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Ed Cunningham revealed to the New York Times last week that he left his game analyst gig at ESPN because he could no longer support and promote football's physical, violent nature. As he left, he took some people out with him. This included the Iowa football program.
In the New York Times, Cunningham fingered Kirk Ferentz leaving an injured player in as his last straw. Here is that passage:
The last straw, he said, was working the Outback Bowl in December, when he saw the Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard hobbled, taking hits and being left in the game until the final two minutes of a 30-3 blowout loss to Florida. Beathard went on to be taken in the third round of the N.F.L. draft by the San Francisco 49ers. The bowl game (“a game that means less than zero,” Cunningham said) still rankles Cunningham.
“I know some of the coaches from that team, known them for years,” he said. “And it was hard for me not to walk down after the game and just say: ‘Dudes, what are you doing? Really? What are you doing?’ These are just kids.”
Cunningham teared up again. “I get emotional,” he said to the Times.
Iowa has seen these statements. The university, as well as Kirk Ferentz, has released a response.
“As a seasoned head football coach and the father of three sons who have played collegiate football, the health and safety of our student-athletes is a top priority of the Hawkeye Football program,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said in a release. “We have a strong relationship with the medical staff and medical experts at the University of Iowa. Each player is fully evaluated and all established protocols are followed prior to the decision to play and during the game.”
“Comments made by a retiring sports broadcaster about the coaching staff subjecting a player to possible long-term health related issues because we allowed him to play in the Outback Bowl were surprising and offensive to our coaching staff, the player and his parents. We do not allow a student-athlete to play unless he is medically cleared – that is my commitment to our players and their parents.”
Football is a violent sport by design. There can be some ethical choices when we consume it as fans, but there's no denying the toll it takes on the participants. The area between what is hurt and injured is often hard to tell, and a hell of a lot harder for those not on the sideline.
As more information about the health risks that come with football emerge, the sport has been trying to adapt and implement new policies the best it can. All of that being said, when the goal of the game is to smash another person in the head, there's only so much safety that can be regulated.
