I'll be writing more on the Illini as we approach the season opener against Mizzou, but I wanted to briefly point out a great article from today's St. Louis Dispatch. The article is by my boy Stu Durando (actually never met him) and is an excellent piece, the kind of piece sportswriters should write about players when not just reporting on the outcome of a game.The subject is Clay Nurse, a junior Illini defensive end who looks to play a big role this season. I'll let you read the article to get all the key details, but let me give you this taste: Clay didn't start playing football until his sophomore year of high school. He didn't even know how to put on the pads.
It's guys like that - guys who come to the game late - who make huge leaps late in their collegiate careers and all of a sudden you see them playing Sunday afternoons and wonder, "Where did this monster beast come from?"
Clay Nurse might just be that monster beast you wonder about some Sunday afternoon in the future.
And if anyone asks, now you can tell them: he came from Illinois.
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