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Reggie Ball

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Reggie Ball

Reginald Lewis Ball was an American quarterback for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket football team, and future wide receiver in the 2007 NFL Draft. He was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia and played high school football for Stephenson High School. Reggie was the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Georgia Tech since 1980. He started for four straight years amassing 49 starts, 57 touchdowns, and over 9,500 yards of total offense.[1] Ball was often criticized for his inconsistency on the field, throwing almost as many interceptions as touchdowns.[2][3] He will most likely be a free agent or a late-round draft pick in the 2007 NFL Draft,[4] as he is somewhat slow (4.8 second 40-yard dash),[5] and showed somewhat inconsistent reception coverage at the NFL Combine.[6]

Football

High School career

Ball played his high school football at Stephenson High in Stone Mountain, Georgia. As a senior he passed for over 2000 yards with 19 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He was named to the Super Southern 100 and Top 50 in Georgia by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Also, he was rated the number 33 player in Georgia by BorderWars.com and ranked among the nation's top 15 all-purpose quarterbacks by Rivals.com.[1]

College career

Reggie Ball was the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Georgia Tech since Stu Rogers in 1980.[7] Ball's first start was in the Yellow Jackets' opening game against Brigham Young University in 2003. Since then, Ball missed just one game and amassed 8,128 passing yards, 57 touchdown passes and 9,579 total yards of offense in his career. Ball's passing yards total is third on Georgia Tech's career list, behind Joe Hamilton and Shawn Jones, and his touchdown pass and total offense totals are second behind Hamilton.[1] Ball accumulated 11 rushing touchdowns and also rushed for 1,451 yards in his career, good for 18th on the Yellow Jacket leaderboard and second among Tech quarterbacks in history (Hamilton).

During his career, Ball was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 2003 and was named the MVP of the Champs Sports Bowl in 2004.[8]

Reggie Ball began his senior season for the Yellow Jackets by leading the team to a sterling 9-2 record, but Ball's collegiate career ended on a negative note on December 2, 2006, with a feeble 9-6 loss in the ACC Championship Game to Wake Forest, just one week after Ball's Georgia Tech team lost to in-state rival UGA for a sixth straight year. Ball completed less than 30% (15-51) of his passes in these last two games, threw four interceptions, and gave up a crucial fumble in the loss to Georgia.[9] Although Georgia Tech earned a spot to play West Virginia in the Gator Bowl that year, Reggie Ball's controversial career abruptly ended when he was named academically ineligible, and backup quarterback Taylor Bennett was named the starter.[10] He finished the season having completed only 44% of his passes, the worst mark of his four-year career.[9]

College Legacy

Reggie Ball's college career will forever be marred with inconsistency. Although he won several big games for the Jackets including two wins against ranked Auburn University teams and a win against #3 University of Miami on the road in 2005, Ball-led Yellow Jacket teams were 0-4 against the University of Georgia, the main rival of Georgia Tech. Ball's play in these games will always be in question to Georgia Tech fans. Ball finished his career by losing to UGA, losing the ACC Championship game to Wake Forest, and being declared academically ineligible for the 2007 Gator Bowl, which would have been his final game. College football writer Pete Fiutak, contributor to the website Collegefootballnews.com, challenged readers to name a more ineffective four year college football starter than Ball.[11]

NFL Draft

At the NFL Combine Ball tried out as a wide receiver, attempting to follow former college quarterbacks Antwaan Randle El and Reggie McNeal. He ran a 4.8 second 40-yard dash,[5] and had somewhat inconsistent pass coverage.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Georgia Tech profile". RamblinWreck.com. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  2. ^ Heerji, Asif (2006-10-13). "Football Midseason Report Card". The Technique. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  3. ^ Bretherton, William (2005-09-09). "Jackets break Auburn winning streak". The Technique. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  4. ^ Schatz, Aaron (2007-02-25). "Edge will have to learn to share". Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  5. ^ a b "Reggie Ball 2007 NFL Draft Scout Profile". NFLDraftScout.com. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  6. ^ a b Ledbetter, D. Orlando (2007-02-26). "NFL COMBINE NOTEBOOK: Tech's Ball shows stuff as a receiver". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  7. ^ "Freshman Quarterback To Start For Georgia Tech". USA Today. 2003-08-25. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  8. ^ "It's All Georgia Tech In Champs Sports Bowl". USA Today. 2004-12-21. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  9. ^ a b "Profile and Statistics". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  10. ^ "Georgia Tech's Ball, Scott ruled out of Gator Bowl". 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  11. ^ Fiutak, Pete (2006-12-21). "ASK CFN - The Most Ineffective QB Ever?". College Football News. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
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