Wanted to start a new thread, but got rejected due to insufficient post count, so I'm piggy backing on this one.
I thought you all might like a little Pat Chung insight from an Oregon fan's perspective. Keep in mind, I am a fan, not an analyst; but also know that I have seen every game the kid played at Oregon and have seen and read a ton about his interactions with his teammates and the community. Here are some points/impressions:
-He is a perfect Patriot....Take this as a compliment to the perception of your team. Chung is intelligent (graduated HS and showed up on campus at UO as a 16 year old), he is a leader, he is a high-character guy (more on that later), he plays fast, he comes up big in big games/moments, and loves to play the game.
-The guy is just a football player....Some guys just immerse themselves in the game and when you watch them play, you know they belong there. There is no awkwardness, no shying away from a collision, no hesitation about where to be or how to move around the field. Chung was special from day one at Oregon. Even during his redshirt year, when he wasn't finished growing and was the age of some high school juniors, you could watch him practice and see the fearlessness, competitiveness, skill and drive. Those of us who pay attention to such things knew he was different than most kids and were not at all suprised when he won a starting spot as a redshirt freshman, which he never let go.
-Durability/Toughness....The kid is durable and a gamer. 51 straight starts, never missed a game due to injury. However, nobody who plays as violently as Chung avoids being hurt (he just refused to be injured). Those close to the team talked about Pat playing through stuff that would have severely limited other guys' PT or kept them out all together. But he never said a word and just kept making plays.
-Character....I'm not a big proponent of "drafting for character," because the NFL is all about making plays....but if you can get a playmaker, who also has character, then that's a great thing. That's what you get with Chung. Here is a link to a pretty heady article that gives you an idea of the kind of human being Chung (and teammate Walter Thurmond - a 2010 top-3 rounds guy) is:
Oregon DBs join boy's fight against cancer. - Free Online Library
This post ended up being pretty long, but I know as a fan I always enjoy getting some perspective on my teams players that goes a bit beyond the run-of-the-mill scouting report. Hope this is helpful to some of you.
Patrick Chung
Re: Patrick Chung
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