01-10-2008, 12:56 PM
I thought I would post what was posted on CI, because I'm sure it will be deleted before anyone could read. It appears the coaches have really screwed the pooch on a great athlete and indivudual. I'm surprised BJ's nose hasn't touched the moon yet. :johnkerry:
JJ's Uncle:
To whom it may concern:
It's too bad the coaches/staff have chosen to take the low road on dealing with JJ's decision to leave CMU. Although disappointing, it is not unexpected. By releasing/leaking select bits of a complex set of circumstances which led to JJ's choice, the staff has chosen to vilify and cast blame on an 18 year old kid and his family. Choosing to portray JJ as selfish and arrogant by claiming he left CMU simply because he didn't get enough balls thrown his way is ridiculous. The same can be said for the insinuation that he somehow was ham fisted at practice, and wasn't a team player.
JJ worked his ass off. First to earn a starting job over a very good Rocky Weaver (who we have nothing but respect for as a great football player). Then to contribute in any way he could to help the team win the 2007 MAC Championship.
If there is any doubt about his effort or desire to be part of the team and not necessarily the star, get out the DVR and take a look at JJ's performance on the field. Look at who is jumping up and down in the end zone with AB or Dan or Ontario, or anybody who just scored. Take a good look at the blocks he made. Look at the catches he made in traffic. The run after the catch against Clemson. The celebrations with his team mates after a victory. And yes the regrettable drop against Western.
It is very difficult to defend ones self or someone else on the Internet. Especially when it's a kid who just wants to play football and get an education facing a smear campaign organized by people hell bent on protecting their reputation at all costs. A kid and family who trusted the words of a grown man and professional football coach.
I doubt any of these words will matter and I hate to even keep this thread alive but I feel obligated to make an attempt at setting the record straight.
JJ had a terrible recruiting experience. The summer of his senior year in high school, he came down with mono and couldn't participate in many of the recruiting camps. To be honest, there wasn't a great deal of interest from larger schools at first because of this. CMU's Brian Kelly looked past the sub par camps and offered JJ a scholarship.
Kelly made a good impression on JJ and he liked the school so he verbally committed. My brother and our family members went on a CMU buying spree. You should see their house decked out in CMU stuff.
As his senior year progressed, more and more programs made offers including a number of BCS schools. Certainly he took a close look at these offers. Wouldn't you? Recruiting trips were made, coaches pitched the advantages of their respective schools, and confusion reigned in the Watt family.
Only JJ knows exactly what he felt at the time but I'm thinking he made a connection at CMU and that is where his heart was all along. He even traveled to CMU on his families dime to hang out with Dan and the other players.
The word that BK was leaving was a blow. JJ and his family were on campus visiting with Brian on Saturday morning. They had heard rumors of him leaving and asked what the situation was. With a straight face, he told them that he had “no plans to leave CMU” and “I'm here for the long haul”. Two hours later he was on a plane for Cincinnati and the rest is history. More confusion in the Watt family.
Time to take a serious look at those other schools. Minnesota called and after a campus visit, JJ decided he could fit in their. He decided to make a commitment to them because of the turmoil at CMU. Things were finally falling into place, NOT! As we all know, the coach was fired after a poor bowl performance. Once again confusion in the Watt family.
The decision was made to regroup and see what the new CMU coach had to say.
BJ contacted JJ and made another pitch for CMU including promises of running two tight end sets, making that position an integral part of his new offense, and receiving passes from one of the best quarterbacks in college football.
That settled any doubts. CMU was the obvious choice. A good school, passionate fans (as witnessed on this board), not too far away from home, a chance to play a position that JJ really wanted (many schools wanted him as a defensive end and told him up-front of their desires), and a coach who wasn't going to bug out. Yippee!
The Watt family went on a CMU buying spree beyond compare! I think all our neighbors were somewhat concerned about our sanity.
The summer training camp finally arrived. We had no idea if JJ would earn a starting spot on a D1 team as a Freshman. It certainly wasn't expected but he did it with hard work, and good hands.
As the first game approached, JJ couldn't wait to play his first college game. Uh-Oh, what the heck is this? After busting his ass and making it as the starting tight end, it looks like the tight end won't be used much in the new offense. His dad urged him to keep working hard and things would surely work out the way the coach had promised during recruiting.
JJ continued working hard, including making almost every catch thrown his way in practice (if you need confirmation please ask any of his team mates). Each new game came with a promise from the coaches to get him more involved and each game went with no change.
Part way through the season the coaches let out that they wanted JJ to play tackle and were planning on moving him there next year. Ding, Ding, Ding, it finally made sense. The coaches never had any intention of keeping JJ as a tight end. They simply made promises to get him on campus so they could move him to a different position.
JJ could have told them to go to hell but he didn't. He continued to bust his butt for his team mates and play with 100% intensity and effort. You'll notice I didn't say for his coaches.
