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Sam Ehlinger

wild_turkey

By wild_turkey
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jinx

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On 3/11/2019 at 12:09 PM, Huckleberry said:

Who gives a shit?

If football had never been invented would there be a market for Tom Brady jerseys? How does that matter at all when it comes to Brady's right to profit from those sales?

And those of you arguing that players don't create value are incredibly stupid. If Texas and SMU swapped players over the last 25 years, what do you think the change in Texas brand value would be?

The years between 2009 and 2018 would probably have little effect

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Machinator

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From the Athletic:

(Stewart Mandel) Sam Ehlinger takes pride in earning status as face of Texas football

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas coach Tom Herman calls Sam Ehlinger “Mister Austin.” He first got a taste of the homegrown quarterback’s local stardom during their first spring together two years ago, when UT celebrity fan Matthew McConaughey paid a visit to the quarterbacks’ meeting room.

Upon seeing Ehlinger, McConaughey said, “Hey, I know you,” recalled Herman. “And he goes, ‘Do well,’ or something like that. And then, ‘Oh, Lance (Armstrong) said to say hello.’ ”

“Who is this guy?!” Herman thought to himself.

Ehlinger, as he soon found out, is a mature and charismatic leader seemingly destined to become the savior quarterback for his childhood team. After a rocky freshman season in 2017 spent splitting time with Shane Buechele (now at SMU), the former Austin Westlake standout not only seized control of the job as a sophomore but quietly established himself as one of the nation’s top dual-threat QBs. In leading the Longhorns to their first 10-win season in nearly a decade, Ehlinger threw for 3,296 yards, 25 touchdowns and five interceptions, while rushing for an additional 16 TDs.

“Because we were rebuilding, because he had a pretty average freshman year by his and our standards, people don’t realize how well Ehlinger performed,” said Herman. “Statistically, that’s an unbelievable season.”

Herman can recite one particular stat by heart. Ehlinger became just the sixth Power 5 quarterback to both throw for at least 25 touchdowns and run for at least 15. The other five — Tim Tebow (2007), Cam Newton (2010), Johnny Manziel (2012), Marcus Mariota (2014) and Lamar Jackson (2016 and ’17) — all won the Heisman Trophy.

Ehlinger’s physical running style helped offset Texas’ still-limited backfield, while his Big 12-record 308 consecutive passes without an interception helped guide the Horns to six one-score victories during the regular season. His completion percentage jumped from 57.5 as a freshman to 64.7 as a sophomore.

“College football is a lot different than high school, and when you’re kind of thrown into the fire, it’s a really tough situation,” said Ehlinger. “A better understanding of the game and the speed of the game, and knowing what to expect from opposing teams, really helped me in my sophomore year develop into more of who I am as a quarterback.”

And so, this spring, Mr. Austin is fully embracing his newfound status as the face of the program, whether commanding his teammates in practice or needling Texas A&M on Twitter. He’ll surely draw the biggest cheers at Saturday night’s Texas spring game.

As a sixth-grader, Ehlinger attended former Horns star and childhood hero Colt McCoy’s youth camp in Austin. Eight years later, McCoy stopped by a recent Texas practice to watch and admire the Horns’ first true star quarterback since … well, himself.

“It’s cool to see him grow up. It makes me feel old,” said McCoy, now an NFL veteran. “The thing I love the most about watching him from afar is he has an ability to fire them up. He just plays with that intensity, where he’ll run somebody over, then throw for a touchdown.”

The hallways in Texas’ football offices are already lined with framed pictures of the Longhorns’ Sugar Bowl upset of then-No. 5 Georgia. That 28-21 victory, coming on the heels of a Big 12 championship game appearance, was a cathartic moment for a fan base that’s suffered through a decade of unexpected mediocrity. But Ehlinger’s season-long ascension was arguably even more significant.

In the eight seasons following McCoy’s heartbreaking injury in the Horns’ 2009 national title game defeat against Alabama, the quarterback position at Texas become a national punchline. Its fans suffered through not just the struggles of Garrett Gilbert, Case McCoy and Tyrone Swoopes, but the indignity of watching a string of Mack Brown’s passed-over recruits (Andrew Luck, Manziel, J.T. Barrett) and homegrown exports (Nick Foles, Baker Mayfield) excel elsewhere.

Ehlinger finally broke the drought and became the source of pride Texas has so desperately craved. But it’s that much more special that the guy who did it spent his childhood Saturdays in the stands at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. He committed to play for former coach Charlie Strong more than two years before his first college game.

“The only people who know about the pressures of playing at UT are the guys who’ve done it before,” said McCoy. “What he had to deal with that I didn’t have is he’s the hometown hero. He played at the local high school, now he’s playing at the big-time college. The expectations for him are crazy.”

One week into last season, there were understandable doubts whether Ehlinger would ever meet them. McCoy watched from a suite at Washington’s FedEx Field as Texas suffered its second consecutive season-opening defeat to Maryland, 34-29. Ehlinger went just 21-for-39 and threw two late interceptions.

“A lot of people, I’m sure, could have watched that game and said, ‘Oh, this is the same Sam, same Texas, same everything. What’s changed?’ ” said Herman. “And I think in years past, even the locker room might have turned on something like that. But they believed in him, we believed in him. You saw him get better.”

