Willies v. Ruddock? Why the Difference in Perception?

I

iowalaw

Banned
I am a little confused about the difference in hawk fan perceptions of these two disgruntled Hawks. Willies came in with a good deal of hype, outshined everyone on the roster in the spring game, then was buried on the depth chart despite his obvious abilities behind several WRs who would not see playing time in the MAC. Due to coaching favoritism, Willies sees his only hope of living out his dream to play college football is to go to a program where he gets a fair shot. He leaves to team and is vilified by hawk fans as a traitor and a bad teammate.

Then on the other side of the coin, you've got Ruddock. A guy who wildly underperformed as a sophomore, but still started every game and had the head coach talk glowingly about him to the point where two highly talented backup QBs saw the writing on the wall and bolted Iowa because they knew Jakey was the favorite child of the coach. Jake comes out and underperforms his junior year while playing ahead of a pretty clearly more talented QB, and the coach still sings his praises. When Jake had horrible games, the coach simply praises the job he has done in the classroom while continuing to refuse to give the backup a fair shot. Jake walked around campus with a feeling of entitlement that he did not earn. Finally, when donors and fans force Kirk's hand to let the backup get a fair shot, Jake takes his toys and snubs the Iowa program that has paid for his tuition for the past 4 yrs and says if he can't be the starter and play every down, he is leaving. Fans react by....praising him!??? What gives?

Willies was not given a fair shot, had loads of talent, and left because he never got to see the field while less talented players did. Jake gets to start for two solid seasons and, at the very least, would get a fair shot at first string this year, and he packs up and leaves the hawks hanging without a backup. Why isn't there more outrage about this? Why is Kirk so magnanimous to Jake and makes it clear that Jake can go anywhere he wants with no hard feelings or can come back. Meanwhile, when Willies tried to come back, Kirk won't even talk with the kid, and tells the press that "he's concentrating on the rest of the season and can't think about Willies at that time." Give me a break.
 




Let us also not forget about Sir Rudock. Nearly fought the dragon of Angnor. Nearly stood up to the vicious Chicken of Bristol. Personally wet himself at the Battle of Badon Hill. Master of the 5 yard checkdown throw.

Sir Rudock ran away. Bravely, Bravely ran away. When the stating job was lost, he bravely turned his tail and fled, Yes Brave Sir Rudock turned about and gallantly he chickened out......
 




damnfinn said:
regurgitate
Click to expand...


Look, I was/am a huge Willies fan. He should have been on the field for every single offensive play. However, DW left mid-season and that is quitting on his teammates, in season.

I have been a big CJ advocate, but JR finished the season and didn't quit on his teammates. P

Period.
 


Willies quit on his teammates mid-season instead of finishing it out. It wasn't like he could transfer and still play right away. He was also a freshman, and while undoubtedly talented, had plenty of time left in his career to see the field. And people are going to be more upset when a talented player leaves than when a mediocre player leaves.

Rudock started for two seasons and was publicly benched prior to what would be his last season at Iowa. Additionally, the majority of fans wanted CJ to start so when a guy who has been a disappointment in many fans' eyes decides to transfer it's more of a positive than a negative.
 


Willies at the end of the day got himself in the situation he was in... If he wouldn't have left in the middle of the year like that then he'd still be a Hawk. And even after what he did Ferentz allowed him the opportunity to stay. He decided whatever the stipulations were that he didn't want to do it. We'll never know what those were. But I don't blame Ferentz for not allowing him back right then in the middle of the year. He had to sit out the rest of the year. Otherwise that'd be a precedence you don't want to set.

Rudock is guilty of what? Playing to his ability I think. It's not his fault the running game wasn't so hot this year or that he didn't have a ton of talent at WR to work with.Was he checking down all the time on his own or due to coaching? We'll never truely know play to play what the case is there. But he gave his all and not unlike any QB that would have been in his shoes he wants to play his last year. I don't think he thinks he has an NFL career ahead of him so this yr is it for him. So here is what he's debating with himself. If he's going to be a backup this year does he want to do it at Iowa or Michigan and where would he be happier doing it? Since starting is pretty much out of the question at Iowa baring an injury and many think Michigans job is totally up in the air he probably thinks he's got a great shot at winning it. Why should any of us blame a kid for taking advantage of the transfer rules being what they are?

At the end of the day I don't blame either of them. They were/are conflicted in their own situations and at their age and stage of life who am I to judge them and say I'd have done it differently then they did? They probably handled things better then I would have at that age.
 




Hawkfnntn said:
Willies at the end of the day got himself in the situation he was in... If he wouldn't have left in the middle of the year like that then he'd still be a Hawk. And even after what he did Ferentz allowed him the opportunity to stay. He decided whatever the stipulations were that he didn't want to do it. We'll never know what those were. But I don't blame Ferentz for not allowing him back right then in the middle of the year. He had to sit out the rest of the year. Otherwise that'd be a precedence you don't want to set.

Rudock is guilty of what? Playing to his ability I think. It's not his fault the running game wasn't so hot this year or that he didn't have a ton of talent at WR to work with.Was he checking down all the time on his own or due to coaching? We'll never truely know play to play what the case is there. But he gave his all and not unlike any QB that would have been in his shoes he wants to play his last year. I don't think he thinks he has an NFL career ahead of him so this yr is it for him. So here is what he's debating with himself. If he's going to be a backup this year does he want to do it at Iowa or Michigan and where would he be happier doing it? Since starting is pretty much out of the question at Iowa baring an injury and many think Michigans job is totally up in the air he probably thinks he's got a great shot at winning it. Why should any of us blame a kid for taking advantage of the transfer rules being what they are?

