Urban Meyer was slapped with a three-game suspension for his handling of Zach Smith's domestic violence allegations, but the storm surrounding his response to the university's probe is only heating up.
Meyer looked rigid, and quite frankly annoyed, that he had to give a public apology after Ohio State's Board of Trustees met for nearly 11 hours on Wednesday to decide the fate of their prized head football coach. The verdict came down, but the anger towards their decision only grew.
On ESPN's Get Up, longtime sports reporter and co-host Michelle Beadle voiced the concerns of women, as well as a lot general fans, who are seriously questioning the game of football's failing image.
College football is in the midst of multiple scandals, including at the University of Maryland and at Texas A&M University, and this Ohio State debacle is the cherry on top of an ugly offseason.
Beadle went off on Urban Meyer's response to a question about Courtney Smith, the Ohio State assistant's wife whose abuse has gone all but unnoticed in favor of a football coach's job.
The full video can be seen here, but what Beadle said about being done with football is awe-inspiring and, it reveals a sentiment that many fans are beginning to agree with.
"There's a reason why this will be the second season I don't watch NFL and I don't spend my Saturdays watching college football, either. I believe that the sport of football has set itself up to be in a position where it shows itself in the bigger picture to not really care about women — they don't really care about people of color, but we won't get into that for NFL either — but as a woman I feel like a person who has been marginalized.
"And every single one of these stories that comes out, every single time, pushes me further and further away. I realize they don't care, but for me it's opened up my weekends. I appreciate you for giving that to me. I don't care anymore. I've lost the ability to be surprised. You got three games. You could've been fired. They could've gotten away with not having to pay you a single dime. You survived it, and not only did you survive it, but you didn't have the grace enough to at least look over the statement you were handed seven seconds before and pretend that you meant a single word in it. The entire thing is a disgrace. I'm just numb to it. I'm just ready for NBA to kick off, quite frankly. That's what I'm here for."
Wow.
Beadle, who was born and raised in Texas and attended the University of Texas at San Antonio, hit the nail on the head in this debate. She's always been in the middle of shutting down arrogance and defending good morals over winning games.
For Meyer to blankly give another shoddy statement, take his lumps and go home without a single contrite word, makes him look even worse in this entire thing.
Football is more negative than positive these days, and it's going to take more people like Michelle Beadle to stand up and voice their concern over the cultural side-stepping the game continues to do at every level.
