Football: A decade of silence for UNT

Harry · April 30, 2015

Published: 29 April 2015 11:34 PM

The names that rolled across the television screen were intriguing to Cody Spencer for the first day of the 2004 NFL draft.

Spencer had just wrapped up a standout career at North Texas and was pretty sure he would get a shot to play in the NFL after helping lead the Mean Green to three straight bowl games.

What started out as anticipation quickly turned into a bitter wait for the former UNT linebacker, who eventually left the television behind, grabbed his phone and headed out the door with his brother Jeremy Sanders.

“We decided to go fishing. While we were out I got a call from Al Davis, who was calling to tell me they had drafted me,” Spencer said of the Oakland Raiders’ late owner. “I didn’t know what to say or what to think. You don’t know where you are going or if you will get drafted.”

Receiving that call while floating around in the Gulf of Mexico near Port O’Connor was a relief for Spencer, who went on to have a productive five-year NFL career.

The question now is when the wait will end for UNT’s program as the 11th draft since Spencer was selected gets under way tonight at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago.

A total of 2,545 players have been selected from everywhere from Abilene Christian to Yale in 10 NFL drafts since Spencer was taken in the sixth round with the 182nd overall pick in 2004.

UNT hasn’t had a single player among them.

read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-headlines/20150429-football-a-decade-of-silence-for-unt.ece

DallasGreen · April 30, 2015

This board is about G5 college football. Who cares about what a group of billionaire robber barons like Jerry Jones throwing their fortunes to kids living a dream but delaying a start in the real world only to be fleeced by agents and other schisters ? This while jousting for the elite in mega palace stadiums only to risk life and limb for the enjoyment and entertainment of those who will quickly kick them to the curb when they no longer are fit to be their toys? For me and this farce fed constantly to the public needing a pro "fix", I say to hell with pro sports. I choose to spend my money on this level of football and players who don't compete just for the almighty dollar with allegiance to no one nor any team.

oldguystudent · April 30, 2015

This board is about G5 college football. Who cares about what a group of billionaire robber barons like Jerry Jones throwing their fortunes to kids living a dream but delaying a start in the real world only to be fleeced by agents and other schisters ? This while jousting for the elite in mega palace stadiums only to risk life and limb for the enjoyment and entertainment of those who will quickly kick them to the curb when they no longer are fit to be their toys? For me and this farce fed constantly to the public needing a pro "fix", I say to hell with pro sports. I choose to spend my money on this level of football and players who don't compete just for the almighty dollar with allegiance to no one nor any team.

I....I don't know what to say. I agree with you 100%. I can find not a single fault with what you've just written.

meangreendork · April 30, 2015

This board is about G5 college football. Who cares about what a group of billionaire robber barons like Jerry Jones throwing their fortunes to kids living a dream but delaying a start in the real world only to be fleeced by agents and other schisters ? This while jousting for the elite in mega palace stadiums only to risk life and limb for the enjoyment and entertainment of those who will quickly kick them to the curb when they no longer are fit to be their toys? For me and this farce fed constantly to the public needing a pro "fix", I say to hell with pro sports. I choose to spend my money on this level of football and players who don't compete just for the almighty dollar with allegiance to no one nor any team.

More power to guys that make it pro, but the NFL just isn't for me. Too hard to get into the stadium, too hard to get hyped for teams I don't have allegiance to.

oldguystudent · April 30, 2015

More power to guys that make it pro, but the NFL just isn't for me. Too hard to get into the stadium, too hard to get hyped for teams I don't have allegiance to.

I stopped regularly watching the NFL in 1994 when I left the country for a few years. I came back with a bride in hand who wanted nothing to do with sports on the television, so that was another 12ish years with no sports. Then I was in grad school making fifty cents a month, and couldn't afford TV.

Last year, I finally sat down and tried to watch an NFL game. I couldn't. I found it to be an unwatchable hodge podge of cartoon robots on steroids, trophy breast implants with aluminum bottles of Coors light in the stands, twenty minutes of pickup truck commercials for every one snap of the ball, thunder bolts and lightning WWE mayhem in the stadium, some old dude continually covering up the screen with a yellow magic marker, and mysterious footage of fighter jets doing flybys over a dome.

I'm sure somewhere in there was a football game, but I couldn't find it. I imagined the $1,500 tickets and the $90 pizza slices. Then I wondered how all my neighbors are able to drink a case a beer per person on a Sunday and go to work functioning on Monday.

I turned the television off and drug the kid to the laundromat for linens day. That was more exciting to me.

Edited April 30, 2015 by oldguystudent

greenminer · April 30, 2015

I stopped regularly watching the NFL in 1994 when I left the country for a few years. I came back with a bride in hand who wanted nothing to do with sports on the television, so that was another 12ish years with no sports. Then I was in grad school making fifty cents a month, and couldn't afford TV.

