The Rise & Fall of James Starks

Posted by RosteBeefe on Aug 29, 2012 in Packers | 2 comments

GREEN BAY PACKERS JAMES STARKS CAREER IS HEADED FOR THE COMPOST PILE.

Often I have bought cut flowers from the farmers market and got them home and I was so enamored with them.  Their colors their smell, they made the house a home.  Surely, they would last for weeks.  The next morning sadly I realized, these flowers were not meant to live in a vase.  Their time was limited and soon they found their way to the compost pile.  (If I had a compost pile.)

That’s how I feel about James Starks.  He came out of nowhere, Buffalo actually, as a 6th round super Ted Thompson sleeper.  If not for an injury he might of been a sleeper Heisman candidate.  Maybe the injury thing wasn’t a fluke.   He ran like Ricky Waters and looked special.  He took the mediocre Packers and made them Superbowl champs.  I know he didn’t do it himself, but I was sold.  Hell I went to great lengths to tell the world he would be a pro-bowler.  Yes I did.

This year, they shipped Ryan Grant to the land of of forgotten running backs (say hi to Clinton Portis, Jamaal Lewis and Ahman Green for me) and ignored Michael Bush and Micheal Tolbert (doh?) as options at running backs and said to JAMES, “You are the centerpiece at our RB table!”

Well shit the bed, but Mr. Starks has shriveled and wilted.  He has looked tentative, dropped balls, missed blitz pickups, pissed off Aaron Rodgers and fumbled…. all in the pre-season.  And then he got hurt. AGAIN.  Just like last year AND in college.  This is the exact recipe to get a free “get kicked out of the NFL card”.   Not able to stay on the field and hurting your team on the field when you have chances.    Here is a recent Mike McCarthy quote:

“James Starks, just talking to the medical staff, is coming along slow,” coach Mike McCarthy said after practice Tuesday. “So we’ll just continue to treat him. He hasn’t made a whole of progress here of late.”  OH SHIT!  

Making matters even worse is, where is the upside?  At his best, he looks like he can’t take it to the house or finish off a 2 yard run.

Look for him to be put on PUP list or simply taken to the compost pile, where he likely won’t be a given another chance.

Ceddy Bear, Alex Green, Brandon Saine, and Kuhn all bring something different to the mix and as a 4 headed monster are pretty good in a pass first, second, and third option offense.

I wish I was wrong.

The last two Packers jersey I have purchased are Terry Glenn (83) and James Starks (44).   Remind me not to buy an Aaron Rodgers jersey.

– Roste Beefe