4 Baylor Bears Invited to NFL Scouting Combine

Coming into this season, you could have probably guessed who three of the four Baylor football players invited to the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine (to be held beginning a week from tomorrow in Indianapolis) would be. Maybe you wouldn't have guessed Robert Griffin III because you didn't think he would go pro after this season, but you knew he had the talent to make the NFL eventually. Kendall Wright and Philip Blake (both seniors this year we knew would be leaving us) have futures in the NFL everyone saw coming.

You can't say that for the fourth name on the list-- Baylor RB Terrance Ganaway-- or at least I can't. If you had told me before this season began that Ganaway would rush for a school-record 1,547 yards, score 21 touchdowns, and top 200 yards 3 different times, I would have told you that you were crazy or RG3 was injured and out for the season. If you had told me that Ganaway would transform himself from a short-yardage mauler into a complete running back with size, speed, and at least decent lateral quickness ...wow.

I was dead wrong about Terrance Ganaway. He did all of those things, and it was incredible. Yes, I'm sure he benefited from playing in an offense with the eventual Heisman Trophy winner standing next to him in the backfield, but you cannot deny that there were times this season when Terrance Ganaway, who quit football completely a little over three years ago, was the best offensive weapon for one of the best offenses in all of college football.

I'm going to love watching Robert Griffin III play in the NFL because he is RG3, the face of a program and the symbol of the Baylor Renaissance. He has come so far and done so much for Baylor University that he demands respect and attention. He is flashy and outspoken, a born star if there ever was one. His choice of socks makes headlines. He brought a little bronze man to Waco and will probably going to get drafted in the top 3 of the First Round. We have always expected and received greatness from him and I don't think that's changing in the NFL. I will root for his team no matter who it is. Yes, even the Redskins.

I'm going to do that with Terrance Ganaway now, too, and that's something I never thought I would say. From someone of whom we (I) expected so little, we received so much. He didn't do it in the spotlight; he didn't grab your attention and make you say "wow, THAT guy is amazing." But he was amazing and I couldn't be happier for him. I can't think of a player who, during his time at Baylor, has come further.