Kentucky football’s most inspiring battles aren’t on the field
Random notes:
▪ At his weekly press conference Monday, via Zoom, of course, Mark Stoops was asked if after Josh Paschal’s 76-yard interception return versus Mississippi State last Saturday, could the UK coach reflect on the struggles Paschal, a cancer survivor, has been through.
“He is an amazing individual,” Stoops said. “I don’t make too much of it and I don’t need y’all to dig into it, but it is just his leadership and the way he responded at halftime. He had injured his knee, he was hurt, unsure whether he could play, unsure how significant that injury is. He’s a guy that wanted to speak at halftime with me and to address the team and to lead. He is a courageous young man. He’s a leader and passionate about the way he plays and it affects other people.”
Then Stoops reminded us Paschal is not the only one fighting personal battles on this Kentucky football team. Offensive line coach John Schlarman continues to battle liver cancer. Linebacker Chris Oats is battling an undisclosed illness that has forced him to sit out the 2020 season. In fact, Stoops presented Oats the MSU game ball on Sunday.
“It is something, especially when you think about that and what he has been through and you think about what Coach Schlarman is going through and I can tell you without getting into details, that it is amazing and inspirational what John is doing. It is tough on him,” Stoops said. “Also, to go up and see Chris (Oats) yesterday and deliver that game ball to him and see what Chris is going through. We don’t take enough time to be grateful for what we have, and our team needs to understand that and things can change in a moment. We have enough situations on our team where we can look right at those examples and realize how fortunate we are and we need to make the most of every opportunity that we have.”
▪ “Amazing,” was the word Stoops used to describe punter Max Duffy after another typical Max Duffy performance against Mississippi State. Duffy averaged 44.9 yards per punt, pinning the Bulldogs inside the 20 on three occasions without a touchback. He also made the heads-up play of kicking an air-mailed snap out of the back of the end zone for a safety. He then turned around and uncorked a 75-yard free kick.
Told that Duffy was heard to remark after the game that he was not all that pleased with his performance, Stoops said, “That’s Max.”
▪ Tennessee has scrapped its plan to wear black jerseys for Saturday’s game with Kentucky. The school planned to auction the used jerseys to raise money to support organizations fighting for racial justice and social justice. Instead, the Vols will stick with the Nike-designated uniforms for the game. Coach Jeremy Pruitt says the team still hopes to wear the black jerseys in the future.
▪ You can now refer to Florida’s head coach as Dan “Tone Deaf” Mullen. Saying that crowd noise at Kyle Field played a role in his team’s 41-38 loss at Texas A&M, Mullen urged Florida fans to pack The Swamp for this Saturday’s game with LSU, now that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has lifted the restrictions on attendance at public events. Thankfully, our old friend Scott Stricklin, Florida’s AD, nixed the idea.
“We continue to follow UF Health and campus guidelines,” Stricklin told Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi. “I’ve not heard anything about campus adjusting (its) guidelines.”
▪ Joe Burrow is going to be a terrific NFL quarterback, if the Bengals don’t get him killed first. If Burrow did not get hit on every snap of last Sunday’s 27-3 loss to the Ravens, it sure seemed that way.
▪ RIP, Joe Morgan. The man who made the Big Red Machine go died this week at age 77. Said teammate Johnny Bench, “Joe wasn’t just the best second baseman in baseball history, he was the best player I ever saw and one of the best people I’ve ever known.”
