Meet father of the year Calvin Days
I have contacted the editor of TIME Magazine and recommended a man in Powder Springs named Calvin Days to be considered for the magazine’s annual Person Of The Year award. I would also recommend him for Parent of the Year, Governor, Senator, Congressman and most especially State School Superintendent.
Jabari Hunt-Days, a linebacker on the Georgia Tech football team, was declared academically ineligible at the end of the spring semester because he failed a class.
His father, the abovementioned Calvin Days, told the AJC that he has asked head coach Paul Johnson to release his son from his scholarship until he straightens up and flies right.
“We’re not going to support him being at Georgia Tech or anywhere else until there’s a change in behavior because it’s a slap in everyone’s face,” said the father. Days contends that his son failed because he skipped class and didn’t hand in assignments.
“Your job is to go to class. What you’re doing (by not going to class) is stealing.”
There is a possibility that the defensive player could stay on scholarship, practice with the team, and play in 2015 as a senior. Calvin Days says if so, his son would have to pay his own way unless he’s convinced there’s been a change in attitude.
He also said he would not support his son transferring anywhere else or trying to jump to the NFL.
Does the father’s action hurt Jabari’s chance at an NFL career? “We’re talking about the rest of his life, not will this hurt his chances at pro football,” he said. “I would rather see him not play football and grow up and assume responsibility for things that important.
“I know he’s hurting,” said Days. “I want to hug him and make it better. I want to tell him ‘we’ll make it work.’ But that’s probably the worst thing I can do right now. That’s the difficult piece.”
I want to give Mr. Days a big old hug.
One other nice note — This was to be the year that Yale was to win the Ivy League basketball championship and go to the NCAA tournament. But the Bulldogs’ stars, 6foot-6 Brandon Sherrod, notified the school that he would be taking next season off.
Sherrod was chosen to be a member of the famous Yale Whiffenpoofs, an all-male a cappella singing group that has been in existence since 1909.
The Whiffenpoofs will sing on every continent but Antartica next year. Sherrod said there’s more to his life than basketball. Amen, brother.
HOW ABOUT A SAVINGS ACCOUNT? — There’s no mystery as to why so many professional athletes end up broke and destitute at the end of their careers.
Here are four who have gotten an early start on that road.
Top NFL pick Jadeveon Clowney of South Carolina went to a New York City jewelry store and purchased a 24-karat necklace with a 10 oz. gold bar surrounded by diamonds for $20,000.
Then, since he never wanted to be late for practice, he bought a Rolex for $45,000 and finally a gold angel pendant with diamonds for an undetermined price.
Fellow draftee Greg Robinson, the No. 2 pick, thought he’d outdo Clowney and came away with $123,000 in purchases while Khalil Mack spent only $84,000. Johnny Manziel was more conservative and came away with only a $30,000 Rolex. And this was Thursday morning before the NFL draft. COLLEGE FOOTBALL — With quarterbacks Manziel, Zach Mettenberger, Aaron Murray, AJ McCarron, James Franklin and Connor Shaw gone from the SEC, the top returning signal-callers should be Missouri’s Maty Mauk and Auburn’s Nick Marshall. …
Nick Saban’s new contract at Alabama will average out paying him $7 million per year. …
Bret Bielema blames former coach Bobby Petrino for the lack of talent he inherited when he took the Razorbacks job. …
The ACC is considering playing its own teams beginning in 2017 and counting some of them as ‘non-conference’ games.
In other words, it’ll play itself to satisfy requirements that it play at least one ‘Big Five’ out-of-conference game. …
Louisville is building up a stockpile of 4-star transfers for its first year in the ACC. In addition to Georgia’s Josh Harvey-Clemons who is already there, the Cardinals will probably land Texas A&M’s Jaquay Williams and Georgia’s Shaq Wiggins.
And finally, the SEC again led the way in number of NFL players drafted with 49 while the ACC was second with 42. Others, in order, were the Pac-12, the Big Ten and the Big XII with 17.