Reid is still the most talented signal-caller, but attitude is reason for change Reid is still the most talented signal-caller, but attitude is reason for change
Published: September 22, 2007
Modified: September 23, 2007 at 8:57 am
STILLWATER — Bobby Reid stood near the team charters last Friday night, using his cell phone, eating his boxed meal.
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It would've been normal post-game activity but for one thing.
His mother was feeding him chicken.
Which brings us to the quarterback switch-a-roo at Oklahoma State.
Don't see the connection?
Let me explain. Cowboy coaches have gone full-speed ahead with the Zac Attack, opting to start Robinson over Reid a week ago, then sticking with him against Texas Tech today even after an embarrassing loss at Troy. Weren't we being told just last week that Reid was still the guy? All the weight with which Cowboy coaches were backing Reid has totally shifted to Robinson.
The change seems sudden.
Thing is, it may not be as abrupt as it looks. If you believe the rumors and the rumblings, Reid has been pushing coaches that way for quite some time.
Tile up the back stories told on the sly over the past few years, and you see a pattern that hasn't always been pretty.
Word is that Reid has considered transferring a couple different times, the first as early as 2005. Reid, then a redshirt freshman, was facing competition from returner Donovan Woods, and apparently, Reid considered leaving OSU just because he had to compete for the spot.
Reid's nerves have also been an issue. Earlier this year, he told our Andrea Cohen about his game-day emotions.
"I get sweaty palms. I get the butterflies in my stomach. I sweat lot,” he said then. "I've been playing this game for 15 years. And I can honestly say every game I've played in, I've been nervous. It's not so much me being scared; I just get to a point where I start worrying about a lot of things I can't control.”
A lot of guys get nervous, some even puke before games. How you handle the nerves is important, though, and Reid hasn't always managed them well. He has gotten off to some extremely slow starts, putting the Cowboys in some holes. Some, they dug out of, with Reid often wielding the biggest shovel, and some, they couldn't.
Then, there have been the injuries. No doubt some of Reid's ailments have been severe, including an injured shoulder that required surgery and forced him to redshirt. Other times, though, Reid has been nicked in games and sat it out instead of gutting it out.
Injuries are tricky, of course. You don't want a guy to put himself in harm's way if he's really hurt, and yet, football is one of those sports in which everyone plays hurt. Aches and pains, bumps and bruises are part of the gig.
Reid's injury against Florida Atlantic — whatever it was — appeared minor but just might have been the thing that pushed Cowboy coaches over the edge. Even though Mike Gundy said last week that Robinson got the nod because he had the better week of practice, insiders say that the coaches decided to bench Reid early in the week. The bottom line: The switch is less about Robinson's play and more about Reid's attitude.
"The coaches made a decision,” Reid told our Mike Baldwin after the Troy game. "I just have to go with it, get better and get back on the field.”
There's something to be said for not being a malcontent, but you can almost see Reid shrugging his shoulders as he says those words. Does he have the fire in his belly?
Or does he want to be coddled, babied, perhaps even fed chicken?
That scene in the parking lot last week had no bearing on the Cowboys changing quarterbacks, and yet, it said so much about Reid. A 21-year-old letting his mother feed him in public? Most college kids, much less college football players, would just as soon be seen running naked across campus.
And what of the scene television cameras captured earlier that evening of Reid on the sidelines laughing with assistant strength coach Trumain Carroll? The same cameras showed him throwing his cap in disgust after a missed play earlier, but to be laughing in the final minutes of an embarrassing loss is bad form.
Reid is the most talented quarterback in Payne County, but he hasn't proven that he's the toughest. If you listen to the rumblings and the rumors, Cowboy coaches simply grew weary of it.
Who knows? There might come a day when they grow tired of something Robinson does, but for now, they appear willing to sacrifice a bit of talent for a lot of grit.
