Michigan Players Comment On The Alleged NCAA Violations

Finally!  We have some statements from current players on the Michigan football team regarding the recent allegations of NCAA rule-breaking.  And what's even better is that these statements are not anonymous!

The following statements were obtained from this article at AnnArbor.com

“We were really tight coming out of training camp, and I think just things like this kind of help us to grow stronger and grow closer together because we know, just like Coach Rod said, just a lot of unnecessary stuff has been going on,” linebacker Obi Ezeh said. “In order to kind of defeat that stuff you got to be together and you got to be solid.”

“From my understanding, we followed the rules,” Ortmann said. “To the people who are questioning whether we’re working hard, that we’re not working hard, I can tell you that’s not true at all. We’ve all put our time in. We’re all embarrassed by how last year went and we’re going to go out there and give it everything we have to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

“Everybody has been hungry this year and all off-season,” Brown said. “Players will call players to come watch film on their own. I know Saturday we had the day off, I got called at 10 a.m. by a couple of players like let’s go watch film."

Last year, Moosman said "we had a lot of guys, a lot of older guys having their own agendas is the term that’s been used. I feel like we don’t have any of that this year."

“They’re saying that we’re working too much, and, personally, I don’t think we’re working hard enough," Ortmann said. "From a player aspect, I know what we do on and off the field and I see none of that as illegal."

I encourage you to read the full article at the link I provided.

As I've repeatedly said, there is nothing wrong with rewarding (or promising to reward) players who put in extra time for workouts with playing time.  In fact, last I checked, that's how pretty much anything worked - you get what you put in it, correct?

So the team got together a few times to watch film and better themselves - what's the harm in that?  So the coaches are putting in extra time; their time, mind you, to make sure this Michigan team is ready to compete by holding extra workouts and practice - all of which is, to everyone's current knowledge, voluntary.  Is RR forcing players over the limits?

No.

He said it himself, and until a full-blown investigation concludes that he is (which will prove hard to do, given the chincy wording of the NCAA rules), we must take his word for it.  After all, he is running the program, is he not?  Did you see the emotional press conference that Rich Rod gave today?  Either he was well-rehearsed, or he was telling the truth, and after watching that conference I came to the conclusion that he was being truthful.

He wants nothing but the best for Michigan, to restore this program as the nation's top football program - where it belongs.  He cares about his players, saying that the most disheartening thing from this ordeal is that people are saying he doesn't care about his players.  He cares about his team, and he made that perfectly clear today.

To the Michigan football team:  play football, and leave these distractions to the coaches and AD to take care of.

I can't wait for this Saturday, GO BLUE!