At the end of the day I don't blame either of them. They were/are conflicted in their own situations and at their age and stage of life who am I to judge them and say I'd have done it differently then they did? They probably handled things better then I would have at that age.
Click to expand...

Great post, agree 95%. The only thing I would differ on is that JR probably has at least an equal, probably better chance starting next year at Iowa than he does at Michigan.
 


I disagree with OP that Jake underperformed in his sophomore year. Problem was, he didn't really get any better in his junior year. People are tough on Willies because they think he could've been great, but he screwed it up. People go easy on Jake because they think that losing him isn't a huge loss. Because psychology.
 




I feel the same way about Rudock as I do Sokol. He graduated and can whatever he wants. He is essentially a free agent. Good luck in whatever he wants to do next. He has a good head on his shoulders and he will do fine in whatever he chooses to do next in life.

willies never graduated and dropped out in the middle of his 2nd year, even though he knew KMM and DP would be graduating and a chance for more playing time was coming. His actions were much more disapointing.
 


It seems to me KF has a guilty consents and owe's to the kid. If KF wouldn't have been pressured into making the change at the QB position JR would still be the the #1 QB.
 


ihawkeye said:
It seems to me KF has a guilty consents and owe's to the kid. If KF wouldn't have been pressured into making the change at the QB position JR would still be the the #1 QB.
Click to expand...

Who "pressured" Kirk? This totally smacks of KF all the way. He finally makes the decision to go with CJ cause he has a higher upside, and he knows he waited about 8 games too long (should have made the move after the Purdue game). That is why he keeps making excusses for his mistake by saying stuff like "we made the decision on starter with the information we had", blah, blah, blah.

KF damned well does what he wants to do. See the fact that he didn't fire any Assistant coaches, see the fact he promoted his son. It is funny that people have been bashing on KF for years now as being too stubborn (they are right) and now they also want to say he is a yellow bellied coward and lets someone else pick his QB. LOLOLOLOL, this is Clown like delusion.
 


I think KF was ready to make the switch after Pitt but did not want Rudock to lose the job because of injury. So he gave Rudock one last chance and Iowa responded with that phenomenal 1st half against Indiana. So what was KF supposed to after that? You cant bench Rudock after Indiana. The reaction after the MD game has always mystified me, but it was a game Iowa could of won. But then iowa had another great game against NW, so you cant bench Rudock then.
 


Willies is in a JUCO in Texas so if he really has "nfl skills" to go with the "nfl body" (that only seem to exist on message boards), he can go to an air raid school like Houston or Texas Tech. Could be like the Cleveland kid from Drew Tate's high school who wound up with Houston and caught nearly a hundred passes from a record setting type of offense.
 


Idk. The whole qb issue was a complete failure by curt. He has very little ability at this point in his career to manage anything a situation like this. He knows one way and its bland and not changing much. Whatever regarding willies, he gone.
 


guffus said:
I think KF was ready to make the switch after Pitt but did not want Rudock to lose the job because of injury. So he gave Rudock one last chance and Iowa responded with that phenomenal 1st half against Indiana. So what was KF supposed to after that? You cant bench Rudock after Indiana. The reaction after the MD game has always mystified me, but it was a game Iowa could of won. But then iowa had another great game against NW, so you cant bench Rudock then.
Click to expand...

^^ Good Stuff. Looking back at last year I think KF's worst problem was not having a shorter leash on Jake. CJ proved his ability in the Pitt and Purdue games.

When Jake was struggling KF should have changed up with CJ for a few series. This could have happened in the 2nd-3rd qtrs of the Maryland game, 2nd-3rd qtrs of the Minny game, first half of Wisky game, and definitely most definitely in the 3rd qtr of the Nebby game after a whole season of seeing Jake be hot and then cold.

I still say KF had a burr in his arse because Jake had two costly turnovers in the first 18 minutes of the Nebby game and he might have pulled any other QB.

That is done now and the big difference is Willies quit in the middle of a season. JR was at Iowa for 4 years and got his degree and he has a chance to play another year somewhere else. I saw a picture of Jake dancing with coaches and other students at a UI fundraiser and he looked like he was having a blast so I bet he really liked his time at Iowa.
 


Xerxes said:
Great post, agree 95%. The only thing I would differ on is that JR probably has at least an equal, probably better chance starting next year at Iowa than he does at Michigan.
Click to expand...
That may very well end up being the case who knows as of now. If Rudock ends up going to Michigan then I'm just assuming that he thinks that's his best chance. Along with if he doesn't then he'd be happier there then Iowa on the bench. Hard to rule out their medical school being a factor too since that's more then likely his future.
 


HawkeyeMHA said:
Idk. The whole qb issue was a complete failure by curt. He has very little ability at this point in his career to manage anything a situation like this. He knows one way and its bland and not changing much. Whatever regarding willies, he gone.
Click to expand...

I'd if KF was talking off the record he was say he F'd up. The whole time he KNEW who the better QB was, why else go through the dog and pony show of opening up the competiton and finding playing time for the backup QB??? He was desperate to keep CJ (who he knows is better), but could shake his conservative love of JR and his "game management". He fully realized and admitted to his mistake after the season and was gonna make sure if a QB left it was gonna be Jake.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.


Latest posts

Share this page






Top