Hoosier Draft? I Think So

Photo by James Brosher for the Indiana Daily Student

I’ve never been more excited for the NFL Draft than I am this year. This is the weekend where, for many players, life as they once knew it will end. Things will change for them – better for most. A new life, new opportunities, new pressures, new cities, and new temptations will be upon them. Speculations on potential picks are all around. Who will go where? How much money will he make?

Word is the St. Louis Rams haven’t confirmed that they’ll be taking Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, but it looks like that’s exactly what they’re going to do according to ESPN. Would I take him? Sure. Would I take Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh? Sure. The fact is you can’t go wrong with either pick. But, to be perfectly honest with you I’m not worried about that pick or any of the first ten picks.

My excitement over the NFL Draft this year comes, not from the tantalizing suspense of who will pick who (although, I do still love that aspect), but the fact that a good number of Hoosiers could be picked this year. My boys, my teammates, my friends. The guys I danced and sang with in my underwear with while in the locker room. The boys I talked to nearly everyday for 5 years. The boys who I bled, cried, and fought with through pain, death, heat, sweat, heartbreak, happiness, anxiousness, everything.

And the memories! Hell, me and Rodger used to make up dances and songs about training camp, the season, winter conditioning, whatever. I’ll always miss those days.

There’s a chance Rodger could be picked tonight. If so, he’ll be the first IU player taken in the first round since wide receiver Thomas Lewis in 1994. He’s been shooting up many scout’s and critic’s draft boards since November. The same goes for Jammie Kirlew, although he’ll likely be picked in the mid to late rounds. Then there’s Nick Polk, Greg Middleton, Ray Fisher, Matt Mayberry, Austin Thomas, D McCray and more. They’ve all got a chance!

No matter what happens this weekend I’m proud of all my boys and the memories we’ve made. It’s unreal to see them go through this process. Success will come to all of them in one way or another. I just want it to be in the way they want it. The NFL will come calling for them. I know they’re ready. I just hope the NFL is ready for all these Hoosiers.

In Training Camp!

Yes, I am currently duking it out with my teammates in this "other" world we call training camp. We are working hard to be successful this year and get back to a bowl game. I will not be posting much throughout the rest of camp, so if you'd like to hear from me or want to keep up with what's going on with me just follow me on Twiiter at twitter.com/bdpayton. Holla.

Let Training Camp Begin!

Around noon tomorrow I will report for training camp. It's my final go-around and I'm looking to go as hard as possible every rep. I'm dedicating this season to my family and everyone who's ever supported me. I'm pressed for time, as I just wanna chill and watch/read tonight before things get real so I've decided to post this video below to speak for me. It's how I feel and I'm keeping it uncensored because that's how I will play this season. Enjoy and I look forward to your support this year.

According To Kurz...Keeping The Faith

In two days school will be over and summer will begin, which unfortunately means you won’t be hearing much about the Hoosier Football team (no news means good news when it’s the off-season). As a true football fan, I search daily for any football news or hot topics about the teams I follow. So I am writing this blog for the Hoosier football fans out there. We just came off of a 3-9 season, but there is hope for the 2009 season. Here are just a few reasons why 2009 won’t be like 2008:

1) Senior Leadership
We have so many seniors this year that refuse to go out like last years class did, and a 3-9 season is almost a reminder of what could happen if we don’t put in the work. Jammie Kirlew sends out weekly text messages reminding us to work hard and keep our goals in mind, but he’s not the only one taking the lead. Bryan Payton, Roger Saffold, Will Patterson, and many more have spoken to the team and do a really good job emphasizing the work we put in now is what will decide the outcomes of Saturdays.

2) Defense
I play defense so of course I am a little biased, but this year’s defense has a chance to be really special, and we all know defense wins games. Greg Middleton and Kirlew will be bringing a heavy pass rush off the edges this year and that will make everyone else’s job that much easier. The rotation of LB’s include: Matt Mayberry, Patterson, Justin Carrington, Tyler Replogle, and Darius Johnson. These are all guys who can not only hit, but have speed as well. The 3rd line of defense is the two starters at safety, Austin Thomas and Nick Polk. Austin’s hard hitting ability is complimented so well by Polk’s ball-hawking skills that I would not be surprised to see both of them receive All-Big Ten honors of some kind. I know they are both coming off of season ending surgeries but as someone who spends multiple hours a day with these two, you should trust me when I say they will come back stronger and more determined than before.

3) Running by Committee
Any one who attended the spring game can attest our running back situation is as strong as it has ever been. The change to the pistol formation has changed our running game into a downhill, smash-mouth type of offense - one I personally love. Demetrius McCray brings great agility and a lethal stiff-arm, Trea Burgess is the big back that can carry the load, Payton runs with such determination and power that he will lead to a lot of arm tacklers, and Darius Willis brings patience to see the holes and speed to burst through them. Look for all four of these guys to have a major contribution this year.

