By Michael Rushton
So, National Signing Day has come and gone. Penn State had its heart broken, Rutgers is attempting to keep its seat as the darlings of college football, and USC is already in hot water.
But did you know an urban school in Philadelphia also has a football team?
No, Temple University did not disband its team, nor did they drop into the ranks of Division I-AA. In fact, according to Scout.com, the Owls had the best recruiting class in the Mid-American Conference, a conference they are set to join in the 2007 season.
Scout.com ranked Temple as an independent this season and placed them 75th-overall in the nation. Akron was the highest ranked MAC school, coming in at number 76.
Temple nabbed cornerback Daryl Robinson out of Northeast Catholic High School, the 21st-rated corner in the nation. Scout.com had him as a four-star prospect. The Owls also secured a set of three-star running backs, one a junior college transfer all the way from Sacramento.
It wasn’t all good since the school failed to get Harrisburg quarterback Nate Brown to come to Philadelphia. Brown instead picked Bowling Green.
Is any of this interesting you? Didn’t think so.
The Owls are a very, very long way from making an impact in the football lives of Philadelphia natives. As a graduate of Temple, I can tell you attending an Owls football game was one of the many things I didn’t do in college, being a working community college transfer that didn‘t live on campus.
It is probably also the only one thing I don’t regret not doing.
But maybe this recruiting class is a step in the right direction. Perhaps the Owls can make an impact in the MAC and peek the interest of some local prep stars. Mind you,, it would be the ones who aren’t good enough to play at Penn State, Ohio State and West Virginia.
There was talk when the Big East gave Temple the boot that the school should just get rid of its football program all together. It’s not fair to the players they all said.
But ask the students who get to continue their football dream, if only for a couple more years, if they want the team abolished. Ask the students who get to carry the prestige of being a “Big Man on Campus” if they want to stop strapping on the pads. And ask the players if they want to stop stepping onto the field of the Linc, the same field that the Philadelphia Eagles bleed and sweat on.
Odds are, Temple will never be a feared football program. But I’ll settle for a MAC title.
You can ask Michael Rushton why he never attended an Owls’ football game at mrushton@phanticmac.com.
1 comment:
I'm a West Virginia grad who has lived in Philly for 8 years now. It's been a little tough at times, but I've come to admire and respect a lot of the local college teams we have here in Philly.
I would absolutely love to see Temple become more than the team and school they are today. I think that leaving (or being pushed out of) the Big East was the best thing, in the long run, for Temple. With MAC membership Temple will have a much better chance to compete. What Temple needs is some winning, and the best way for that to happen is to start beating up on some schools like MAC schools. Temple was never going to be able to be in the upper half of the Big East, old or new. Now with MAC membership there is a chance to have a winning season, and maybe even a bowl game. Philly at large will start noticing Temple football the way it noticed that St. Josephs basketball run a few years ago. Win and they will come.
I wish the Temple program the best of luck this upcoming season, and who knows - maybe with a little luck and some breaks here and there, there will be a nice crowd to follow it through till the end.
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