Cj Beathard was hurt during the Outback Bowl when he was played quite a lot by the Iowa staff. Ed Cunningham took exception to the use of this kid in a recent interview, and the coach at Iowa is upset by Cunningham's comments. This is not an article about how players should be used in college football games. This is an article about why sportscasters are allowed to give their opinions.
Feelings are valid
Kirk Ferentz was very upset and offended by Cunningham's comments, and he characterized Cunningham as a retiring sportscaster who should basically go away and stop talking.
The problem is that you can be upset, you can get angry, but you cannot deny that Ed Cunningham watched that game with his own two eyes. He did not hear about it. He was not informed of it after the fact. He colorfully described what was going on in the game, and he has a right to his opinion.
Cunningham knows football
He played major college football, played in the NFL, and he broadcasted games for years. He has been in the business long enough to know what he saw, and he gave an opinion of what he saw based on the safety of the player. We do not know the motivations of the Iowa staff, but it is clear that Cunningham thought they were being reckless. They may have been reckless, or they may have been doing what was right based on what the medical staff told them.
No one else could know. However, opinions are acceptable, especially when Cunningham was watching the game live and broadcasting it.
We need to be careful with players
Players in all sports will want to go back out on the field, and sometimes they can be cleared by the medical staff even if they should not be playing. For example, you could have your knee torn up and get cleared to work out, but you might not want to do that yet.
If someone makes you work out, you will likely do it anyway if they are your coach. This is purely an example because we do not know what the Iowa staff was doing, but Cunningham was commenting on the team concept that many guys buy into where they believe they are letting their teammates down if they are not playing.
Let it go
Kirk Ferentz needs to get over it, and he needs to coach his team. I think Iowa is a very good program, and I hope that what he has been accused of is untrue. Ed Cunningham, however, makes a very good point that certain guys look really bad on the field to the point where you are concerned for their safety just by watching them. There must be a happy medium somewhere.
