"Black players said success within the program hinged on assimilating to The Iowa Way, a reference to the program's "smart, tough, physical" motto.
"Iowa culture is -- and we saw it on the wall every day -- smart, tough, physical, disciplined, hard-nosed, put your nose to the grindstone and work, be early, and many more," said Tyler Kluver, a former Iowa long-snapper who is white and hosts the "Washed Up Walkons" podcast. "Those are the pillars of Iowa culture."
But The Iowa Way, as many Black players describe it, also meant conforming to a white football culture and suppressing their own, whether it be their hairstyle or how they spoke or dressed."
This was a quote fro. the story, and I am sure this is going to ruffle some feathers on both sides.
1. This sounds like Peter brothers mentality.
2. Nebraska "was" this under Osborne
3. There is a difference between racism and work ethic
As I watch this world unfold I see both sides. I 100% believe that there is bigotry and racism all over the place and we do just turn the other cheek. I see finger pointing going on every day like there is a fix.
My question to people on this board is how many kids have left our program prematurely recently (since the Frost era [Only using this time frame for easier statistics]), and how many were black vs white? I am not going to go back and get the stats on that as I write this, but I know for damn sure it was a hell of a lot of 4* athletes. A lot of them were black, and came from somewhere other than Nebraska. You don't think Frost preaches "smart, tough, physical, disciplined, hard-nosed, put your nose to the grindstone and work" type of football? I am pretty sure I have heard every 90's player come out and say that is what they were. Didn't Frost come from that mentality?
So I am not going to sit here and bash Iowa for teaching hard nose football to kids. Why, because we do the same thing and I am sure Saban, Meyer ect... do the same thing. Is it racist, or is it setting an example? I personally think it is setting an example of what it takes to succeed in life.
At the beginning of the article it said the one guy had to run with a yellow bucket on his head for being late. To me that had nothing to do with being racist. It was showing the kid that on Iowa's football team being late is unacceptable. That being late in life means you are going to lose. That if you want to win at life work hard and be on time, then next time you won't need to run with a bucket on your head.
Now on to the other side...
Why do these guys say "They didn't/wouldn't do this to the white kids". That is where I do see a fault. If anyone is late, you make them run with some embarrassment. You can't pick and choose who you think needs to be punished in an embarrassing way.
The racism starts when you judge someone by the way they look. It continues when you hold someone to a different standard by where they came from and how they act. Then it ends when you treat people equally and hold everyone to the same standard.
I think people need to be what was quoted on Iowa's wall to succeed in this world. I also believe that you can't make someone they are not. So what it boils down to is life is about choices. If "smart, tough, physical" is not your mentality going into college football, maybe it isn't for you.
I've got to get ready for work right now so I am ironically not late. I would love to continue on, on this topic.