4) Attitude
The best thing about last years season is that it was last year! The team has held numerous meetings and conferences to talk about what we need to do to be a better team on and off the field. Right now lifting is not “mandatory”, but I lift 4-5 times a week and every time I go into the weight room it is full of players trying to get better and compete for a starting spot. But the best thing about it is its not just upperclassmen, but the freshman and sophomores too. The whole team realizes that last season absolutely can not happen again.

Sometimes even as a player its hard to say to yourself that next year will be different, and as a fan (and player) of IU football I’m very aware its hard to believe that this wont be the “same ‘old IU”. But I really don’t think it will be and I don’t think Coach Lynch will allow it. First and foremost, it will start with the players, and next week is the start of lifting 4 days a week, and running at 6:30a.m. and we expect 100 % attendance because we know if we want to go to a bowl it starts now.

Hoosier Nation Article...Ready To Take a Run at Starting Job

This article was written near the end of Spring football and I forgot to post it on here. It's written by Brady Stiff, a former classmate of mine and a really cool guy. He'll be a great sports writer one day - well he already is. I want to thank you Brady for the nice things you said about me on your blog. You're a good guy.

Anyway, here's the article he wrote for Hoosier Nation. Oh and Brady's blog is called Because It's Indiana. Check him out.

Bloomington- Last season, Marcus Thigpen was the featured running back for the Indiana Hoosiers. Now that Thigpen has graduated, someone else is ready to step to the forefront.

Except it’s not his first rodeo, either.

Senior running back Bryan Payton will be one of the featured backs this year for Bill Lynch’s Hoosiers, and while he’s never been the team’s starter, he’s certainly made an impact. Last season Payton rushed for 339 yards on 79 carries and scored two touchdowns. In 2007 he rushed for 381 yards and four scores, helping Indiana earn an Insight Bowl bid.

Payton has used this spring to prepare for his senior season, a season in which the Hoosiers are hoping to improve from a 3-9 record in 2008.

“The improvement that we’ve made from last year and the new stuff that we’ve put in has helped us improve in a big way. I think putting in the pistol formation was definitely huge. We’re (running) more downhill this spring,” Payton said. “I’ve become more of a leader now. I’d like to say I’m quicker and faster—I’m not sure yet. I feel good, I feel like I’m being more patient and the game is slowing down for me.”

Payton’s leadership is not lost on the coaching staff, and IU running backs coach Dennis Springer acknowledged Payton’s guidance.

“He has been tremendous. Bryan has been a natural leader for us. He’s a very emotional kid, so he brings a lot of energy to the program, and probably even more than that, he’s a great character kid. He’s in the right place, he’s doing the right things, and that part of his leadership has been great for us,” said Springer. “The younger guys all call him ‘Pops’, so they know he’s been through it, and he’s one of those guys who has built this program, and continues to build this program to where we want to get it, so they respect that.”

Lynch has been at Indiana for Payton’s entire playing career, and he’s gotten to know what the senior is all about.

“He’s such a leader. He’s a tough, hard-nosed guy, but he’s a really good person who does everything right, works so hard, and he leads by example. It’s important to have him out here,” said Lynch.

While Payton has had a chance to play college football, he hasn’t lost sight of other aspects of life. Talking about his senior season, he knows that this might be it.

“[My senior season] is going to mean a lot to me. I’ve already decided I’m going to dedicate it to my parents because this could possibly be my last year of being any kind of athlete ever. I can count the number of games they’ve missed on one hand, no matter what sport since I was 5. I want to go out on a good note, of course, going to a bowl game. I’m going to work hard to keep the guys’ morale up so we can do just that,” said Payton.

The Fort Wayne, Indiana native also knows what he wants to do after football, which not all college seniors can attest to.

“To be honest with you, I don’t really think about the NFL at all. If it’s there, it’s there; if it’s not it’s not, but I’m set. I want a career in journalism, and I want a career in fashion design as well. Really, those are more important to me than anything. Even if I make it to the NFL, sometimes it stands for Not For Long. It’s an exciting time. It’s on my mind and I’m prepared for it,” said Payton.

Payton even named senior safety Collin Taylor the best-dressed player on the team.

In 2008, the Hoosiers were 6th in the Big Ten in rushing, gaining 2,003 yards as a unit, something Springer hopes they can improve on during 2009.

“Outside of getting banged up a little bit, the intensity and the focus, and the energy has been there all spring. I’m happy with my group and they’ve been working hard,” Springer said.

Photos From Spring Game

I'm trying to get some video on here too but I'm struggling to copy and paste the embeded code. I'll keep trying. But in the mean time, here's a photo gallery from The Indy Star.

