Iowa Law Was Right on Preferential Treatment

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IowaLawWasRight

IowaLawWasRight

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I hate what is going on in the program this week. However, Ferentz and staff have always had a problem with black athletes who played with "swagger" for decades and IowaLaw often pointed it out...only to be bashed as a "troll" or "cyclone fan" by fans and this site's moderators alike.

In the DJK era, IowaLaw noted that there was something off about having the most talented WR in program history constantly in the coach's dog house. Early in his career, he was ripped by the staff for having the audacity of wearing sunglasses on his way to practice. It didn't fit with "Iowa culture." Did anyone ask why that was such a crime? DJK played with swagger, as an elite WR should, and that rubbed the staff the wrong. After his all-Big 10 senior season, it was reported by DJK himself that Kirk badmouthed him to NFL scouts, which may have even hindered him having a pro career. He want on to harbor a lot of ill will against the program for the racism he experienced while the small town Iowa boys were repeatedly praised by the staff for doing things the "right way." At one point, he threatened to write a book about his experiences and was dismissed by fans as a disgruntled "thug."

The next athlete at Iowa of DJK's electrifying caliber was Derrick Mitchell. He averaged 6.5 yards per carry in Iowa's magical Rose Bowl season as a sophomore (by comparison, current stud RB Tyler Goodson averaged 4.8 yrds last season behind a Top 10 NFL draft pick left tackle). He probably should have started the following year, but instead went the entire season with just 2 carries after finding himself in the staff's dog house. I befrended Mitchell that year, as one of his biggest fans, wondering why on earth he didn't get more touches. He said staff didn't like his "flashy" attitude, and whenever he would try to speak up about unfair treatment, he would fall further and further into the dog house. He ultimately was forced to transfer because he couldn't get a fair shake.

Akrum Wadley was a human highlight reel, yet he didn't start a game until his senior year. He averaged 6 yards per carry and 16 yards receiving as a sophomore. As a junior, he had 1100 yards rushing/6.5 yards per carry, and had 360 yards receiving. Somehow, he did so while in the staff's dog house. He was benched once for making a spin move. He was benched another time for getting a bogus excessive celebration penalty. When Kirk was asked why Wadley never started that year, and received 50 carries less than the starter despite averaging 2 yards per carry more and catching 30 more passes out of the backfield, Ferentz simply said "Wadley couldn't make weight." Obviously, that made no sense, as he wasn't injury prone and didn't have issues fumbling the ball. The fact was, Wadley's swagger didn't mesh with the clean cut small town Iowa "culture" the staff wanted and he suffered as a result.

Perhaps the staff's issue was the swagger and it had nothing to do with race? Nah. Plenty of white players went through the ranks with swagger that didn't wind up in the dog house. Drew Tate, CJ Beathard, Matt Roth are just a few who come to mind. Brian Ferentz himself had a major attitude while living for free in Section 8 housing. All were multi-year starters who the staff never seemed to have a problem with.

It's unfortunate but true. The smoke has been around for a long time...we just didn't want to see it.
 
The title of this thread should be "IowaLaw Was Banned".

And the reason DMX didn't get more touches in the magical Rose Bowl season is because he had L.Daniels, Wadley and Jordan Canzeri ahead of him. That didn't work out too bad, all three had 200 yard games to their credit that year.

Ask the coaching staff why Kordell Stillmunkes is at U of Dubuque instead of Iowa. Here's the answer. The running backs coach didn't like the fact that a Caucasian had the best speed among the running back stable. Kordell was in the Sean Considine/Brandon Snyder/Riley McCarron mold. He would have helped the team, especially since he is now finally over his foot problems that dogged him for two years.
 
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Jonrn said:
For once, Iowa law was actually right.
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I can agree on Noah Fant. I think Kirk got wind early and especially after the family got involved that Noah was turning pro and skipping the bowl game.

Still no excuse to underutilize him down the stretch that year, and for that matter George Kittle was tragically underused.
 
Yes...the coaches always play the worst players because they like them better. Great analysis. We have a bevy of 4 and 5 star talent sitting on the bench while our walk-on and two star players get all the PT.

Iowa Law consistently swings for the fence and he always hits it off the end of the bat into the dugout. He's easily under the Mendoza line as far as his takes go. Geez...please also try to be more concise in your take.
 
RE: DJK -- If DJK had NFL level talent he would be playing in the NFL. Period, end of story. He was great WR by Iowa standards which is a low bar. He was a 1 year All-Big Ten WR. No shame in that, but to make a 53 man roster you need to be special. Drug arrests don't help.

