Navy's Ricky Dobbs
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Con_AlmaGreat article posted yesterday. Solid character and conviction reside in this young man.
Dobbs for President??? He says in 2040! Lol
http://www.navysports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111510aad.html
"Ivin Jasper understands how good he's had it, and he knows how good he's got it. Eleven seasons, split between two stints, as a Naval Academy assistant have taught him as much.
In various roles, traced to his first tour of Annapolis in the mid-1990s, Jasper has helped shape some of the most successful seasons and careers in Navy football history.
He was here when a once unknown defensive back converted to quarterback in 1995. Soon enough, Chris McCoy's name was unavoidable on the pages of the school's record book.
Since returning this decade, Jasper's overseen a succession of outstanding quarterbacks. Initially, strictly as their position coach. The last three seasons, as their offensive coordinator.
For six straight years, there were six primary players at the position, leading the Midshipmen to six consecutive bowl games. Then, there was a seventh. In the spring of 2009, he was foremost on Jasper's mind.
Ricky Dobbs first flashed his promise the previous fall. A sophomore behind two seniors, their injuries allowed us a peak at his potential. He completed a miraculous rally in relief against Temple. And nearly did the same, a week later vs. Notre Dame.
Against SMU, he bulled his way to 224 yards on 42 carries. On that rainy day, one could clearly see that this kid with the powerful legs had a huge upside.
Jasper realized there was much more than met the eye. The only real unknown was just how high Dobbs's ceiling might be.
"I didn't want to jinx the kid, but in the spring of his junior year, I told our staff that with (Ricky), we have something special in that position," Jasper says. "I cut it off at that."
Twenty months later, he need not say more. By now, the rest of college football grasps what Jasper was getting at.
But what makes Dobbs special transcends the field. His remarkable story belongs almost as much to everyone else as it does to Dobbs, himself. It's a story told, and retold, ever since Dobbs earned national media acclaim early in 2009.
Less than 10 minutes into a near upset of 6th-ranked Ohio State, he scored his first touchdown of the season with a 16-yard run. Another followed, on a 24-yard rush up the middle with 1:28 to go. Dobbs also threw two touchdown passes, including an 85-yarder.
Playing to a crowd of 105,092 in Columbus and television viewers nationwide, he was equal to, if not superior to counterpart Terrelle Pryor.
The Mids started piling up victories, and Dobbs kept making touchdowns, despite suffering a fractured right kneecap at SMU, in the seventh game. It caused him to miss one full contest and most of a second.
Yet when Dobbs dived across the goal line, midway through the fourth quarter of a 17-3 win over Army, it was his 24th score of the season. More than all other quarterbacks in Division I history.
Far from finished, Dobbs led Navy to a stunning rout of Missouri, 35-13, in New Year's Eve's Texas Bowl. He rushed for 166 yards - an Academy postseason record - and three more touchdowns to raise his total to 27.
An additional 130 yards passing made Dobbs the easy choice as most valuable player. As such, he posed for a postgame photo on the field in Houston, wearing a white cowboy hat and holding his MVP award. Right then, some people began picturing Dobbs with a much larger trophy in the year to come.
He had broken a NCAA scoring record shared by Tim Tebow and become just the 37th player to pass and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Plus, Dobbs led the Mids to their second 10-win finish since 1905. All while competing for half the year on one good leg.
If anyone merited mention in the same sentence as Heisman Trophy last summer, it was Dobbs. A long shot, Dobbs, nonetheless, began appearing on some very short lists. The movement's momentum accelerated when Sports Illustrated published his photo in its college football preview issue.
Stewart Mandel wrote a lengthy piece for SI's website. Washington Post Magazine put him on its cover. Dobbs was billed as a Heisman dark horse, and the Midshipmen were sharing the spotlight. They were built up as a team that could go unbeaten.
More than simply considering each a possibility, it seemed some media wanted it so. Mandel captured that sentiment by writing that "college football needs Dobbs and the rest of the 2010 Navy football team."
Inside a vast and often unseemly Division I universe, what wasn't to like about the relatively small world of the Mids and their co-captain?
