Spring break: New Jersey
Whenever wideout Keith Kirkwood goes back to New Jersey, the first stop is to see his grandmother, Mildred Kirkwood.
She celebrated her 90th birthday last month, grateful for good health, family and friends. “She’s still living the life,” Kirkwood said.
Last season, Kirkwood wore No. 89, in tribute to her age. This season, he requested No. 9, for her ninth decade.
Kirkwood also makes sure to stop by an oceanfront area in Hazlet, N.J.. He said he goes there during the day. “I like the view,” he said. “I can go there and just let my mind free.”
Even in New Jersey, Kirkwood said, he sticks to a workout schedule in preparation for next week’s start of spring training.
“To be honest, Hawaii is feeling like home,” Kirkwood said. “I’ll always have my family here (in New Jersey). Hawaii has that family feel. The brotherhood of the team … that’s my team.”
Besides, Kirkwood remains in daily contact with his grandmother.
“We FaceTime,” Kirkwood said.
mornin’
It’s impressive that his 90 year old grandmother knows how to FaceTime. Maybe she will work her way to Skype.
“To be honest, Hawaii is feeling like home,” Kirkwood said.
.. good to hear that …
My 90 year old uncle barely knows how to use a computer.
Aloha all, I was attempting to figure out what the defensive end numbers from the Combine could mean, relative to how Tavita Woodward did at his recent pro day. Thus, I’ll look at how other top rated DEs performed at the recent combine and then look at a handful of metrics that perhaps will allow us to perhaps understand the individual results better.
So let’s start by looking at how the DEs fit the target test results for Combine measurements, with the Combine numbers for NFL All-Pros, DeMarcus Ware and J.J. Watt included as a high baseline reference:
Drill Significance Defensive Ends Ware Watt
40-yard dash Speed over distance 4.85 4.56 4.81
225-pound bench press reps Upper body strength 24 27 34
Vertical jump Explosiveness, leg strength 33 38.5 37
Broad jump Explosiveness, leg strength 9’9” (117 inches) 10’2” 10’0”
20-yard shuttle Flexibility, burst, balance 4.30 4.07 4.21
3-cone drill Agility, change of direction 7.35 6.85 6.88
Tavita Woodard
Honolulu
Linebacker/tight end
Height: 6-33/8
Weight: 250
Hand: 91/8 inches
Reach: 331/2 inches
Wing span: 801/8 inches
40-yard dash: 4.65 seconds
Vertical jump: 381/2 inches
Broad jump: 9 feet, 10 inches
225-pound bench: 24 reps
The following is the 9 top rated DEs that performed at the combine:
1 Clowney, Jadeveon 6-5 266 1 4.53 21 37.5 124 7.27 4
17 Ealy, Kony 6-4 273 1 4.92 22 31 114 6.83 1
21 Ford, Dee 6-2 252 1 0
42 Crichton, Scott 6-3 273 2 4.84 24 31.5 108 4.29 7.19 4
51 Jeffcoat, Jackson 6-3 247 2 4.63 18 36 123 4.18 6.97 5
70 Smith, Marcus 6-3 251 2-3 4.68 23 35 121 7.48 3
80 Smith, Chris 6-1 266 2-3 4.71 28 37 121 7.55 4
90 Martin, Kareem 6-6 272 3 4.72 22 35.5 129 4.33 7.2 4
108 Lawrence, Demarcus 6-3 251 3-4 4.80 20 34.5 113 4.31 7.46
As you can tell, Tavita, fares very well in many different areas, at least on a pure nominal basis. He has the the 3rd fastest 40 time. Tied for 1st in vertical leap with DeMarcus Ware. Above average in the broad jump. And smack in the middle of the pack in size and weight (although his weight is just a smidge below average. He is 2nd in the nine top rated rated combine DEs in the bench at 24.
Overall, a rather impressive physical showing—that still has some room for improvement.
Keith Kirkwood comes from a solid family. His Grandmother must be so happy to see him.
