He failed to make the high school football team as a 125-pound high school sophomore, but as a senior he played well enough to win a scholarship to LSU. In his senior season, Van Buren rushed for 832 yards. Encouraged by LSU coach Bernie Moore, the Eagles selected him as their top pick in the draft. It was a break for Van Buren and, for the Eagles, possibly their most fortunate ever."
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http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-
NFL
Steve Van Buren: 1920-2012 0
Published: Aug. 24, 2012 at 10:19 a.m. | 5,663 Views
05:32 – NFL Films Steve Sabol looks back at the life of Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame running back Steve Van Buren.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Steve Van Buren Dead: Hall Of Fame Running Back Dies At 91
Steve Van Buren of the Philadelphia Eagles is about to
heave a forward pass in Philadelphia, Pa in an undated photo. (AP Photo)
The Eagles said Van Buren died Thursday in Lancaster, Pa., of pneumonia.
The former LSU star, nicknamed "Wham-Bam" for his quick and punishing running style, joined the Eagles in 1944 as a first-round pick. He led the NFL in rushing four times and finished his eight-year career with 5,860 yards rushing and 77 TDs.
The five-time All-Pro player was selected to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team in 1994, and was the first Eagles player elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
One of his most memorable plays came in the 1948 NFL championship game, played in a driving snowstorm at Shibe Park. He scored the only touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter and the Eagles beat the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 for the franchise's first title. Read more...http://www.
Nearly a year to the day later, this time in mud and torrential rain in Los Angeles, Van Buren ran for 196 yards and the Eagles beat the Rams 14-0 to become the first – and only – team to shut out opponents in consecutive championships.
Van Buren was born in La Ceiba, Honduras. His parents died when he was 10, and he moved to New Orleans to live with his grandparents. He failed to make his high school football team as a sophomore, but played well enough as a senior to earn a scholarship at LSU.
With the Tigers, Van Buren was used primarily as a blocking back until his senior season, when he led the nation in scoring with 98 points and rushed for 847 yards.
Van Buren is survived by three daughters.
------------------------------
Obituaries
Steve Van Buren with a card displaying the number of points he scored in 1945, when he was the only unanimous all-pro. AP
ALSO ON PHILLY.COM
Mr. Van Buren died of pneumonia in Lancaster, according to the Eagles.
"On the field and off, as a player, a leader and a man, Steve Van Buren embodied the finest characteristics of our city and our sport," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. "He was a friend and an inspiration to generations of fans, and the model of what an Eagle should be."
Mr. Van Buren was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in 1965. He was the first Eagles player elected to the Hall. In 1994, he was selected to the NFL's 75th-anniversary team. He won four rushing titles and was a five-time all-pro.
Nicknamed "Wham-Bam" for his quick and punishing running style, according to an Eagles release, Mr. Van Buren finished his career with 5,860 rushing yards and 77 touchdowns.
"Watch those old films and you know that Steve Van Buren was something special," Eagles coach Andy Reid said in a statement. "He was special in person, too, humble about his own accomplishments and encouraging to others. His memory will be with Eagles fans for as long as this team takes the field.
The Eagles selected Mr. Van Buren out of Louisiana State in the first round of the 1944 draft. He helped turned the franchise into a perennial winner. The Eagles won three straight division titles and back-to-back NFL titles in 1948 and 1949 - the only time a team posted consecutive shutouts in championship play - with Mr. Van Buren in the backfield.
The Eagles beat the Chicago Cardinals, 7-0, at snow-covered Shibe Park for their first crown in 1948 and then blanked the Los Angeles Rams, 14-0, at the Coliseum in 1949.
Read more...http://www.philly.com/
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http://www.northjersey.com/
North Jersey.com
Randle catching on for Giants
Thursday August 23, 2012, 6:48 AM
STAFF WRITEREAST RUTHERFORD – Hakeem Nicks was going to run sprints.
That meant Rueben Randle was going to run them, too.
So there Nicks and Randle went after practice Wednesday, two wide receivers for the Giants jogging at varying speeds from one side of the end zone to the other with the goal of building up their stamina for regular-season game days.
"Everything I do he wants to do," Nicks said. "Any time I do stuff like that, like running after practice, I pull him with me, talk football with him. I just try to show him some things because I know how it is being a rookie receiver coming in, not knowing what to expect. I want to help him out as much as I can." Read more...http://www.northjersey.
------------------------------That meant Rueben Randle was going to run them, too.
So there Nicks and Randle went after practice Wednesday, two wide receivers for the Giants jogging at varying speeds from one side of the end zone to the other with the goal of building up their stamina for regular-season game days.
