#1 What can we learn from Matt Barkley?

What can we learn from Matt Barkley?

Plenty.

Let’s go back about 365 days.

He was seen as a top draft pick in the 2012 draft.  Experts projected him as high as the 3^rd best quarterback option behind Andrew Luck and RGIII.

He opted to stay in school for his senior year in order to win a National Championship.  All was well at this time.  The season started out great with USC ranked #1 in the nation. Praise was thrown in USC’s direction left and right.  As a So Cal fan, I had not looked forward to Saturday mornings this much since Pete Carroll was at the helm.

Things then started to take a turn for the worse…the team lost early on to Stanford, thus killing their national championship chances.  Barkley injured his shoulder and was downgraded by NFL scouts.  Now they said his arm was weak and his feet were slow.

The second guessing about the decision to stay in school had begun.  The whispers of “money left on the table” spread through the interwebs.  The Matt Barkley story would now be a cautionary tale for underclassmen who want to “stick it out” one more year.

How was he going to react?

Matt has had people throw praise his way and seen tons of success for the past 8-10 years.   Now he is facing real adversity.  Now he has to step it up and show everyone what he is really made of.  Now he is going to be dealing with the NFL and business rather than the NCAA and the classroom.

How did he react?

Through all of this, the former Gatorade National High School Player of the Year stayed positive.  He carried himself professionally.  He took all of the negativity thrown his way in perfect stride.  He has been a perfect role model for any young athlete who gets down on themselves when they feel things aren’t going their way.

THAT’S what we can learn from Matt Barkley.

We can learn that things wont always go our way.  The roses don’t always smell good…they eventually wither away and die.  But when they do, you plant more seeds, keep the roots strong, and wait for another fresh bloom.

Good times will come again for Matt Barkley.  He will continue to make Trojan nation proud.

If you put in the time, effort, and keep pushing, good things will happen.

Sometimes those things just take longer than expected.

Follow Matt on twitter @MattBarkley

*EDIT

As of November 20th, Matt is 30/49 with 300 passing yards, 0 TD’s and 4 int.  

*EDIT

As of October 20th 2014, Matt hasn’t played very much.  I wonder if this prediction of mine is worse than the Mayans end of days prophecy?