Boola: thanks for sharing!
5. Then come the stats that matter. .5 sacks 5 TFL….. The pro day numbers don’t mean anything but a free agent try out.
Good morning Tsaikos!
Hope you all had a good weekend.
UH and some private schools on Spring Break this week. Less traffic! 😀
Yeah, it is an impressive showing but the true test is against another human trying to stop you. Like Bruce Lee said to Oharra in “Enter the Dragon”, “Boards don’t hit back”.
8–Jeezy–indeed true. My point was to point out how on five of the nine measurables, Tavita was in the top three in more than half of the areas. Like anything else, you have to be productive. Now that said, there are numerous examples of players lacking big-time numbers in college, only to prove other wise in the pros….e.g.Arian Foster….thus, questions of scheme, playing out of position, surrounding talent, injury, and motivation then come into play.
Or a teammate of mine, who had literally no numbers of any consequence in college…Mark Tuinei–three Super Bowl rings and a couple of pro bowls later; Jesse Sapolu are the most accomplished and recognized O-lineman in UH history.
Any word on what may be going on with Samson Satele? Any teams interested in signing him?
11. I get what you’re saying but Arian Foster was the top SEC RB going into his senior year. 1,193 yards as a junior in the top conference in the country. At some point, you gotta produce on the field to get any attention from scouts. I do think Woodard has the measurables to get a try out, but that’s about it… hopefully he can make the best of it. From there, it’s very difficult to make a practice squad. It is easy to name the handful of exceptions to the rule. But for every Arian Foster and Davone Bess out there, there are 1000’s of guys who don’t last a week. Guys on Hard Knocks last a day sometimes.
Woodard admittedly had some off-field issues that appeared to have hindered his play. One of the realities is the game is played by young people who go through ups and downs in college. That’s life. Life’s not perfect.
I’m not sure how Woodard was able to balance football, school and raising three kids.
I don’t know what Face Time is, but thanks, ST, for continuing to put a face on our team.
Again my point, was not to hype him–as his lack of productivity is glaring, but to acknowledge that he has a fairly rare skill set and bodytype. Bigger guys with some height, coupled with natural strength and speed are rare breed. It is the reason why a guy like Mark Tuinei, who had a nice highlight, reel, (he did start as a sophmore at UCLA) but nothing sustanined or a large picece of work, was given actually a couple looks in the pros.
Knowing that really big athletic guys are hard to find, the Cowboys actually tried him at several positions. The thing about Mark, for those who either knew him or played with him, is that he had a nice football mean streak. Now–that you cannot teach—so, when he gained some weight and moved to the other side of the line, to arguably the one of the most difficult positions, outside of QB, in all of football–left tackle–the Cowboys gave him some time and patience to learnd and grow into the position.
Now, I cannot say what will happen with Tavita–but his is not just a one dimensional attribute, say a fast 40, he is clicking in several different areas–so, my guess is, that some team, will judge it accordingly, and see if he can be used in several different areas. He certainly has a body that can put on easily another 10-15 pounds with legitmate strength and speed to be used in special teams…lets see.
Good morning everyone!
Spring break and a beautiful but quiet day in the quarry?
5. I don’t know how these blog things work – but why are you asking/posting about Tavita Woodward when this blog is about Keith Kirkwood?
So where the spring break flotilla stay this year?
How come public schools and private schools have different spring-break weeks?
readergirl, no worries, the blog topic is a starting point and most everything goes after that. That’s how this blog thing works.
No furloughs anymore so lots of sick leaves this week in Manoa.
Guud Morning Tsaikos…bootiful day.
Mahalos bula for the research..very interesting stuff. I get what all the stats represent. Me thinks the thing that separates the pros from others is the mental approach and the non-measurable…heart/motivation.
I remember one interview of a nfl pro lineman and the question was about what got his motor going….and he said on every play he feels like the guy opposite him was trying to take food and shelter from his family. He wasn’t about to let his family go hungry and without shelter.
