You knew it from the first beat tweet last night—this wasn’t going to be some Burns ‘n’ Todd kumbayah, at least publicly. Hairy Trotter got the call as Auburn’s starting QB, and Clint Moseley was torn up; the line “Biggest Disappointment of My Life. Period.” does not for a Jumbotron montage make.
And though it’s not quite as dramatic on YouTube as the reporters who saw it live (and who praised the hell out of Moseley for even showing up to talk to them) made it seem last night, Moseley’s reaction is still pretty grueling to watch:
War Eagle, Clint. Thanks for what you do. I’m sure you’ll come in for an injured Beard in the Iron Bowl, float one up for Sanders, and win the Heisman of our hearts.
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I might be in the minority here, but the public display of self-indulgent emotion does not evoke pity or respect in me, especially for someone touted as a potential ‘team leader’. No one wants to follow an emotional train wreck in a crisis situation, or will to any great effect.
Yeah, it’s a hard decision to take, but if you can’t handle a personal setback with a little stoicism when in a leadership role, you don’t need to be handed that responsibility just yet.
The coaches made the right decision, IMHO.
Wow that was tough to watch. Can’t imagine how it feels on the inside.
Stay strong, you never know when your number will be called.
I feel where you’re coming from Sully, and can appreciate both sides. Tim Tebow cried a lot after personal setbacks, though. It didn’t hurt his ability to lead his team.
But yeah, I think the coaches made the right decision, too.
There’s no might about it, sullivan, you’re in the minority.
I just want to hug him. Forever.
It may sound a little harsh, sure, but I agree with Sullivan, at least on principle. For Clint, at least pretend it doesn’t phase you, handle it with class, congratulate the winner, and quietly return to your private room to shed the tears.
Some people are saying Clint should have handled it like Neil, or even more like Kodi. Maybe we’d all be better off if we stepped back and said, “WWKD?” In all seriousness though, I think these situations are totally different. I think Kodi knew all along that he wasn’t going to win the starting job in ’09. I think he had the reasoning ability to notice that he couldn’t consistently and accurately deliver the football like Chris Todd. When you also consider that Trooper sold Kodi on the idea that he could become a player at WR (and go on to score the first TD in the NCG), I think the news was much easier for Kodi to digest.
Clint doesn’t have that kind of future on the team. His one shot, honestly, was this season. And whether or not his views were reasonably founded, I think all along he truly believed he would, or could, win the starting job.
Didn’t look very manly to me, you’re the QB son, a leader, so you didn’t get named starter, you’ll get your chance………man up now and quit being a baby.
Don’t get me wrong… I feel bad for Clint. However, his attitude last year sucked. He even admitted it during an interview. He was pissed that he didn’t get any playing time and just sulked around all season. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did it again. Sulking does not equal playing time. Making the best of your situation and being a team player gets you playing time.
Who are we to judge the depth of acceptable anguish? Can anyone show me a measurement chart for stoicism? At what point is his attitude “manly” enough? How much redness of the eyes disqualifies a person from being a leader? And who here knows him well enough to say how “pissed” he was, or how much he “sulked” last season?
I don’t see a train wreck. I see a 20-something kid who’s life’s dream got dealt a major setback within the hour, and he’s dealing with it as best he can. Writing him off as some sort of cry-baby isn’t a very Auburn thing to do. You sound more like Bammers than Auburn men and women.
AUElvis, I agree. Evidently the coaches convinced all the guys that it was a wide open competition that was down to the wire and I’m sure it was. Clint was Mr. Football and though I don’t know his HS stats I’m going to say that based on that he probably didn’t lose many games (cue Greg McElroy “I haven’t lost since 8th grade jokes” here). So when he set his sites on something he’s always accomplished his goal. This was a major setback and to me the emotion displayed was not that of a crybaby, but rather a guy that has a true passion for the game. Enough that it REALLY disappointed him that he didn’t win the job. A crybaby would have sulked and not gone in front of the media. What would all of you be saying if he hadn’t done the interview. Would you still be questioning his manhood because he didn’t face the camera? Maybe it would have been better to take a few days to get over it and then do the interview, but I don’t hold it against the guy. I’m sure his dream for the last 8-10 years was to QB at a D1 school and I hope he doesn’t give up on that. He may stay at AU, but he was at practice and we weren’t so he knows better what he’s up against in the future with Frazier and soon to be Pike if his commit holds. War Eagle Clint…chin up.
I’m sure the kid feels bad. As has been pointed out previously, he’s been the big fish in a little pond most of his life and excelled tremendously. Getting to the next level and realizing there are people a little better than you is a tough pill to swallow. I’ve always rooted for him to get a shot because he has always been a winner. You can’t teach that. But he had to know deep down (or somebody certainly better have told him) there would be no guarantees that he was going to be a 2 or 3 year start for a top tier team in the toughest division in the best college football conference in the world. Especially coming from a small school atmosphere with not a lot of national attention. If he needed that kind of “guaranteed” playing time because he knew he could light it up when given the chance, he should have looked around a bit more. I’d say it worked out okay for proposed Auburn/Alabama tight end Phillip Rivers.
That being said, he also needs to realize that this is the SEC, which is rapidly becoming a little like the NFL in that if you’re the backup QB, there’s an excellent chance you will see some meaningful playing time during the course of the year. Could be next week. Could be 3rd quarter in a tight game against Alabama that decides the West. You better be ready. And I have no doubt he will be when his number gets called. War Eagle Clint. Keep working hard and everything will fall into place. And take a large level of comfort in that there are countless thousands of Auburn fans out there that feel a whole lot better about this season knowing that we have a very competent QB that can step in if Trotter should falter. I know I sure do. Frazier may be a stud, but that still doesn’t change the fact he was playing high school ball last year.
I would imagine he thought he could get through the interview with a little less emotion, but once he started talking about it he couldn’t hold it in. Give the kid a break. i would hate it if I lost out on the thing I wanted and worked for my whole life and a camera was in my face. I’m sure Kody had plenty of emotional moments before he made up his mind, they were just private. Don’t forget how young these guys are.
For all of you who said he didn’t have what it takes to step in as starting QB, Trotter was the right call… FACE!