IU Spring Football Scrimmage - More IndyStar Galleries

View this gallery at IndyStar: IU Spring Football Scrimmage

The Journal Gazette: Spring football practice changes Hoosiers’ attitude

I freelanced this column for The Journal Gazette. It ran this morning and I'm very proud of it because it's my first freelance column I've written for anyone. I was asked to describe and talk about how our spring football practices went. I did my best to describe things within 750 words, though I could have written an entire book about it. Read and enjoy.

My spring football began at 5 a.m. March 23. I got out of bed with no hesitation and with an overwhelming anticipation for the events that lay ahead. Only on this day, there’d be no running, hitting or catching. Only a team meeting to kick things off, to set the tone, to lay the smackdown on every soft expectation we may have had about spring football at Indiana University.

It was made clear that this spring, which concludes with today’s scrimmage, would be different. That morning, you could sense the optimism through the sleepy faces and glazed eyes. The day was young, but our motivation had been clear from the start of the winter.

Black and white. That’s been our team motto throughout the spring. There’s no longer room for any gray area. You either execute or you don’t, and almost doesn’t count. You’re dedicated to the team or you’re not. Nothing more, nothing less. We aim for perfection and settle for excellence. That’s our new attitude. We will settle for nothing less.

From the first day, things were kept simple. We put in college football’s latest fad, the pistol formation, and put a strong emphasis on running the ball downhill. We wanted to be more physical as an offense, fast and punishing as a defense and fundamental on special teams.

Over the past month, we’ve achieved our goals and then some. This is the first spring I’ve been through where I’ve had fun in every practice, with the exception of worrying about how sleepy I’d be in a few of the meetings after staying up late working on class projects.

How much fun a team has is true evidence of a team’s attitude and confidence. This team is different from last year’s. Our morale is soaring, and it is clear that this is no longer the 3-9 team of 2008.

Off the field, screws have been tightened and each player has been held accountable. The results have been promising, and guys have been making the necessary changes to become better citizens and, in turn, better teammates.

Guys who were more likely to be caught on an episode of MTV’s “From G’s to Gents” are now making positive changes in their personal lives to not only better themselves but the team as well. That’s just one of the signs of a team in positive transition. I can feel the closeness and chemistry of this team, and it brings a smile to my face every time I think about it. I love to see the guys appreciating each other and realizing the special moments we’ve been blessed to be a part of.

In some ways, I feel as if I’ve floated through spring football. I’ve approached everything with the attitude of “just go play.” I don’t know whether it has to do with the playbook or me just being a senior and having the game slow down for me. It’s probably a combination of both.

Practicing mostly four times a week and lifting weights on off days, the schedule suited what we needed as a team.

We hit nearly every practice to increase our toughness and nearly everything was made into a competition. The competition elements of practice gave us our edge back and will help us going into the summer.

Whether it’s ball security or full-team drills, each player’s football manhood was tested this spring. I’m proud to say that I feel, as a team, we passed that test and now we’re ready to prepare for our next test – training camp.

The News-Sentinel: IU running back Payton puts down the pen, picks up the ‘pistol' formation

This article on me, written by Pete DiPrimio for The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, is very well done. Thanks Pete for the article, I appreciate the hometown love.

BLOOMINGTON — The columns are scrapped, but not forgotten. School and football have a way of taxing even someone as efficient with his time as Indiana University running back Bryan Payton.

So Payton’s newspaper writing — including sports and men’s fashion — will wait until a summer internship, although a blog (http://bryanpayton.blogspot.com) is still running.

A passion for writing is hard to ignore.

“I do the blog to keep honing my skills,” he said.

For now Payton, a former Concordia Lutheran High School standout, hones his spring semester academics and football timing.

Oh, yes. There’s a little thing called the “pistol” formation to master.

“It’s great for me personally and great for our offense,” he said about the new offensive wrinkle.

Payton is a 5-foot-9, 207-pound tough-minded presence in a backfield that badly needs it. Coach Bill Lynch is committed to boosting the rushing attack, and that means modifying the spread attack to include the pistol. Basically, that means the running back lines up directly behind the quarterback in a shotgun formation, as opposed to being off to the side in the true spread.

“From a running back standpoint, you get the ball a little deeper, maybe a yard,” Payton said, “but you’d be surprised about how big a difference that makes in seeing the holes, making the cuts, making the reads.”

In the spread attack, if the running back was lined up on, say, the right side, the play almost always went to that side. Now the play can go to either side. Payton took advantage of that to rush for 58 yards on six carries (including a 40-yard burst) during last Saturday’s scrimmage.

“A lot of times, if we lined up on the right, the linebackers figured we’d go that way, and 90 percent of the time they were right,” Payton said. “Now they don’t get their reads until deep into the play. That delays them and gives us a head start.”

Payton has a head start on fellow running backs Demetrius McCray, Shawn Major-Winston, Trea Burgess (a converted linebacker who gained 65 yards Saturday) and heralded freshman Darius Willis (out with a groin injury).