Great story about Keith Kirkwood. Looking forward to seeing him on the field this season.
Speaking of technology and old folks, I was at the Apple store in Ala Moana the other day and there was a workshop going on. I think all of those in attendance were Makules. I give them credit for making the effort to learn new things. That’s one of the things that keep them young.
ooops…da master is yelling at me to clean da garden….aloha..
boolakanaka, thanks for doing the work, interesting comparisons.
Different spring break weeks benefits commuters, especially the westside. Best spring break collaboration ever.
Hey we made the news! ……but we got diverted to LA with now ETA thus far.
Northshore…You are right! I think there are 2-3 schools out there for the pros. I got more than a couple friends that played on sundays, and they are divided into the following:
* those who just totally love the game;
* those who love to compete; and
* and those who will not allow you to take bread and roof away from my family.
Now, its when you get the guy that has impetus from all of the above, when things get interesting. The more interesting question is whether you prefer the guy he has a great motor, but just average athletic skills, or do you prefer the more elite athlete and get him motivated. For many, they rather have the former situation to deal with, but I think they are equally preplexing as the margin are so tight in regards to athleticism, that require the same amount of energy.
RE: #26
Yup, we who grew up admiring Dick Tracy’s wrist watch radio in the comics find this new stuff amazing.
jalansky — FaceTime is video conferencing with your smart phone. In this case, an iPhone unless Kirkwood is using the term generically.
Still waiting for the flying car like on the Jetsons. Maybe not in my lifetime:-)
Speak of the devil, the old talent scout Gil Brandt (of Cowboys fame) just posted this today about 30 minutes ago:
One player from Hawaii has a chance to be a priority free-agent pickup following the 2014 NFL Draft.
Tavita Woodard, DE (6-foot-3 3/8, 250 pounds) — Woodard ran the 40-yard dash in 4.70 and 4.74 seconds. He had a 38 1/2-inch vertical jump and 9-foot-9 broad jump. He did the short shuttle in 4.33 seconds and the three-cone drill in 7.04 seconds. Woodard, who has 33 1/2-inch arms, did 23 lifts of 225 pounds on the bench press. He worked out in front of an audience of 10 NFL teams. Woodard has good measurables, and could get a look from an NFL team as a defensive end or outside linebacker.
ST:
with spring break at UH, are the lower campus facilities open / available to students?
why so much “sick time” – presume it’s for the staff so they can go holo holo?
yep, traffic on Pali Hwy is GREAT!!!!!!!!
Tavita prepared for the pro day with Chad Ikei. Chad mentioned before pro day that Tavita was going to open some eyes.
boola:
what is a “priority free-agent” pick-up?
is this like a ‘preferred walk-on” where the player deserves a greater/better chance for invitation to a team?
DOE changed their Spring Break week. It used to always be the week of Kuhio Day, so now the kids get an extra day off, the week AFTER Spring Break. Don’t understand.
MPI has a 2-week Spring Break. 😀
37–A-House: It just means that teams are already contacting him, and telling him, he is being considered to be drafted in the late rounds, and if not, they are already prepared to bring him in as a free agent.
Did any of those folks at the Pro Day trials train at the Kemoeatu (sp?) facility?
speaking of Pali Hwy – last Tuesday, I’m tooling up Pali and come to a dead halt just past Waokananka
then, we crawl all the way up to the Nuuanu Reservoir and at the entrance is a HPU bus on the side of the road with a police car – reason for the LARGE BACK UP -all dose rubba neckers – bless all those traveling to the windward side at that time
# 38 .
DOE changed their Spring Break week. It used to always be the week of Kuhio Day, so now the kids get an extra day off, the week AFTER Spring Break. *** Don’t understand. ***
I understand – Teachers get an extra day off too !!! … yee haaaa
Buffoman:
I don’t think anybody did, but that facility is relatively new.