Only JJ knows all the reasons he chose to leave CMU. A person looking to discredit a kid could interpret his desire to be a bigger part of the offense as being selfish. Releasing that reason as the sole motivation for leaving, knowing full well it would make in on these boards, is wrong in many ways!
Funny thing is, JJ would have had no problem doing what ever the team needed, given a good relationship and trust in his coaches.
I know JJ has plans to attend Law School after earning his undergraduate degree so Madison is a perfect fit for his academic plans what with having a great school on campus.
As I have mentioned before, JJ's reasons for leaving are much more complex than just “wanting to catch the ball”. My brother has never denounced the spread offense as a whole. Please read his posts if you think he has. I'm not privy to what he and JJ discussed regarding whether to transfer but I can say that he did his best to keep from influencing JJ's decision. Remember they had financial incentive to have JJ remain at CMU. This decision was what JJ wanted and what was in his best interest overall, not just football.
If you are still reading this, I thank you.
CMU has some great athletes. Losing JJ will not stop the train nor will it cause the rope to be dropped. That will come from blindly following a manipulative, lying coaching staff.
I wish all you fans well and certainly will follow the careers of the athletes I've come to know in our short time here.
Go Chips!
JJ's Dad:
OK, now I have heard enough. Not that I care what most of you think any longer anyways but here goes. It was JJ's decision to leave CMU and his alone for reasons that non of you can or will ever know or understand. Your speculations are far from the truth! It was not an easy decision nor one reached quickly. My wife and I would have loved to have seen JJ stay at CMU. We were and are big backers and always will be. We have spoken with the coaches 2 times this year. Once when every other parent got a call after the ND State game and several times after JJ informed the coaches of his wishes to transfer.
Did we feel JJ could have been better utilized in the offense? You Bet!
Did that influence us to encourage him to transfer? Quite the opposite. He was encouraged to work harder and see what he could accomplish!
He had reached his goal and was the starting TE on a Championship Division 1 football team. He had 12 passes thrown to him the entire year. He would have been a senior and still had 12 passes thrown his way a year. In other words, no matter how hard he worked or how much effort he put in his playing time nor his involvment was going to increase. This is in no way a rip on the coaches or their style of offense. If that is what they choose to run, they have every right to do that. Do I think he could have been a more effective part of the offense? You bet (wouldn't any father?)
JJ was a freshman captain, a deans list student, never missed a practice, meeting or class, does not smoke, drink or do drugs and per the coaches was always a role model for his teammates. If you want to rip on that. I can live with that!
Thank you for all of your support! My wife and I are very proud of JJ but all of us were feeling pretty down about his decision to leave CMU. After reading this thread I'm feeling better about that decision.
To those we met over the course of the year, we will miss you. It was a lot of fun.
JJ's Uncle:
To whom it may concern:
It's too bad the coaches/staff have chosen to take the low road on dealing with JJ's decision to leave CMU. Although disappointing, it is not unexpected. By releasing/leaking select bits of a complex set of circumstances which led to JJ's choice, the staff has chosen to vilify and cast blame on an 18 year old kid and his family. Choosing to portray JJ as selfish and arrogant by claiming he left CMU simply because he didn't get enough balls thrown his way is ridiculous. The same can be said for the insinuation that he somehow was ham fisted at practice, and wasn't a team player.
JJ worked his ass off. First to earn a starting job over a very good Rocky Weaver (who we have nothing but respect for as a great football player). Then to contribute in any way he could to help the team win the 2007 MAC Championship.
If there is any doubt about his effort or desire to be part of the team and not necessarily the star, get out the DVR and take a look at JJ's performance on the field. Look at who is jumping up and down in the end zone with AB or Dan or Ontario, or anybody who just scored. Take a good look at the blocks he made. Look at the catches he made in traffic. The run after the catch against Clemson. The celebrations with his team mates after a victory. And yes the regrettable drop against Western.
It is very difficult to defend ones self or someone else on the Internet. Especially when it's a kid who just wants to play football and get an education facing a smear campaign organized by people hell bent on protecting their reputation at all costs. A kid and family who trusted the words of a grown man and professional football coach.
I doubt any of these words will matter and I hate to even keep this thread alive but I feel obligated to make an attempt at setting the record straight.
JJ had a terrible recruiting experience. The summer of his senior year in high school, he came down with mono and couldn't participate in many of the recruiting camps. To be honest, there wasn't a great deal of interest from larger schools at first because of this. CMU's Brian Kelly looked past the sub par camps and offered JJ a scholarship.
Kelly made a good impression on JJ and he liked the school so he verbally committed. My brother and our family members went on a CMU buying spree. You should see their house decked out in CMU stuff.
As his senior year progressed, more and more programs made offers including a number of BCS schools. Certainly he took a close look at these offers. Wouldn't you? Recruiting trips were made, coaches pitched the advantages of their respective schools, and confusion reigned in the Watt family.
Only JJ knows exactly what he felt at the time but I'm thinking he made a connection at CMU and that is where his heart was all along. He even traveled to CMU on his families dime to hang out with Dan and the other players.
