Aaron Moorehead said something that the delicate flower types don’t like. In today’s world, that’s going to get you castigated unless it’s sunshine, gumdrops, and rainbows for everyone involved.
To recap, Moorehead, a current Texas A&M wide receiver coach and former Super Bowl Champion Wide Receiver with the Indianapolis Colts/Illinois Fighting Illini alum Tweeted on Wednesday night about a lack of loyalty and accountability among young people today.
Around that time, highly sought after quarterback recruit Tate Martell decommited. Later, a top wide receiver did as well, pointing the finger at Moorehead as a reason why.
With, I’m sure, a kick in the pants behind it, he apologized today on Twitter:
— Aaron Moorehead (@Amo8685) May 5, 2016
The coincidence of it is something only the dude typing the Tweet knows, and that’s Aaron Moorehead. Maybe he was speaking to something else and got unlucky on the timing. Maybe he was just damned mad about a player leaving he and the staff had invested time in. Who knows.
But the more chilling part of this is that without cursing, without uttering some sort of offensive slur, getting into politics, finances, religion, or anything else that makes people cringe to talk about, Moorehead had an opinion and was roundly ripped for it.
What the heck?
Look, there is a lack of loyalty and accountability in all walks of life. Maybe he sees it more often than you or I do? Loyalty is an important characteristic to have, and coupled with accountability, those are adult things right there. He was simply pointing them out.
The criticism of his mini-rant only goes to show the sensitivity in sports that’s developing when it comes to differing opinions. What is a commitment if it’s made only to easily be broken? Why commit? Why not just say, “I like Team X and I think I might like to go there, but we’ll see?”
Likely, that’s all Moorehead is saying.
As for big time “decommits,” thus is the price of fame in a world that values touchdowns and three pointers far more than it should. With entitlement and fame comes criticism when people don’t agree with something you did. It’s hard to fathom having all of the good that comes along with it but not expecting the bad.
No one will ever know other than those involved if the Martell decommit had anything to do with the timing of the Moorehead Tweets, but the sad thing is that we’ve repressed a very basic, visceral, non-offending language thought from a coach who clearly has been moved to this opinion by more than one player.
Not everything is sunshine and flowers, all the time, and it shouldn’t be treated as such.
Moorehead cut his teeth at a school with a fight song titled, “Illinois Loyalty.” It’s a shame he can’t enjoy that characteristic in others, and be frustrated when he’s not seeing it. Back to your regularly scheduled hug-fest.