3 prong, saw the news. also said that you were on the ground in LAX for an hour before disembarking. hope all is well.
Thanks, SteveM. And thanks to boola for the invaluable perspective. Kirkwood: we always root for a young person like that. After saying no to parents’ wishes that he stay close to home, he not only comes to Hawaii but he “gets it” about our place. I suspect that before he is done he will have blossomed into a true team leader.
Kirkwood – Quality player and quality person. Great Warrior!
Happy to see the news about Tavita. Hope it works out for him.
GO WARRIORS!!!
43…i am hearing that attendance is multiplying by the week.
boola:
thanks for your #39
best to Tavita!!!!!!!
Per Mike Cherry HNN:
Source confirms BYUH considering cutting athletics and meeting at 1:00pm today.
.. just TERRIBLE.
…these receivers. I have a feeling that this crop of receivers we have will turn out to be a great group of productive receivers (as long as we can get the ball to them). I know Jeezy doesn’t like to measure based only on H.S. film of highlights, but that’s all we got so far, aside form the glimpse of talent shown this past year for some of them. But not a bad group at all…I just hope they all loving the island life like Kirkwood
Ammon Barker
Marcus Kemp
Keith Kirkwood
Vasquez Haynes
Mark Richards
Darrian Josey
Don-yeh Patterson
Devan Stubblefield
Quiton Pedroza
Donald Lambert
Scott Harding
Keelan Ewalinko
Duke Bukoski
Bubba Poueu Luna
Donnie King
It’s exciting!!! is it fall yet?
kevin, thanks for the news and hope they do not cut their athletic program. this will directly affect HPU and UH Hilo. hate to think the worse, but in lean times like this, this is highly possible.
18. All I said was his pro day numbers only confirm that he will get a free agent look. As you can see in #8. And you basically acknowledged that by posting what Gil Brandt said… Hopefully he goes to a team with the right fit and a good coach that can develop him. His only shot in my eyes is 3-4 OLB.
opinion poll:
if UH had to cut “men” sports – what would be your top 4 and how would this affect the wahine side? mix and match if necessary.
while I hope that 2014 football breaks even or makes a profit, I cannot see such an event occurring – breaking even means they can sustain all the “non-revenue” sports and other revenue ones making a profit, however small, to off-set the non-revenue ones.
col, don’t really understand the numbers, but think you can knock off the top 4 mens sports and not affect the women sport numbers. if you want to cut womens scholies, you need to cut football scholies. football is the magic number that drives the scholies.
53. Golf, Swimming, Tennis, Co ed sailing.
Womens Tennis, Sand Volleyball, and Golf can say bye bye..
You can’t too many sports without endangering UH’s D-I status. Sailing might be the most decorated UH team.
boola, das why I not one coach ….to be able to assess kids to find the one who has the intangibles is really tough. We berate our coaches because a prospect might not pan out but we probably wouldn’t do any better.
BUT….we do find those gems…like Kirkwood…quality athlete but more importantly a quality person. I know the Warriors are chock full of kids like that. Our coaches have done a good job with the kind of recruits we get.
Good responsible kid
Good student
Good athlete
😳 You can’t CUT too many…
JM is right. As discussed over and over again matching womens and mens schollies is one thing but <b)having the right amount of sports overall to satisfy D1 and conference requirements is another vital piece of the puzzle.
UH is at 20 overall sports and I believe to meet D1 status you need to field 17… I THINK.
NCAA DIVISION ONE REQUIREMENTS (from Wikipedia):
All D-I schools must field teams in at least seven sports for men and seven for women or six for men and eight for women, with at least two team sports for each gender.[8] There are several other NCAA sanctioned minimums and differences that distinguish Division I from Divisions II and III.[8]
UH men with 7 teams, not much fat to cut. Sailing team without any scholarships – women, men or coed, zero scholies. All for the love of the sport.