The word that BK was leaving was a blow. JJ and his family were on campus visiting with Brian on Saturday morning. They had heard rumors of him leaving and asked what the situation was. With a straight face, he told them that he had “no plans to leave CMU” and “I'm here for the long haul”. Two hours later he was on a plane for Cincinnati and the rest is history. More confusion in the Watt family.
Time to take a serious look at those other schools. Minnesota called and after a campus visit, JJ decided he could fit in their. He decided to make a commitment to them because of the turmoil at CMU. Things were finally falling into place, NOT! As we all know, the coach was fired after a poor bowl performance. Once again confusion in the Watt family.
The decision was made to regroup and see what the new CMU coach had to say.
BJ contacted JJ and made another pitch for CMU including promises of running two tight end sets, making that position an integral part of his new offense, and receiving passes from one of the best quarterbacks in college football.
That settled any doubts. CMU was the obvious choice. A good school, passionate fans (as witnessed on this board), not too far away from home, a chance to play a position that JJ really wanted (many schools wanted him as a defensive end and told him up-front of their desires), and a coach who wasn't going to bug out. Yippee!
The Watt family went on a CMU buying spree beyond compare! I think all our neighbors were somewhat concerned about our sanity.
The summer training camp finally arrived. We had no idea if JJ would earn a starting spot on a D1 team as a Freshman. It certainly wasn't expected but he did it with hard work, and good hands.
As the first game approached, JJ couldn't wait to play his first college game. Uh-Oh, what the heck is this? After busting his ass and making it as the starting tight end, it looks like the tight end won't be used much in the new offense. His dad urged him to keep working hard and things would surely work out the way the coach had promised during recruiting.
JJ continued working hard, including making almost every catch thrown his way in practice (if you need confirmation please ask any of his team mates). Each new game came with a promise from the coaches to get him more involved and each game went with no change.
Part way through the season the coaches let out that they wanted JJ to play tackle and were planning on moving him there next year. Ding, Ding, Ding, it finally made sense. The coaches never had any intention of keeping JJ as a tight end. They simply made promises to get him on campus so they could move him to a different position.
JJ could have told them to go to hell but he didn't. He continued to bust his butt for his team mates and play with 100% intensity and effort. You'll notice I didn't say for his coaches.
Only JJ knows all the reasons he chose to leave CMU. A person looking to discredit a kid could interpret his desire to be a bigger part of the offense as being selfish. Releasing that reason as the sole motivation for leaving, knowing full well it would make in on these boards, is wrong in many ways!
Funny thing is, JJ would have had no problem doing what ever the team needed, given a good relationship and trust in his coaches.
I know JJ has plans to attend Law School after earning his undergraduate degree so Madison is a perfect fit for his academic plans what with having a great school on campus.
As I have mentioned before, JJ's reasons for leaving are much more complex than just “wanting to catch the ball”. My brother has never denounced the spread offense as a whole. Please read his posts if you think he has. I'm not privy to what he and JJ discussed regarding whether to transfer but I can say that he did his best to keep from influencing JJ's decision. Remember they had financial incentive to have JJ remain at CMU. This decision was what JJ wanted and what was in his best interest overall, not just football.
If you are still reading this, I thank you.
CMU has some great athletes. Losing JJ will not stop the train nor will it cause the rope to be dropped. That will come from blindly following a manipulative, lying coaching staff.
I wish all you fans well and certainly will follow the careers of the athletes I've come to know in our short time here.
Go Chips!
JJ's Dad:
OK, now I have heard enough. Not that I care what most of you think any longer anyways but here goes. It was JJ's decision to leave CMU and his alone for reasons that non of you can or will ever know or understand. Your speculations are far from the truth! It was not an easy decision nor one reached quickly. My wife and I would have loved to have seen JJ stay at CMU. We were and are big backers and always will be. We have spoken with the coaches 2 times this year. Once when every other parent got a call after the ND State game and several times after JJ informed the coaches of his wishes to transfer.
Did we feel JJ could have been better utilized in the offense? You Bet!
Did that influence us to encourage him to transfer? Quite the opposite. He was encouraged to work harder and see what he could accomplish!
He had reached his goal and was the starting TE on a Championship Division 1 football team. He had 12 passes thrown to him the entire year. He would have been a senior and still had 12 passes thrown his way a year. In other words, no matter how hard he worked or how much effort he put in his playing time nor his involvment was going to increase. This is in no way a rip on the coaches or their style of offense. If that is what they choose to run, they have every right to do that. Do I think he could have been a more effective part of the offense? You bet (wouldn't any father?)
JJ was a freshman captain, a deans list student, never missed a practice, meeting or class, does not smoke, drink or do drugs and per the coaches was always a role model for his teammates. If you want to rip on that. I can live with that!
Thank you for all of your support! My wife and I are very proud of JJ but all of us were feeling pretty down about his decision to leave CMU. After reading this thread I'm feeling better about that decision.
To those we met over the course of the year, we will miss you. It was a lot of fun.