All about me (Sanders) ...

[newshound]

No. 17 needs to pull his head out and be a leader. He needs to catch the ball, not fumble it. He needs to be a leader.

Here's some news for you, Emmanuel: You ain't playing on Sunday unless you step it up, start making plays and show some leadership. You are a senior and the featured player on this offense.

No strutting, trash-talking or any more of that crap. Catch the ball, get back in the huddle and catch it again. And, if you do score, act like you've been there before and that you'll be back real soon.

The success of this offense -- and the team -- is largely on your shoulders. Your leadership and maturity -- yes, you need to start showing some -- should be passed down to the other receivers. That is YOUR job.

This isn't all about you and all about your NFL career. The better you play, the better everyone else will play. Be a man, not some overrated, cocky, high-stepping fool. The records mean nothing and you have five games to make real history here by leading this team to a bowl game. Go out there and do it and the NFL thing will take care of itself.

[ontheedgeofmyseat]

wow...pretty harsh, dude...

[MiracleOnMockingbird]

I kinda see your point ... in the first game when he did the ol' "hold out the ball to taunt the other guys" on his punt return, I was disappointed.

But at least there is production to go with all of that. I'd hate to see what you'd say about A.R. and T.W.

[TheBestAvailable]

I agree.
ES has so much potential but he is not playing as well as expected.

He's had numerous turnovers/drops (fumbled punt at tcu/killed all momentum after a big 3rd down stop) in key situations that have negatively affected the game.

If he wants to be drafted and not some free agent signee he better step it up. Big time NFL prospects don't drop that many passes and turn the ball over this much.

I dont even mind the celebrations but he is not living up to his billing.

[PonySnob]

Who was the last SMU wide receiver to play in the NFL?

[Treadway21]

Probably the great Ron Morrison for Chicago.

[PonySoprano]

You mean Ron Morris. Drafted by the Bears in the 2nd round of the 1987 draft. Played for the Bears for about 5 years. Older brother of Bam Morris.

[bagice]

I fell off the Sanders bandwagon as well when he taunted on his punt return against an FCS opponent...a real classless move.

Karma is a [deleted] sometimes, now he looks foolish with his drops and mistakes over the last few games.

He is a great talent and hopefully he will pull it together..however, between being suspended the last two games last year and his taunting and mental lapses this year makes me afraid hes missing the key ingredients above the shoulders.

[Eye In the Sky]

I agree with all of newshound's points. I tried to make a similar point before the season but no one would listen. Fortunately, he has time to make us forget about all this stuff. Go out and be the leader/captain that your teammates elected you to be and forget all the "me" stuff.

[Treadway21]

Pony Soprano, My bad - I did mean Ron Morris. Thanks for the correction. I am embarrassed that I got his name wrong. He was a great one none the less and a bad knee ended his career.

One thing about Sanders, he has been good on punts, but has made a couple of costly decisions. He tried to field one against TCU in traffic on the 10 and fumbled. At Houston, he could have easily fielded the punt, but let it bounce at the 18 and it was downed at the 5. That bad field position led to the fumble and ultimately the 2nd TD. And he got away with one against ECU where he fielded a punt running back towards his goal line. He is definitely a weapon in the return game, but he needs to be more tidy on punts.

[newshound]

From Tuesday's DMN ... for real ...

Emmanuel Sanders said SMU receivers can fix the recent spate of dropped balls by going back to fundamentals. Sanders, who is SMU's career receiving leader but has just two touchdown catches this season, said he has been well-covered as defenses scheme to limit him.

"Everybody's keying on me, watching [No.] 17," he said. "I got myself here by the plays I made in the past, and that's something I've got to accept. Hopefully the other receivers step up and take some of that pressure off me so I can get open."

Huh? Did he really say that? You never heard Michael Irvin telling Alvin Harper he has to step up and take the pressure of him, did you? Or Jerry Rice telling John Taylor to step up and take the pressure of him. This kid is delusional.

What receiver has ever admitted that he was "well covered?" Uh boy.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/topstories/stories/102709dnsposmubriefs.327a30f.html

[SMU21TCU10]

From Tuesday's DMN ... for real ...

Emmanuel Sanders said SMU receivers can fix the recent spate of dropped balls by going back to fundamentals. Sanders, who is SMU's career receiving leader but has just two touchdown catches this season, said he has been well-covered as defenses scheme to limit him.

"Everybody's keying on me, watching [No.] 17," he said. "I got myself here by the plays I made in the past, and that's something I've got to accept. Hopefully the other receivers step up and take some of that pressure off me so I can get open."

Huh? Did he really say that? You never heard Michael Irvin telling Alvin Harper he has to step up and take the pressure of him, did you? Or Jerry Rice telling John Taylor to step up and take the pressure of him. This kid is delusional.

What receiver has ever admitted that he was "well covered?" Uh boy.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/topstories/stories/102709dnsposmubriefs.327a30f.html

it is pretty much the truth though

[expony18]

You never heard Michael Irvin telling Alvin Harper he has to step up and take the pressure of him, did you?

1996
• March 4: Found in a Irving motel room with former teammate Alfredo Roberts and two self-employed models, drugs and drug paraphemalia.
• April 1: Indicted on felony cocaine and misdemeanor marijuana charges.
• May 2: Is sued by a car sales manager for allegedly assaulting him at the Cowboys Sports Cafe.
• July 24: Suspended for five games without pay for the NFL for conduct detrimental to the league.
• Aug. 7: Makes first appearance at training camp after missing the first 18 days.

1997
• Jan. 3: Nina Shahravan, a 23-year-ld Mesquite woman, accuses Irvin of holding a gun to her head while teammate Erik Williams and another man raped her.
• May 15: Requests a trade, according to three sources in The News.,
• June 4: Sues the Dallas Police Department and KXAS-TV (Channel 5), the first station that reported the rape allegations, and considers retiring.
• June 13: Denies a report that he assaulted a man at a San Francisco nightclub.

1998
• July 29: Teammate Everett McIver suffers a deep cut to his neck in a dormitory incident at training camp. Published reports say Irvin caused the injury with a pair of scissors during a
dispute.

[expony18]

i'm still amazed about this thread. ES plays the game as hard as anyone at SMU in the last 25 years. While some of you may not like the fact that he is flashy, he puts up the numbers to back it. I wish the rest of the guys on the team had his swagger. How many records does he hold at SMU? And half of his production came in a run first offense. imagine what his numbers would look like if he played 4 years in JJ offense. how about we focus on guys not pulling their own weight, instead of putting down the best player at SMU post DP?!

[EastStang]

Sanders is a very good wide receiver. I think he's better than the two clowns I saw in burgundy and gold last night (Kelly and Thomas) who were picked in the second round. Couldn't get open, couldn't catch passes in traffic. Couldn't block, couldn't break tackles Couldn't run crisp routes and these guys were second round picks. Thomas did catch a TD, but he should have had about two more. Sanders runs great routes, engages usually two defenders since they double cover him, and that's what you want. BLM has to find 2, 3, 4, and 5 since one of them is open. And then if he does, they need to hold onto the ball. How many drops did Robinson have, Wilkerson?