Does Darrell Givens Have Second Thoughts About Penn State?

Internet rumors are circulating that one-time Maryland DB Darrell Givens is reconsidering the verbal commitment he gave to Penn State. Givens originally gave a verbal commitment to Ohio State the day after Ohio State's spring football game on 04/19/2008, then decommitted from Ohio State to commit to Penn State after attending a Penn State football camp in May.

At the time of Givens' commitment to Penn State, Givens cited the possibility of earlier playing time as a reason for switching to Penn State from Ohio State. Considering the number of defensive backs already on the roster, as well as how many defensive back prospects Ohio State has taken with its 2009 recruiting class, that certainly makes sense from Darrell Givens' perspective.

With all due respect to Darrell Givens, I cannot blame the coaching staff for supposedly moving on after Givens retracted his verbal commitment to Ohio State and committed to Penn State. From everything I have read, Coach Tressel and the staff wholeheartedly encourage any of the recruits to visit other schools BEFORE committing to make sure that they are comfortable with the final decision. Players such as Vlad Emilien have recently said that they have not felt pressured to commit despite the apparent numbers crunch in scholarships.

Do I feel badly that Givens may now have remorse over his decision? Certainly. Do I believe he could possibly have contributed to Ohio State's future success? Absolutely. Most importantly - do I believe Givens has learned what the definition of "commitment" now means? Without a doubt.