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Jenni Carlson,
There are 3 things in your article that really have me scratching my head. 1. Who cares if his mother is feeding him chicken? 2. What would you know about minor injuries? You're a journalist, not a doctor. 3. Laughing during a game? That's a big deal?
It seems to me Ms. Carlson you are very stuck up and need to reevaluate your so called "facts".
Keep the dream alive, Jenni Carlson. Keep the gripe alive! Is this resurfacing meant to showcase the ineptness of your staff, to parade again your blunder, to harken anew the call for more female sports journalists in the male lockerrooms, to promote equality, to again raise the ire of Gundy, to show what a mistake it was to let Reid go, to show how bad we are off with Zac as quarterback, to say 'we told you so', to promote fried chicken in Oklahoma, to renew old wounds, to perhaps get some reaction again from a tired, run-out, milked to the hilt argument we've already gone over, to shove it further in Jenni's face? just what are you attempting to do here? Whatever it is, it's pretty sick.
This article has no business re-sufacing, and i believe the Oklahoman needs to step up and explain why it is being re-run. This paper is a joke and its writers are a joke. Barry Tramel used this article to get on radio, and Jenni tryed to use it to get national attention. One word OPUBCO "PATHETIC"
I haven't read all of the comments on this article, but the one I did read from someone who claims to have a journalism background actually defended Ms. Carlson. As a current female sports journalist, I feel like I have to toss in my two cents. The one thing I think most journalists could agree on, however, is the fact that it was fundamentally wrong for her to publish that Reid's mother was feeding him. Whether or not she witnessed the act first-hand, that is simply not news and is simply BAD journalism. How humiliating for this poor young man. Who cares if his mother was feeding him his dinner? And, if she was, who really knows the reason for it? Maybe he was in a hurry and couldn't talk on the phone and eat at the same time. Maybe his hands were dirty. Maybe his mom was just being affectionate, and he has a close enough relationship with her that he doesn't mind the occasional doting. Who knows and - again - who cares? Using the alleged incident as proof that Reid has a needy personality is a HUGE stretch, not to mention weak. And publishing the incident at all was just mean-spirited and sensational - it couldn't be more obvious that Ms. Carlson is suffering from that sad "female sportswriter inferiority complex" that leads many among us to focus on the most controversial item we can in a story, even if it does not even approach newsworthiness, just to get that shock value and, in our minds, prove that we're just as "hard-hitting" as the men. I've learned you gain far more respect by behaving professionally and respecting the subjects of your writings. The Oklahoman should most certainly have issued an apology, as should Carlson. I believe if I were to write, "I observed Jenni Carlson scratching her rear in the parking lot of a Taco Bell, which obviously means she does not bathe regularly, which we can then only assume means she does not respect her fellow co-workers who must deal with the smell and, by association, does not respect her position as a sports journalist," I would be...fired.
I don't understand. Phil Jackson gets the term "Brokeback..." first came the public uproar, then gets reprimanded by the league and then apologizes. Some said his comments weren't out of line. It's ok he is getting paid to do that. I don't get it, why is this still available this article! Would you try to understand? Reid is unpaid, his mom denied that she fed him. Coach said is was a coaches decision! Drop it! Apologize move on! Or do you keep this going so your popularity ? If it wasn't for this article I would have never heard of you or even knew you existed. Please be professional, do the right thing. Think about it, do the right thing!!
The article was and is pathetic, however, I fail to see any racial remarks. The article did not state, "fried", but even if had I don't believe that would refer to a person's skin color. A lot of other races eat fried chicken, it may pertain more to a southern culture vesus the east or west coast. By the way - OSU was not embarassed, but will more than likely benefit in next year's recruiting class for having a coach defend his players when he had nothing to personally gain but still sticking his neck out (OSU supported Gundy on his decision). I still have not heard an apology from Jenni or the Daily Oklahoman newspaper for publishing the article, and that is why it caused such a firestorm and won't "go away".