There was the name itself, Ricky Dobbs; so authentically All-American. There was the ever-present smile; one that makes his whole face glow. There were the uniforms of an officer-to-be in the United States Navy.
And mostly, there was his young life's story; equally a study in perseverance and an inspiration to others.
Clarence Ricky Dobbs Jr. was born Jan. 31, 1988. The road from his upbringing in Douglasville, Ga. - a city of roughly 32,000, about 20 miles west of Atlanta - to Annapolis was anything but smoothly paved. Dobbs' parents divorced when he was 2. Shortly thereafter, his mother, Barbara Cobb, became, as she told Steve Yanda of The Washington Post, "a functional drug addict."
She frequently moved Dobbs and his older sister from one apartment to another. Decembers presented an annual choice; either pay rent or buy Christmas gifts for her kids. She chose the latter, and so it was always on to the next place.
Barbara's parents, Lewis and Louise Cobb, cared for Dobbs, as did her brothers. Thomas Cobb, who ran a concrete business, took Dobbs into his home when Ricky was 11. Lewis Jr., a minister, took him on the road to sing and preach the gospel.
They helped lay a foundation that Dobbs fortified with spirituality. His belief in The Book allows him to open up his past like a book to others.
"It's been a blessing that I've come this far," Dobbs says of the jagged path from Point A to this point in his life. "I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's shaped me and molded me into a better man. I've had a wonderful time here. It's a true testament to what God can do for you."
Religion and athletics, like anything else, may not always mix comfortably. But for Dobbs, faith is inseparable from everything else.
It is why, Dobbs believes, he's projected magnetism since his childhood. Nicknamed the `Mayor of Douglasville,' Dobbs says he befriended everyone from "rednecks" to "addicts." Personal guideposts enabled him to reach them, without following them.
"A lot can be said about me personally, but a lot of it can't be explained, except for the light inside," Dobbs says. "The person that I am is derived from the God I serve."
"He's so strong from a spiritual standpoint, it's where he gets his refuge" says Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo. "Everybody loves Ricky."
Whether light escapes from inside his soul, or beams outwardly from his smile, Dobbs hasn't stopped touching others.
He was elected class vice president last year. While stumping for votes, Dobbs told the Brigade of Midshipmen that instead of choosing a college where he "could be `The Man,'" he picked a place that would teach him how to be "a man."
Dobbs also, unabashedly, discussed intentions of someday seeking a much higher office - one in the shape of an oval, a little more than 30 miles west of the Academy.
America once elected a president from Hope. Why not someone of such faith? Furthermore, the country had recently voted for a man of color.
Dobbs first had an audience with President Barack Obama as a sophomore, when he and his teammates were guests of the White House as Commander-In-Chief's Champions.
One of the many charming anecdotes about Dobbs emerged from that visit. The Mids presented an autographed helmet to the president. Dobbs signed it several times, yearning to be noticed.
When he returned for a similar ceremony the following year, Dobbs got called out. President Obama evoked laughter when he playfully chided Dobbs for announcing his candidacy...in 2040! Dobbs's response shows that he's already adept at political spin.
"It was my first official, publicized endorsement from President Obama," he joked. "I twisted it into an endorsement." ..."
Continued -
Con_Alma"...More poignantly, the president's good-natured jab reminds him of how far our nation, and Dobbs have come.
"I look at it more so from the standpoint of my grandmother and grandfather, who never thought they'd see the day an African-American would be president," Dobbs said. "It means a whole lot for me on their behalf."
Dobbs's post-playing ambition became further reason to endorse his Heisman candidacy. Forty-seven years after Roger Staubach earned Navy's second, and last, Heisman Trophy, Dobbs and the Mids had the ideal platform to launch their campaign.
Their scheduled season opener on ESPN vs. Maryland gave them Labor Day afternoon all to themselves. The stage and setting were perfect for Dobbs et al to gain credibility with Heisman voters and national pollsters.
But in the waning seconds of a game marred by missed opportunities, Dobbs could get no traction on a 4th-and-goal run from the Terrapins' 1-yard line. For a fifth and final time, a Navy drive deep into Maryland territory was turned aside.
