RonnieLott's Blog

It's that time of year when you really start focusing on who's going to win the Heisman and who's ultimately going to end up playing for #1. Starting with the Heisman, knowing what I've seen to date you have to go with a quarterback. It is the year of the quarterback and after watching back-to-back Texas Tech Red Raider games and watching Graham Harrell play, my vote would have to go to him. It's one thing to get up one week and play the #1 team and beat them by coming back on the last drive and on the last play, but another to come back the following week and throw with amazing accuracy and lead your team with that competitive spirit all over again. It's not only how you play, but also the decisions you make while you play. I've seen him make great decisions with the ball and put the ball in the perfect places. He has been leading with his arm and his decisions. A lot of people say it's the system but it's much more than the system. It's the kid's ability to not have fear in any situation. Speaking as a defensive player when you play against him you are facing a gunslinger who's a little faster than you and that never bodes well. As for #1, Alabama showed me so much last week at LSU. To see them on the road and make the decision to throw the ball on the first play of overtime showed me just how much confidence Coach Saban has in his quarterback. That's powerful for a team. He told me that not only can we run the ball with the best of them, but we can throw the ball with the best of them and we can do it in adverse conditions with the game on the line. He threw the ball down the field to set up the win. The reason they've been winning is that Coach Saban knows a lot more about his team than we do. It is great to see when a coach who didn't know his quarterback a year ago is willing to put it in his hands to win one of the biggest games of the year. Great coaches can identify guys who can play in crucial situations and they empower them to do so. Coach Saban is a great coach and he knew better than anyone that his quarterback could make probably the biggest play of his life.

There are many storied programs in college football - USC, Notre Dame, Texas, Alabama, Michigan, Florida State, Florida, LSU, Ohio State - and all have taken their lumps and have had their ups and downs and their challenges. They have all gone through big changes - changes in Athletic Directors, changes in coaches, even changes in mascots. But you look at one of those programs that hasn't changed and it's ranked in the top three and that's Penn State. You look at their off the field issues and the challenges that they have had to deal with and there has been one guy keeping things straight and that Joe Paterno. He has established an atmosphere of winning that says we're not only a top football program but we are heading in the right direction in so many other ways. They are heading in the right direction because Penn State was patient and confident that Joe could get it right and they weren't going to allow the pressure of others saying he was over the hill and can't relate to the kids to dissuade them. But when you're a great teacher, whether that's in the classroom with your psychology class or a football coach who has a way of expressing his pursuits through old school mediums to get messages across, you will always find a way to let young people know they can be great. I have to salute Coach Paterno and how they played the game against Wisconsin and I have to salute him for getting the most out of his kids and having them buy into something he has always pursued - being the best as a collective. Those loyalties are always challenged in our society and I've faced them myself with my kids. Dad you're not hip, you don't understand, but you keep working with them because you know that the lessons will give them a better chance to be successful. Being a fan of the game and of college football to see someone of Joe Paterno's stature leading the game when people don't think he should be in the game is inspiring to me. I'm not saying they're going to win the national championship, but it is so good to see Joe Paterno and it is so good to see the Nittany Lion white doing it right. http://allstarshelpingkids.org/events/raffle.html

As I look back as a kid growing up there were two things I really wanted to see in college football: SC-Notre Dame, because it was that great rivalry every year, and Texas-Oklahoma, because, besides being intense, it has always featured some of the greatest players in the history of college football. It exposed me to a lot of things like the wishbone and the veer, the multiple options for striking for big plays. But as you think about this Red River Rivalry you have to look at the quarterbacks - the offenses have changed so much and the game is played in the air so much now. It is the biggest game for both of these guys, they are representing a long history of quarterbacks who have had to play big in a game of this magnitude. This may sound elementary but it really will come down to the guy who makes the fewest mistakes. That is easier said than done because both of these defenses have great speed and both will come up and hit you and will bring a little WOO with them. That's why these QBs should keep their focus on the consistency of making plays and moving the chains rather than making the big play. There is no question in my mind that this game will have a role in deciding the National Championship. It will let one team know how good they are and the other will find out how far they have to go. Both coaches certainly understand big games and what this game is all about. Usually in a game like this it's that one guy who's heard about this rivalry all his life, who's grown up hoping to play in it one day, the guy you may not expect who will have the game of his life or will make that one play that helps determine the outcome. It will be that moment where someone will be defined as a hero in one of the greatest rivalries in sports. I know I will be on the couch watching just like I used to when I was a kid.

