ESPN.com is reporting that [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] has decided to sit out both [tag]Tarell Brown[/tag] and [tag]Tyrell Gatewood[/tag] for Saturday’s matchup against Ohio State. As devastating as this news is, it is probably the right thing for Mack Brown to do. With all the looking-the-other-way that goes on in college football these days, I applaud Mack for making the tough decision. Even though legally Brown may have been able to play, there is just too much uncertainty around the whole situation.
“As a head coach, No. 1 you have to look at the legal system and cooperate with the authorities completely,” Brown said. “No. 2, you must go through the university because that’s who we work for. No. 3, you are concerned about distractions for your football team. We want to move forward because it’s No. 1 playing No. 2 and it’s such an exciting game for all of us.
“No. 4, you care about the three young men involved and their families. We will try to help the families individually and move forward with our team for the ballgame on Saturday.”
Mack did not say whether or not the suspensions would last past Saturday’s game, but if they are going to miss one game we can probably stand for them to miss a few more.
Hopefully now we can all put this situation behind us and start focusing on the game.
reply to #1
Brian Moore
September 5th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m an avid Ohio State football fan, live in Columbus, and have obviously had my fair share of disappointment with players getting in trouble with the law over the years. If everyone shared your view that it is the right thing to do, allow a football player (or any athlete for that matter) to get their personal lives straightened out before allowing them to contribute to the team, college sports would be a much better place in the end.
reply to #2
Matt
September 5th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Yeah, bottomline is that as big as this upcoming game is, you have to remember that this is just a game. The player’s future is more important than one game.