I wasn't surprised when I saw Brandon Real was left off the Big 33 team roster. No matter what he has been able to do on the field, the West York senior seems to be overlooked. So even though his talent and his accomplishments make him seem like a smart pick, it was no shock when the coaches went with players who have received more attention from Division I programs.
The silver lining for Real is that he came very close to earning one of those sought-after roster spots, according to this column by Rod Frisco of the Patriot-News. Frisco writes:
This year's Big 33 head coach, Tim Janocko of Clearfield, runs the spread, which places just one running back on the field at a time, so he needed just two running backs on the team.
There were 54 running backs nominated this year. The RB-LB committee had to watch tape on all of them, and come up with two.
Even with the spread offense, I'm not sure they couldn't have gone with a third running back, especially considering that's about the minimum you'll see from a team in a regular season game. Anyway, Blackhawk coach Joe Hamilton, chaired the eight-man committee that was charged with picking the linebackers and the running backs. tells Frisco more details about the process and said he cut the 54 nominations down to 10 semifinalists.
Jeremiah Young was in that list of 10. So was West York's Brandon Real. So were the two players eventually picked for the game, West Catholic's Rob Hollomon and Bethel Park's Lyle Marsh.
The committee voted to reduce the list of 10 to five. Young and Real made that cut. And the decision got much tougher."Those guys were really in a group," Hamilton said. "There wasn't much separating them at all. But our job was to pick the two best kids to help us beat Ohio."
So Real was close, but ultimately deemed unworthy to get on the field with William Penn's Malik Generett (the only YAIAA player selected) for the big game. For what it's worth, I still think the Pennsylvania team would be much better off with him on the roster.
Now I want to hear from you guys, and be honest: Do you think a Real selection would give this state a better chance of beating our neighbors to the west? Let your voice be heard in the comments section.
Its simple. If Real had a Division I scholarship in hand, he'd be on the team. Since he doesn't, he was left off.
I think Brandon should of made the team as a punt and kickoff returner,if they didn't need him at running back.I don't think there can be anyone in the state that returned more kicks for TD.I might be wrong,but thats just my opinion.
Brandon Real should have made the Big 33. His stats were far more impressive than Penn State's Knowledge Timmons, who made the squad some years ago. Politics!
I saw brandon in person all season long - everytime he touched the ball it seemed he could score and many times he did. Seeing him on film does not do him justice. The PA team would be better off with him on the team - for his return skills alone.
I have to agree with Terry's comment. I'm not convinced that his not being a RB is a COMPLETE snub (it's close, very close); but the fact he wasn't selected as a return specialist is dumb.
Brandon would have made a great addition in that role, especially considering how important field position is. I could have easily seen him making a game-chaning punt/kick return in a close battle...
oh well..good luck in College (wherever that may be)