When I started this blog almost two years ago, I never thought I'd be doing an article on Dwayne Jarrett. But near the end of the 2008 season I came across this photo (below) of the Carolina Panthers WR -- and I had to smile because truly there is not a large number of WRs with dreads in the NFL, and there need to be more.
Jarrett didn't have dreads during his spectacular three years in college at USC (2004-06), where he had 3,138 yards receiving and 41 TD catches. He was so dominating during his time there that the Panthers decided to select him in the 2nd round of the 2007 draft. But just like it does for many players who are stars in college football, reality set in quickly for Jarrett as he discovered the NFL is nothing at all like college was and that maybe he wasn't as good as he thought he was.
I don't like to criticize, but Dwayne can't be very proud of his NFL career stats so far: 33 receptions for 388 yards and 1 TD. Damn, those numbers don't even make a decent half-season, but yet those are his totals combined for his first three years in the league. Ouch. When you're a 2nd round WR, those are numbers that make everbody want to call you a bust. But as this article from a week ago (first link below) from panthers.com mentions, Jarrett was just 21 years old during his rookie season, so I'm willing to cut him a little slack.
But Dwayne, now it's time to step it up. It's your time to shine. Muhsin Muhammad is retired; and now, just recently, Steve Smith has broken his arm. So come training camp a month from now, the Panthers are going to be counting on you. Surely you've noticed that the Panthers selected not one, not two, but three WRs in the draft back in April, so they aren't going to wait for you forever.
The list is long of WRs who rebound from a slow start to go on and have a productive career. Hopefully by this time next year we'll be able to add Jarrett's name to that list. Dwayne's dreads are just now getting long enough that they're visible even when he has his helmet on. I'm expecting to see them on the field and in the end zone a lot this coming season.
Here is the link to the article: http://www.panthers.com/news/article-1/Jarrett-committed-to-WideR-role/b5db7dfd-8cf4-4efc-9da5-eaf08c972932 ...... Also, here's a link to a brief interview with Jarrett. He doesn't say much, but at least you get to see what his dreads are looking like now: http://www.panthers.com/media-vault/videos/Insider-Dwayne-Jarrett/d0558f40-84f9-4398-8857-a80419ca4a88
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