Unbreaking Bad: The Casey Pachall Trilogy
How Casey Pachall Can Have One Last Shot At Redemption
By Marshall Weber
P olarizing. Enigmatic. Thuggish. Junky.
Those are the words that can
define the perception of Casey Pachall's persona during his time at TCU.
But here are the ones that
describe Casey on the field.
Accurate. Leader. Clutch.
Phenom.
The Chaos Begins
It doesn't take (insert
genius) to know that Casey Pachall and Andy Dalton are polar opposites. But
that was the beauty of having Professor Chaos. Someone who's equally
as talented (if not more), but had the rock-star edge. For a while, this
separation was able to exist fine as long as Pachall didn't cross the line. But
he did, and maybe we only have ourselves to blame.
Pachall's party exploits were
well known long before he took a snap.
It didn't help that he was the
polar opposite of the altar-boy/ginger and current Bengal, Andy Dalton, whose
biggest crime was probably ripping songs from Napster when he was 13.
Even before he succeeded Andy
Dalton as the Frogs' next quarterback, many TCU fans already had a strong
opinion of Casey Pachall. With an arm sleeve (amongst other tats) and
haircuts that fluctuated more than David Beckham's, you now you had guy who looked like one of Walter White's rivals as your starter. Many soon forgot that Casey was a
superb, 4 star recruit from Brownwood and saw him as the drunk guy in the corner
of the bar who but his hoodie over his White Sox flat bill.
"People
need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy and I can't do that as Bruce
Wayne. As a man, I'm flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed; but
as a symbol... as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting."
I'll admit it. I loved
Professor Chaos. What twenty-two year old couldn't? He was a secret rock star.
He partied harder than Robert Downey Jr circa 1995 (and also like RDJ-95 in
his mugshot), but Pachall was talented enough for people to
overlook his personal habits. Like most people who attended TCU at some
point during Pachall's tenure, I have my Casey Pachall stories. But that's not
the point. Pachall even admitted snorting blow and taking ecstasy... so
there's no point in reliving all of the times I thought I saw Pachall strung
out.
In his first start against an RGIII-led Baylor, Pachall amassed 251 passing
yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. His 64% completion percentage in the
game didn't turn any heads per-say, but it did set the tone for what he'd be best
known for and is what Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny would refer to as
"Dead on balls accurate". The Baylor game was a heartbreaking loss,
but many soon brushed off Casey's off the field exploits as he
demonstrated the greatness he could achieve on the field.
His greatest on the field
accomplishment came against Boise State in a rematch of the 2010-Sorry-We-Wont-Let-You-Play-Any-Of-The-Big-Boys (Fiesta) Bowl. With just over a minute remaining and down 35-28, Pachall
calmly marched the Frogs down the field and connected with Brandon Carter for a
25-yd touchdown pass to pull within one. Not wanting to play the Broncos in overtime, the Frogs successfully completed a two-point conversion on a short pass to Josh Boyce. This sealed the Frogs' win and gave Boise State their first home loss in 35 games. Perhaps I spoke to early when I said Pachall's greatest
attribute was his accuracy, He finished the game with a career best of
473 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Pachall's inaugural season
also saw TCU's invitation to the Big 12, and as the old saying goes "with
big conference, comes big problems". Ok, maybe that's not a saying. But
just pretend it is. Nevertheless, Pachall's questionable off-field antics were
put under a bigger microscope as Baylor and Tech fans had a field day with the
pictures of Pachall draped in foil at Possum Kingdom Lake...likely jamming to
the Toadies' 90s classic for which the song is named after.
The "drug
bust" didn't help either. Despite it's overall failure, it
certainly didn't help Pachall's, or TCU's image. When Pachall's affidavit was
made public and it become known he failed drugs tests and admitted to
'casually' using recreational drugs, the Big 12 message boards had a field day.
I sort of saw it as a compliment that Pachall was compared to Keith
Richards...but that's just me.
Being the new guy, it was easy
for the rest of the conference to pick on the Frogs. People soon forgot the Baylor players who fell asleep stoned in a Taco Bell drive thru or the
Texas players who decided to play Fight Club outside a bar. Those things
happen. Not endorsing violence or falling asleep at a delicious fast-food
chain, but they fell by the wayside when Pachall admitted to using drugs.
Guess what? Like a lot of
twenty-somethings, Pachall enjoyed getting wasted. Especially as we live in the
new rave-era where chemical stimulants are as abundant as salt in the
sea. Casey was just being a kid in college. Is that a good excuse for a
starting quaterback? Of course not. But it does make it
understandable. Also...who do you think was giving Casey all of this
stuff? Despite what some very ill-informed
and intellectually challenged folks will tell you...it didn't come
from the fictitious TCU Football Cartel, but rather the student body
around him.