In baseball having a no hitter is special, every pitcher would love to have one and they're hard to come by. In basketball, being a high percentage free throw shooter and making all the clutch free throws and never missing is also special. The football equivalent is when a quarterback throws the ball so well, with such precision, that it rarely hits the ground and never in practice. When you have a quarterback that has that mentality, that composure, and that kind of decision making, it is so valuable. Being able to make throws that only the receiver can get to and completing passes at such a high percentage makes it very tough on a defense. We had that kind of player in Joe Montana. He had that mindset of never letting the ball hit the ground. And he learned it from Bill Walsh. It is an interesting and inspiring mindset. Not only was he able to find ways to beat our defense in practice, he had to make sure his receivers always caught the ball and he inspired all the guys to play to his standard. I write all this to say that we have a guy like that in Chase Daniel. He is trying to create that same standard in Missouri. I have such an appreciation for his point of view of not allowing the ball to hit the ground. When you're that precise and that focused and when you have a quarterback and wide receivers completely in sync it makes it very difficult to defend. There isn't a defensive back on the planet who can stop the perfect play. Let me just say this to the Nebraska defense -- you have your work cut out for you. You have to do everything to get him out of that mindset, to break his will and disrupt his receivers. But when you're as focused and as good as he is that is hard to do. They will have to give the guy a lot of different looks and get pressure on him. You have to get him out of his comfort zone like Ali did to Foreman and what we did with Dan Marino in the Super Bowl. When you've got a guy as good and with the mindset of Chase Daniel needless to say it's easier said than done.

When you're #1, everyone thinks that there's no way you can lose. No one thinks that you can lose the throne. No one believes that there's ever anyone that can beat you. No one ever believes that you're vulnerable. No one but the team that you're playing believes that they have a chance. And yet, you find that every year, all it takes is just a chance to be knocked out of #1. The reason I wanted to talk about it is that last night we saw a team, Oregon State, that had not played well. But we saw them find the moment in their hearts -- the moment within their locker room -- to believe that they could play and beat the #1 team. What does that mean? It means that every team that walks into a locker room should always believe that even though you're playing #1, you still have a chance. There's an opportunity if you truly believe in your heart that you can knock off #1. It's somewhat mystifying to people -- how can one team find that three hours of purpose that galvanizes them to believe that they're the best in the country? Well, it's the same thing when you talk about great players. Some people will say that because one has a great year, that he was a great player. All that means is that he had one great year -- it doesn't mean that he's a great player. And so just because someone says you're number one doesn't mean that you're number one all year. It only means that you're number one for one week. And when people come to realize that that's all it means, then you'll know that in sports each and every day you have to earn it. And as you learn that each and every day you have to earn it, you'll learn that there's nothing guaranteed about being #1. Why do I want everyone to understand this? Because I want everyone to know the feelings of #1, as well as the feelings of coming in knowing you're #1 and playing like you're #1, even though you might not have the ranking. I look forward to spending more time in this journey of finding out who's going to be #1 at the end of the year. To all of us who will be rooting and cheering and looking forward to #1, we better watch out, because we'll never know who will rise up to be #1 in those three hours. Onward, upward... may you enjoy this college weekend.

The college football season starts to take shape this weekend because the SEC is ramping up. Twice I had a chance to play road games against SEC teams - Alabama and LSU - and both experiences told me a lot about college football. It's one thing to be able to play at schools like Notre Dame or against crosstown rival UCLA but it's an entirely different experience when you go to Alabama or LSU or any of the SEC schools. It is a different type of game, different type of atmosphere. For us it was playing in front of a stadium full of red with the legend Bear Bryant standing on the sideline and having a tiger revved up right next to your locker room that had every player scared to death walking out to the field. In the SEC, each and every fan comes with a mission, a purpose and as a believer in their school. Not to take anything away from college football fans around the country, but the SEC is the closest thing to a religion that I've ever experienced. They have a love for the game and a love for the pregame like no other. When we were getting off the bus at LSU the fans were lined up on both sides of the bus with bottles of whiskey in one hand and they started chanting "tiger bait, tiger bait, tiger bait." That's what I mean by love for the pregame. Whether it's LSU or it's playing in Mississippi or against the Auburn Tigers you are always going to be just that - bait. This weekend we'll get a chance to see it all - all the elements of SEC football - LSU-Auburn, Florida-LSU - it's full tilt. SEC football will have a view and a point of view of who will be national champions. As a person and a football fan I assure you whether you are going in as bait or watching it on your couch or sitting in the stands this weekend will be unforgettable. SEC football is what makes college football so great. You hear about these ultimate road trips in sports, I assure you that it is worth it as a fan to feel hated, worth it to take in that religious experience, worth it to everyone to see why everyone loves SEC football. When we went to Alabama in 1978 my teammate Eric Scoggins was the defensive player of the game. We won 24-14 and ended up sharing the national championship with Alabama that year. Scogs was all over the field, making things happen. If you've read the previous blog posts you know that Eric has been diagnosed with ALS and is still making things happen. Only the plays he's making now are helping raise awareness and find a cure for the disease. I invite all of you to to join us in that fight too by participating in our raffle or by reading about Eric's story (http://allstarshelpingkids.org/events/raffle.html). As always we appreciate your support.