Payton rushed for 339 yards and two touchdowns in nine games last year before an ankle injury sidelined him for the final three games. Still, he had a career-best 4.3-yards-per-carry average.

IU coaches want that kind of production — and more — next season.

“What I’m looking more from him than anything else is leadership,” running backs coach Dennis Springer said. “He’s done a great job with that.

“Bryan has worked hard since I started coaching him. He’s working even harder now. He’s looked good this spring. He’s into it. I’m excited about where he’s at.”

Added Lynch, “Bryan had a tremendous offseason. He’s a great leader and an interesting young man. He’s a well-rounded guy, but he loves football and works as hard as anybody.”

Payton and all the Hoosiers are working to rebound from last year’s 3-9 disappointment.

“We’re very optimistic,” he said. “With the talent we have and the leadership with the senior class, things are going well.”

But not perfect, he added, as IU prepares for its April 18 spring game.

“We still have to tighten the screws a little bit. For example, I think our practice was a little subpar today. We’ll come back and get things straightened out. That’s how we need to be. Leadership will get us through. We’re (way above) where we were last year.”

Get To Know Me (Somewhat)

This video was done by an IU sports website, but the video was posted on Palestra.net. The only thing that bothers me about this video is I look a mess and I said "like" too many times. I couldn't get the embeded code uploaded to my blog so I've posted the link instead. Click on it and take a look.

http://palestra.net/videos/play/22988

Week One of Spring Ball In The Books

The first week of spring ball 2009 is in the books and I couldn’t be more pleased with the way the first week went. I felt that players competed hard from top to bottom, which made the practice week go by quickly because we were all having so much fun.

On the offensive side of the ball lots of our plays are hitting and hitting fairly often. The defense has gotten theirs too, but I’m used to the defense nearly dominating because early on, the defense is almost always ahead of the offense. I’ve never played defense, but I’m going to assume it’s because they have to think less and just fly to the ball. Early on in a training camp or spring ball, the offense has to get used to running new plays and securing the football at the same time.

The last two practices of this week were in full pads, which was a relief in many ways. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to run up the middle full speed with no pads on, but let me tell you, it can get a little dicey. With the first two unpadded practices, I’m lucky I had no unfortunate collisions because I got the ball and just ran full steam ahead – pads or no pads.

But back to today. We didn’t waste much time in getting the pads popping, as we did a drill known as “The Oklahoma Drill” to me, but I guess we could call it “The Hoosier Drill”. It was straight up old school – three lineman from both sides of the ball lined up across from each other while a ball-carrier set up behind the offensive line. Cones were set up on the outsides so the ball-carrier knew where out-of-bounds was. The objective was for the offense to score in three tries and for the defense to stop them.

Guys were getting pancaked, shalacked, hogmollied, and tossed! It was great. With every play that was made, guys were hooping and hollering, jumping around, slapping each other’s helmets and just hyping things up! It was a sight to see. That definitely set the tone for the remainder of practice. We went full go during our inside run periods and the last two periods of full-team drills. I broke a nice first-down run at the beginning of the period and a there were a few good runs from both D McCray and Shawn Major-Winston. The QB’s and WR’s made lots of plays as well.

I have to give a shout out to cornerback, Richard Council, for making a great interception yesterday in practice. Numerous others made great plays during the week but props goes to Richard because he dropped somewhere around six potential interceptions during last season, so us guys have been all over him all offseason for that. Nevertheless, he’s worked hard to improve his hands and the hard work is showing on the field.

We have Sunday off, a morning lift on Monday and we’re back at it on Tuesday. Tune in then for more IU Football Spring Ball features/news.

Spring Practice Has Begun!

Spring practice officially began for us Hoosiers yesterday, besides the meetings we had on Sunday and Monday, that is. I was energized by the prospects of what is to come and the team we are becoming. Yesterday was just the beginning of greatness.

The weather was perfect, 75-degrees with few clouds in the sky and a slight breeze blowing through the stadium. We practiced with no pads on, only helmets and shorts, but there was very little let up for us. Guys played fast, the defense consistently flew to the ball; the offense played hard and moved quickly. It wasn’t bad for the first day.

I read on IU’s official athletic website that I was explosive. All I can say is thank you to that, because there was only one word to some up how I felt about my performance yesterday – rusty. I felt like the obvious – like I hadn’t played football in four months. However, I don’t recall having any missed assignments (MA’s) and I didn’t put the ball on the ground (knock on wood). My fellow running backs all looked very good. It was especially nice to see D McCray out there making smooth cuts, as I’ve always loved to watch him run.

Today, I’ve been walking around with sore ankles, feet and my hip flexors keep popping. I guess that’s to be expected. I’m looking forward to a great practice tomorrow. More plays to be installed, more learning to take in and more plays to make.