Casey may have dug his own
grave, but we provided the shovel.
The Dark Night
After a couple of
questionable team performances and losing Waymon James to injury, the last
thing the Horned Frogs needed was for something to happen to its best offensive
weapon.
October 4th was a horrible morning. Just three days before the Frogs were to play
Iowa State in their first Big 12 home game, Pachall was arrested for a
DUI. It was like being kicked and spit on repeatedly. Every TCU fan
knew that they were looking at an entirely different season without Pachall
taking the snaps.
The Agent of Chaos was
dead.
The day felt like the
fateful day in September where TCU's campus briefly felt like a scene from Traffic...
The cold, overcast, and rainy
weather during the Iowa State game was a perfect match for how Frog fans felt
on the inside that day. Despite an admirable start by Boykin, the Frogs lost that game and the remainder
of their 2013 home games.
"Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one
it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not
our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark
Knight."
The season, while having an
admirable finish, was still left with a lot of "what ifs", and the
blame was primarily on Pachall.
The Pachall Rises
Regardless of the
contributing factors to Pachall's addiction, there's no question that he had an
addiction and if he ever wanted to take a snap at TCU again, he was going to
have to get help. Thankfully he did.
Given the (relatively) new
conference, the 2013 hopes for TCU were as good as they've ever been, and a lot
of it had to do with Pachall. Everyone knows TCU can play great difference, but
they lacked a special offensive spark in 2012 that kept them from being really,
really good.
Pachall was far from the
bearded recluse that Wayne became, but he still felt like just as much as an
outcast.
It's no easy to task to come
back from what Pachall did, and playing LSU in Jerry World Sponsored
by AT&T didn't make it any easier. It was clear from early on that
Jarrett Anderson's plan of using a duel system just wouldn't work. First off,
it took a much needed extra weapon away from the Frogs' offense...especially
when Pachall lined up at receiver.
Looking back on it, Pachall
looked fine against the Tigers. Not only did he have pre-season jitters, but
mix that in with not playing in almost a year and it being his first game out
post-rehab and it's clear why he wasn't perfect. But just like the Baylor game
in 2011, he still proved why he should be the guy in charge.
"I never wanted you to come back to Gotham. I always knew
there was nothing here for you, except pain and tragedy. And I wanted something
more for you than that. I still do."
The state of Louisiana just
doesn't seem to be a fan of Pachall and just like in 2012, the Frogs faced the
reality of losing Pachall yet again after suffering a broken arm in the first half against Southeastern Louisiana.
If Pachall's broken arm was
like Bruce Wayne's broken back suffered at the hands of Bane, you'd have to think the
conversation between Pachall and Patterson had to go something like the ones Bruce and Alfred had throughout the The Dark Knight
Rises.
It's true. Pachall's time at
TCU has brought him nothing but tragedy and ridicule. Even all the positive
things ever said about Pachall have been usurped by Pachall's off the field
choices and his inability to catch a break... aside from his non-throwing arm.
Winter's Here and It's a Bitch.
Bane: You don't fear death... You
welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.
Bruce Wayne: Torture?
Bane: Yes. But not of your body...
Of your soul.
TCU's 2013 season, mainly the
offense, feels like Gotham City under Bane. Oppressive, heart-breaking, and
hopeless. Unfortunately, Jarrett Anderson and Rusty Burns won't be thrown into kangaroo
court and forced to walk on the ice.
For those who need Buzzfeed to understand things..here’s
TCU’s season summed up in a gif
The defense feels a lot like
Jim Gordon. One of the best in the game. But even with a brilliant strategic
defense to fight off Bane and his militia, Gordon still needed The Batman. It's
clear that TCU's just as hopeless without it's own Caped Crusader.
"There is a prison in a more
ancient part of the world, a pit where men are thrown to suffer and die. But
sometimes a man rises from the darkness. Sometimes the pit sends something
back."
If he comes back this season...
Pachall would pretty much be taking a Neutron Bomb out to sea if he comes back. He's risking another injury and given football is his main trait, he'd essentially be risking his life to save his broken city.
But he doesn't have much to lose either. In an ideal world, NFL Scouts would focus on what they know Pachall can do on
the field. They would know with an NFL offensive line, Pachall would be the
answer that a handful of NFL teams out there need right now. But this isn't an
ideal world and all hopes of Pachall going in the first three rounds are pretty
much out the window. The chances of him getting drafted at all are getting
slimmer by the day.
It's still unclear who
Pachall's John Blake will be and who will don the cowl as TCU's next great
leader.
If Pachall is able to scale
the wall and escape the injury that's held him prisoner, he won't win any
awards, he won't break any records, he won't win a BCS game...but a return would be one of the better stories in college football
this season.
His body may be broken. But
it's been broken before.
His spirit
however, will never be.
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