RE: Derrick Mitchell. May he rest in peace. Derrick Mitchell's lack of playing time wasn't due to racism. It was due to Akrum Wadley. In 2016, Mitchell saw what everyone else could see. Wadley was much better. Wadley was going to be the featured back for the next two years. So, Mitchell left. That's not racism, that's competition.

RE: Akrum Wadley, yeah he put himself in the doghouse. His first semester GPA was 1.4 and was put on academic probation. He then threw a big party and advertised it on Facebook and got charged with keeping a disorderly house. And yes, keeping your weight up is important in football and he couldn't do it. He had fumble troubles early in his career (consecutive fumbles as RS FR in Northwestern game and then Minnesota).

Maybe you can nitpick and say KF should have seen his talent sooner and gave him more chances in his SO year. I think that is more part of KF's overall problems with running an effective offense, not racism. Kittle and Hocksenson were criminally underused when they were here. QB development has been horrible. This is bad offensive decision making, not racism.

There are some race problems in the Hawkeye football program. But the original post's examples don't demonstrate that.
 
Tomr said:
RE: DJK -- If DJK had NFL level talent he would be playing in the NFL. Period, end of story. He was great WR by Iowa standards which is a low bar. He was a 1 year All-Big Ten WR. No shame in that, but to make a 53 man roster you need to be special. Drug arrests don't help.

RE: Derrick Mitchell. May he rest in peace. Derrick Mitchell's lack of playing time wasn't due to racism. It was due to Akrum Wadley. In 2016, Mitchell saw what everyone else could see. Wadley was much better. Wadley was going to be the featured back for the next two years. So, Mitchell left. That's not racism, that's competition.

RE: Akrum Wadley, yeah he put himself in the doghouse. His first semester GPA was 1.4 and was put on academic probation. He then threw a big party and advertised it on Facebook and got charged with keeping a disorderly house. And yes, keeping your weight up is important in football and he couldn't do it. He had fumble troubles early in his career (consecutive fumbles as RS FR in Northwestern game and then Minnesota).

Maybe you can nitpick and say KF should have seen his talent sooner and gave him more chances in his SO year. I think that is more part of KF's overall problems with running an effective offense, not racism. Kittle and Hocksenson were criminally underused when they were here. QB development has been horrible. This is bad offensive decision making, not racism.

There are some race problems in the Hawkeye football program. But the original post's examples don't demonstrate that.
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All legit points. DJKs legend has grown over the years, but I’d take ISM or Brandon smith over him.

derek Mitchell? Don’t see it.
 
Jonrn said:
All legit points. DJKs legend has grown over the years, but I’d take ISM or Brandon smith over him.

derek Mitchell? Don’t see it.
Click to expand...

Yeah...DJK was not a lock NFL receiver. Geez. He wasn't even the best receiver, IMO, on his own team. I'd have taken Marvin McNutt over DJK. I'd certainly take ISM or Brandon Smith now too.
 
Northside Hawk said:
I can agree on Noah Fant. I think Kirk got wind early and especially after the family got involved that Noah was turning pro and skipping the bowl game.

Still no excuse to underutilize him down the stretch that year, and for that matter George Kittle was tragically underused.
Click to expand...

Geez...are you kidding me. I'm telling you right now...I can remember at least 25 targets to Fant that our QB overthrew or missed badly on...at least two or three a game. Fant was underutilized because our QB couldn't throw a catchable ball to him. Could he have been used more...sure...but he had a lot of targets and a ton of routes were he was wide open and he didn't get the ball. That wasn't a coaching issue...unless you wanted to play Manzell.
 
  • IowaLawWasRight said:
    I hate what is going on in the program this week. However, Ferentz and staff have always had a problem with black athletes who played with "swagger" for decades and IowaLaw often pointed it out...only to be bashed as a "troll" or "cyclone fan" by fans and this site's moderators alike.
    Click to expand...
IowaLawWasRight said:
In the DJK era, IowaLaw noted that there was something off about having the most talented WR in program history constantly in the coach's dog house. Early in his career, he was ripped by the staff for having the audacity of wearing sunglasses on his way to practice. It didn't fit with "Iowa culture." Did anyone ask why that was such a crime? DJK played with swagger, as an elite WR should, and that rubbed the staff the wrong. After his all-Big 10 senior season, it was reported by DJK himself that Kirk badmouthed him to NFL scouts, which may have even hindered him having a pro career. He want on to harbor a lot of ill will against the program for the racism he experienced while the small town Iowa boys were repeatedly praised by the staff for doing things the "right way." At one point, he threatened to write a book about his experiences and was dismissed by fans as a disgruntled "thug."