Lawerence, Oklahoma City - Oct 16, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I am neither an osu or Gundy fan. I didn't think the article was appropriate, but certainly don't see why it would cause such a firestorm, I don't think it did. Gundy did that himself. He looked and sounded like a complete and total buffoon, ranting like a mad school boy, instead of using his tv time for a post game conference as it was intended. He blew this totally out of proportion with his unprofessionalism, and embarassed osu, I have seen and heard so many spoofs of this on tv, the internet and on the radio, what an embarassment for his team. Was he trying to take the heat off of himself for yet another crappy season at osu?? Losing to Troy was embarassment enough, he should have let it go. Prove yourself on the field, instead of dogging out a reporter on national tv for a thoughtless article. Maybe its time for a new coach????
Jenni, how long did you play college football? Where do you get your authority on football? Just because you watch some games and do some interviews doesnt mean you know anything about the game. Football is a complicated sport, and coaching it is even more difficult. Coaches have to make calls on who plays, and that can be extremely difficult. Who are you to criticize a player? You have no idea about his injuries, his attitude, or how he acts. Just because the boy loves his mamma doesnt say anything about how he plays. Go report on something you know about, cause you obviously dont know football.
Chiming in with so many others on the pure ignorance of Miss Carlson's article does not seem fitting. When I read the article, I saw more than a criticism of a young athelete. I saw the subtle but obvious racist remarks about a young African-American athelete and his mother feeding him 'fried chicken' in a parking lot. If Miss Carlson was only alluding to the fact that Reid was being coddled and was immature, then her reference would have been to his eating in the parking lot with his mother. However, to specifically call out the fact that he was eating "fried chicken" to me is 'A' typical and too accepted by white America. As an African-American mother, I am appalled that the editorial staff allowed the racist slant to remain in the the report, let alone, that they allowed the pathetic article to be written. Is it because Miss Carlson knows what it is like to stand under the weight of accountability when playing in front of that many fans and carrying a team to a win that you would allow her to write such unnecessary criticism? There is true critique of a sport and then there is Jenni Carlson's stab at Bobby Reid and his mother. How sad for her. Although I am certain her parents are proud of their daughter's stance among all of this backwash of criticism toward her, any need they may have to comfort her or encourage her to stand tall during adversity had better not be done in a public parking lot or with food. I mean. . .what would folks say? Lastly, I hope every African-American reader you have will boycott your paper, eternally. Although it may not hurt your bottom line, as a company, you need to respect your readership and do a better monitoring what type of journalists you hire. At the very minimum, you need to ensure they passed the "Ethics in Journalism" 101 class with at least an "A".
Ms Carlson and Sports Page Editor,
How is it that an article about a player's attitude is based primarily on "insiders" (inside where?) and "rumblings and rumors"? I admit I was interested to see the coach's rant after catching a glimpse of it on ESPN, but after reading this article I understand his disgust. I expected to read an article by your title that Reid was difficult to get along with or lacking rapport with the coaches. Instead I read about a young man who at worst maybe lacks maturity, "if you listen to the rumbling and rumors." And apparently, Ms Carlson does. The argument that a player is a man who plays college football and therefore should be able to handle an article based on speculation is too easy. Look back at yourself or your kids at the same age. I would hope your parents would have defended you to the tooth if a similar article had been written about your job performance, especially if half of the accusations were based on "rumors and rumblings" by insiders. Because in college, young men and women are still learning and still growing and your parents would recognize that. (I am not a parent by the way). So I commend the coach for standing up to you both.
Articles such as this remind me way I have such distain for college sports. There is too much pressure on young men and women as they are first making their ways on their own in the world... many of whom pay for their college education in whole or in part (NCAA rules prohibit scholarships for everyone).
Too many athletes are under the microscope for trival things. Too many programs, boosters, coaches, and hometown newspapers praise and reward talent even if character is lacking (underage drinking and other "minor" brushes with the law).
