Adonis Alexander announced he will enter the NFL Supplemental Draft after he was ruled academically ineligible. NFL.com reporter Tom Pelissero spoke to the former Hokie cornerback and it's an insightful interview. Alexander is blunt about his maturity issues. And I'm left wondering how his grades were left to get so out of whack given the amount of academic resources the football program provides. In any event, I hope he gets it together and doesn't squander an opportunity. Talent isn't the issue.
"I can honestly say the past year, maturity has been my biggest thing," Alexander told me by phone. "I have been improving on discipline. Discipline is a big thing for me now, because nothing can really be done without discipline. And I understand that now."
Alexander says the academic issues date to his freshman year, when he had some instant success on the field, got "really big-headed" and stopped paying proper attention to classes. He withdrew from three classes that year to avoid failing them, Alexander says, and eventually landed on academic probation, meaning he had to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or better while taking 16 or 17 credit hours some semesters to stay on track for his degree.
"I thought I was untouchable, doing stuff I wasn't supposed to do," Alexander told me, "but as I got older, I realized the other opportunity that I was messing up. Back then, I was probably a more in-the-moment guy. I didn't really look ahead. But I can honestly say as I mature, I begin to think about my future before I make a decision."
Comments
Resources are great to help, but ultimately you are in charge of your own actions. Taking advantage of the resources made available to you is an important part of learning, and I hope Adonis has realized that. I respect the amount of self-reflection in this interview, an I hope he learns from it.
Good for him!! We all make mistakes but, don't always learn from them and he seems genuinely humbled. I wish him nothing but the best and hopefully he can succeed on the field in the NFL and come back to get his degree
I just wish he'd figured it out a little sooner.
I am guessing this is one of those instances where it snowballed to a point where it just got down to math.
(Amount of Eligibility Left) - (How much time it would take to improve grades) = NFL Supplemental Draft
Actions speak louder than words. At this point, I cannot believe his comments to mean much beyond self-promotion. I'm also a little unimpressed with his decision to thank the football staff via text. That being said, I'm still rooting for the guy to succeed.
I too did not take my first attempt in college seriously, and lasted only 3 semesters. After working a couple of years and earning low wages, I knew I had to get my act together and right the ship. Juggling two part-time jobs with my community college coursework wasn't always easy, but I managed to pull grades good enough to be accepted back into a 4 year university, and had my degree in hand by the time I was 26.
I know first-hand that some people aren't prepared or willing to commit themselves to what is required to succeed academically when they're at that age, but I also know that for some, it just takes a little extra time to mature. Prove the haters wrong, AA.
All millenials do is text, facespace and instasnap. It's science
You and I had much the same experience. I made it only three semesters my first try as well, but my grades the first two were what sunk my boat, it just snowballed. Unfortunately, losing my deferment during the draft years was even dumber than just not playing school hard enough. A couple of years with our Uncle Sam kicked me in the pants and when I got back to VT, I was ready to do enough to stay there. Got graduated at 25, only two and a half years late, but sometimes it just takes some of us a bit longer to figure out how to proceed than others. Life at VT went on without me, and my life went on for a while without college, but I'm sure glad I got another chance.
The honesty is good. I'm afraid this might turn NFL scouts away as well. Definitely would like to see him play again.
This won't turn them away. Their concern is more about on field performance. A college kid not taking class serious when he got there is nothing compared to the maturity and discipline issues they deal with.
I disagree. It's shows a pattern of not putting the work in to succeed. Take that and apply it to film study, playbook, and the weight room and you can see why an organization would be hesitant on pulling the trigger on him. He has raw athleticism, which will keep some doors open to him but some GM's and coaches will pass just based on that alone.
When you combine that with previous suspensions, it limits how much upside they may see in him as far as burning a draft pick. I guess it all really hinges on how they projected him as a 2019 draft pick and how they would have rated him if he came out in the latest draft.
This is pretty much been my take on NFL success. There's just not a lot of NFL players who weren't hard workers in college. If you can't handle the workload shock between high school and college (both on/off field), there's not much hope for NFL success, where the shock is even greater.
If he really did get behind the curve as a freshman it can be really hard to catch up before academic probation runs out, even if you are back on track getting decent grades. Obviously football players get the perks of tutors and academic advisors, and coaches holding them accountable... but sometimes its just a really tough hole to climb out of.
Hopefully he can catch on with an NFL team and finish up his degree in the future.
The truth is somewhere in the middle here. It'll definitely hurt him with some teams, but other teams maybe not so much. But I doubt a team will give up more than a 2019 6th or 7th round pick for him. He'll get a somewhat clean slate, but with so little invested in him, he'll be on a really short leash.
If Marshall or ECU fielded a pro team, he'd be set.
Or UNC...
I know this is the ultimate hindsight, and I wish the young man well, but VT should have parted ways with him when he cussed out Torrian Gray. He was always a ticking time bomb in terms of being in/out of the dog house, etc. I hope he plays 20 years in the NFL and makes a billion dollars, but VT gave him more than enough chances.
If you know Torrian Gray, you would give him a benefit of a doubt. That guy has no control over his emotions, what-so-ever.
Ultimately, of course, it's the student who is responsible for staying on track, but doesn't VT have academic people keeping an eye on things like class attendance and performance and nipping issues in the bud?
my sauce says they knew about the problem and, at every stage, put together a plan for him to get back on track. He repeatedly chose not to follow the plans and in the end he would have had to do an insane amount of work to get back on track and decided it wasn't worth it.
Props to Mook. I heard he was in a similarly dire situation, but has been working his ass off academically to stay eligible and it looks like he's on track to do so.
It's good they were aware and created plans, but why not sit him the first time he chose not to follow the plans instead of letting it build?