To hear ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay tell it, former Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen lacks leadership skills and maturity, but other than that, Clausen apparently is a pretty good guy. "I have no idea why he says that," Clausen said Wednesday in a lengthy phone interview. "People are just going to say what they want to say. But at the end of the day, I am who I am. And the people who really know who I am, know the type of person that I am a loving, caring person [who's] a pretty good football player and a great leader on the field and off the field." As a junior, Clausen was elected a team captain. He also displayed his mettle in playing most of the season with toe ligaments he injured in September and had surgery after the season and has resumed his normal workout routine. "If I was as bad of a leader and as bad of a teammate and person that [McShay's] portraying me to be out there, I don't think anybody would have voted for me as a captain.," Clausen said. To be honest, I don't think my receivers would have come out to stay at my house with my family for a week last year before the past season in the summertime. There are just a lot of things he says that I really don't get. But that's just another person who really doesn't know who I am as a person." Source: Washington Post
He's more of a leader than anyone else in this draft...no-one else has been put through the crap on and off the field that Clausen has and come through it.
Well...I'm going to put in my .02....Jimmy is from just up the hill from me, in the neighboring county, so I've known all about him from the time he started playing football at Oaks Christian. What a little punk ass, with zero leadership skills. Has he grown up? I'm still a doubter, and he may just end up paying for it in the draft. Before any of you bozos say it.....yes, I am a Trojan, but I'm Catholic and I love Notre Dame, I only hate them for four hours, once a year, when they play my beloved USC. The only time I cheer against them... fUCLA is another story.
I live 20 minutes from Notre Dame's campus and there are all kinds of stories floating around about Jimmy. There are stories he would steal bikes to use to go from place to place on campus and just leave them. He has that Cali Surfer punk butt look to him. I'm a huge ND fan but I never really liked him.
Excuse me, he is NOT a Cali surfer at all....he's just a plain old arrogant punk...and they are bred everywhere.