The Rutgers women's basketball program stood up to Imus. And Oklahoma's coach stood up to you based on the fact that ultimately these players are still young men and women.From reading these responses, Ms Carlson you and your editor have succeeded in making people even more devivided in their opinions about college sport and journalism. I "speculate" that you both never imagined the attention this article would get you.
The coach is right though. Someday someone will thoughtlessly hurt a loved one of yours.
Ms. Carlson save your brand of journalism for the gossip column.
the coach was clearly wrong here he owes her an apology. his actions are what made the news here not the reporters story. He is whats caused the embarasment for the university. Maybe he did it to deflect the heat of being a 2 and 2 program at the time maybe some other reason who knows she asked him to point out one fact that was wrong and he couldnt so he looks like a bully. If your going to play division 1 college athletics you are going to be a public figure like it or not if you dont like it transfer to a small school and no one will wriate anything about you. the bottom line I dont think that press conference is what OSU wants the world to see them as. I would think it would strive to be a leader in education and athletics on and off the field
Let the coaches coach; let the players play; let the writers write. Let each one do their best in their own right and the story will take care of itself.
Any self-respecting columnist knows the difference between fact and opinion. Carlson's response on the local news was just sad. All she wanted to know from Gundy was which of her facts were false??? SERIOUSLY Jenni! Opinion isn't fact and the majority of your article was just opinionated ranting! The point of writing for the newspaper is to keep the citizens up with important information! It seemed to me that you had a lack of information and you reported on something you werent even positive of. To me this isnt just a question of whether college players should be accused in the press. This is about writers being accountable for what they write. I read better columns in my old high school newspaper. Bottom line she was unproffesional and out of line. And even worse, all she has done is try to defend her column rather than just admitting she was wrong. There is no question... it was WRONG! A columnist who knows anything about journalism would know the fine line between factual information and opinionated rants. Carlson doesnt see that line. Therefore, she shouldn't be a writing for a newspaper.
The personal attacks on Reid by Jenni Carlson were unprofessional, and unbecoming of good sports journalists. She needs to apologize to the player and his mother. She also owes Mike Gundy an apology. She should be fired from the paper for her insensitive remarks.
Gundy is a good coach who sticks up for his players. His speech was angry but no rules were broken, let me point out he never used any profanity. Don't knock him for calling a spade a spade. I believe he is a model for other coaches.
Shame on you. Gundy had every right to say everything he did to you. Gundy apologize to Carlson? What, it's okay to absolutely demoralize a kid but Gundy can't say his piece to a grown adult? I hope she cried like a baby and feels like crap. She deserves it.
Jenni, you should be ashamed of yourself. Stop writing CRAP about stuff you know nothing about. I wish I could give Bobby Reid a hug. Oh wait...that would be "babying" him, wouldn't it? We can't have that. Football players aren't allowed to be appreciated or cared about like NORMAL people. Especially at the college level. Psh, give me a break.
I am truly disappointed in the current state of journalism. It is my understanding that you cried on television because you felt as though your credibility was called into question. Woman Up baby girl…take it like a REAL woman would. Now my assertion that you cried on television may be completely false but that would be right in line with the trash that you wrote and had published in the newspaper. As a journalist you have to be willing to accept any criticism that you receive as a result of the hurtful words that you wrote. It is unfair to say that you can speak your opinion but no one else can. Being a journalist does not give you ultimate rights above the rest of your fellow Americans. We are all protected by the first amendment and are entitled to our own opinions and the complete freedom of speech. But what you did was unforgivable and I must say you are lucky I am not that young mans mother because there would have been a lot of furniture moving around when we came face to face. Accept responsibility for your words, don’t cry that your feelings have been hurt now when you obviously didn’t care about the feelings of that young player when you wrote your article. If you cant take the heat stay the hell out of the kitchen.
i don't think theres anything over the top about this article. if a college football player can't handle a columnist questioning his attitude then he does not have what it takes to make it. mike gundy was in the wrong, jenni carlson is fine.
