HypocriSECy
Posted by Adam Butler on November 2, 2011
I could only shake my head yesterday when the news came down from the SEC office that University of Arkansas wide receiver Marquel Wade has been suspended by the league for Saturday’s Top 10 tilt with South Carolina because of his personal foul in last week’s victory over Vanderbilt.
It was just the latest in a long line of uneven decisions by a conference that protects its sacred cows and treats others like tripe.
To be sure, Wade’s hit on Vandy punt returner Jonathan Krause, at first blush, looked as dirty as they come. Tack on Wade’s post-hit behavior, and I can understand why and how he was ejected from the Vanderbilt game (although I think it was the wrong decision given the way the SEC has handled similar plays).
The hit looked dirty. It was vicious. Wade appeared to celebrate the injury (although more likely, as he said, he was celebrating the play and what he thought was a favorable outcome) 20,000 Vandy fans were screaming for an ejection, and Wade was mouthing.
A closer look, though, suggests that while Wade’s hit was early, and deserved a penalty, and his actions following it were improvident, malicious intent may well have been lacking.
Krause appeared to shade his eyes from the sun rather than call for a fair catch. At full speed (about 20 MPH for a guy with Wade’s 4.3 speed, going full tilt) it all happened quickly, and was complicated by Krause making a late movement toward Wade. It literally happened as quickly as the blink of an eye.
Wade likely saw Krause’s hands come down to make the catch in unison with the passing of the shadow of the ball, and thought he timed the hit perfectly. Wade said as much in the apology that he made, yesterday.
The officials appeared to agree, in part, at least regarding the lack of a fair catch call, because the ball was live and was returned upfield (and VU declined the the penalty). I think he flipped out because no one would listen to his version of events. But, he definitely should not have done so. It made a bad situation much worse. (That said….listen closely…is it just me, or is the “yapping” yapping that Wade is doing with Coach Veltkamp not him saying “I didn’t know that, Coach, that’s what I am trying to tell you!”.)
As a result, Wade was ejected, and now suspended, for a “flagrant personal foul”. But, let’s be real. He’s in hot water because he made the hit THEN acted badly following the hit (on the field and on the sidelines). Would he have been ejected and suspended if he was wearing Crimson and White instead of Cardinal and White?
Given SEC precedent, who knows? I guess the answer, for the SEC, depends upon which uniform you are wearing. If it’s Bama, you get a flag, but no ejection.
If it’s Auburn, you can make repeated dirty hits on the same player, almost start several brawls, celebrate at midfield with one of your coaches, and get a flag and a “private reprimand” during a season filled with dirty hits.
If Wade deserves a suspension, what about the Vanderbilt defender who tackled Arkansas’ Jarius Wright to the ground by the facemask after spinning him completely around with it (drawing 4 flags) ? It was flagrant and had every bit as much intent as Wade’s hit.
It makes one wonder if the SEC would suspend this kid. It looks like old school football to me.
12 Responses to “HypocriSECy”
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Maukavelli said
I think my problem (and probably a lot of other Arkansas fans) is just what you suggest, Adam: that too many of these similar type plays haven’t been dealt with in the same manner. I’m not willing to go to the “conspiracy theory” place like so many other Razorback fans, but I do think that marquee teams get preferential treatment (probably due to subconscious bias rather than an intention decision by the SEC powers-that-be).
According to the SEC, this is why he was suspended:
“Wade’s action was in violation of NCAA Football Rule 6-4-1 for a flagrant violation of interfering with an opportunity to catch a kick and NCAA Football Rule 9-1-3 for targeting and initiating contact with an opponent using the crown of his helmet. The play occurred at the 9:32 mark of the third quarter.”
So, if that’s true (which I don’t actually believe – I think it was the post-play reaction(s) and the “injury” which occurred to the player – but go with me for a minute), then I hope – let me emphasize that – HOPE that future plays of either penalty result in similar consequences for the offending player (either ejection or a half-game suspension). Further, if a future player does a combination of the two plays (essentially, runs over a punt returner before the ball gets there), by this decision, he should be suspended.
But we all know that won’t happen. That’s why this was a bad decision by the SEC. IF, and it’s a big IF, they had deemed it due to those plays and the “subsequent actions” by the player, then the league would have wiggle room, IMO, for future similar plays. They could always argue that the (future) guy didn’t celebrate and/or get caught on camera (which was the real reason for the suspension) arguing with his coaches, and thus the penalty on the field was sufficient. But again, they didn’t do that, which only opens them up for further hypocrisy.
