Ohio State football: Former Buckeyes back Urban Meyer amid recent criticism
By Ethan Lee
After Marcus Williamson took to Twitter to bring up an alleged incident that supposedly involved Urban Meyer, multiple former Ohio State football players backed Meyer.
Saturday evening, Marcus Williamson, a member of the Ohio State football team, took to Twitter and shared a number of thoughts pertaining to his time with the Buckeyes. He bizarrely announced that he had apparently retired and then took the opportunity to bash fans and coaches.
His tweets started off entertaining and harmless enough, but quickly became something that concerned many to when Williamson brought up an alleged incident that supposedly involved Urban Meyer, a former coach for Ohio State.
Meyer has a long list of controversies and scandals attached to his name. Based off prior incidents, there are no shortage of reasons to intently pay attention when a new criticism of Meyer’s behavior is brought up.
So, when Williamson made the statement that Meyer allegedly used a photo of Trayvon Martin in a slideshow explaining a rule about why Ohio State football players shouldn’t wear hoodies, plenty of people began to pay serious attention to the situation.
Ohio State football: Some former Buckeyes support Urban Meyer following Marcus Williamson’s tweets
Following Williamson’s tweets, some former Ohio State players are backing their former coach.
— Evan Spencer (@E_Spencer6) January 2, 2022
Saw a former Buckeye brother sharing about his career last night. We can get into the free labor economy of CFB as a whole, but painting OSU as racist ain’t it. And Urban was a tough ass coach, but he always invested in us as players and people. Just a window into my experience.
— Joshua Perry (@RIP_JEP) January 2, 2022
I can say this… idk what Marcus Williamson is talking about when it comes to racism. I didn’t feel that type of energy from anybody in the building. Everyone involved in sports at OSU always showed us love and support. The love was tough at times but never racist.
— Tyvis Powell (@1Tyvis) January 2, 2022
Both Joshua Perry and Tyvis Powell answered questions pertaining to the allegation that Meyer included a photo of Martin in a slideshow.
Definitely never saw a PowerPoint with that photo on it
— Joshua Perry (@RIP_JEP) January 2, 2022
I recall the no hoods rule in the building but I don’t recall him putting up Trayvon Martin. Bc it wouldn’t sit well with me and I would’ve let it be known.
— Tyvis Powell (@1Tyvis) January 2, 2022
According to Cardale Jones, the rule also included hats and had nothing to do with any social issues.
As a program, we were aware of the social injustices going on in our country and was a touchy subject for many players, but NO rule was implicated because of it! No hoodies & hats in meetings was a simple rule from day one.
— Cardale Jones (@CJ1two) January 2, 2022
Darron Lee echoed Jones on the note, saying this rule was something that had been long established.
Parris Campbell actually directly advocated for Meyer, saying the former Ohio State coach worked to make it known that he was an advocate against racism.
100% agree with Josh. OSU was a family like environment where we were setup to thrive at the next level. Racism was the absolute last thing I’ve ever felt. UM was actually an advocate against racism and he made that clear to us. https://t.co/mkwEKTSDUf
— Parris Campbell (@PCampbell21) January 2, 2022
The situation is a tense one and it’s difficult to work through easily. Given Meyer’s connection to multiple scandals, he won’t always get the benefit of the doubt from many.
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