Also Sharon, in that column she wrote being a QB's right knee -- was he injury-prone or something? That honestly sounds a lot more interesting than most of the crap our local columnists crank out, and this is ND country (so they have a lot to talk about).
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The attitude of quarterback Bobby Reid has been the biggest question about him during his tenure in Stillwater. Last week, television cameras captured Reid laughing with assistant strength coach Trumain Carroll during the Cowboys' loss to Troy. BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
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There are 3 things in your article that really have me scratching my head. 1. Who cares if his mother is feeding him chicken? 2. What would you know about minor injuries? You're a journalist, not a doctor. 3. Laughing during a game? That's a big deal?
It seems to me Ms. Carlson you are very stuck up and need to reevaluate your so called "facts".
How is it that an article about a player's attitude is based primarily on "insiders" (inside where?) and "rumblings and rumors"? I admit I was interested to see the coach's rant after catching a glimpse of it on ESPN, but after reading this article I understand his disgust. I expected to read an article by your title that Reid was difficult to get along with or lacking rapport with the coaches. Instead I read about a young man who at worst maybe lacks maturity, "if you listen to the rumbling and rumors." And apparently, Ms Carlson does. The argument that a player is a man who plays college football and therefore should be able to handle an article based on speculation is too easy. Look back at yourself or your kids at the same age. I would hope your parents would have defended you to the tooth if a similar article had been written about your job performance, especially if half of the accusations were based on "rumors and rumblings" by insiders. Because in college, young men and women are still learning and still growing and your parents would recognize that. (I am not a parent by the way). So I commend the coach for standing up to you both.
Articles such as this remind me way I have such distain for college sports. There is too much pressure on young men and women as they are first making their ways on their own in the world... many of whom pay for their college education in whole or in part (NCAA rules prohibit scholarships for everyone).
Too many athletes are under the microscope for trival things. Too many programs, boosters, coaches, and hometown newspapers praise and reward talent even if character is lacking (underage drinking and other "minor" brushes with the law).
The Rutgers women's basketball program stood up to Imus. And Oklahoma's coach stood up to you based on the fact that ultimately these players are still young men and women.From reading these responses, Ms Carlson you and your editor have succeeded in making people even more devivided in their opinions about college sport and journalism. I "speculate" that you both never imagined the attention this article would get you.
The coach is right though. Someday someone will thoughtlessly hurt a loved one of yours.
Ms. Carlson save your brand of journalism for the gossip column.
Shame on you both
Gundy is a good coach who sticks up for his players. His speech was angry but no rules were broken, let me point out he never used any profanity. Don't knock him for calling a spade a spade. I believe he is a model for other coaches.
Jenni, you should be ashamed of yourself. Stop writing CRAP about stuff you know nothing about. I wish I could give Bobby Reid a hug. Oh wait...that would be "babying" him, wouldn't it? We can't have that. Football players aren't allowed to be appreciated or cared about like NORMAL people. Especially at the college level. Psh, give me a break.
That's all.
--Emily
I am truly disappointed in the current state of journalism. It is my understanding that you cried on television because you felt as though your credibility was called into question. Woman Up baby girl…take it like a REAL woman would. Now my assertion that you cried on television may be completely false but that would be right in line with the trash that you wrote and had published in the newspaper. As a journalist you have to be willing to accept any criticism that you receive as a result of the hurtful words that you wrote. It is unfair to say that you can speak your opinion but no one else can. Being a journalist does not give you ultimate rights above the rest of your fellow Americans. We are all protected by the first amendment and are entitled to our own opinions and the complete freedom of speech. But what you did was unforgivable and I must say you are lucky I am not that young mans mother because there would have been a lot of furniture moving around when we came face to face. Accept responsibility for your words, don’t cry that your feelings have been hurt now when you obviously didn’t care about the feelings of that young player when you wrote your article. If you cant take the heat stay the hell out of the kitchen.