kepdawg
02-21-2008, 06:11 PM
Gearing up
4:16 PM Thu, Feb 21, 2008 | Permalink
Albert Breer E-mail News tips
Back in Houston, Jermichael Finley and Martellus Bennett played on the same AAU team. And they both had the same issue with that squad.
"We played on the same AAU team," Bennett said. "But I left the team because we weren't getting the right amount of gear. Nike wasn't showing us enough love. J-Mike and I, we were the underdogs on the team. We were always the ones who got all the put-back baskets and all the dunks and scored all the points. But we never got any love."
Hoops didn't end up writing the athletic ticket for either one of these guys. Bennett went to A&M on a football scholarship. Finley did the same at Texas.
And they both are here now, auditioning for the NFL. But that doesn't lessen the sting of how those dastardly AAU coaches shorted them back then. It wasn't just with the "gear" either. It was everything, really. Or at least that's Finley's assertion.
"We were really the best players on the team. And we weren't getting the ball enough. So we just quit the team," Finley said. "We saw everyone else getting gear, but me and Martellus were coming up short. On everything. Warm-up suits. Shoes. Socks."
So you could hardly blame these two for getting out of there.
When they did, the guys joined up with the Houston Swoosh and, according to Bennett, never lost again to their former team. And the bond from walking out on their first AAU team lives on to this day.
"Me and J-Mike, we're real close," Bennett said. "We always talk a lot of trash, no matter what it might be. During the Texas game this year, all the defensive players, they came from a break and they said, 'Jermichael said he's better than you, J-Mike said this, J-Mike said that.'"
Just so no one's concerned -- the NFL did afford both these guys with the same gear as everyone else for this week. So no need to worry about either one walking out
LINK (http://cowboys.beloblog.com/archives/2008/02/gearing-up.html)
4:16 PM Thu, Feb 21, 2008 | Permalink
Albert Breer E-mail News tips
Back in Houston, Jermichael Finley and Martellus Bennett played on the same AAU team. And they both had the same issue with that squad.
"We played on the same AAU team," Bennett said. "But I left the team because we weren't getting the right amount of gear. Nike wasn't showing us enough love. J-Mike and I, we were the underdogs on the team. We were always the ones who got all the put-back baskets and all the dunks and scored all the points. But we never got any love."
Hoops didn't end up writing the athletic ticket for either one of these guys. Bennett went to A&M on a football scholarship. Finley did the same at Texas.
And they both are here now, auditioning for the NFL. But that doesn't lessen the sting of how those dastardly AAU coaches shorted them back then. It wasn't just with the "gear" either. It was everything, really. Or at least that's Finley's assertion.
"We were really the best players on the team. And we weren't getting the ball enough. So we just quit the team," Finley said. "We saw everyone else getting gear, but me and Martellus were coming up short. On everything. Warm-up suits. Shoes. Socks."
So you could hardly blame these two for getting out of there.
When they did, the guys joined up with the Houston Swoosh and, according to Bennett, never lost again to their former team. And the bond from walking out on their first AAU team lives on to this day.
"Me and J-Mike, we're real close," Bennett said. "We always talk a lot of trash, no matter what it might be. During the Texas game this year, all the defensive players, they came from a break and they said, 'Jermichael said he's better than you, J-Mike said this, J-Mike said that.'"
Just so no one's concerned -- the NFL did afford both these guys with the same gear as everyone else for this week. So no need to worry about either one walking out
LINK (http://cowboys.beloblog.com/archives/2008/02/gearing-up.html)