Former MSU player on his time at MSU and life

[BlackSailsDawg]

Barely a year ago, a penalty cost a redshirt freshman at Mississippi State, a whole lot more than 15 yards. It set in motion a chain of events that landed Groce in Scooba, a place that for one-time Power Five players can feel a bit like rock bottom.

Despite an unceremonious exit from Mississippi State, Groce is still a Bulldogs fan. After an Oct. 6 game against Coahoma Community College, he even emerged from the EMCC locker room wearing a maroon MSU T-shirt.

?That?s where I started off, you feel me?? Groce said. ?I still get a chance to go watch them. They?re right up the road. I?ve still got a lot of teammates I mess with who go there.?

With Mississippi State trailing LSU 21-10 in the fourth quarter in Starkville, the Bulldogs forced the Tigers to punt.

Groce wanted to make a game-changing play.

?I was just really excited,? Groce recalled. ?It was loud in Davis Wade.?

When LSU lined up to boot the ball away, Groce left his feet and tried to propel himself over the Tigers? formation, hoping to block the kick. It didn?t work: LSU?s Avery Atkins got the punt away anyhow.

Then Groce saw the flag. He was confused.

?I didn?t know it was on me,? he said. ?When I came to the sideline and I saw everybody ? I was like, ?Oh, God.??




The consequences of Groce?s penalty went far beyond its on-field impact.

As soon as he got access to his phone in the locker room, Groce saw the social media comments from fans. Some were sent straight to him; others just mentioned him.

?Don?t let him play another snap on punt team. Ever again. Ever.?

?He should never see the field.?

?The level of stupid on this team at times is outrageous.?

Groce said he took screenshots of some of the harsh words, using them as motivation.

?I was kind of shocked, but then I kind of came back to reality,? Groce said. ?This is the SEC. This comes with it. They love you when you?re doing good. They hate you when you do bad. Just keep pushing. Keep your head straight.?

In a now-deleted tweet later that day, Groce shared one example of the online hate. By and large, Mississippi State fans backed him up, telling him to ?hang in there? and that they could forgive his mistake.



https://cdispatch.com/sports/2022-10-14/now-at-emcc-former-mississippi-state-linebacker-rodney-groce-jr-reflects-on-costly-penalty/

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Article says he didn?t know the rule. That is 100% on coaching staff.

[MaroonFlounder]

The guy wanted to make a play to gain momentum for his team. I saw very little of that last night from the guys in the new cool icy script STATE uniforms that we shit the bed in. (except Forbes INT). I would love to see Rod Groce back in maroon and a chance at redemption. It would be a great story.

Leach is "ho hum" about motivating young men. The game seems to have passed him by.

[Maroonthirteen]

Why are you bringing this up?

If you think State fans are bad, I guarantee that for every one State fan that said something to him, there are 20 at Bama/UT/UGA, x10 at Arkansas/USC/UK....that would do what he mentions. I'm not saying it is right, as matter of fact that is terrible for fans to get angry and go after individual players. Pathetic really.

However my impression of the article is, he allowed that little bit of adversity to push him to change his life. He made the decisions.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Article says he didn?t know the rule. That is 100% on coaching staff.

I'm glad you pointed that out over the fans sending him hate messages. Nice focus.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Why are you bringing this up?

If you think State fans are bad, I guarantee that for every one State fan that said something to him, there are 20 at Bama/UT/UGA, x10 at Arkansas/USC/UK....that would do what he mentions. I'm not saying it is right, as matter of fact that is terrible for fans to get angry and go after individual players. Pathetic really.

However my impression of the article is, he allowed that little bit of adversity to push him to change his life. He made the decisions.

I'm bringing it up for all of the realities it talks about. Why would that bother you?

[msugolf]

Why are you bringing this up?

If you think State fans are bad, I guarantee that for every one State fan that said something to him, there are 20 at Bama/UT/UGA, x10 at Arkansas/USC/UK....that would do what he mentions. I'm not saying it is right, as matter of fact that is terrible for fans to get angry and go after individual players. Pathetic really.

However my impression of the article is, he allowed that little bit of adversity to push him to change his life. He made the decisions.

Because he?s a troll. Ignore him and he?ll go away

[BuckyIsAB****]

Hahahaha

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I'm glad you pointed that out over the fans sending him hate messages. Nice focus.

Do you think BAMA players arent getting hate messages today? Do you think Florida players arent getting hate messages today? Do you think Auburn players arent getting hate messages today? SEC Football isnt for everyone and maybe that is why he is at Last Chance U.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Do you think BAMA players arent getting hate messages today? Do you think Florida players arent getting hate messages today? Do you think Auburn players arent getting hate messages today? SEC Football isnt for everyone and maybe that is why he is at Last Chance U.

Yep. All teams have lunatics lashing out at 18 year olds. All I stated was it's nice to see you push all of the story aside to blame the staff and then I listed 1 aspect of that story. It's just what you wanted to make out of it. A chance to bash a staff. As I stated to 13, I posted the story because it's about a former MSU player and where he is in life. I didn't focus on any one thing. You did. Where as Flounder, like myself, decided to look at the whole picture. As in, "used as motivation", "By and large, Mississippi State fans backed him up, telling him to ?hang in there?"



“You educate the guy, and then you hopefully get him motivated back to come out and compete again,” defensive coordinator Zach Arnett said a few days later. “He played for us on defense and did some good things. … He knows, and I’ll bet you he doesn’t do it again.”

[parabrave]

Dude after your hero shit the bed last night shouldn't you be concentrating all your efforts on pumping up basketball now. This isn't Genespage.

[Offshore Dawg]

Article says he didn?t know the rule. That is 100% on coaching staff.
They can learn on their own can't they ?

[BlackSailsDawg]

They can learn on their own can't they ?

He did learn on his own. The hard way.

[Todd4State]

I remember a lesson my Dad taught me. He told me the higher up you go on sports the more serious it gets. Some people can handle it and others can not. Right or wrong fans are going to criticize players. And now players are going to get even less of a pass since they are being paid now. There's no more "well he's just a kid".

[msu15]

To me that incident was more an indictment on Matt Brock than it was on Groce. Like Leach loves to say, "You're either coaching it or allowing it to happen."