Another thing about this: why isn’t there any outrage at the USC safety who is also getting suspended – or rather, why isn’t there outrage at his hit? I’ve only heard people say that it was a bad hit to the head, but it was “circumstantial” b/c the receiver fell awkwardly. The USC player is suspended b/c it was dangerous, but again, when did that become the standard?
My biggest worry in all of this is that the NCAA is going the way of the NFL, and making it way too easy for the offenses. Is that good for the Razorback’s and their offensive-minded head coach? Yep. However, it probably makes any defensive coordinator’s job a nightmare, and our fans have already proven what they think of those guys.
Finally, another big thing in this is that Wade and the USC guy were suspended for football plays, but when Brandon Spikes of UF was shown on national TV gouging the eyes of an opponent, he received only a 1/2 game suspension BY HIS TEAM and NOTHING from the league. Seems to me that a non-football play should be dealt with much more harshly, but I guess logic doesn’t rule the day.
Again, I want to say that Wade deserved to be penalized, and I may even be able to be persuaded to accept the ejection since the officials don’t have the luxury of replay in that case and it did look bad in the moment. But call the suspension for what it is: to placate the media b/c the guy was “ripped” by the color analyst during the game for celebrating (before the ball was even tackled) with no real video evidence to support it but was then caught on camera arguing with his coaches for a seemingly bad play.
Kris says Free Marquel Wade said
I don’t think you could done a better job with this, Adam. It is almost slanted anti-Arkansas. I’m srious about that. One would not know that this piece is on a site called Blog Hawgs. It very well could have been on any other generic college football site.
You and Maukavelli have hit the nail on the head. I will follow up by saying (again) my biggest problem is the lack of consistency with the SEC. If they would have suspended Wade for “conduct detrimental to the SEC” or something similar due to his actions after the ejection I don’t think ANY of us would have a gripe. Do any of us really condone how Wade acted after he found out he was ejected? No. But, let’s remember he never flipped out until AFTER the ejection. You cannot justify the ejection based upon his behavior because his behavior was caused by the ejection.
Likewise for the suspension. But, they didn’t. They suspended him for (paraphrase) hitting a defenseless player and helmet to helmet (leading with the crown) contact. If that is the case, where have the suspensions been for EVERY other play we see on a weekly basis?
If the main reason Wade was suspended was because he celebrated after injuring a player (which I don’t believe he did) then why no punishment for Nick Fairley after he celebrated at mid-field with Trooper Taylor after causing a fight because he went after Aaron Murry’s knee?
If the main reason was helmet to helmet (leading with the crown) then where was the flag, ejection or suspension for the hit on Tyler Wilson that we have all seen? What about this one? Jones on Adams is the definition of launching your body and leading with the crown going helmet to helmet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC9QVZ6rW9s
If it was hitting a defenseless punt returner then why no ejection or suspension for the Bama gunner who nailed the Florida PR (who actually did call a fair catch)?
That is my main beef. If you are going to suspend Wade… fine. Go for it. But do it to everyone else as well. Don’t pick and choose Wade to send a message because he plays for Arkansas and we have no shot for the NC this year.
Which brings me to my next point. We shouldn’t be griping at all because the SEC has been consistent. Consistent to the point of protecting those teams who have shot at a NC and none for those who do not. We would see the same result if Wade played for Ole Miss, South Carolina or Tennessee.
Kris says Free Marquel Wade said
Also, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless are right on the money and I’m glad (and shocked) they stepped up and called out Kirk Herbstreit.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7179956/arkansas-razorbacks-marquel-wade-suspended-vicious-hit-vs-vanderbilt-commodores
Brett Kincaid said
I am on record on game day saying “Wouldn’t hurt my feelings to not see Wade in a Razorback uniform for the rest of the season. His reaction was 10x worse than the action.” Perhaps that was reactionary. I can cop to that. Wade committed a football felony, but it was not a capital crime. I think the refs handled it appropriately and have no argument to the ejection. It was the right thing to do, if nothing else for Wade’s safety.
