Dede Westbrook hasnt prepared a Heisman Trophy speech for Saturday night. He doesnt think hell need one because, as he put it: Im not expecting to get up there.This has been one of the greatest weeks of his life. A Big 12 championship on Saturday. Heisman finalist on Monday. Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year on Wednesday. The Biletnikoff Award, as the nations top receiver, on Thursday. New York City on Friday.Through it all, Westbrook has been thinking about who hed like to thank.This was never part of the plan, Westbrook said.Two of the coaches who always believed in him -- one he played for, one he didnt -- couldnt be prouder of Westbrook and the role they played in guiding him years before he would become the best receiver in college football at Oklahoma. Hes glad Rick Rhoades and Brad Franchione were two of the many who never let him quit.He calls Rhoades, his head coach at Cameron (Texas) Yoe High School, a father figure. During OUs Thanksgiving bye week two weeks ago, he went home and met up with Rhoades at a Cameron Yoe playoff game. Rhoades, now the coach and AD at Gregory-Portland, asked Westbrook how he was enjoying his newfound stardom.He told me that when it first started it was really neat that everybody recognized him, Rhoades said. Now its just a pain. He has to send his sister to Wal-Mart if he needs something, because if not, everybody in the world stops him and wants to get a picture with him.Its all a far cry from the anonymity he felt in his final year at Cameron Yoe, when he encountered the first major setback that jeopardized his playing career and future. There would be many more on his winding path to Oklahoma.It was a freak injury. Theres really no other way to describe it.Midway through the 2011 season, Westbrook was playing defensive back against McGregor High. He got tangled up with a receiver when they both went up for a ball.As he came down, he put his knee up to break his fall, and I kind of landed on top of him. Me being on top of him, his knee went up into my stomach and he ruptured my small intestines, Westbrook said.The knee struck him right in between his protective rib pads. Westbrook managed to walk off the field, Rhoades said, but the pain overwhelmed him when he got to the sideline. An operation to repair the injury required 18 staples and and left a six-inch scar from his chest down to his belly button.They were telling me Id never play football again, Westbrook said.His senior season was over. He lost a bunch of weight. His grades suffered. The college recruiters started backing off. In some ways, Westbrook had briefly lost his identity.Franchione did not give up on him. The Texas State assistant coach and son of head coach Dennis Franchione kept sending Westbrook letters during his five-day hospital stay and recovery. He came up with an academic plan to get Westbrook qualified. He sold him on the idea of staying closer to Cameron, a town of about 5,000.They were so family-oriented, Westbrook said, and they never turned on me.Westbrook committed to Texas State in November 2011. That spring, his chances of qualifying all came down to an SAT score. And after multiple attempts, he got the score he needed.But it was such an improvement from his previous score, Rhoades said, that the NCAA flagged it and never validated the score.So Franchione called his buddies at Blinn College, a junior college located an hour away from Cameron in Brenham, Texas. Hed been the head coach there for six years and led two NJCAA national title teams, including the 2009 squad starring Cam Newton. He knew the coaches there would take good care of Westbrook.I told their coach wed sure love to have him back, Franchione said, but it may be a pipe dream.Westbrook got off to a hot start at Blinn in 2012: 12 catches, 428 receiving yards, five TDs. And then he got hurt. This one wasnt major, but it was enough to throw him off course. He quit going to practice. He quit going to class. Rhoades said nobody at Blinn could find him.He dropped out and went home to Cameron. He needed a break and wanted time with his two young children, Vincent and Destiny. He didnt go back to Blinn in 2013.I was done with football, Westbrook said. I didnt want to play any longer. Id been playing since I was 7 years old and I was tired of it. I just wanted to get away from the game.Franchione still didnt give up on Westbrook, even when coaches warned him he was spinning his wheels. He kept urging the reluctant star to go back to school, to think about the bright future he was turning his back on.I told him, Youve got these little ones and want to know how youre gonna take care of them, Franchione said. Youve got a gift on the football field. The only way to give that gift to your kids is by doing your classwork and getting to that next level.With the help and convincing of Blinn coach Keith Thomas, who let Westbrook bring his children to practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the receiver returned to school and to football in 2014.I was dying to be back out there, Westbrook said. It gave me that hunger and that mentality