"Everything I do he wants to do," Nicks said. "Any time I do stuff like that, like running after practice, I pull him with me, talk football with him. I just try to show him some things because I know how it is being a rookie receiver coming in, not knowing what to expect. I want to help him out as much as I can." Read more...http://www.northjersey.
http://espn.go.com/blog/
ESPN More Sports
LSU hopes Mettenberger passes test
August, 23, 2012
By Jon T. Stewart, ESPN Stats & Information | ESPN.com
AP Photo/Gerald HerbertLSU QB Zach Mettenberger will look to turn around a passing attack that struggled last season.
With
six starters returning on offense and five on defense from a team that
reached the BCS National Championship Game, it’s no surprise the LSU Tigers
are No. 3 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25. That’s even with
the loss of cornerback Morris Claiborne and defensive tackle Michael
Brockers – both NFL first-round picks – and the dismissal of All-America
cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, who won the 2011 Bednarik Award as the
nation’s top defensive player and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy
voting.
Read more...http://espn.go.com/
AP Photo/Gerald HerbertLSU QB Zach Mettenberger will look to turn around a passing attack that struggled last season.
http://espn.go.com/college-
ESPN College Football
Tyrann Mathieu will not play football this season and continues to
focus on working on himself, his adoptive father Tyrone told ESPN's Joe
Schad on Thursday.
Tyrone Mathieu said last week that the 20-year-old cornerback and punt returner known as the "Honey Badger" has been at the Right Step recovery center and is being counseled by former NBA player John Lucas. Lucas battled substance abuse during his pro career and now mentors others who have dependency issues.
"Tyrann
is focused on addressing his issues with Mr. Lucas," Tyrone told Schad.
"(Lucas') story speaks for itself. He can help Tyrann and he can help
our family."Read more...http://espn.go.com/
ESPN Conversation
------------------------------
http://www.fox8live.com/video?
Tyrann Mathieu Wants to return to LSU - Video
------------------------------
http://www.operationsports.
Long before the BCS was acting as an exclusive clubhouse, preseason polls were keeping the little man down in college football.
A fun tool for sports analysts and fans, these speculative lists have come under fire due to their use in the selection of postseason matchups -- especially that of the BCS formula. With a four-team playoff on the horizon for 2014 we won't have to deal with the shenanigans of the BCS much longer, but the preseason polls will linger as the starting point for which all subsequent polls are based throughout the season.
Preseason polls make little sense due to the obvious fact that no teams have played a single game to this point. Any rankings would be based off of last year's results even though the college game has a massive amount of player turnover from year to year. Talent and experience are measurable in less-than-exact terms, but to speculate total team value and wins is pointless when a full season awaits to allow teams to settle the questions on the field.
But do preseason college football polls have some value beyond lighthearted speculation? And more intriguing to me, how accurate are they at predicting end-of-the-year rankings?
I decided to look over the past ten years and compared the AP poll from the preseason and matched that up to the final rankings. I focused only on the finishing spot of the preseason top 15 and gave a value of twenty-six to any team finishing outside the top 25.
The first observation I made is that the average finishing spot of preseason number one and two were the only reliable positions that predicted high finishes at the end of the year. From 2002 through 2011 the average finish of the preseason number one team was 4.8, while number two averages a finish of 5.5. After that, the highest average finish climbed only as high as 12th with the top nine preseason teams being more likely to finish higher than all non-top-nine teams.
In other words, the higher the preseason ranking, the more likely a team is to finish higher than teams who started lower -- only positions one and two, however, seemed to be significant enough when correlating with high end of the year placement. Read more..http://www.
------------------------------
http://www.americanpress.com/
American Press
Last Modified: Friday, August 24, 2012 1:05 AM
By Scooter Hobbs / American Press
Anywhere else, Tahj Jones might be considered an undersized outside linebacker with just 208 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame.
LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis sees it a little differently.
“Our defense is built around speed,” Chavis said. “He certainly fits exactly what we look for.”
So Jones, a former Sulphur High standout, enters his junior season with the Tigers penciled in as the starter as the Sam (outside) linebacker.
“I feel like I’m ready,” said Jones, “but I don’t really feel like I’m a starter. I feel like I’m still earning my spot.”
True enough. At a place like LSU, with annual influxes of top-five recruiting classes, sometimes earning a starting spot can be easier than keeping it.
This year’s newest Tigers include five linebackers, including the two stars of the recruiting class in Kwon Alexander and Lamar Louis, both of whom are immediately behind Jones on the depth chart.