Last year, I finally sat down and tried to watch an NFL game. I couldn't. I found it to be an unwatchable hodge podge of cartoon robots on steroids, trophy breast implants with aluminum bottles of Coors light in the stands, twenty minutes of pickup truck commercials for every one snap of the ball, thunder bolts and lightning WWE mayhem in the stadium, some old dude continually covering up the screen with a yellow magic marker, and mysterious footage of fighter jets doing flybys over a dome.

I'm sure somewhere in there was a football game, but I couldn't find it. I imagined the $1,500 tickets and the $90 pizza slices. Then I wondered how all my neighbors are able to drink a case a beer per person on a Sunday and go to work functioning on Monday.

I turned the television off and drug the kid to the laundromat for linens day. That was more exciting to me.

Man, have I got a sport for you!

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Edited April 30, 2015 by greenminer

Ben Gooding · April 30, 2015

The NFL is indeed almost unbearable to watch. I'll flip on a cowboy game from time to time, but that's about it. There's no real passion, there's no real sense of team and there is sure as hell no loyalty. I don't get it.

Mean Green 93-98 · April 30, 2015

So what will be different about college football if the NCAA goes to a "pay-to-play" model?

NorthTexan95 · April 30, 2015

I'd like to personally "thank" Vito for banging home the point three times this week about the lack of NFL draft picks coming though North Texas. It's really a non-story but he's manage to milk it for a week.

SilverEagle · April 30, 2015

I stopped regularly watching the NFL in 1994 when I left the country for a few years. I came back with a bride in hand who wanted nothing to do with sports on the television, so that was another 12ish years with no sports. Then I was in grad school making fifty cents a month, and couldn't afford TV.

Last year, I finally sat down and tried to watch an NFL game. I couldn't. I found it to be an unwatchable hodge podge of cartoon robots on steroids, trophy breast implants with aluminum bottles of Coors light in the stands, twenty minutes of pickup truck commercials for every one snap of the ball, thunder bolts and lightning WWE mayhem in the stadium, some old dude continually covering up the screen with a yellow magic marker, and mysterious footage of fighter jets doing flybys over a dome.

I'm sure somewhere in there was a football game, but I couldn't find it. I imagined the $1,500 tickets and the $90 pizza slices. Then I wondered how all my neighbors are able to drink a case a beer per person on a Sunday and go to work functioning on Monday.

I turned the television off and drug the kid to the laundromat for linens day. That was more exciting to me.

Couldn't agree with you (and Dallas Green) more. I don't remember buying any Cowboy memorabilia during the Landry/Schram era, but I guarantee you I have not spent one red cent on the Cowboys since J.J. has taken over. And even before J.J. took over, I changed my watching habits for the Cowboys. I would watch the first quarter and then I would go off and do something else until the middle of the 4th quarter. Everything else in between is pretty meaningless.

But the most distressing thing to me is that the college experience has changed in much the same way as you described a pro game. From the time you enter the stadium you are constantly assaulted by a relentless THUMPA THUMPA THUMPA noise. Much like gay bars are portrayed in popular media. And when the aforementioned thumpa thumpa is not going on, we have to listen to endless, mindless, ads. I would gladly pay more for my ticket if I didn't have to hear that crap.

UNT 90 Grad · May 1, 2015

Gotta admit. I do have a Dunbar Cowboys jersey hanging in the closet.

UNTcrazy727 · May 1, 2015

If you think this embarrassing drought doesn't hurt us in recruiting you're high.

And UNT fans saying the NFL is unwatchable football is so so ironic.

Edited May 1, 2015 by UNTcrazy727

NM Green · May 1, 2015

Different game. Maybe not in Tuscaloosa but totally different game in so many ways. Love them both though.

Go cowboys. GMG

oldguystudent · May 1, 2015

Different game. Maybe not in Tuscaloosa but totally different game in so many ways. Love them both though.
Go cowboys. GMG

If a baseball team should ever materialize in Denton in our lifetime, remember what you've written here today and apply accordingly.

TheWestie · May 1, 2015

For all you jilted Cowboys fans who haven't watched a game in years, let me introduce you to someone worth watching.

If Hank Hill could make the switch, you can too. Love, your cousins in H-Town.

greenminer · May 1, 2015

If you don't think this embarrassing drought doesn't hurt us in recruiting you're high.
And UNT fans saying the NFL is unwatchable football is so so ironic.

If there was a list of things that impact a recruit's decision, I imagine this is near the bottom. I'd put it way below a program's winning/losing trend and opportunity to play, and somewhere right around a new and exciting (or ugly, depending on your taste) uniform.

Dr. Seuss · May 1, 2015

This board is about G5 college football. Who cares about what a group of billionaire robber barons like Jerry Jones throwing their fortunes to kids living a dream but delaying a start in the real world only to be fleeced by agents and other schisters ? This while jousting for the elite in mega palace stadiums only to risk life and limb for the enjoyment and entertainment of those who will quickly kick them to the curb when they no longer are fit to be their toys? For me and this farce fed constantly to the public needing a pro "fix", I say to hell with pro sports. I choose to spend my money on this level of football and players who don't compete just for the almighty dollar with allegiance to no one nor any team.