that Ill work my tail off because its not promised to any of us.After returning, Westbrook finished with nearly 1,500 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in just eight games. He suddenly had a long list of scholarship offers. He told Franchione he still wanted to go to Texas State. The assistants four-year investment was finally going to pay off.I remember celebrating and probably speaking too soon to our coaches at Texas State that we had him, Franchione said. I kind of regret opening my mouth. I remember some of them looking at me like I was crazy.The next day, Oklahoma came and offered him.What would have happened had he gone to Texas State? Franchione says there was no ceiling. They wouldve built the offense around him and even planned to let him play some Wildcat quarterback. For a coaching staff that got laid off after going 3-9 in 2015, its a difficult what if.Things would be a lot different, Westbrook said Wednesday after landing in Atlanta for the Biletnikoff Award ceremony. No disrespect to Texas State, but I probably wouldnt be where I am right now.When DEDE WESTBROOK appeared on his TV screen Monday night, when he saw his mug shot and knew it was real, his jaw dropped.Thats crazy, he muttered.He kept staring at the screen, speechless. He said it again. Westbrook was the last of the five Heisman Trophy finalists announced on the ESPN broadcast. And hell be the most unlikely candidate in the room Saturday.His life couldnt have worked out much better once he did make it to Norman. Hes won two Big 12 titles. Hes playing in the right offense with the right quarterback, teaming with fellow Heisman finalist Baker Mayfield for 120 catches, 2,200 receiving yards and 20 scores in their two seasons together. Hell get to support his children by playing in the NFL next year.Coach Rhoades taught me on the journey to playing football, you also become a better man, Westbrook said.Rhoades feared Westbrook might give up but is absolutely not surprised hes persevered. Franchione has no hard feelings about the one who got away.I know theres a lot of people that really love Dede Westbrook and love to see the success hes having, Franchione said.As Westbrook pondered his journey this week, he just kept coming back to that one word.Its surreal. I still cant believe it, he said. Its crazy. I beat the odds. Now Im a Heisman finalist. Thats crazy. Like ... its crazy. Cheap Nike Cavaliers Jerseys . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. Cleveland Cavaliers Jerseys Online .4 million title. Ryan Riess emerged with the title after a session in which he started behind, but used expert skill to gather the chips to his side amid the unpredictability of no-limit Texas Hold em. Riess put his final opponent Jay Farber all-in with an Ace-King. http://www.cheapcavaliersjerseys.us/?tag=collin-sexton-jersey . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. Cheap Womens Cavaliers Jerseys . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Wholesale Cleveland Cavaliers Jerseys . -- PGA TOUR Canada member Steve Saunders took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Web. 1. Choosing career over countryThis was always going to be a possibility. When the PGA Tour decided to schedule a regular tournament during the week of the Olympics, it put in play the chance that someone would have to pick playing for his job over playing for his country.That was the case when Camilo Villegas reluctantly elected to pull out of the Olympic golf tournament at the deadline a few weeks ago. That left Colombia without a representative this week in Rio de Janeiro while Villegas will fight to stay exempt at this weeks John Deere Classic.Villegas is having a rough season on the PGA Tour, currently ranked 146th in the FedEx Cup standings. He needs to be among the top 125 after next weeks Wyndham Championship or face the four-tournament Web.com Finals to try to retain his PGA Tour status.The four-time PGA Tour winner called the decision incredibly difficult but opted to play this weeks John Deere Classic as well as next week at the Wyndham. Even if he had elected to play in Rio, it would have been a long commute to Greensboro (site of the Wyndham) to try to save his card -- even more difficult after giving up more ground to those who stayed and played on the PGA Tour during the Olympic tournament.Who could blame him?2. It never should have come to this.Of course Villegas -- or any player in that position -- should have never been forced to make such a decision. The PGA Tour needed to not schedule a tournament this week. The LPGA -- which admittedly does not have a full schedule of events -- made sure there was some space prior to and after the Olympics.The fine folks at the John Deere Classic could not have been happy about their date switch -- although they never said so publicly, and played the role of good partners with the PGA Tour.But for all the talk of how important golf in the Olympics was to all of the powers that be -- including commissioner Tim Finchem and one of his top aides, Ty Votaw, who serves as vice president of the International