AJ Barker quits Minnesota FB & obliterates Kill on way out
Wow...this is unbelievable.
November 19th, 2012 at 11:01 PM ^
This thread goes a long way towards explaining some of the inside jokes:
November 18th, 2012 at 6:38 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 6:38 PM ^
From what I've heard about Kill, I'm not surprised by the motivational tactics he seems to use. But, to be honest, the way this kid presented such a long winded rant that is purposefully made public, makes me have a lot of doubt about the legitamicy of his complaints. And it kind of makes me lose a lot of repect for him.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:39 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 6:44 PM ^
lol, wut.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:48 PM ^
Not sure if you're being serious,
Character is Odoms raising money for his community and Omameh doing an all-around amount of good works. Character is Gardner willing to ride the bench, switch to WR, and then switch back to QB in a week when the team needs him and Denard willing to take a reduced role during his senior season because of an injury and DG stealing some of the spotlight. Character is Denard supporting other Michigan sports teams when I'm sure he is as busy as anyone, always giving credit to his teammates, and always smiling and showing graciousness to fans.
Writing a long and incoherent rant on tumblr about how you are the best player on the team(even your mom's friend says so) and how the head coach is a nefarious manipulator because the staff made some offensive and unacceptable remarks doesn't show that much character in my eyes.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:48 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 7:09 PM ^
You just won the internet.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:42 PM ^
I guess Kill forgot to tell this kid that football is more important than going to class.
Usually, I take stuff like this with an entire shaker of salt, but Barker's piece is fairly persuasive. It actually looks like more than a disgruntled kid bitching about a coach. If Kill actually was bitching to a walk-on for not being able to play soon enough and wanting the right to make his own medical decisions, it doesn't look very good for him.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:52 PM ^
At first glance it sounds bad, but isn't Barker suggesting that he himself didn't follow the medical staffs advice about icing(because he thought it made his ankle too stiff) and was seeking outside accupuncture treatments? It sounds exactly like a disgruntled kid bitching in that he had a lot of conjecture and fluff surrounded by only by a very short amount of evidence.
November 19th, 2012 at 7:32 AM ^
And the fact that his "faith" seems to figure so prominently in his description of events leads me to believe that he made an issue out of it somehow.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:42 PM ^
Just... astounding.
Should have left the P.S. out, though. I think he said everything he needed to before that point.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:50 PM ^
yeah... i made it until he started pasting wikipedia definitions of psychological behaviours like some butthurt messageboard douche.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:47 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 6:47 PM ^
This going to be a major problem for Minnesota in recruiting as long as Kill is there.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:30 PM ^
I don't think so. This is more likely to negatively affect the kid than it will Kill or Minnesota. As someone else posted earlier, right or wrong, I suspect most coaches will presume he has an attitude problem and think twice about having him on their team.
November 18th, 2012 at 10:07 PM ^
and steer their son's away from a coach
Like that. He's not someone I'd want my son spending any time playing for
November 18th, 2012 at 6:47 PM ^
Actually read the entire thing....
Hate thinking badly about Jerry Kill, especially with his health issues and stuff, but damn....
November 18th, 2012 at 7:04 PM ^
Health issues one may have should have no bearing on the judgement of one's character. Kill sounds like a prick if half of what is claimed by AJ is true and the fact that he has health issues doesn't change that fact.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:54 PM ^
I totally agree. I always had a soft spot in my heart for Kill because of all the seizures and stuff,, and his team seemed to rally around him. But after hearing about all this, especially the gay and religious slurs used, I think I'm going to put a check mark in the 'Asshole' column next to Jerry Kill's name.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:06 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 8:35 PM ^
Kill does look like a bit of an asshole when arguing with the refs. There were several calls during the Michigan game when he was out on the field jawing at the refs and carrying it much longer and with far more emotion than is usual for all but the most hot headed coaches.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:48 PM ^
but this is another piece of news that is bad for the conference: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8649670/maryland-terrapins…
November 18th, 2012 at 6:54 PM ^
Wait a second......he can transfer and play anywhere the following year without sitting out? Hmmm.....perhaps....we shall poach?