“We’ve got some freshmen that came in, they’re pretty good,” Jones said. Read more...http://www.
------------------------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Tyrann Mathieu won't play this year
Updated: August 23, 2012, 4:11 PM ET
ESPN.com news servicesTyrann Mathieu Won't Play This Season
Joe Schad with the latest on former LSU cornerback and punt returner Tyrann Mathieu's future in college football.Tags: Tyrann Mathieu, Tyrone Mathieu, Joe Schad, College Football Live
Tyrone Mathieu said last week that the 20-year-old cornerback and punt returner known as the "Honey Badger" has been at the Right Step recovery center and is being counseled by former NBA player John Lucas. Lucas battled substance abuse during his pro career and now mentors others who have dependency issues.
Dale Zanine/US PresswireTyrann Mathieu won the Bednarik Award as national defensive player of the year last season.
ESPN Conversation
I
attended the Right Step in Houston where he is and I also know John
Lucas. He is in good hands. I went when I was 22 and I am now 30 with 2
kids and a wife. I have been clean for 8 years and would never have it
any other way. I also own 3 oil and gas service companies now and love
every minute sobriety. I wish him the best.
118 fans like this.
I
can't help but feel he is doing all the rehab and taking time off to
"better himself" is for the soul purpose of damage control to his future
draft stock (whenever that time will come). That being said, if he
really is trying to get his life back on track, more power to him.
19 fans like this.
http://www.fox8live.com/video?
Tyrann Mathieu Wants to return to LSU - Video
------------------------------
http://www.operationsports.
jmik58's Blog
Are Preaseason Polls Bad for College Football? Analyzing The Facts... 
Posted on August 23, 2012 at 10:31 AM.Long before the BCS was acting as an exclusive clubhouse, preseason polls were keeping the little man down in college football.
A fun tool for sports analysts and fans, these speculative lists have come under fire due to their use in the selection of postseason matchups -- especially that of the BCS formula. With a four-team playoff on the horizon for 2014 we won't have to deal with the shenanigans of the BCS much longer, but the preseason polls will linger as the starting point for which all subsequent polls are based throughout the season.
Preseason polls make little sense due to the obvious fact that no teams have played a single game to this point. Any rankings would be based off of last year's results even though the college game has a massive amount of player turnover from year to year. Talent and experience are measurable in less-than-exact terms, but to speculate total team value and wins is pointless when a full season awaits to allow teams to settle the questions on the field.
But do preseason college football polls have some value beyond lighthearted speculation? And more intriguing to me, how accurate are they at predicting end-of-the-year rankings?
I decided to look over the past ten years and compared the AP poll from the preseason and matched that up to the final rankings. I focused only on the finishing spot of the preseason top 15 and gave a value of twenty-six to any team finishing outside the top 25.
The first observation I made is that the average finishing spot of preseason number one and two were the only reliable positions that predicted high finishes at the end of the year. From 2002 through 2011 the average finish of the preseason number one team was 4.8, while number two averages a finish of 5.5. After that, the highest average finish climbed only as high as 12th with the top nine preseason teams being more likely to finish higher than all non-top-nine teams.
In other words, the higher the preseason ranking, the more likely a team is to finish higher than teams who started lower -- only positions one and two, however, seemed to be significant enough when correlating with high end of the year placement. Read more..http://www.
------------------------------
http://www.americanpress.com/
American Press
LSU junior
Tahj Jones of Sulphur will be calling defensive plays for LSU from his
weak-side linebacker position. While not the biggest player for his
position, defensive coordinator John Chavis says Jones’ speed is more
important than size in the Tigers’ scheme, which emphasizes getting to
the ball quickly. (Special to the American Press)
Speedy Jones calling shots for LSU defense
By Scooter Hobbs / American Press
Anywhere else, Tahj Jones might be considered an undersized outside linebacker with just 208 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame.
LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis sees it a little differently.
“Our defense is built around speed,” Chavis said. “He certainly fits exactly what we look for.”
So Jones, a former Sulphur High standout, enters his junior season with the Tigers penciled in as the starter as the Sam (outside) linebacker.
“I feel like I’m ready,” said Jones, “but I don’t really feel like I’m a starter. I feel like I’m still earning my spot.”
True enough. At a place like LSU, with annual influxes of top-five recruiting classes, sometimes earning a starting spot can be easier than keeping it.
This year’s newest Tigers include five linebackers, including the two stars of the recruiting class in Kwon Alexander and Lamar Louis, both of whom are immediately behind Jones on the depth chart.
“We’ve got some freshmen that came in, they’re pretty good,” Jones said. Read more...http://www.
------------------------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
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