Golf Federation -- it was simply wrong to put another tournament, one that pays prize money and affects tour status, the same week.That being said, juggling the schedule and keeping sponsors happy is no easy task. There are numerous considerations, including television. But given six years notice, something could -- should -- have been done. Move a tournament to the fall? Skip a year? Have an extra opposite event? Something.3. Making changes for 2020Before the Olympic golf is even underway, there is already considerable discussion about what to do in advance of the Games in 2020. Golf is not assured of a spot beyond that, and a decision for 2024 will likely be made sometime next year. What to do?Peter Dawson, president of the International Golf Federation, said clearly that the scheduling for players has to be better managed. But scheduling during the Games is also tricky, and changing the format -- while seemingly a popular view -- is not so easy.The IOC (International Olympic Committee) would not allow an individual competition and a team competition running together, Dawson said. That means separate competitions, which would be very difficult to schedule.That suggests the IGF will have to do some lobbying if it wants a team competition as part of the Olympics going forward.4. Going lowJim Furyks 58 at the Travelers Championship was just the seventh score below 60 in a PGA Tour event, and hes the first to break 59. Furyk, of course, was the last to shoot 59 at the 2013 BMW Championship, making him the only player in the elite group to shoot in the 50s twice.ddddddddddddomewhat interesting is that in four of those instances the player did not go on to win, including Furyk twice. Al Geiberger won in Memphis following his second-round 59 in 1977; David Duval shot a final-round 59 to capture the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and Stuart Appleby also shot a final-round 59 to win the Greenbrier Classic in 2010.The others to shoot 59 and not win were Chip Beck at the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational and Paul Goydos at the 2010 John Deere classic.6. Happy ReunionArgentinas Emiliano Grillo was more than thrilled when his golf clubs finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Monday for the Olympic golf tournament. He had tweeted his displeasure on a few occasions about them not arriving. 7. Furyks case for the Ryder CupFuryks 58, his runner-up finish at the U.S. Open, the fact that he missed a good part of the year due to a wrist injury, making it difficult for him to earn enough points ... there is a case to be made for him as a captains pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.Captain Davis Love III clearly is thinking about Furyk, and said hes been keeping his own points criteria that takes into account missed time. At age 46, Furyk would provide veteran leadership (although hes already been named a vice captain) and has competed in nine Ryder Cups as well as seven Presidents Cups.But then theres that Ryder Cup record. Furyk has lost 20 matches, the most in U.S. Ryder Cup history. Although he has a decent singles record, hes lost to Sergio Garcia in singles in each of the past two Ryder Cups, the 2012 defeat at Medinah a crushing one for the U.S. side as he blew a 1-up lead with two holes to play by bogeying the last two holes. The U.S. would famously go on to lose that competition with a historic collapse on Sunday.Some of Furyks record is the product of all the U.S. losing -- the same can be said for Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods; all of them have a winning Presidents Cup record, for example.Its not an easy call, but the thought here is Love needs to go with some of the younger players, from which there will be a big pool of candidates. Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker are all outside of the top eight automatic qualifiers at the moment, and its tough to see Furyk getting picked ahead of any of them.8. Big ... but not that bigGarcia has been soaking up the Olympic experience, attending several events in the lead-up to the games. He has long been all-in on the idea of golf in the Olympics and has spoken favorably about his interest in winning a medal.But hes not willing to go so far as saying such an accomplishment would be the highlight of his career. Garcia, 36, who has never won a major championship, wont even liken the Olympics to one of golfs big four events.No, the pinnacle is coming in about six weeks, Garcia said -- with everyone knowing what he was talking about.Its actually eight weeks away, but the Ryder Cup is what Garcia was noting. The event takes place in late September, with the Europeans looking to extend their winning streak to four. Garcia has played on just two losing European teams and been on five winning ones. He served as an assistant captain at the 2010 event for which he did not qualify.9. No problems in RioU.S. team members Watson, Kuchar, Fowler and Patrick Reed seem to be enjoying themselves this week prior to the Olympic golf competition. 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