interview session that lasted 10 minutes and happens maybe 2 or 3 times during the season.
Mark
August 31st, 2011
12:27 pm
Are you kidding me, when I started Georgia in 1988 my brother was already there. One moring I got up and showered and was waiting on him to ride to class when he said do you have an umbrella and I said know why? He said because it’s raining and I’m not going to get wet so go back to sleep.
St. Richt
August 31st, 2011
12:30 pm
Sometimes he didn’t even go to class. LOL. That is classic. Speaks well of his high school alma mater.
Chip Towers
August 31st, 2011
12:30 pm
schmeckdawg: Working on an extensive profile piece on Crowell that will probably go online Friday and run in print on Saturday. Crowell’s comments are only a small part.
GIVE ME A BREAK
August 31st, 2011
12:30 pm
What are his classes?
The Ghost of Wally Butts
August 31st, 2011
12:31 pm
You think being timely to meetings doesn’t matter? It reflects things that are deeper and more fundamental….
…I recall hearing Falcons players comment about a “phenom” who showed up 5 or 10 minutes late for team meetings, sneaking into the back of the room with a “Big Gulp” and sandwich from QT…
…his last name was VICK.
St. Richt
August 31st, 2011
12:32 pm
As a Tech fan, I can’t wait to see him run. If he is anywhere close to the hype, he’ll be a heckuva a player in Athens. Hopefully he doesn’t go the route of the last 2 RB’s that were almost as equally-hyped coming out of high school.
Effie's Boarding House .................... Athens, Georgia
August 31st, 2011
12:32 pm
Crowell need to focus on being Freshman of the Year, like Marcus Lattimore did.
SimpleDawg
August 31st, 2011
12:32 pm
nega dawg,
walt deptula is a tool…..I can’t truly describe him here. What he has to say is of no importance.
the dude
August 31st, 2011
12:32 pm
LET THE KID STUDY. ISNT THAT THE PURPOSE OF A SCHOLAR ATHLETE? NOW GATA’S. AT LEAST HE ISNT WANTED FOR MURDER LIKE AT THAT OTHER SCHOOL. 10-4.
Chip Towers
August 31st, 2011
12:34 pm
TallaDawg: You’re misunderstanding. This wasn’t choosing tutoring over media interviews. That was merely his next obligation, after dinner of course. It’s about handling responsibilites when they’re scheduled. And I wasn’t upset. Just sharing.
CRO-MAGNON MAN
August 31st, 2011
12:34 pm
LET THE KID STUDY AND LEAVE HIM ALONE….SOMEBODY LOOKING FOR THAT LITTLE TIDBIT TO MAKE THEM A PULITZER HOPEFUL…I DON’T CARE ABOUT READING WHAT THE 18 YEAR OLD HAS TO SAY, I JUST WANT TO WATCH HIM PLAY….LET HIM BREATH….
St. Richt
August 31st, 2011
12:35 pm
I don’t think Georgia should make this kid available for interviews when he says stupid things like “sometimes I didn’t even go to class” in high school. I say put a muzzle on him and let him run the rock.
schmeckdawg
August 31st, 2011
12:37 pm
At 10:00 p.m. and after a full day of athletics and academics, I’d rather see the kid get back to his room and get some rest.
Y’all make him come back late at night and then do not even report what was said. Brilliant!
Chip Towers
August 31st, 2011
12:38 pm
CRO-MAGNON MAN, the dude: You guys are misunderstanding. This wasn’t media versus studying. He skipped out on interviews, went to dinner, then an academic appointment and was brought BACK to media AFTERWARD. See reply to TallaDawg.
MattDawg
August 31st, 2011
12:38 pm
Please Beat Boise and USC so we here in the Upstate South Carolina can call in and tell Walt Deptula to shut up!
Chip Towers
August 31st, 2011
12:43 pm
schmeckdawg: We didn’t make him come back. If UGA had said he’s not going to be available after all, we would have left and gone home. There was some out-of-town media there to see him and I think that may have been Georgia’s thinking.
UGA Alumnus
August 31st, 2011
12:43 pm
Don’t talk trash about the kid. He’s a college freshman, living in a new town, with lots of new responsibilities.
Half the people who comment on this blog and talk trash about these student-athletes not only never attended UGA, they never attended or graduated from a University at all.
It’s not easy being a university student, and that goes double for being a student-athlete.
Crowell is a boy learning to be a man. He doesn’t need trash-talkers disparaging him.
Go Dawgs!
CANTONDAWG
August 31st, 2011
12:45 pm
Reading these blogs makes me think that some people are not happy unless they are miserable.