Now… I DO have a problem with the SEC swooping in and making this decision. I wish CBP had publicly announced that Wade would sit for a half or for a game based on his sideline reaction. Perhaps that was his plan, and Petrino felt like he didn’t need to publicize the decision in an attempt to save Wade further embarrassment. Now we’ll never know.
The conference overstepped its bounds here. As Adam clearly demonstrates, multiple infractions of same/similar type have been met with no suspension by the SEC offices. To Andy’s point, I’d be much more comfortable with this if the league said the suspension was a result of Wade’s childish actions on the sideline after the hit.
In the end, I guess I have to eat my words from Saturday … at least some anyway. While my feelings aren’t hurt, I am disappointed that the SEC has mandated the kid cannot play on Saturday. It should have been a coach’s decision.
I guess I am a small government conservative when it comes to football.
Adam Butler said
Thanks for the kind words, guys, I appreciate it. I take pride in being blatantly biased at my own choosing–and my choosing, only.
A few things–this one hit the cutting room floor, but it is worth throwing into the mix. There was no ejection, and there was much less contrived horror from the announcing crew.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Jl61v0UCc&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL034C5340F55FB54A
I guess Kirk Herbstreit (who I am told ripped Rade and essentially said he was in a rage and has an anger issue that Bobby Petrino needs to address) thinks it’s OK for Troy Polamalu to try to take a guy’s head off of his shoulders because he reps Head & Shoulders.
Does anyone have a clip of the recent USC clip Maukavelli referenced? I have read elsewhere that Herbstreit did the game and bent over backwards to justify the hit and make excuses for the guy who made the hit.
Also, I am surprised no one has touched on what Wade was saying to Veltkamp. Does that not change your perception of his sideline reaction, somewhat?
If he is yelling, but, at least part of it is so as to be heard over the crowd, and some of what he is saying (and maybe all) is pleading his case, does that change your view?
I think it does mine. He shouldn’t have done it–primarily because it has to a large extent fueled this. But, I can see why he did, in the moment, particularly if most of it was him trying to tell them he was not purposely taunting an injured player, and that he didn’t realize the hit was early.
Maukavelli said
Here’s the video of TJ McDonald’s hit in the USC/Stanford game with the ABC commentary. Herbie actually says its a penalty, while Musberger says it was unlucky because of the awkward way he fell.
Kris says free marquel wade said
I was watching this live and thinking the whole time… “Seriously? Seriously.”
Kris says free marquel wade said
And I DON’T think there should have a penalty on that hit. That DB did exactly what he is supposed to do. Dislocated a receiver from the ball by not hitting helmet to helmet. But did you catch Herbie making excuses at the end talking about “These players play so fast” and “We ask them to make split second decisions”. What about Wade you hypocrit?
Maukavelli said
Well, to be fair, Kris, Herbie’s still saying that the hit was a penalty. He’s just agreeing with Brent that it happens really fast. His Wade comments were derived from the sideline reactions that were “rage” like, not necessarily the hit per se. Subtle point.
Kris says free marquel wade said
Word.
Kris says free marquel wade said
You know, a lot of depends on what Wade was actually doing on the sideline. Was he pleading his case (as Skip Bayless points out) and stating “I didn’t know that, Coach. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” as it appears he says at the end of the clip? Or was he cussing out the coaches and Vanderbilt fans? Well, there is a lot of evidence that points to the former and none to the latter.
I will just again point out that I don’t think he should have been ejected for behavior because the behavior did not happen until after the ejection.
I also wish someone would call out Dave Neal and Andre Ware for flat out LYING during this whole thing. Both of them stated several times that Wade was standing over Krause taunting him. What?!?! Never happened. Watch every replay out there. Never happened.
And as far as unsportsmanlike behavior, watch the Vandy player go at Wade. Wade gets a big two hand shove and does nothing in response. He throws his hands up and appears to turn to a ref to complain about the shove before the camera cuts away.
Adam Butler said
Who knew Vandy’s FOOTBALL I.Q. was high, too?
So, that’s 3 apologies, an ejection and suspension and the “victim”, Vandy’s HC, Screamin’ A. Smith and Skip Bayless “get it” while the SEC blows another decision and the “face” of CFB media acts like Wade is the scourge of the Earth and it’s Bobby Petrino’s job to gain control over his outlaw program. Wow.
http://blogs.nwaonline.com/slophouse/2011/11/02/wade-mom-apologize-to-krause/