However, this is not an issue of ‘playing through the pain’ or who is a ‘wussy.’ You’re right that players play hurt…to a point! If you’re hurt but can perform close to your normal potential and help the team, you stay in. If you can no longer play to a suitable level and are harming the team, you sit out! Period. To do otherwise is selfish and putting your ego first.

And I completely disagree that NL was still throwing decently after his injury. His mechanics were off, his deep throws were off, he was throwing without planting properly, etc. You could see it! He was hurt too badly to play-to-par but I think (and this is part speculation), he didn’t seem to want to step-down for the good of the team.

Also, as a player it is your responsiblity to be honest about your injury with your coach. Sure, Tedford shares some blame in this area too, but I’m sure he was basing his decision to keep NL in the game on NL’s word. He trusts his players and his players should not take advantage of that trust. Like I said, team-before-individuals and player integrity…that much should be expected of all players.

Like I said, I agree that NL was not soley responsible for our downfall and I honestly never boo’d the guy or participated in any of that name-calling/chiding that fans were doing…I completely disagree with that as these are just college kids. My point is only that his honesty and integrity was questionable, IMHO, and that cannot be tolerated if it’s hurting the team.

This is football, not table tennis. Virtually EVERYBODY is always hurt regardless of whether they are listed as being hurt or not. It is just a matter of degree. People don’t play only when the injury is really bad. Justin Forsett played most of every game last year even though he was injured. Take a close look at him in some of the games last year and you’ll see that he was actually limping to the sidelines in some of those games.

Like it or not, it is the culture of football. Nate is more likely to loss the respect of his teammates if he sits down too readily then for him to try to play through an injury. He is the quarterback and leader of his team and needs to show toughness and leadership and not act like a wussy. It is the coach’s responsibility to decide whether the player can play or not.

And honestly, if you objectively look at all the games where he played while hurt, limping or not, he threw his passes with decent velocity and had nice touchdown passes in USC and UCLA games against tough defenses. Some of his passes that were intercepted were because he delivered the ball to the right spot but his receivers were not where they were supposed to be (hello! final interception in UCLA game). This same exact receiver who now plays for Philadelphia had to have no less then three coaches all the way up to Andy Reid pull him aside during minicamp to talk to him about his route running. Here’s quote from a NFC scout when asked why his team didn’t draft him:

“He was off our board,” a scout for an NFC team told the Daily News after the draft. “We just didn’t want to deal with the body of work – the body makeup, the attitude. He’s got Ocho Cinco [Chad Johnson]- Terrell Owens traits. He’s a mouthy little guy. HE’S NOT A GOOD ROUTE-RUNNER. And he’s not good away from the ball.”

Get the picture? I’m not trying to slam Tha1 because he was an electrifying player and was good for Cal football but there was clearly more then enough blame to go around.

So explain to me again why he should publicly apologize?

For all the angst us fans go through, nothing justifies treating players and coaches the way some Cal fans have over the past year. In the end, it really is just a game we spend hours a week on, its it not the central focus of our lives(assuming you are not part of the program).

Never forget that the stakes are highest for those gifted enough to be on the field.

Actually, Longshore admitted after the USC game last year that he didn’t play well. He put the responsibility of that game on himself even though there was plenty of blame to go around (defense letting SC run wild with their tailbacks).

If we follow your logic then shouldn’t some of the DL step up and take responsibility for their lack of pass rush? Should the secondary also openly accept blame for their lack of interceptions? How about Brandon Hampton taking responsibility for all those pass interference penalties in the UCLA game. Again you and your Riley fanboys follow a double standard. You want Nate to come out and openly apologize but you don’t ask the same of his teammates for all the factors I enumerated above. Why the hell should he come out and openly accept blame when none of his teammates have been willing to do the same?