I think someone is a little salty... I guess he tried to take a picture with Jerry Jones and he gave him the finger wave "Not in my house"

ChristopherRyanWilkes · May 1, 2015

I love the Mean Green and I love my Dallas Cowboys. I even love the NFL in all its shameful glitz and glamor. Call me a sell out. To say the embarrassing NFL draft drought isn't noteworthy is silly in my opinion. To say it doesn't matter because the NFL is the way it is is even sillier. The NFL and the NFL draft is where we get our main exposure on a national level. When a team drafts a player from Northern New Mexico Technical College for the Blind their fans take notice, they look into the school and say "hey can you believe he went to NNMTCB?" That in itself is why our players getting drafted is important and shouldn't be overlooked.

97and03 · May 1, 2015

It matters and is noteworthy. Just not sure it is 2 blog posts and a full article noteworthy...

GOMG2013 · May 1, 2015

If there was a list of things that impact a recruit's decision, I imagine this is near the bottom. I'd put it way below a program's winning/losing trend and opportunity to play, and somewhere right around a new and exciting (or ugly, depending on your taste) uniform.

i disagree. a while ago i posted at least 50 things that could impact a recruits decision. i did not rank them, but if i had to rank "players in the league/NFL draft" it would be top half.

3, 4, & 5 star players have been told they will play NFL football since middle school. i would think NFL stuff would rank very high for a 4 or 5 star.

the colleges also use the NFL angle a lot in recruiting. im sure they arent doing that for nothing. theres usually a display of NFL helmets of their former players. Its a bonus if the NFL players have also played the same position.

If your coach has a history of sending players to the league, or has played in the NFL, its huge. most coaches will have their NFL helmet in their office.

NFL stuff may not matter to recruits who are barely D1...they are just grateful they are getting a shot...so if you are talking about UNT recruits specifically then....

Dr. Seuss · May 1, 2015

If you think this embarrassing drought doesn't hurt us in recruiting you're high.
And UNT fans saying the NFL is unwatchable football is so so ironic.

The truth hurts and UNT fans cannot handle the truth. This 10 year draft drought is almost as bad us not being able to win back to back games for 8 seasons (I forgot the stat but its something like that), does talent have something to do with that? How about UNT only having 1 winning season in 10 years, could that have something to do with it?

Starts from the top and works it way down. AD cant hire the right head coach, thus the wrong HC cant hire good assistants, resulting into the coaches not being able to recruit and develop talent. McCarney will have zero players drafted/ playing in the NFL, while Dodge currently has 3 players playing.

Edit: Craig is not one of the 3, he was a Dickey boy; Olawale, Orr, Dunbar

Edited May 1, 2015 by Dr. Seuss

TIgreen01 · May 1, 2015

The truth hurts and UNT fans cannot handle the truth. This 10 year draft drought is almost as bad us not being able to win back to back games for 8 seasons (I forgot the stat but its something like that), does talent have something to do with that? How about UNT only having 1 winning season in 10 years, could that have something to do with it?

Starts from the top and works it way down. AD cant hire the right head coach, thus the wrong HC cant hire good assistants, resulting into the coaches not being able to recruit and develop talent. McCarney will have zero players drafted/ playing in the NFL, while Dodge currently has 3 players playing.

Edit: Craig is not one of the 3, he was a Dickey boy; Olawale, Orr, Dunbar

This.

Folks can make whatever excuses that they want, but we've been bad since 2004 with the exception of 1 year. I like McCarney, but 1 winning season in 4 years is not going to cut it. I think he gets 2015 & 2016, no matter the record, but he's not going to get 2017 with 1 winning season in 6. If we get to that point, we'll be staring at 1 winning season in 12 years. At that point, there will be no one left to even scream for a house cleaning.

GRN-WHT · May 1, 2015

35-85 in the last 10 years with only 1 winning season and postseason appearance.

And yet, somehow, the AD that has presided over this still has a job.

That's the real decade of silence.

Ben Gooding · May 1, 2015

Yeah, where are the RV lobbyists? Who on here even wants the man here anyone? It's infuriating watching the same thing take place over & over. Same coach speak of getting better, same AD talk of potential, same apathetic fans supporting from their houses on Saturdays. Pitiful donor numbers and let's not even get started on scheduling and the basketball squad. Our AD, for the most part, has done a piss poor job. He keeps his job bc of the amount of apathy infused into our culture in athletics and as a university. It's truly borderline pathetic.

foutsrouts · May 1, 2015

35-85 in the last 10 years with only 1 winning season and postseason appearance.

And yet, somehow, the AD that has presided over this still has a job.

That's the real decade of silence.

And the vast majority of that record was in what is generally considered the worst football conference in America. Even if you take out ten "body bag" losses it's still 35-75.

Edited May 1, 2015 by foutsrouts