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"Some notes to digest on Kentucky Derby Day:"
– Abdul Carter's NFL career is off on the wrong foot. The Penn State standout pass rusher was selected No. 3 overall by the New York Giants and then promptly suggested that he'd like to wear No. 56. He did this knowing the greatest defensive player of all time, Lawrence Taylor, wore No. 56 and that it's been retired by the Giants. Taylor rejected the notion, comparing it to a rookie going to the Chicago Bulls and saying he'd like No. 23 (Michael Jordan). Carter was then asked about No. 11, which he wore at Penn State but is also a retired Giants' number, having belonged to Super Bowl winning quarterback Phil Simms. Carter said his future number hasn't yet been resolved. This is an example of the entitlement too many college athletes unfortunately have learned.
– Speaking of entitlement: Don't shed too many tears for Shedeur Sanders' freefall in the draft. As Colorado's quarterback last year, Sanders had a NIL valuation of $4.5 million. His collection of cars, including a Rolls Royce, approached $1 million.
– Of course, Sanders can look around the Cleveland Browns' quarterback room and feel like a Cub Scout next to Deshaun Watson.
– If a retired number is going to be used, it should come voluntarily from the retired player. Warren Moon showed up with a No. 1 jersey and handed it to Tennessee's No. 1 overall pick, Cam Ward. One difference is Moon never played for Tennessee. He starred for the Houston Oilers before they moved to Nashville.
– At what point will North Carolina realize it made a mistake in hiring Bill Belichick and all his baggage?
– The biggest storyline of Penn State's 2024 season (and how it's addressed in 2025) was the lack of productive wide receivers (zero catches in the come-from-ahead loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl). In that regard, KeAndre Lambert-Smith was proven right. After four years, KLS fell out of favor at Penn State (once Mike Yurcich was dismissed) and transferred to Auburn. Julian Fleming was supposed to replace him but didn't. Lambert Smith caught 50 passes, including eight touchdowns, for Auburn last year and was drafted in the fifth round.
– From what we saw in the Blue-White game, Jaxon Smolik should be the frontrunner for the backup quarterback job ahead of Ethan Grunkemeyer. It was one game, granted, but it's important in that next year's backup could have the inside track to succeed Drew Allar.
– Two books to plug: "Johnstown Basketball," by Bradley Huebner includes Altoona mentions in the fabled Cambria County War Memorial Tournament (forward written by Gene Banks) and "Men in White," by Chris Raymond, a complete story of the Penn State football team (Bill O'Brien, Michael Mauti, Mike Zordich, Matt McGloin and many others) that showed incredible leadership following the Sandusky scandal. Both are available via Amazon.
– None other than former Altoona Mountain Lions football coach Ed Dalton has surfaced as the new coach at River Valley in Indiana County. Dalton, 65, is a nomadic, colorful character who will bring much interest to that merged community (Blairsville, Saltsburg). No coach has ever used more first-quarter timeouts but he's won at all previous stops — Purchase Line, Mount Pleasant, Altoona, Trinity and McGuffey.
– The Kentucky Derby is the greatest two minutes in sports and special to me because my late dad, David Rudel, would offer his pick to the Mirror, and we had fun with that. He'd say: "Tell your buddy Larry (McAleer)" and give me the selection. He never took the chalk favorite, and this year it's Journalism at 7-2. For me, there's no other choice as we all need Journalism. Even Dad would agree.
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.