UH 7 men’s teams can offer a max of 133.10 scholarships, women 10 teams up to 112.0 scholarships, therefore, women should be able to add a sport to up grade to 133.0 scholarships. For title IX UH can’t cut women, and UH needs the men’s team to remain D1 or go with 6 men’s teams…Is there a BW team requirement?
No need cut any sports, just get better. If still lose money after 5-10 years then have Apple clear the slate again. Easy.
I’m at UH, minding my own business — OK, not really — when I see cornerback Barry Higdon dive for a pass during an unsupervised drill. He stands up, screaming in pain. They take off his glove and a bone is sticking out through the skin.
I might have blacked out after that.
Bob Wagner had a good suggestion once: Make football a co-ed sport.
Silly question, I suppose, but if you’re adopted by a Hawaiian family but have no Hawaiian blood, are you eligible for Kamehameha Schools admission or homestead land?
Guess I won’t be seeking Bob Wagner for any good suggestions.
Blood quantum…
Yikes! Bone! Not good.
Better a broken bone than ligament/tendon tears.
Ugh..bone through the skin is no good…pins, antibiotics, stitching, cast..got to watch for infevtion.
Best healing wishes for Barry Higdon!
This reminded me of a story I read a few years back. There was an unrecruited (because of his size) senior who was tossing a football around with friends one Sunday afternoon. Roosevelt high school field, I think. A UH coach or assistant was in the area on other business but watched this kid repeatedly dive into the dirt and gravel to catch passes. After many attempts he was skinned and bloody but he hung on to the ball. He was offered a walk-on opportunity at UH that day. His name was Chad Owens.
67-ST, those are two different questions. For KS, ancestry needs to be established to a native Hawaiian bloodline, but the admission policy at KS is open to non-native Hawaiians, if all seats, at each three campuses are NOT filled by qualified native applicants. There is no blood quantum.
As for homestead qualification, the definition is a quantum, as defined by the Hawaiian Homelands commission of 1921.
Thanks.
The topic reminded me of how Tom Hagen can never run the Corleone family.
THERE ARE SOME SAMOAN ATHLETES ENROLLED AT KAMEHAMEHA, TOO.
Speaking of Kamehameha Schools, it reminded me of a funny scene on one of the Na Hoku Hanohano award Shows. A group of local musicians were proudly reveling in the fact that they all went to “Kam School” (as they put it). One of them turned to the late Moe Keale and asked him if he also went to “Kam School.” Without missing a beat, Keale said,
“Yeah, yeah. I went KAMUKI” as in Kaimuki Bulldog.
My wife swears that Kamehameha Schools will admit a Native American student before others, if there are spaces not taken by Hawaiians. I’ve never heard that, before. She had debated enrolling her son (3/4 Iñuit).
Any word on the coaching openings? We do not have many offensive coaches. Chow and Winn cant do everything
Yes, best healing wishes for Barry Higdon!
Yes, we need a good QB to throw the ball to these receivers we have on our team… Do we have one? Since Graham, I want to wait and see if Riley practice and may be even play first before I judge. But then again, may be there is hope that Graham may have gotten better because he has one year of experience now. Schroeder got a lot better in his second year. (If you look at the past – Robinson got pretty good his final year, Rolo got really good the second time around)
It does look like we have more depth in all positions… I hope that everyone can stay healthy!!
2015 is another critical year for recruits because we have a lot of great players coming out of high schools!! May be if Tsai Ko or someone can give us a preview? But then again, may be we shouldn’t because if we make a list, Pac-12, Conference USA and other Mountain West teams may based on the same list to out-recruit UH…
Unfortunate to hear about Higdon. I’m gonna assume he is gonna miss Spring Ball and also is not gonna be able to do any upper body workouts for a while. He needs the reps both in the gym and at practice. Tough break literally.
#50, back in the day, Mark Richards aka “the wounded gull” won 4 straight World Surfing Titles.
It was politically incorrect to say MR, but he made to cool by placing it inside the Superman Logo.
