The feud between now-Pittsburgh Steeler running back Rashard Mendenhall and his ex-coach Ron Zook continues to put Rashard in an unfavorable light.
If you haven't been following this story—better yet, "drama"—both seem like an embroiled, bitter divorced couple and neither wants to acquiesce and admit fault.
With any relationship gone sour, there are always two sides to every story. And finding out which person is right can be very dicey.
However, one thing is clear about this feud: Coach Zook is saying all the conclusive things, and Rashard Mendenhall is saying all the "cryptic" things.
Mendenhall, a highly-touted running back out of Skokie, Illinois, signed with the Illini, spurning other top colleges around the country.
This five-star running back wanted to play close to home, with his brother Walter, to form a formidable running tandem that would put Illinois football on the national map...however, it didn't turn out that way for one-half of the equation.
Walter Mendenhall sat on the bench as he watched his younger brother become Illinois' feature back.
Both brothers continued to support each other throughout their tenure with the Illini. This was evident when younger brother Rashard had an opportunity to break an Illinois rushing record, but took himself out the game and allowed his older brother Walter to get some playing time.
Even though this was a nice gesture on Rashard's part, forcing Zook's hand to put in a family member may not have went over well with coach Zook, who runs a tight ship.
Walter Mendenhall was not high on Zook's running-back list. For his career, he amassed 62 rushing yards on six attempts. That's a great line for a game, but definitely not a career.
Rashard must have seen this lack of appreciation for his older brother as disrespectful; however, Zook isn't under any obligation to put in any player who he doesn't think will produce for his team.
He doesn't owe anyone any playing time. Players have to show that they deserve to get on the field. You can't blame Rashard for feeling for his brother, as he badly wanted to see him succeed. However, Rashard has to realize that it's the coaching staff's decision to play Walter—not Rashard's.
He may not like it, but he has to respect the "call."
Frankly, I don't fully understand why Rashard thought Walter was any good, considering that he was a linebacker for five games and played on special teams. That tells me that the coaching staff was reaching to find a spot for Walter.
Sorry Rashard, he wasn't that good to begin with—time to move on. Instead of focusing on his NFL career, Rashard is still bitter about what Zook supposedly did or said. "It's just how things were run overall," Rashard said. "I'm not mad. There's no hard feelings. That's just how it was."
"As long as Ron Zook is there, it will be hard for me to support the University of Illinois football team," said Rashard.
Mendenhall also stated he doesn't feel that way because of his brother's situation or because he didn't start until his junior year, but he didn't offer any specifics.
Okay Rashard, if you aren't bitter then:
A) How come you're still talking about it,
and
B) why bring it up if you're not going to mention any specifics?
3 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Bernie Sloan 11 months ago
I continue to be amazed that this is still a story (not a slam against Brent Parker's story above). R. Mendenhall's story is so uncompelling. He's vaguely unhappy...it's not about Walter, but Rashard won't say what it IS about. Zook acts like he doesn't know where Rashard is coming from, either. It's so uninteresting.
My theory is that the flames are now being fanned by anti-Zook people. And there are a lot of them out there, especially those among the coaching fraternity who are jealous of Zook's recruiting coups, e.g., that old NY Times "where there's smoke there's fire" story a year or so ago. Rashard's vague whining plays directly into the hands of these people, and you can bet they use it in negative recruiting.
Overlooked in all of this is a recent story about the Illini's recruitment of highly-ranked QB Nathan Scheelhaase. The Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette reported the following (and this was written by the same guy who broke the Zook/Mendenhall story):
"About a week before making his college choice, Nathan Scheelhaase sent an e-mail to Illinois quarterback Juice Williams. All he wanted to know, Scheelhaase said, was 'Would you pick Illinois if you had to do it all over again?' 'He said, 'Hands down, there would be no doubt about it,' ' Scheelhaase said. 'That was something that was real comforting.'"
Obviously Juice Williams doesn't have the same opinion of Zook as the Mendenhalls do.
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Not Baghead Baghead 11 months ago
I'm sure Mendenhall doesn't want to come out and say that Zook is a liar but I bet you Zook lied to him and/or Walter about something. And I bet it was something important. Zook is shady.
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BabyTate 11 months ago
This is a very entertaining article about a very interesting situation. Zook loves his players, remember how he threatened to fight an entire Fraternity at Florida that was picking on his Gators?
This story bears following, it could upset Illinois' applecart this season.
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