You may have read my Tuesday blog post on Arkansas’ 2010 media guide and the many things we learned by skimming through the pages.
If you didn’t, feel free to click this link and take a look.
There was one question I posed regarding Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, who graces the cover: When was the last time an Arkansas player stood alone on the cover of the Razorbacks’ media guide? I couldn’t come up with the answer, but, luckily, Arkansas’ media relations department did a lot of research to help.
What they found out was pretty interesting.
Arkansas searched back through its media guides dating back to 1949 and looked for any year one player who stood alone on the cover. According to the Razorbacks, Mallett is the only player they could find during that time whose name appeared on the cover as well. In other words – other players were alone on the cover but they were featured in game action shots and the player’s name did not appear on the cover. Arkansas used game action photos for its guides from 1976 back.
Here are some more details Arkansas came up with in response to my question:
1990 – Quinn Grovey and Coach Jack Crowe on the cover together (Grovey’s name appeared on the cover).
1976 – Steve Little photo (his name did not appear on the cover)
1973 – Dickey Morton (his name did not appear on the cover)
1972 – Joe Ferguson (his name did not appear on the cover)
1950 – Joe Dugan (his name did not appear on the cover)
What does it all mean? Well, not much other than the fact it’s obvious Arkansas is doing its best to push Mallett as the face of the program for the 2010 season. He will be one of three players Arkansas will bring to SEC Media Days on Thursday (along with TE D.J. Williams and DE Jake Bequette) and was named the first-team quarterback on the coaches’ All-SEC team Tuesday. He became the first Arkansas quarterback named to an All-SEC preseason team in the process.
We’ll have much more on Mallett and the rest of the Razorbacks on Thursday. Stay tuned here for much more on the first day of SEC Media Days.
Get frequent updates from Robbie Neiswanger throughout the day from SEC Media Days by following him on Twitter (@NWARobbie)
August 6th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Mallett may be good, but Joe Dugan was a BEAST. Not a big guy, but could run with the wind. It is 60 years ago, but please don’t forget the past. We graduated from the same high school 22 years apart but his legacy was still there. Western Military Academy, Alton Illinois. Joe still lives in Arkansas and if you are a Razorback fan, you should try and contact him. HE WAS A BEAST!