TomVH: QB Zeke Pike Update: 7on7 Incident

Submitted by TomVH on

If you weren't aware, there were tweets and stories going around that Kentucky QB Zeke Pike was ejected from the 7 on 7 tournament for apparently throwing the football at the ref. That of course sparked conversations and controversy over what happened and why he did it. I thought I would give you Zeke's take on what happened.

It was really blown all out of proportion. They give you a play clock and it was 4th down, our team didn't get set and get the play off in time. They blew the play dead and called turnover on downs. I tossed the ball towards the ref who blew his whistle just giving him the ball. He cought the ball and then the other ref threw his flag and threw me out. It was pretty ridiculous but I just took it, not much I could do. I mean it wasn't worth arguing over, and then we have people tweeting and saying all this nonsense making me look bad.

It seems strange that no one else has gotten Zeke's take on this incident, but there you go. He also told me that he will be back up to Michigan quite a few times after spring recruiting, and reiterated that they will be in the top group.

MGoShoe

April 11th, 2011 at 12:23 PM ^

...bad character guy. I'm so glad I commented on this the other day and leapt to a bunch of conclusions. Clearly Pike is the second coming of Ryan Mallett.

Also Hoke should be pilloried for pursuing this guy just like RichRod was because of Demar Dorsey. It's the same thing, you know.

MGoShoe

April 11th, 2011 at 1:16 PM ^

...of poor sarcasm meter calibration or because they're the ones who were doing the wanking in that thread or because they're the type that like to neg anything that could remotely be construed as negative towards RichRod. 

In any case, some MGoUsers have issues.

mrider

April 11th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^

Good to hear. Hopefully he is Blue in the end. This really shows the power of twitter though, one little tweet and the whole fan base is up in arms whether or not this kid is a head case.

BrownJuggernaut

April 11th, 2011 at 12:52 PM ^

Yeah, someone tweeted a fact and people started making inferences over it. There was no video, there was no interpretation, just word of mouth spreading like wildfire. It's so easy to speculate.

Pike is the kid I would like most at Michigan of our recruits because not only a great prospect but also someone who wants to bring other top players to wherever he goes. I think he'll be a great QB for whoever gets him.

The Impaler

April 11th, 2011 at 12:23 PM ^

I bet his body language and comments under his breath may have had something to do with it.  I can't believe he just tossed the ball to the ref and was kicked out.  It also could have been a build up of a lot of little things.  I understand his frustration.  I like his competitiveness, but I hope in the future that he can channel that positively between the whistles.

UMdad

April 11th, 2011 at 12:33 PM ^

The fact that the ref caught the ball tells me something.  Any of us who have ever played (and carried the ball) have been frustrated and tossed the ball a little bit harder while mumbling something.  It is a lot different that chucking the ball with the intent of hitting a ref.  I am sure if this kid was really throwing the ball at the ref with that intent, he would not have caught it except on hte chin.

Captain

April 11th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^

When the story first dropped, the ensuing firestorm made it seem as if a helpless official's back was turned while he took a bullet between the ears from a frustrated Pike.

Nobody but those present can say what actually took place, but this is probably not a big deal in February.

joeyb

April 11th, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^

I don't know why you are getting negged. There is obviously something missing from his version of the story. You don't get thrown out of a game for toss a ball a little harder than normal. Maybe he swore while doing it, maybe it wasn't his first act of frustration that day.

That said, whatever he did was still probably blown out of proportion by the ref and the internet.

AFMich

April 11th, 2011 at 2:36 PM ^

The ref he threw the ball at didn't throw the flag. On the flip side: why didn't the ref let the other ref know if it wasn't thrown too hard.

Of course I've seen refs cover for each other because they don't want to look incompetent as a group.

Until we hear from the ref or some other reliable source, we won't ever really know.

ND Sux

April 11th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^

but I've played competitive sports all my life and lost count of the times I've gotten too emotional over it.  So IF he tossed the ball a little harder than necessary, I can understand that.  Maybe one day he'll cost the team a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.  No big deal... I'll take an intense kid on my team any time. 

It isinteresting though that people negged "The Impaler" for suggesting the possibility that he kid was indeed frustrated.  It's always "you don't know this kid, so don't judge him".  That is 100% true, but it seems okay to assume the official was full of crap, and we don't know HIM either.  Just a thought. 

duelThreat

April 11th, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^

It is never a good situation when a player throws a ball at a ref, it really throws his character into question.  Once again, the double standard of "it's alright if it's our recruit, but not if it's an OSU/ND recruit."

/s

JJB2

April 11th, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^

maybe he's just a really competitive guy...even in a 7 on 7 game.  I don't know about you, but I like super competitive players...they want to win BAD!

Not likely a character issue, but I'm hoping it's the former.

El Jeffe

April 11th, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^

It is totally surprising to me that Tom VH would be the only one to date to get ZP's take on what happened, and by "totally" I mean "not in the least bit".

Baldbill

April 11th, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^

I bet he put a little extra mustard on the toss and the ref didn't relish having to catch that pass. No doubt he was just hot dogging a bit, lets not make concessions here that might ketchup to us later.

Waveman

April 11th, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^

Thanks for this, Tom. In Pike news, there were some reports that Arkansas has vaulted to the top of his list after a recent visit. Have you heard anything from Zeke on that?

thisisme08

April 11th, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^

Of course his interpertation of events is less harsh, but other observers there stated that whatever he did did not warrant an ejection. 

It was just the normal freak out by someone who knew hey I can get page hits/retweets if I say Pike ejected for going all varsity blues on the ref.

non issue/please come to Michigan.

markusr2007

April 11th, 2011 at 1:00 PM ^

completely uncovered and/or wide freaking open on virtually any play.

They probably won't flag you for throwing the ball at them in a game, unless you rifle it and hit them square on the back of the numbers. Yeah, then they'll be upset.

RyanParrill

April 11th, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^

Unfortunately for him he was rumored to have had an issue in his last playoff game as well. I'm glad he was able to shed some light on it. He'll continue to grow.

The Baughz

April 11th, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^

Thanks for the details. I started the thread yesterday about him getting thrown out. I didnt think it was that  big a deal. Glad for the clarification. I am also glad he will be visiting AA a few more times. Just hope he can control his emotions in the future. He has the spot light all over him now so anything he does will be put under a mircroscope.

Salinger

April 11th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^

As is clear from everyone elses comments, this was not a big deal for me either.  I think there are other things to consider when wondering about a guy's character.  Plus, there was no doubt that the other side of the story would be deflating to all the internet hype.

Magnus

April 11th, 2011 at 1:25 PM ^

Not to steal your thunder - and I have plenty of issues with the dudes over at Rivals - but Josh Helmholdt put up a post several hours ago in which he relayed Pike's take on the situation.  So while I always +1 TomVH and think he does a great job, there have been others who went straight to the source as well.

JC3

April 11th, 2011 at 2:22 PM ^

It should also be known that several players were kicked out for fighting. Zeke was not the only event that happened, but being a high-profile QB he was "twitter-bombed".