Ehlinger says he found his groove starting in Week 4 with a 31-16 win against TCU in which he sealed the game on a 38-yard touchdown pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Herman said the quarterback, who initially looked to take off and run, likely would not have attempted the third-down throw as a freshman.

Two weeks later, Ehlinger had his true breakout performance: 24 of 35 for 314 yards and two TDs passing plus 19 rushes for 72 yards and three scores in the Horns’ 48-45 Red River upset of No. 7 Oklahoma. The Sooners got revenge in the Big 12 title game — with OU’s fourth-quarter sack of Ehlinger for a safety one of the turning points — but the quarterback ended the season rushing for three touchdowns and running away from Georgia.

“It was a huge momentum swing for our program, knowing that we can compete and beat the best teams in the country,” Ehlinger said of the Sugar Bowl triumph.

While Herman may be the $5 million-a-year coach charged with restoring Texas to glory, Ehlinger is the unquestioned leader in the locker room carrying out the coaches’ message.

“Sam’s a guy you want to listen to,” said senior receiver Collin Johnson. “He’s carried himself like a senior for the last two years. It’s just the way he’s wired. He kind of has that alpha male-like mentality.”

That swagger is also starting to show itself on social media. Last month, he went on a bit of a tweet storm in voicing his support for a proposal by North Carolina congressman Mark Walker to allow college athletes to be compensated for use of their name, image and likeness. In wading into the ever-polarizing pay-for-play debate, Ehlinger garnered no shortage of backlash for describing college athletics as a “full-time unpaid internship.”

Ehlinger says he was simply reacting to an article with no real agenda, but he does realize his message gets amplified thanks to his platform.

“I’m always going to voice my opinion,” he said. “I think that people take it into stronger consideration just because my platform has grown. But I’m not one to say, OK, now I have this platform and now I’m going to use the voice. I will always voice my opinion.”

As for the backlash: “I don’t really necessarily look at responses on Twitter. I don’t really care what homeboy with six followers has to say.”

Twitter was not yet a thing back when Ehlinger was watching Vince Young in the Rose Bowl and dreaming of one day following in his footsteps. But nearly everything else about 2019 — wearing the burnt orange jersey, representing Texas, playing at DKR and, of course, winning games — is exactly what he envisioned he’d one day be doing as a Longhorn quarterback.

“I don’t think I’ll ever capture the fact that I’m living my (childhood) dream,” said Ehlinger. “… I think it’ll be a couple years down the road before I look back and be like, wow, that was really cool. But obviously, we still have a lot to prove, and a lot to do here. So I’m not content yet.”

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TexEx15

TexEx15 17574

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14 minutes ago, Machinator said:

As for the backlash: “I don’t really necessarily look at responses on Twitter. I don’t really care what homeboy with six followers has to say.”

This is the kind of swagger that Texas needs from its QB!

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SydneyCarton

SydneyCarton 48222

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12 hours ago, markstanco said:

Fields and hurts seems like a reach st those odds.

Vegas should put mond at 2:1 for the retards.

If they wanted the retards to throw away money, they'd give Mond longer odds, not shorter. Because he's a lock in their eyes. 

Edited by SydneyCarton
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Zavala

Zavala 1384

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23 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

Ehlinger garnered no shortage of backlash for describing college athletics as a “full-time unpaid internship.”

 

“I don’t think I’ll ever capture the fact that I’m living my (childhood) dream,” said Ehlinger. “

 

I love me some Sam Ehlinger, but these two thoughts don’t mesh. 

*Wins over the locker room even more*

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Zavala

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29 minutes ago, Snacks said:
3 hours ago, Zavala said:
*Wins over the locker room even more*

Fan base, sure... Locker room doesn't care as much...

Players aren't trying to get paid to play ball in college? You sure?

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gmr548

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I don't think Sam is even a Heisman finalist type player next year, but the idea that Jake Fucking Fromm is on same plane is laughable. I know, Vegas odds aren't rankings, but fuck that noise on principal.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

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Walden Ponderer

Walden Ponderer 12639

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8 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

I don't think Sam is even a Heisman finalist type player next year...

I dunno, man. I wouldn't put money on it, but I wouldn't bet against it, either. He's likely to have a few fewer rushing TDs this year simply because the running game ought to be a little more balanced, with Ingram and Whittington getting a heavier load of carries than the RBs got last year, but he's also likely to get more passing TDs, too. Add in more wins (hopefully) and the ingredients are all there for a "surprise" run at the hardware.

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Tex Long

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We're baaaaaaack!

Heard it mentioned by a person known to suffer from aginess (might be agioma?) as evidence of typical tu bullshit.

All well and good, but it has occurred to me that it seems like that might be, just possibly, something that was orchestrated by MensaTom.

I'm not the only one thinking that... am I?

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Machinator

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2 minutes ago, Tex Long said:

Heard it mentioned by a person known to suffer from aginess (might be agioma?) as evidence of typical tu bullshit.

All well and good, but it has occurred to me that it seems like that might be, just possibly, something that was orchestrated by MensaTom.

I'm not the only one thinking that... am I?

Tom seemed pretty annoyed when Sam said that on the microphone.

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