Tag: Cadillac Williams

Tommy Tuberville details how Ronnie Brown, Carnell Williams flipped Tennessee commitments to Auburn

Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville detailed how the Tigers flipped both Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams from Tennessee commits.

(This post was originally published on Vols Wire.)

A pair of Auburn football legends, Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams, left their mark on the Tigers’ program from 2000-04.

The running back duo finished their Auburn careers with an undefeated 2004 season and winning the Southeastern Conference championship.

Brown and Williams chose to play for Auburn after flipping their commitments from Tennessee.

Tennessee and Phillip Fulmer recruited Brown to play linebacker. After Brown committed to the Vols, then-Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville recruited him for a chance to play running back.

“Ronnie Brown had committed to Tennessee,” Tuberville said on the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days.” “They wanted him as a linebacker. We went and recruited him as a running back and got Ronnie and Carnell, so we were able to snag a couple away from Phillip, and made us a much better football team.”

Brown committed to Auburn and was part of the Tigers’ 2000 signing class. He redshirted during the 2000 season.

Williams followed suit in 2001 and was a tough task for Tuberville to flip the Etowah High School (Alabama) running back away from Tennessee.

“It was a battle, no doubt about it,” Tuberville said of Williams’ recruitment. “We were his last visit the week before signing day. We were just trying to hold on to the visit, much less get him to sign.”

Williams was committed to Tennessee, but always kept Alabama and Auburn in his top three schools. The Crimson Tide had a head coaching change from Mike DuBose to Dennis Franchione following the 2000 season, narrowing Williams’ choice to Tennessee and Auburn at the end.

“They had just changed at Alabama, which helped both with me and Phillip,” Tuberville said. “Eddie Gran, our running backs coach, had been recruiting him. Eddie is a great recruiter, good coach, and built a good relationship with him. Unfortunately, before he comes to us, Carnell commits to Phillip Fulmer on his visit and called me and Eddie Gran, and said ‘I am not taking my visit; I am going to Tennessee’.

“We just begged him to come — finally I said ‘Carnell, at least let me come see you and visit with you’. He said ‘OK, Coach, I’ll see you Monday afternoon, after school.’ I took every coach with me — boys we are loading up. We flew up to where Carnell was at, and I took every coach. I actually took a picture of Bo Jackson and put Carnell’s face on Bo’s picture holding the Heisman Trophy. I think with all of the attention that we gave him and his Mom, that we earned that visit that weekend. They all came, and, fortunately, he flipped and came to our place.”

On Feb. 7, 2001, Williams signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Auburn and Tuberville.

Brown was the No. 2 pick in the 2005 NFL draft, while Williams went No. 5 overall. Brown rushed for 2,735 yards and 28 touchdowns. Williams totaled 3,831 rushing yards and 45 touchdowns during his career at Auburn.

Frank Gore had to overcome 2 ACL tears before becoming the model for NFL longevity

Frank Gore had multiple ACL injuries in college and was defined by them early in his career and is proving critics wrong by still playing.

There comes a time when every athlete has to call it quits, but that day has yet to arrive for Frank Gore.

The soon to be 37-year-old is entering his 16th NFL season after signing with the Jets, which will tie him for the most seasons played by a running back along with Marcus Allen. Gore is third on the all-time rushing list with 15,347 yards, a five-time Pro Bowler and has made it to the Super Bowl. Simply put, there have been few running backs as accomplished as him.

And yet, there was plenty of doubt Gore could make it in the pros, let alone defy Father Time at one of the NFL’s most bruising positions.

Gore suffered two different ACL injuries to his left knee while at the University of Miami. The first one came in March 2002 in one of the Hurricanes’ spring practices. That led to Willis McGahee becoming the starting running back for Miami that season, despite Gore beating him out for the job. The next tear came in October 2003 in a game against West Virginia.

Gore came back for his junior season, however, and put together the best year of his career. He led the team in carries (197), rushing yards (945) and rushing touchdowns (10). That was all Gore needed to put his name in the 2005 NFL Draft.

General managers had their concerns over Gore’s injury history, though. It didn’t help that his 40-yard dash time was a less-than-ideal 4.66 seconds and his weight was a tad high at 208 pounds. Gore also scored a six on the 50-question Wonderlic intelligence test, too, which led some to believe that he wasn’t smart enough to play in the NFL.

That combination had some teams looking the other way on Gore. Five running backs were picked ahead of him by the time he was picked 65th overall by the 49ers. That included Ronnie Brown, Cedric Benson, Cadillac Williams, J.J. Arrington and Eric Shelton.

“Me going through all the injuries, and then when I get to the league just hearing all the negative stuff, I set my goals and said I’ll never let a man judge me,” Gore told NFL.com. “The only man I’ll let judge me is that man up above. But I was determined to be the best in my class.”

Not only is Gore the best running back in his class, but he’s lasted longer than any of them on is way to becoming one of the best backs of all-time. Even after NFL GMs didn’t think his knees would hold up and even after he had major surgery on both his shoulders after his rookie season, Gore continued to work. Let’s not forget about the fractured hip he suffered in 2010 or the ankle injuries that he’s dealt with or the broken foot he suffered while with the Dolphins. He’s proved everyone wrong and is still playing productive football.

When Gore’s career is all done, his next stop will be Canton. When it comes to time to make his speech, he should take a minute to acknowledge all the teams that passed on him.