In an interview with Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt this week, Oregon star and NFL draft hopeful Kayvon Thibodeaux criticized the education available to football players at the University of Alabama, when asked about his decision. to pick the Ducks over the Crimson Tide. . Greg McElroy, a former Bama quarterback, did not take the comments lightly.
“I already hate the stigma that soccer players are dumb,” Thibodeaux said. “So, do you know the stigmatism [sic] of Alabama education? It is not the west coast. It is not Harvard.
He went on to say that he doesn’t “know if my title would mean anything” if he played at Alabama, while defending the benefits and opportunities presented by Oregon’s connections to Nike.
“What I don’t understand is why he felt the need to cut down Alabama. And as someone who has always taken your academic standing very seriously, I’ll just tell you this: If you’d like to take an IQ test, I’m available. If you would like to take the Wonderlic test, I am available. As a proud multiple degree Alabama graduate, I will compare my degree to yours any day of the week.” McElroy said in Thursday edition of his radio show with Cole Cubelic.
“I’m tired of the lazy narrative that you’re a dumb athlete if you play at Alabama… I just personally take offense, man I really do. I do not mind. don’t come If you think so little of us, don’t come. That’s fine with me, because I know the people who live in this state. I chose Alabama because I love Alabama… If you don’t want to see Alabama for the greatness it can potentially bring you, that’s up to you. You are missing out.”
The NFL plans to eliminate the use of the controversial Wonderlic test at the combine, one of two that McElroy challenged Thibodeaux to take against him. McElroy, who had a brief NFL career with the Jets and Bengals from 2011 to 2013, scored a near-perfect 48 when he took the test before the 2011 NFL draft.
McElroy did some digging into Pac-12 programs with fan bases less passionate than those found in Alabama and throughout the SEC, while he and Cubelic defended educational opportunities at those schools. It also eliminated the idea that the average Oregon player has goals that are vastly different from most on Alabama’s roster.
“What bothers me is that they are going to mischaracterize Alabama as just an NFL factory. That is not the case. Although yes, if you want to go to the league, Alabama is a great place to do it,” McElroy said. “To say that that is exclusively what you get by choosing one of these schools is ignorance. Because you can make the most of the educational opportunities available to you, regardless of the school you attend. It can be Oregon, it can be Washington. Are you telling me there aren’t any guys in Oregon who just want to play three [years] and go to the league? Tell me that’s not the case? Of course there is, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
After the show, McElroy took to Twitter to accept an apology from Klatt, who says he regrets not refuting Thibodeaux’s claims.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.