General Camp Talk/Observations

[cazzie33]

DGB was another guy that inexplicably got the hype when if you watched him you could see he had little interest in learning how to be great.

Like Hakeem Butler the athletic profile and a few dominant performances in college had me thinking that with better coaching & big money in front of them they'd apply their focus on being the best they could be. Boutte seems to be similar in that he had early success and quit working as hard somehow thinking he could just live off his reputation & turn it on when he needed to. Obviously he's not as good athletically as he once was and doesn't have the awareness to address it. Shame !

Hakeem to his credit actually has made it back to camp w/ Steelers after a good showing in one of those minor lgs. Rooting for the Butler to do it & make the squad

[honcho55]

I mean, I never invested more than a 4th round pick on him, he was always a flier, just wondering why he got so much love in college but has been such a bust so far in the NFL. I mean, it happens, just wondering WHY.

As Boutte stated, this was the first major injury of his career and it took him to a dark place. Add in that there was a new coaching staff with Brian Kelly who called him out publicly, and that didn’t help things. He further admitted that he didn’t put everything he had into his rehab at the time.

Very possible he dogged his rehab limiting how well he recovered. He certainly hasn't moved the same since the injury.

I think this is likely a large part of the answer here. We get spoiled with guys coming back from major injury nowadays, with the access to current rehab methods. Can tell ya from experience, it still ain't easy, and it still ain't a guarantee you can just return to form. Ever again, let alone quickly. High level athletes of course have a general advantage here, and freaks even moreso (I am recalling Adrian Peterson's knee surgeon saying his knee was immaculate, looked like a newborn babies or something), but like I said, it isn't nearly so much a guarantee as it sometimes seems like.

I suppose there is an outside chance that he squares away rehab and his mental state, catches on somewhere next year, and is a value? Maybe, but unlikely imo. NFL moves quick.

[Cameron Giles]

DGB was another guy that inexplicably got the hype when if you watched him you could see he had little interest in learning how to be great.

Like Hakeem Butler the athletic profile and a few dominant performances in college had me thinking that with better coaching & big money in front of them they'd apply their focus on being the best they could be. Boutte seems to be similar in that he had early success and quit working as hard somehow thinking he could just live off his reputation & turn it on when he needed to. Obviously he's not as good athletically as he once was and doesn't have the awareness to address it. Shame !

Hakeem to his credit actually has made it back to camp w/ Steelers after a good showing in one of those minor lgs. Rooting for the Butler to do it & make the squad

Then on the other hand, DGB going into his 2nd year fell off a cliff and all you heard during the offseason was about how much of a trainwreck he was. Then he eventually got traded to the Eagles for a backup OL, and was never heard from again.

[cazzie33]

DGB was another guy that inexplicably got the hype when if you watched him you could see he had little interest in learning how to be great.

Like Hakeem Butler the athletic profile and a few dominant performances in college had me thinking that with better coaching & big money in front of them they'd apply their focus on being the best they could be. Boutte seems to be similar in that he had early success and quit working as hard somehow thinking he could just live off his reputation & turn it on when he needed to. Obviously he's not as good athletically as he once was and doesn't have the awareness to address it. Shame !

Hakeem to his credit actually has made it back to camp w/ Steelers after a good showing in one of those minor lgs. Rooting for the Butler to do it & make the squad

Then on the other hand, DGB going into his 2nd year fell off a cliff and all you heard during the offseason was about how much of a trainwreck he was. Then he eventually got traded to the Eagles for a backup OL, and was never heard from again.

I remember watching DGB having a hard time @ Eagles camp catching the ball in DRILLS ... NO DEFENSE covering him at all. Sloppy footwork in & out the cone drills. Couldn't believe he even made the team out of camp. Look like the most disengaged player I've ever seen. Hope Boutte isn't that way.

Perhaps the injury truly got the best of him. Charles Rogers suffered the same issue in the pros for the Lions. Back to back seasons wiped out by injury & he went into a funk that accelerated his already known issue with drugs & alcohol plus being detached from the team structure & frustration of his body failing him. Downward spiral & then dead @ an early age. Forget football, hoping someone is helping / checking on Boutte's mental state. It's been a precipitous fall for the young man