Oh BTW, Mack Richards is going on his LDS mission this summer 🙂
Healing wishes to Barry for a complete and speedy recovery.
Secondly, I believe UH football is profitable but not enough to cover the other UH sports. I think it was either Wahine basketball or softball lost $1 million dollars in the 2012 fiscal year. I apologize if I’m wrong but that’s what I remember.
Sorry to hear about Barry Higdon. Bones do heal but it takes time. Get well!
tommui…your middle blocker is a shorter 6’2″. former fab 50 (37th).
transfer from arizona. olivia magill.
ouch!
a compound fracture takes awhile to heal.
Godspeed your recovery.
If the workouts are unsupervised, was there medical staff on hand? Or did braddah have to jump in the car and tough it out all the way to the hospital? That sounds like it hurt. Feel really bad for him. Wasn’t Higdon one of the young guys who was hoped to have a break out year?
whitey, Father in law’s condition got us standby on the later flight. hawn staff at gate were compationate and accommodating. No bags till tomorrow but at least we are on the rock again. The rest of the passengers are in LA tonight catching the 8:40am flight tomorrow. Flight attendants even gave us free greenies in the can. Hit the spot on our 20 hour ordeal. Only on Hawaiian!!
way off-topic …
per Chris Mortensen – Mark Sanchez to Iggles ?
“Sanchez “failed physical” termination w Jets was protocol. Won’t affect next step – signing with Eagles. He’s on good recovery from surgery.”
jus’ rambling ….
so now the “trade” is completed …
Olivia Magill for Jane Croson.
movin on up …
Wisconsin: The school has announced the details of Gary Andersen’s contract extension. Andersen will earn $2.2 million in 2014 — up from $1.8 million last season — with a $100,000 increase annually through the 2018 season.
100.
UH had a transfer DB from Kansas….Johnny Mears out of Bakerfield Cal. On a change of possession Johnny came to the sidelines and said “I think I got a problem…..bone was sticking out of his index finger. They taped it together and he went back out and finished the game. He may have had surgery after the season but did not want to miss playing time. He was a quiet guy with a wry smirk or smile all the time…..great player and teamate—-
76 and 78. The Native Hawaiian prefernce policy is only for native Hawaiians, and does not extend to other polynesian and/or native groups. Thus, they would have to show blood lineage, at some point, to a Native Hawaiian ancestor. However, again, they could have gained admission is all the seats, were NOT filled by native Hawaiian applicants.
Olease note, that Kamehameha’s preference policy is not an affirmative action program, designed to mirror societal diversity within an institution. Rather, Kamehameha Schools provides a specific remedy for a specific people, preparing Native Hawaiians to take part in providing the diversified leadership necessary for a great society.
The decline of the Hawaiian people was swift and severe. A population estimated to be 800,000 prior to Western Contact in 1778 had dwindled to just 46,000 when Princess Pauahi wrote her will a century later. Kamehameha Schools has been working to fulfill Pauahi’s vision to correct the manifest imbalances for 118 years.
Kamehameha’s policy of giving preference to applicants of Native Hawaiian ancestry is intended to focus the educational remedy that this unique institution provides on the specific indigenous group that suffered generations of harm in their own homeland
Three straight losing seasons. Das why hard…
good morning tsaikos
3 prong, am glad to hear you arrived home safely. greenies in a can is terrible, even free. had that on a flight to manila, took one sip, and dumped it into the toilet. am glad to hear that the flight crew did their best to make sure your trip home was a good one. and your winnings was in your carry on and not the baggage. hahahahaaa
ok d1, time to wake up and hi ho hi ho
i know al sleeping so he not going be 100
good morning to our uh athletes and keep up the good work. enjoy the vacation.
GOOD MORNING HAWAII! GOOD DAY TO MY BUDDY AL!
Saw your name mentioned (in vain) on LC’s blog!
Thank you for your #85.
counselor, good morning, see both you and al do get around. hahahahaaa
Morning Whitey!
Endangering the salmon run this year?