UB's Starks Finally Gets His Shot

After James Starks broke his collarbone in his senior summer, most thought that his NFL draft possibilities were done. He missed the entire season and was not awarded a medical redshirt. After a lot of hard work and rehabilitation, he was invited to the NFL combine where he worked out in front of all 32 NFL scouts.

Starks was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the sixth round. He was expected to be the third running back on the depth chart behind starter Ryan Grant and backup, Brandon Jackson; But a hip injury put him on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list. Once again, Starks experienced a setback. Like his setback in college, Starks also came back from this one. He made his debut this past Sunday as the starting running back against the San Francisco 49ers. With injuries to both Grant and Jackson, the show was left to Starks to run. He made the best of his opportunity rushing for 73 yards on 18 carries in a 34-16 win.

In his illustrious career at Buffalo Starks set a career rushing record with 3,140 yards, and scored 40 total touchdowns. He registered back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons as a junior and sophomore. He was one of the elite backs in the MAC and the nation and became the first 1,000-yard rusher in the Bulls’ Division I-A era. He also became the first UB freshman to earn All-MAC honors in 2006. He was named to the All-Mac Second Team as a freshman and sophomore, and was named to the All-Mac First Team as a junior.

Starks' teammate at UB, Naaman Roosevelt is also making something of his pro career. He is currently playing for the Buffalo Bills. Roosevelt set many records at the University Buffalo. In his career he caught 268 passes for 3,551 yards with 28 touchdowns. His breakout season was his junior year where he had 104 catches for 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns.

James attended Niagara Falls High School in Niagara Falls, New York. He ran for 1,048 yards and threw for over 600 yards for the Wolverines of Niagara Falls while earning All-Western New York honors in his senior season and served as a captain for three years.Roosevelt attended St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Buffalo where he played at the quarterback position before staying in Buffalo to attend the University at Buffalo. Roosevelt was the first recruit of new head coach Turner Gill.

It is great so see local players such as Starks and Roosevelt get a shot as a professional. People think that the MAC conference is a joke, but I'm here to tell you that it is anything but. By going to most of the Buffalo home games, I realize and see what good football is being played by the teams. There is a lot of talent, and as it may not be a Pac-10 or SEC, it is still a competitive conference that produces a lot of good players. It has produced players such as Jason Taylor, Shuan Suisham, Chad Pennington, James Harrison, Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Gates, Michael Turner, Chester Taylor, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Asante Samuel.