The "Dobbs for Heisman" bandwagon, as well as the Mids' Top 25 express, stopped right there; inches short of the end zone in a three-point loss. Great expectations succumbed to bitter disappointment.
Maybe at that moment, Dobbs stopped being The Man. More importantly, confronting such a rare low, as someone who believes in a higher purpose, it was time to be a man.
"Everyone learns that no matter what you have planned, the will of God will take precedence," Dobbs said two months into this final season, one of mostly ups and occasional downs. "It helps you deal with it. Later in life, if something doesn't happen the way you expect, you'll be able to bounce back. I let God carry me through it."
"I'm very impressed with the way he's continued to persevere," says Niumatalolo. "At the beginning of the season, everybody was his friend. He didn't play well against Maryland, and everybody was his critic. I really feel for him. Ricky carries the weight for the whole football program on his shoulders."
Unfair as it can be, Dobbs bears that burden based on what he does and who he is. Occupying the most scrutinized position in sports, and casting a long individual shadow over a team-oriented program, he carries more than his share.
"Nobody will see the right guard if he misses an assignment," Niumatalolo explains. "But everybody sees it when the quarterback overthrows a receiver or drops the ball.
"We haven't seen anyone around here like him in a long time. Ricky's got to be all things to all people. He's always on stage. He's continued to stay Ricky."
By turning inward, and looking upward.
"The biggest thing, and most impressive thing to me, is his faith," says Jasper. "He opens up his Bible and prays everyday. It's simple for him."
Niumatalolo often recounts a locker room encounter last season in Dallas. Navy was trailing SMU and Dobbs was struggling, the pain in his knee far more excruciating than he let on. The head coach sought out the quarterback, with a halftime harangue loaded on the tip of his tongue.
Finally reaching Dobbs, Niumatalolo found him at his locker, with his head in The Bible. There was nothing to say other than encourage Dobbs to play better. He did, and the Midshipmen won in overtime.
Doctors later learned of the severity of Dobbs's injury. Sooner (their prescription) or later (his preference), surgery was required. Dobbs underwent the operation in January.
As a result, Dobbs missed spring practice. During summer camp, hitting the quarterback was strictly out of the question. After the Maryland loss, and a subsequently wrenching defeat at Air Force, in which Navy's offense struggled, Niumatalolo publicly questioned his preseason handling of Dobbs.
Maybe, he wondered, it was a mistake not to involve the quarterback in more contact. On the surface, it appeared that Niumatalolo faulted himself for Dobbs's uncharacteristic start.
Dobbs would have none of it.
"You still prepare," he said, avoiding any excuses for a pair of fumbles in the opener. "I just prepared differently. I prepared the best way possible.
"It was just the luck of the draw. I had cuts and scrapes and bruises from helmets hitting my hands. It was a matter of someone hitting me in the right spot, where the ball popped out."
Dobbs's reply is consistent with a disposition that causes Jasper and Niumatalolo - both ex-college quarterbacks - to constantly marvel. Facing a setback, Dobbs returns to his faith. Soon enough, that smile returns to his face.
"I don't have any regrets," Dobbs says.
He shouldn't.
"When you take a step back and really look at, and appreciate, his body of work," Niumatalolo says, "you're like `Whoa!'"
Whoa, indeed.
Through 10 games, including seven wins, this season, Dobbs had 45 career touchdowns. No one, not even Staubach or McCoy, scored more. His 2,350 yards rushing were sixth among Academy leaders. And Navy's record in his starts was 16-6.
Among them were the blowout of Big XII Mizzou and back-to-back victories over Notre Dame, including this season's 35-17 thrashing. There's also the 76-point outburst and 596-yard eruption two weeks ago at East Carolina.
Dobbs has also mastered late-game theatrics, proving as resourceful as he is resilient. He was both in early October, at Wake Forest.
Still reeling from their first loss to Air Force since 2002, the Midshipmen were about four minutes away from falling below .500, five games into an autumn of heightened expectations. They trailed by a field goal, when Dobbs retreated to pass from the Demon Deacons' 37-yard line.