DePort
August 31st, 2011
12:45 pm
so a tutoring session for school is less important than media interviews? Did I just hear this right? …And this whole time I thought college was about learning first…
Name Police
August 31st, 2011
12:46 pm
He is, first and foremost, a student so these responsibilities precede meeting with a business entity like a newspaper reporter who is paid by the business that makes its money through subscriptions and the advertisement therein. Now, if the AJC and any other news organizations are paying the Georgia Athletic Department for this time, fine. Otherwise, there is no entitlement whatsoever.
It cracks me up how the media feels entitled to access as if its a right, not a privilege as a for profit business, not a law enforcement agency.
However, if he had previously agreed to be there on time he should have been–no excuses. Even an 18 year old should know a commitment is a commitment!
UGA Alumnus
August 31st, 2011
12:47 pm
@ATLDawg, ya dig?
August 31st, 2011
12:14 pm
Agreed!
I can’t imagine having to deal with media interviews when I was a student at UGA. And I had far fewer responsibilities, because I wasn’t a student-athlete.
bucket
August 31st, 2011
12:48 pm
One of the many lessons kids have to learn when they go away to college is time management and showing up on time. So this makes Crowell just like 90% of the other 18-19 year olds in colleges all across America. Some guys don’t learn these lessons until after they have been suspended 5 times.
schmeckdawg
August 31st, 2011
12:51 pm
Thanks for the explanation Chip!
typical dawg fan
August 31st, 2011
12:58 pm
boy what a weekend. we got the dawgs saturday nite an dale jr. sunday nite. i moved the engine outta my trans am offa the back deck, got my rebel flag with the picture of hank jr in the middle flyin on the front deck. even replaced some of the skirting around the trailer that the weed eater tore up! we gonna whip boysee good, yall hear me! georgia n junior. you can’t go wrong with winners like them two, boy howdy!! go dawgs! go junior!
Name Police
August 31st, 2011
1:00 pm
Goobers,
Chip didn’t say that he chose tutoring over interviews; he simple blew off an interview session scheduled at a completely different time! He should have had the courage and maturity to at least tell these people waiting for him he wouldn’t be there!
Frankly, that’s one of the problems with a lot of physically gifted black athletes that always appear with and only recognize and connect with their mothers–too many weren’t raised with a father around to teach them responsibility and courage…OFF the filed or arena!
WnE
August 31st, 2011
1:02 pm
Why is uga letting the tail wag the dog?
Why not put in place a rule that T-Freshmen aren’t available to the Media until some point where they can adjust to playing in the SEC maybe 6-7 Games into the Schedule, Oct. 15 for example.
Problem solved.
T-freshmen don’t owe the media anything, and uga should give them a chance to adjust before they create even more obligations for young players.
59bulldawg
August 31st, 2011
1:02 pm
Welcome to “life in the fish bowl” that is UGA football. At least he wasn’t in a bar somewhere picking a fight. He’ll learn and will be fine.
invictus mon
August 31st, 2011
1:02 pm
If he’s going to stand anyone up, reprehensible though it may be, at least he did it for tutoring. Probably not the best PR move to admit he ditched class in HS though. Don’t care about on the field, if he doesn’t make the grades he won’t be out there anyways. TAKE CARE OF WHAT MATTERS! Grades! Those are worth that extra couple million in a contract anyways.
southside
August 31st, 2011
1:05 pm
Seriously, the media is more important than an academic session. Give the kid a break
WnE
August 31st, 2011
1:06 pm
18 y/o T-freshmen shouldn’t have to DELAY DINNER so they can talk to the Media.
I thought they were amateurs?
Doesn’t the NFL REQUIRE their players to avail themselves to the Media?
Yet everyone goes crazy when CFB Players say they should be paid.
Remember incidents like this one people.
Smokewagon
August 31st, 2011
1:06 pm
Typical- I’m sure of 2 things. #1 is that you do not support UGA #2 – You’re an intellectual powerhouse.
John
August 31st, 2011
1:07 pm
Sounds like he has much the same attitude problem he showed to the whole crowd when Carver lost its playoff game to Calhoun last year.
The Truth
August 31st, 2011
1:10 pm
He was at an academic advisory meeting? Good for him. It’s not like he was blowing off anyone of any importance – it was just news reporters!
typical dawg fan
August 31st, 2011
1:10 pm
yall let that kid go to class. he needs to work on gettin him a diploma from georgia. make us proud i.c. go dawgs!!
Hollywould
August 31st, 2011
1:11 pm
Name Police, You are dead on. He should have had the courtesy to tell whomever INSTRUCTED him to be there that he was not coming. I am sure he has a phone with all the bells and whistles. You make a good point about father figures but that excuse cannot be used all your life.
AltamahaDawg
August 31st, 2011
1:12 pm
You mean that he was polite, accomomodating, and contrite after the Calhoun game, John?
DC
August 31st, 2011
1:12 pm
Ya I had a buddy who was in athletics and had a tuitor….this is basically how it went down…”ok..question 1, the answer is A…question 2, the answer is D all of the above”….
Doubt there was much learning going on…