A nagging thought rushed over Florida A&M offensive lineman Bryan Crawford on Saturday night as he stood hurting during the second half of the 32-point loss to North Carolina. And during the flight home that some of his teammates never wanted to take in the first place.
“I felt I was tricked out of my spot, for real. I didn’t really appreciate that,” Crawford told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. “I felt like I put my body on the line to make a few dollars for the university, and I’ve already been doing that for five years. It made me … emotional.”
FAMU coach Willie Simmons confirmed Wednesday that Crawford (pectoral strain) is out for “the foreseeable future,” and fellow offensive lineman Cesar Reyes (knee injury) is out for the season following their injuries in the Saturday night game many Rattlers originally objected to playing over a rash of academic eligibility issues they blame on administrators.
On Friday, 26 FAMU players were deemed ineligible due to what the players allege are a string of academic advisement and compliance lapses at the HBCU campus.
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Simmons said as of Wednesday afternoon that 17 Rattlers – including returning Buck Buchanan Award winner, linebacker Isaiah Land – remain ineligible pending waiver requests and appeals to the NCAA. FAMU is preparing for its Southwest Athletic Conference opener Sunday against Deion Sanders-coached Jackson State at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
“Both (injuries) have correlation (to being undermanned),” Simmons said. “Cesar Reyes was moved from left guard to right tackle on the day of the game because of our lack of depth on the offensive line, away from the position he’d been practicing all of training camp. He got his body in an awkward position that he had not typically been in because of the position change and came down wrong on his leg.
“Bryan Crawford was penciled in as a backup because of the (pectoral) injury two weeks earlier, and he, more than likely, wouldn’t have been getting those reps early in the game. So, he reaggravated the injury. He wasn’t supposed to play, but had to because of the low numbers. That attributed to him re-injuring that muscle.”
This week on the sidelines has left Crawford replaying the events that led FAMU players to decide to play and to later write a letter to university president Larry Robinson, telling him they felt “misadvised” and “underrepresented” in a series of compliance issues that an attorney representing two players has labeled an “epic administrative blunder.”
Interim AD to player: ‘It’s about the brand’
The team agreed not to board a flight from its Tallahassee, Florida, campus to North Carolina on Friday afternoon when president Robinson, already in North Carolina for the game, spoke to the team on a cell phone speaker held aloft by interim athletics director Michael Smith, according to Crawford.
In that discussion, Crawford said, both Robinson and Smith referenced the financial repercussions of not playing.
USA TODAY Sports previously reviewed documents showing that FAMU earned $450,000 for playing at North Carolina. If the game was canceled, FAMU could’ve been held liable for a $450,000 penalty, the documents show.
“I spoke with FAMU A.D. Michael Smith many times before, during and after their trip to Chapel Hill,” North Carolina athletics director Bubba Cunningham told USA TODAY Sports in an email distributed by an athletics department spokesman. “All our conversations were about how we could support and assist them during their travels. We never discussed anything about financials. We are glad we were able to play the game and have a fantastic HBCU weekend in Chapel Hill.”
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While coach Simmons said he was determined not to coerce his players to play or not play – he walked them through a pros-and-cons exercise – Crawford said Robinson and Smith handled the matter differently.
“They never put the dollar amount on it, but they definitely came in with the mindset of saying, ‘This (North Carolina game) is great for the university, it’ll take the university places it hasn’t been before,’ the whole hoo-hah about how this will bring ‘this’ to the university,” Crawford said.
“Mr. Smith said, ‘This isn’t about the money, it’s about the brand.’ The president said, ‘This is a big deal for the university and the program.’ We had the sense this was about the money, for real.”
Messages left for Robinson and Smith for reaction to Crawford and coach Simmons’ comments Wednesday were not returned.
In a Tuesday news conference, Robinson said, “The misconception that people may have that we’re not supportive of FAMU athletics the way we should, that we don’t care about these young men, is very disturbing to me.”
Bryan Crawford: ‘I felt it was disrespectful’
Crawford said the fact that the administrators were not emphasizing player safety concerns was bothersome to him.
“For sure, I felt it was disrespectful. We’re here literally asking for help,” Crawford said. “(For Robinson and Smith) to bring up anything other than, ‘What do you guys want? … We know this game means a lot to the university, that it’ll bring great revenue to the university, but at the end of the day, what do you guys want to do, and what do you guys want for this team? … ’
“If we’d have heard that and we gave our side and they respected and approved that, it wouldn’t have gone this far. But for them to have a rebuttal and they don’t sympathize with you, they’re talking about this alternative action (of financial consequences), you ask, ‘Are you even thinking of us?’ “
Simmons said the Rattlers originally balked at playing for football reasons beyond the perceived administration inattention to their compliance matters.
As of 9 a.m. Friday, FAMU had only four eligible receivers – and they run a three-receiver offense – with just six cleared offensive linemen.
“I let them know how undermanned we were at so many key positions, and I told them about the safety of going to play that game with such low numbers,” Simmons said. “After that discussion, they told me they made the decision not to play, that it’d put our team at too great a risk. That’s not the safest situation: Playing a Power 5 team with one backup lineman.”
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As administrators scurried to respond to the eligibility crisis Friday, more players were cleared. The receiving corps and linemen positions were shored up. And although the late frenzy of attention irked Crawford and veteran teammates following several days of complaints, they were swayed to reconsider their position.
A former Clemson quarterback, Simmons said senior quarterback Rasean McKay asked him what he thought the players should do.
“I was on the side of listening to our players. I didn’t want to coerce them,” Simmons said. “Playing the game of football is a privilege, not a right, and if any individual didn’t want to play, I don’t have the liberty to force them. That holds true for the individual, and for the entire team. I left it up to our (12-person) leadership group.”
Simmons said in referencing the pros and cons of playing he intentionally avoided “the monetary value of the game.
“The players had discussions with our administrative officials, and the topic of the financial benefits of playing did come into play. They were told what the monetary payout was. It didn’t matter to them. It was never a factor: getting the ($450,000) or having to pay it – that’s a $900,000 turnaround.
“But it was all about player safety and what was best for our football team.””
Simmons told his team that going to North Carolina would likely help younger players who needed reps before Sunday’s conference opener. His top con was risking injury by playing short-handed against the Mack Brown-coached Tar Heels.
“As fate would have it, our worst fears came true,” he said of Reyes’ and Crawford’s injuries.
Simmons knows advocates for college athletes contend that matters such as FAMU’s should be determined by administrators who prioritize athlete safety over money.
“Obviously, college football is a business. I’m (upset) it got to this point, that the focus is always on how much money we can bring in, not the security of the player, or the passion and love of the game,” Simmons said. “I’m upset the decision of whether or not we had to play the game came down to money.
“I can’t fault university leadership for making that point known. They stated the facts when factual information was needed. But my concern was the health and safety of our football team, along with our team’s ability to grow and develop, and our players decided that outweighed the risk. Now, we’re looking forward to what’s ahead.”
For Crawford, that’s time on the sideline, rehabilitating.
“We didn’t play for Dr. Larry, for Michael Smith or the alumni,” Crawford said. “We played this game because we knew we needed to get our younger guys these live reps that will really help them this week.
“We’ve been here from 6 in the morning to 11 at night for 30 straight days. We know the ground that we’ve gained. No one but us cares about not losing that ground. We’re a close team. To stand up for this, to see 100 guys and coaches behind us, I swear that’s one of the most outstanding moments I’ve ever had at FAMU.
“I told the president yesterday that I have one goal: To leave the university better than we found it.”
Follow Lance Pugmire on Twitter @pugboxing
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FAMU football player decries feeling pressure to play injured
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