I have been often accused of bringing up the most random thoughts in a conversation. It happens when I am sitting with friends and they may be talking about one thing and I will bring up the most off-topic subject ever. It is a fairly common occurrence and if you ever have the unfortunate opportunity to have an in person conversation with me, be prepared for it to happen to you as well.
The thought I had today was actually less random than normal and by no means is totally off topic but it did come to me in the same fashion that the other seemingly out of the blue subjects come about. So let me try to explain what happens...
First, I will see or hear something and my mind will become fixed on that particular subject. However as I ponder that thought, it often leads me to consider something that is related to the first thought. As I begin to try to grasp the second concept, my mind wonders to something related to the second thought that may be very unrelated to the first. See how this can get confusing? This can continue for a while, as I never get my mind wrapped around any thoughts and I have a million of them floating around in what can be an empty cavern! Then finally I loudly and proudly blurt out a question that is 7+ degrees of separation from what may have been the actual subject. Well at least I understand how I got there!
This time there were actually two things that brought me to think about a past favorite player. First I listened to a podcast - The Solid Verbal - which I highly recommend for college football fans. They had a guest that I think is extremely knowledgeable about football. This individual - Chris Brown - has written a new book - The Essential Smart Football - which is very informative book about how the game is played. His website is an outstanding place to visit - smartfootball.com - in order to learn more about the actual game of football. Anyway, Brown was talking about his book and some of the innovative offensive and defensive coaches in America including our own Gus Malzahn. Co-host Dan Rubenstein mentioned that Oregon and Chip Kelly would actually open up with Gus Malzahn and Arkansas State and how that could be an interesting match-up. The guys then mentioned that Michael Dyer would probably not be available for the game and that would give Malzahn less bullets to shoot with. So as I listened to the podcast my mind continued to wonder - keep in mind I was also surfing the web looking for something to read. As I tried to ponder the football geniuses and how they would match up in the Red Wolf/Duck explosion next fall, I kept floating to thoughts and hopes of Dyer playing.
So as this was happening and I was skimming the titles of things to that sounded interesting, the announcement of one of the newest Arkansas State commits was on AstateNation.com. Brandon Cox of Conway had committed to the Red Wolves and I wanted to know more about him. Of course my mind could have jumped to school boy days of playing football in the neighborhood since Conway high school football coach Clint Ashcraft (an A-State alum by the way) and I grew up a block from each other, but I didn't go in that direction. Instead, I began to google Brandon Cox and found him in a list of players that attended the Dallas Under Armour Combine in 2011. Cox was listed just above another name that my wondering thoughts couldn't avoid - Bryson Echols - Desoto, TX.
Well at this same time I was hearing the talk about Dyer not eligible to play against Oregon by the podcast crew and all I could see in my mind was the #5 on his Auburn jersey as he wouldn't go down in the National Championship Game against the Ducks. The #5 in my mind was what helped send my eyes to see that Bryson Echols was from Desoto, TX - home of one of my favorite Indians of all time, #5 - Les Echols! And after one google search, I find that yes - Bryson Echols - 2012 Texas Longhorn signee is the brother of A-State's Les Echols.
All that to tell you how great Les Echols was....
Les Echols signed with Arkansas State and Joe Hollis in 2000 out of DeSoto High School and made an impact immediately after arriving in Jonesboro. After seeing action as a true freshman at the safety position, Echols added weight over the summer in hopes to provide depth at the linebacker position. Echols couldn't be kept off the field however. Early in fall camp Echols showed he was the spark that made the defense go. He made hit after hit and was all over the field on every play earning the starting job heading into the 2001 season. Les led ASU in tackles as a sophomore, junior and senior. His senior campaign yielded the linebacker 123 tackles with 17.5 for loss. Echols finished his career with 324 tackles ranking him in the top 10 tacklers in ASU history. Echols is also tied for second for career fumbles recovered. Les was a All-Sun Belt performer in his junior and senior seasons.
# 5 Les Echols was one of my favorites and I loved to watch him fly around the field knocking heads and it was fun remembering him. Crazy how I got there, and scary for you guys to see how my mind works, but I hope you got to remember or learn about one of ASU's greats!
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