November 18th, 2012 at 6:55 PM ^
No thanks.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:50 PM ^
Damn. I'm gonna have to agree with AJ Barker here... best player but no scholarship? srsly.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:45 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 6:51 PM ^
Frankly I'm really surprised how many people in this thread are just blindly buying everything Barker has to say. Did it occur to any of you that maybe this kid might be massively overreacting and not giving the whole story? I guess not.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:56 PM ^
Of course...downvoted. This blog really blows a good part of the time.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:02 PM ^
Anyone who complains about points/negs is just asking for it.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:44 PM ^
Fair enough. Second post was stupid.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:16 PM ^
That's exactly how I feel while reading this. How do we know that this kid isn't someone that had grown up being told he was God's gift to earth and this is how he reacts when things don't completely go his way. I'm not saying this is what's happening but I'm not going to just bilndly believe this either.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:51 PM ^
of the thing. Certainly casts doubt on Kill and his methods. If things are truly ugly inside the program and it influences a few more kids to move on/speak out, that might be healthy. Otherwise, it's hard to see how it wouldn't have been better to sit on this one for a few days, edit a little, etc. Open letters have their place, though. When it's a highly respected player, that carries weight, too.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:51 PM ^
Hoke has said that he has the highest respect for Jerry Kill ... so I don't know what to make of this. To me, both Jerry Kill and AJ Barker have faults in this situation.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:06 PM ^
Coachspeek could just be Coachspeek. Does Hoke even know Kill on a personal level?
November 18th, 2012 at 7:13 PM ^
I imagine they crossed paths at some point in the MAC. Yes, it is coachspeak but he could have just as easily said nothing or given a more generic comment like "he's a good/knowledgable football coach."
November 18th, 2012 at 6:57 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 6:59 PM ^
Tough to think about Kill like that but behind closed doors, people can be totally different.
I like to reserve judgement on people until you have sufficient evidence supporting one side...so I'll wait this one out and store this info in the memory bank before judging.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:00 PM ^
I don't know. It's never a good idea to hear one side of an argument, especially when someone has taken the time and effort to prepare and present their case publically. A lot of the incidents in this could have gone very differently than this player remembers them, especially when you're dealing with kids and the people with authority over them.
I don't have the slightest idea whether any of this is true, I'm not trying to defend Kill per se. BUT- even if I knew a college student who told me something like this, I'm sure I would be supportive, but I also know the story might sound entirely different if I heard the other side.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:00 PM ^
of it. Since Barker is a economics I have to assume that one of his parents(or both) are psychologists.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:02 PM ^
Or he took PSYCH 101 and showed up for a few lectures or knows how to use wikipedia.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:01 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 7:13 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 7:15 PM ^
AJ Barker and Marquess Wilson to transfer to the same school to form the the rantiest/quitiest/whiniest WR duo in NCAACF history?
November 18th, 2012 at 9:01 PM ^
You would just need Chris Forcier to throw them the ball.
http://www.faniq.com/article/Chris-Forciers-ridiculous-press-release-an…
November 18th, 2012 at 7:24 PM ^
generation Y.
I don't mean that in a derogatory way.
Balls of brass in the face of authority, demanding a quality life experience, but at the same time way too emo and "entitled" for my taste.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:58 PM ^
Nothing like a quagmire to show you how easy you got it.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:48 PM ^
I'm 25 and I've been to Afghanistan 3 times. You don't know WTF you're talking about.
November 18th, 2012 at 9:19 PM ^
"I don't mean that in a derogatory way." Actually, yes, you clearly do. What has your generation given us? Oh that's right, a crippling debt and two useless wars, one of which continues to haunt me every damn day. I'm sorry, but I can't stand when people rip on one generation because they think it's fashionable. You don't like our generation? Trust me, we don't like you much either.