re: Class of 2017 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: Say Your Goodbyes Edition

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Florida State was impressed enough by Madison (Ala.) James Clemens three-star inside linebacker Monty Rice on Saturday to extend an offer to the 6-foot-1, 227-pound defender. Rice was also impressed by the Seminoles.

"I wouldn't say they lead, but they're up there," Rice said about the Seminoles after the visit. "They impressed me a lot."

FSU also offered Rice during the visit. He spoke about how he came to learn he had been offered by the Seminoles.

"Well, my teammate (cornerback) Kyriq (McDonald) asked Jimbo where we stood on their recruiting board and Jimbo said we were up there very high," Rice said. "He said we wouldn't be offered if we weren't."

FSU has now offered a trio of players for James Clemens - four-star defensive end LaBryan Ray already held one before his visit on Saturday and Rice along with McDonald now also claim an offer.

As for Rice, he was impressed by his time at FSU on Saturday.

"Everything," Rice said when asked what impressed. "FSU is an awesome place."

Defensive coordinator Charles Kelly spent the most time with Rice. He made one thing clear about their need for a player like Rice.

"I'm pretty sure they need inside linebackers," Rice said.

Alabama and Auburn, along with South Carolina, are early favorites with Rice. The 247Sports.com Crystal Ball is split between the Tigers and Crimson Tide.

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The horrific memories have lingered more than 60 years in the form of a tightly-kept secret, but it's time to tell all about the violent hazing former Alabama great Bart Starr endured while on campus in Tuscaloosa, Starr's wife, Cherry, told AL.com in an exclusive bombshell interview published on Monday.

Before winning five NFL championships with the Green Bay Packers including two Super Bowls, Starr was one of the Southeastern Conference's top standouts as Alabama's starting quarterback, safety and punter, but a back injury — officially labeled a sprain — sustained during a punting drill before the start of his junior campaign in 1954 lessened his impact.

That injury, according to Cherry, was fabricated to cover up something far more sinister.

Cherry says her husband was gruesomely beaten with a paddle during an initiation "ritual" for Alabama's A-Club for varsity lettermen and never was the same player, suffering through years of pain and agony in the NFL and disqualifying him from military service.

"He was hospitalized at one point in traction," Cherry told AL.com. "That was in the days when they were initiated into the A-Club, and they had severe beatings and paddling. From all the members of the A-Club, they lined up with a big paddle with holes drilled in it, and it actually injured his back."

Cherry describes severe scarring and says his back looked like "a raw piece of meat" after the hazing occurred. She said it would flare up during his playing career with the Packers, but everyone thought it was related to the widely-reported sprain.

While he is unable to speak on the memory due to declining health, Bart, 82, lives with his wife in Alabama and she says he's been haunted by the event since. Cherry says he didn't reveal details of the incident while playing for the Crimson Tide or any time thereafter in fear of it "making him look bad", according to AL.com.


Starr was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 and is one of only six Packers to have his number retired by the franchise. After his playing career was over, Starr coached the Packers from 1975-83.

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