The Jadeveon Clowney hype was getting out of hand, and now the criticism will be just as loud after Clowney had a mediocre game where he appeared to be taking plays off.
Perhaps it was a matter of conditioning in the intense heat and humidity last night. Clowney also mentioned having a stomach flu the night before the game. But he was clearly dogging it on a number of plays. Chris Spielman just ripped him pretty hard, and with Spielman it has nothing to do with the hype. Spielman is brutally honest and always holds players to a high standard when it comes to effort because Spielman always gave it his all on every play.
The notion that Clowney could win the Heisman Trophy seemed silly to me. It’s too tough for a defensive player.
But ESPN had elevated this kid to icon status based on one play in a game where Michigan left tackle Tyler Lewan actually played well against him. Clowney is a huge talent, but he’s not Superman.
The question is whether Clowney started believing his own press clippings. Has he become too cocky? Is he willing to work hard to be the best? We’ll see, and this lackluster opening night performance might be the best thing that happened to him.
