COLUMN: Former Hawk players are after their university

     Last week it came out in the news that eight former Iowa football players are threatening to sue the university unless their demand of money and heads rolling are met.

     The eight former players are Maurice Fleming, Marcel Joly, Akrum Wadley, Aaron Mends, Kevonte Martin-Manley, Andre Harris, Jonathan Parker and Reggie Spearman.

     According to these eight players, at the University of Iowa they all experienced harassment, bullying, racism, and were deprived of the opportunity to graduate while competing at the highest level of collegiate athletics. They are asking for $10 million from the university and the firing of Kirk Ferentz, Brian Ferentz and Gary Barta.

     In addition, they want the university, which they care so much about, to institute anti-racist training for the athletic department, the hiring of a Black male administrator to support Black athletes and establish a board of advisors of Black football players and anti-racist professionals to monitor the program. And to top it all off, they want tuition waivers for former Black players, during Kirk’s reign, for those that did not graduate. Oh, and they want Iowa to pay the attorney fees as well.

     Would you like to know my opinion? This is about the money. Nothing else. They all have been offered the opportunity to come back to school and graduate, at no cost.

     Here is a breakdown of all eight players: 2 transferred to Illinois State, 1 transferred to Eastern Illinois, 1 transferred to Northern Illinois. One running back had 2 carries in all four years of his career. Only two, Wadley and Martin-Manly had productive careers.

     Wadley is upset because he wasn’t good enough to go pro. I’m not sure why Martin-Manly is part of this. He had a good career. The others simply just were not good enough to play at a Big Ten university. Iowa told them to take a hike with their threats, in a much nicer way. I think the administration should counter sue for defamation of character.

     Fantasy football update. I missed this update last week as I didn’t get a column typed up. Last week I won 99-72 to go to 4-2 and move into second place. QB Lamar Jackson (23 points) and WR Julio Jones (29 points) were my big scorers. I picked up Viking RB Alexander Mattison for the injured Dalvin Cook and he was horrible.

     This week was a walk in the park, even going into Monday night’s game. My opponent is in last place and abandoned his team, leaving 3 slots with players either injured or out due to a bye week. I am officially up 117-39. I have one player left; he has two tonight (Monday).

     Tyler Lockett, WR Seattle, is my player of the week scoring 45 points with three TDs and 200 yards receiving. This week’s win will move me into a tie for first place.