The next athlete at Iowa of DJK's electrifying caliber was Derrick Mitchell. He averaged 6.5 yards per carry in Iowa's magical Rose Bowl season as a sophomore (by comparison, current stud RB Tyler Goodson averaged 4.8 yrds last season behind a Top 10 NFL draft pick left tackle). He probably should have started the following year, but instead went the entire season with just 2 carries after finding himself in the staff's dog house. I befrended Mitchell that year, as one of his biggest fans, wondering why on earth he didn't get more touches. He said staff didn't like his "flashy" attitude, and whenever he would try to speak up about unfair treatment, he would fall further and further into the dog house. He ultimately was forced to transfer because he couldn't get a fair shake.

Akrum Wadley was a human highlight reel, yet he didn't start a game until his senior year. He averaged 6 yards per carry and 16 yards receiving as a sophomore. As a junior, he had 1100 yards rushing/6.5 yards per carry, and had 360 yards receiving. Somehow, he did so while in the staff's dog house. He was benched once for making a spin move. He was benched another time for getting a bogus excessive celebration penalty. When Kirk was asked why Wadley never started that year, and received 50 carries less than the starter despite averaging 2 yards per carry more and catching 30 more passes out of the backfield, Ferentz simply said "Wadley couldn't make weight." Obviously, that made no sense, as he wasn't injury prone and didn't have issues fumbling the ball. The fact was, Wadley's swagger didn't mesh with the clean cut small town Iowa "culture" the staff wanted and he suffered as a result.

Perhaps the staff's issue was the swagger and it had nothing to do with race? Nah. Plenty of white players went through the ranks with swagger that didn't wind up in the dog house. Drew Tate, CJ Beathard, Matt Roth are just a few who come to mind. Brian Ferentz himself had a major attitude while living for free in Section 8 housing. All were multi-year starters who the staff never seemed to have a problem with.

It's unfortunate but true. The smoke has been around for a long time...we just didn't want to see it.
Click to expand...
OK, let's deal with these one at a time.

DJK. Of all positions, wide receiver is the one where NFL teams are more willing than any other position to overlook the swag and the drama and the baggage-IF the player has talent. DJK didn't get drafted because Kirk supposed blackballed him. Coaches have overlooked much more than the baggage DJK was carrying and drafted receivers high in the first round. DJK wasn't drafted because he wasn't good enough.

DMX. Wasn't he banged up most of the Rose Bowl season? You may have 2015 confused with 2014. If it was 2015, the running backs DMX was stuck behind were all African American. How can the race card be played there.

Wadley. Get off to a slow start in his Iowa career on and off the field. Gradually put the rap behind him. By his senior season young players like ISM were looking up to him and lauding his leadership skills. Wadley got his NFL shot, he came up a little short like hundreds of others do. Its a tough league to stick in.

Bethard, Tate, Roth. They had to wait their turn. Roth eventually had to bulk up and move to the defensive line because, golly gee, African Americans like Kevin Worthy and Abdul Hodge and Fred Barr were blocking him from playing time at linebacker. Bethard had to wait his turn.

If Kirk is such a racist pig why can't Oliver Martin get on the field? He had three African Americans and a bi-racial preventing from doing so.

If Kirk is such a racist pig how come thee fifth of our offensive line has consisted of African Americans at times the last three seasons?

You pull out three marginal examples, hell one marginal example at best, and spit on a man who has been knocked down. I know the "union card " exists, but it's just not iowa and it's just Kirk. Hayden used it as well. Barry Alvarez cleaned out a third of his locker room his first year on the job and replaced potentially more talented players with those who were going to do it his way-or else

The verdict is out on IowaLaw and it's a hung jury, if not a mistrial.
 
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WinOneThisCentury said:
Geez...are you kidding me. I'm telling you right now...I can remember at least 25 targets to Fant that our QB overthrew or missed badly on...at least two or three a game. Fant was underutilized because our QB couldn't throw a catchable ball to him. Could he have been used more...sure...but he had a lot of targets and a ton of routes were he was wide open and he didn't get the ball. That wasn't a coaching issue...unless you wanted to play Manzell.
Click to expand...
Yes, a QB not being able to get the ball to an open receiver is a factor in underutilizing that receiver. Its not just on the coaches.

Chuck Long pretty much wasted Quinn Early's sophomore year because he underthrew him, most notably in that rainy Ohio State game. The next year Mark Vlasic and Tom Poholsky were QB's and they had the arm strength to hit Early deep. Long's pedestrian arm strength, slow release, and odd throwing angle all caught up to him in a big way in the NFL
 
Kirk may not like players with attitude. Most bosses don't either. Someday football players will have to go out in the real world and get a job. So if Kirk is trying to get players to lose the attitude maybe he's doing it for their own good.

Its like when you were a teenager and your parents had rules that you thought were unfair. When you got older you realize some of your parents rules were because they loved you, not because they were being mean or for showing favoritism over your brothers and sisters.
 
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