He wound up on his back, sacked for a loss at the 41, and, later, on the sideline in pain.
In the stands, a large contingent from Douglasville looked on. Seated in their midst was Lewis Cobb Sr., watching his grandson in person for the first time in Dobbs's Naval Academy career.
Meanwhile, Jasper looked on from the coaches' booth. His eyes were on Dobbs, his thoughts on backup Kriss Proctor.
"As far as running the offense, I'm concerned about getting the next guy ready," Jasper says. "My mind was on how we were going to try to win that game. I didn't speak to (Ricky) on the phone. It was more on him, whether he was hurt or not."
Hurt? Yes. Injured? No way.
This was the same Dobbs who willed his way to the finish line as a junior in Dallas. A year later, in Winston-Salem, he did it again.
"I told myself that I was okay," recalled Dobbs, who is likely subjected to more in-game hits than any of his contemporaries in college football. "I was more shocked than anything. There was no way that I wasn't going back on the field to help my team."
One play and a timeout later, he returned. But two incomplete passes gave possession to Wake Forest. With 3:13 remaining, Dobbs was left waiting for one more shot. His faith was unwavering.
Navy got the ball back a minute later. After converting on 4th-down to prolong the drive, Dobbs drilled a 34-yard pass to Gee Gee Greene and, seconds later, found Greg Jones for a game-winning completion.
It was vintage Dobbs - or as vintage as a 22-year old can be. On display was the toughness and deft touch as a leader that separates him from so many.
"I'm most proud of the ability to continue to keep fighting and have faith in one another," Dobbs said. "We've held together and continued to press forward."
Discussing his team, Dobbs might as well been speaking of himself. Faith allows him to hold it together and press forward.
"Right now it hasn't set in how much it means," Dobbs says of his many career accomplishments. "I'm a little different than most guys in sports in that I have a delayed reaction to things. It doesn't hit me in that moment. When I have time to reflect, someday it will mean a lot."
While Heisman speculation was hushed early this season, Dobbs remains in the conversation for a number of other honors that reward on-field brilliance.
More impressive is the distinction he's earned through community service in both Annapolis and Douglasville. His hometown gave him the key to the city last summer.
This fall Dobbs was appointed to the American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team. He was also deemed a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
It will be decided in part by on-line balloting. At last check, Dobbs maintained a narrow lead, though it was too close to call.
Perhaps it's a primer for 2040. If so, then - like now - Dobbs can count on at least one vote.
"He's done so many things for this football team," says Jasper. "I've coached a lot of quarterbacks here. They've all been great. Ricky's in a class by himself." " -
Iliketurtles
Not that is wasn't a pretty cool story.. but you couldn't just post the link to the article? -
Con_AlmaIndeed I could have, instead I chose to provide both options...a link....and the content.
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thedynasty1998
I didn't read the article, but how can you have anything but the utmost respect for those men who serve our country while also playing D1 football at a service academy. -
Con_AlmaSome are asses no doubt but the amount of kids you meet than have a sense of calling and a belief in a purpose larger than themselves is truly inspiring.
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Iliketurtles
Con_Alma;560787 wrote:Indeed I could have, instead I chose to provide both options...a link....and the content.
Haha I feel like an idiot I didn't see the link in your orginal post
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Con_AlmaIt is kind of long article. Maybe just posting the link would have been less irritating but there's some really good stuff in there that I thought some who wouldn't normally be willing to click on the link might get from skimming through it if it were presented.
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Iliketurtles
I just think most on here hate really long posts and this article made it 2 super huge posts lol. But you're probably right posting it might actually get people to read it haha. Still it was a great article thanks for sharing it!Con_Alma;560834 wrote:It is kind of long article. Maybe just posting the link would have been less irritating but there's some really good stuff in there that I thought some who wouldn't normally be willing to click on the link might get from skimming through it if it were presented. -
Con_AlmaYeah, you're probably right. Sorry about that.
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FatHobbit
great article -
TBone14
Great article. Glad you posted it..I rarely click on links.