Putting Braelon Allen In Perspective

I ranted about this a bit my last time on the soapbox, but it bears repeating.

I don't fault freshman Braelon Allen, the uber-talented 17-year-old running back who was held to 47 yards -- after seven straight 100+ games. The kid is just that, a kid. He's nicked up, beat up and has been playing full-contact football for six of the last nine months. That's because Fond du Lac High School, like many state schools, played a six-week schedule in the spring because of Covid.

He played seven high school games in the spring. He rushed 71 times for 1,047 yards and 21 touchdowns. He caught four passes for 135 yards and two more TDs. And, he was playing defense as well! Once that season ended, he turned around in May and started training again.

It's been well-documented that, coming into Wisconsin, the coaching staff wasn't quite sure where he would end up. Would it be safety? Would it be linebacker? Seems like running back was an afterthought.

I think they got it right.

Wisconsin fans are spoiled. I'm right there, too. Twenty straight seasons of bowl games does that. Remember the decades if futility? The Don Morton years? Playing with Morton's "explosive veer offense" over 40,000 fans disguised as empty seats attended games at The Camp. And a half-full Camp Randall led to budget deficits that cost us a college baseball program, among others.

Let's face it. The Badgers are NOT a program on a par with the likes of Ohio State, Michigan or Penn State. Sure, every now and then Bucky can put together a season to compete -- and beat -- those teams. But season after season after season? Probably not.

So enjoy the bowl games, the success in the Big Ten West and all the rest. I remember the dark days -- and trust me, we don't want to go back to them

That guy knocked over on the sidelines Sunday in the Packer-Rams game, the one that Davante Adams helped put the stocking cap back on?

That was Green Bay's physician, Dr. Pat Mckenzie -- the pride of Oshkosh Lourdes Academy. I knew Pat when covering Lourdes in the mid-1970s, and trust me when I say that as a three-sport athlete (football, basketball and tennis, if my memory serves) he was much more nimble and light on his feet back then.

Speaking of the Rams-Packers game, I saw a couple of interesting stats pop up on the NFL RedZone channel: Rams quarterback Matt Stafford entered the game 0-16 when facing teams that were at least five games over .500, while Packers QB Aaron Rodgers was 3-0 against Rams teams when he faced them in Wisconsin.

Some things just don't change.