K-State: "LeBryce" better live up to le hype
By: Curtis Kitchen, 810whb.com Senior Writer
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – If/when “LeBryce” Brown finally becomes part of the Kansas State football program, he better be worth it.
Not that it matters to me one way or the other, I’ll still cover the team same as always. But, for the K-State fans who have hung on every scant piece of information released hostage-style by the Brown family, and a coaching staff that has had to kowtow to a prima donna situation for months, this whole Brown thing has to pay off.
He has shuffled between Kansas and Tennessee, telling folks he’s moving home only to be seen several times in Knoxville. He waited for spring practice to check out the Volunteers’ new offense, just to see if his talents would be utilized to his satisfaction. Months later, he’s apparently now ready, finally, to ask for his release.
The only guarantee I would give Brown is that he would be afforded the opportunity to improve a 476-yard, 3 TD freshman season – the result of playing second-fiddle to 2010 NFL second-rounder Montario Hardesty.*
*For others, I would instantly concede that’s not bad at all. But, if I’m to believe fully in LeBryce, the top-rated prep in the nation coming out of high school, I’d like to believe he was good enough to get way more than a third of Hardesty’s carries. Hey, it’s part of the unfair standard you set for yourself when you, and those people you surround yourself with, constantly remind us how special of a player you are.
Look, LeBryce, we get it. No, seriously, we do. We’ve all been forced to watch your every move. We’ve all been witness to the hype. The only thing missing is your version of “The Decision.” And, while ESPN may not be interested in going down that road again, I bet Cox Channel 22 would listen.
That’s right, LeBryce, not a prime-time, millions watching, cars-burned-in-spurned-cities, cough-all-for-charity-cough, viewing event. Cox. Channel. 22.
I sincerely hoped the LeBron disaster served as the summit to the upward trend of self-glorifying, forced adulation; that the massive landslide of negative feedback coming back down James mountain would serve as a wake-up call to those athletes who believe they are larger than the game and/or life.
Unfortunately, I gave way too much credit, or at least went all BP and didn’t fully appreciate the far-reaching depth of the hero-worship oil slick. I chose to ignore that LeBron has become the new standard with which young athletes expect to be treated. It is no longer good enough to adore them. These athletes want the world to stop on their command.
They want us all to stop worrying about our unemployment and our bills in order to watch, to witness, something as insignificant as picking a new team to play for – news that at one time was found only on transactions lists.
LeBryce isn’t special in his search for another hit of the instant-hero drug. He got hooked on it long ago, got a better strain at Tennessee, and now that the Volunteer high is wearing off, he’s looking for his next fix. Perhaps it’s all that’s left when you’ve maxed out your handler card, your God card and your transfer card all before you attained upperclassman status.
Maybe now it is time for LeBryce to be serious about football, whether it is at K-State or elsewhere. He’s already lost another summer by playing offensive advisor to Tennessee. Like time for the rest of us, time spent is exactly that.
LeBryce should ask his older brother, Arthur, if he would spend his time differently. Arthur’s career is nearly over, and so far he has 12 tackles and very loud whispers of “bust” to show for it.
K-State also is facing a stiff price in the Brown sweepstakes. It has been out of character for LHC Bill Snyder to play the Browns’ game. Maybe it’s a new trick for an old Bill, but Snyder 10 years ago wouldn’t have done this. It doesn’t make it wrong, it makes it different.
That said, assuming LeBryce takes the field in Manhattan and isn’t dominant, if he’s just okay, it will go down as the signifying moment to LHC Bill Snyder’s return; a hall-of-fame old-school coach getting burned in attempt to love up the new-style game.
I do think both Browns don K-State uniforms. I just hope LeBryce (and to a lesser degree his brother) lives up to his le hype.