When you think about a game like this, USC vs. Ohio State, it's so monumental and the hype is growing you start to think that you need to change the way you prepare. Something inside your stomach gets a little tighter, there are more reporters around you, more cameras around you, more people around you. The atmosphere is different than some of your other games, but somehow you have to create an environment where the players approach every game like it's the big game. They have to treat them all the same as best they can and focus on the little things, because those little things are what decide every game, big or small. The first big game I played in was during my freshman year against UCLA. I was a starter that game and I was thinking about making the big play and forgot about the little things. As a result I made some bone-head plays. One in particular stands out. It was late in the game, we had UCLA down to their last play and my assignment was to cover the tight end. I got caught in the moment, decided to look back in the backfield, lost concentration and thought," I can make a play on the quarterback, I'm not far away I can get there." He threw to the tight end, who was wide open for the score. If it weren't for Frank Jordan our great kicker it would have been the biggest bone-head play in USC history. I thank him every time I see him. But it was a lesson. There are maybe one or two game changing plays that come up in a football game, but you can't force them to come. You have to focus on the little things, follow your assignments and those big moments will present themselves. One thing is for certain, you never want anyone to play hesitant in a big game, because when that big play does come up, that Let's Make A Deal moment, you have to be prepared to make it. My teammate Eric Scoggins has been a big play guy his whole life and he's still making them in his fight against ALS. You are invited to join us in that fight too by participating in our raffle or by reading about Eric's story (http://allstarshelpingkids.org/events/raffle.html). We appreciate your support. Go Trojans!

To all you college football fans who wake up Saturday mornings like I do wondering how the season is going to unfold we got a taste last weekend of what makes the game so special. That's why I'm glued to the TV each week because you don't know that a team like UCLA can play with Tennessee or that a Utah team can show up and do what they did in the Big House. You never really know where greatness is going to come from or who is going to rise up and shine. There are so many new kids coming into programs each year that it makes it a challenge. If the season ended today college football would be centered around two events - Alabama's performance and the show USC put on, but that's just the beginning. I learned when I was at USC that each day you go out there could be your day of greatness. Last year Chase Daniel, the quarterback from Missouri, came out of nowhere to put himself in the middle of the Heisman race. He displayed greatness. There is some kid out there now at the beginning of the season thinking that Heisman Trophy is going to be sitting in my living room. Every college football fan should be encouraged by that, knowing that a great performance or a magical season can come when you least expect it. That's what makes college football so special. As you can tell college football is an important part of my life. Not only did I learn how to be a champion, I met some of my closest friends playing at USC. Eric Scoggins was my roommate, my teammate and now my business partner. He's a big man, played big on the field and helped us win a national championship in 1978. Growing up in Inglewood, CA his dream was to play at USC and in the NFL. He accomplished both. In January 2007, Eric was diagnosed with ALS and while the disease has impacted him physically, it has not slowed his determination. He has established Eric's Vision to help raise awareness and find a cure for ALS. One of the life lessons you learn playing football is that you're always there to support your teammates and I am determined to help my teammate Scogs find that cure. We are hosting a raffle for a 2008 Mercedes CLS 550 and you are all invited to participate. The All Stars Helping Kids link below will give you more information on the raffle and the second link will allow you to learn more about Eric's Vision. - Ronnie http://allstarshelpingkids.org/events/raffle.html http://www.als-mda.org/anyone/May_1.html