Grambling’s defenders are getting the first up-close look at Danny Reyes, as the 2009 backup quarterback gets accustomed to running this offense in the absence of Greg Dillon.
Christian Anthony, the squad’s everywhere-all-the-time end, is impressed.
“One of the things that stands out is he’s not afraid of making the tough throws,” said Anthony, the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s reigning defensive player of the year. “He’s a quick decision maker — and he can throw the long ball. I’m eager to see if we can get a little more vertical sometimes.”
GET IN THE GAME: See new video from TheDerisoReport of passing drills during the opening week of Grambling State’s Spring 2010 sessions.
FRANKLY IMPRESSIVE
Give new interim Grambling president Frank Pogue credit: He’s a quick study.
Just weeks after reversing a stubburnly wrong-headed Horace Judson-era refusal to name GSU’s assembly center after Fred Hobdy, Pogue’s pushed forward a plan to similarly honor late longtime Tiger Marching Band director Conrad “Hutch” Hutchinson on the institution’s new performing arts building.
Sounds simple enough. Yet Grambling’s previous administration was consistently, aggravatingly tone deaf on these issues. Call Pogue sensitive or savvy, or both, but he’s gotten another very big thing right.
The performing arts building will be dedicated in honor of “Hutch” at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 13; the assembly center will be renamed for Hobdy at noon the same day. A reception will follow both ceremonies in the lobby of the Hobdy Assembly Center. Call GSU’s Office of Alumni Relations for more details at (318) 274-6265 or email alumnirelations@gram.edu.
SUPER STEVE
Senior Steve Kletke has been named the Southwestern Athletic Conference player of the week, after going 5-for-11 with five runs scored, six RBI’s, a double and two homers to help the Tigers go 2-2.
In Grambling’s impressive 15-5 win over ULM, the native of Altona, Manitoba, Canada was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, three RBI’s and a home run.
PAYTON’S DAY
Speaking of the Great White North, former Grambling standout defensive end Elfrid Payton is part of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame’s 2010 induction class.
In a remarkable, 14-season career that included stops at Winnipeg (1991–93, 2000, 2004), the defunct Shreveport Pirates (1994), Baltimore/Montreal (1994–99), Toronto (2001), and Edmonton (2002-03), Payton made four appearances in the Canadian Football League’s championship Grey Cup game (1993-95, and 2003) — winning in ’03 and in 1995 with the Stallions before that franchise moved to Montreal and became the Allouettes.
An ageless performer, the then-35-year-old Payton was CFL’s defensive player of the year in 2002 with Edmonton. “The fact that I was able to do it at that age (showed) longevity,” Payton once said, “and that I was still able to compete at that age at a high level.”
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t leave the CFL quietly, memorably saying: “I think I still had three good years left in me, where I could have been in double figures in sacks. Easy, easy.”
In 205 career regular season games, Payton he certainly got his share — making a total of 483 tackles, 70 tackles for a loss and 154 sacks to finish second all-time in the CFL for quarterback takedowns. The four-time all-star, who in his final CFL contest tackled Calgary QB Khari Jones three times, led the league in sacks in 1993, 1997 and 2002. Payton also set an team record for most career sacks (52) with Montreal, where he subsequently signed a one-day contract in 2008 to retire as an Allouette.
“I don’t care where you play — Canadian Football League, National Football League, wherever — those are big-time numbers,” longtime CFL executive Paul Jones told me. “He did it on a consistent basis. He was the best.”
Jones has served as general manager on two of Payton’s teams, Winnepeg and now with Edmonton.
At Grambling, Payton made 117 tackles (70 solo), 28 tackles for losses and 16.5 sacks. He was team MVP in 1988 and 1989. That earned him the CFL nickname “SWAC.”
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President Pogue is on a roll with plenty of Butter to spare. I am starting to wonder if he is Santa Claus in disguise. I am personally glad he is righting alot of the past president big time wrongs. It is comical to think that Judson wanted to sell the naming rights to the assembly center. Are You serious??? LOL!!!!
I told folks Reyes is a different qb. If we give him time to think he will deliver the ball and will not force no crazy turnovers. Once he knows when to pull the string on the tough throws and when not to pull that string and just throw it away then he will be good.