Jimmy Clausen and Notre Dame Hated by NFL "Experts"

It happened three years ago to Brady Quinn and it is happening now to Jimmy Clausen. What am I referring to? That blatant Notre Dame bias.

Recently, ESPN's Todd McShay described Clausen as have an average arm and average accuracy. He also said that Clausen should not be a first round draft pick.

Mr. McShay should go watch the last play of the half versus Washington State and then come back and say that. He should also look at his long bombs to Golden Tate that I witnessed personally in the Hawaii Bowl—then call his arm average.

Finally, McShay should look at his 68 percent completion percentage and four interceptions and then say he has average accuracy.

I am not saying that there isn't reason to have doubts about Clausen at the NFL level. I myself think it will be very difficult for him if he goes to a team with a poor line. Since Clausen is not fast on his feet at all, his escapibility is a concern. He had a hard time with Navy's rush, so an NFL pass rush could cause trouble for him.

So to be fair, there is reason to have doubts about Clausen. Let's be real though, his arm strength and accuracy are not even remotely a concern.

As mentioned earlier, the same thing happened to Quinn three years ago. In spite of having a near flawless workout on his Pro day, the media just hammered him, saying that he didn't impress the scouts. Later they hammered him more as he fell in the draft.

Three years later, the media is ready to call him a bust in spite starting only 12 games for a team where any quarterback would struggle. Hopefully he gets a fair shake in Denver and shuts them all up. Let's also hope that Clausen gets a much more fair shake by the team that drafts him. 

The other thing that I find very annoying is all the attention that is given to Dez Bryant. Excuse me, but wasn't it Golden Tate who won the Blientekoff Award? Sure, Bryant was exciting, and has the potential to be a really good pro, but why is nothing hardly even said about Tate? He was a human highlight reel the last two years.

I certainly understand that Notre Dame is one of those teams where either you love them or hate them. However, these are just fine young men trying to live their dream. I don't think it is fair for media to be this blatant about their Notre Dame hatred.

What did Brady Quinn or Jimmy Clausen ever do to anybody to deserve the hate they recieve? They played for Notre Dame, so they must be overrated? What did Golden Tate do to deserve to be ignored like this? 

This article is also posted on http://fightingirishgameday.com/