Robert T Green is with Sharonda Phelps.
11 mins ·
#SportsIsNotAGame #SportsIsAllBusiness
Why we wouldn't send your
#AfricanAmerican sons to play for
#Iowa #Football for
#BrianFerentz and
#KirkFerentz
Statement from former
#IowaHawkeye Mr. Maurice Fleming
During my tenure at The University of Iowa the following incidents occurred; during freshmen year,
I can recall having my dreadlocks wasn’t “the Iowa Way”. Coach Doyle would go out of his way to antagonize me for having dreadlocks, which made me feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome. During the recruiting stages, there wasn’t an issue with my hair as far as I knew and I felt accepted. It wasn’t until I signed my letter of intent things started to unfold. Eventually I got tired of hearing the comments about my hair and sadly I had my dreadlocks removed. Strangely enough, Coach Doyle commented saying, “Reese if I had a daughter, I’d let you date her.
Now it looks like you’re ready to play some football!” I’m assuming he was now pleased with my appearance. On a second occasion
I had to confront coach Doyle in the presence of my teammates and other strength coaches when he used the N- word. A teammate and I were next to each other while competing during sprint workouts. We were racing 10 yards and my teammate grabbed my arm to slow me down and I became agitated and Coach Raimond confronted me saying “what are you mad at Fleming, you clearly lost?” I replied,” this N-word grabbed my arm”.
Coach Doyle response was, “this N-word, this N-word”. Mimicking with a smirk. After I heard that response we exchanged words and a few of my teammates held me back and told me to relax and calm down because Coach Doyle was to powerful and would get me removed from the program.
At The University of Iowa Coach Doyle thought it would be smart to initiate a Draft Day. Draft Day is where the entire team and coaching staff pick captains by the majority of votes(Similar to the NFL draft).
During Draft Day captains receive sheets of papers with listings of players GPA’s, body weight, attendance of class, weight lifting goals etc. it was based upon a point system and teams would receive more points for academic ability and body weight, rather than their physical ability. Which ever team would win during offseason training would get a prize and special privileges. In a sense it felt like an experiment and somewhat dictated on who the coaches could trust to put on the field when the season would start.
All in all race played a huge role. Majority of white players were drafted in the early rounds and blacks were drafted after.
As a Black player it affected my mental health because it pressured me to be perfect in every category to be accepted by the coaching staff and my teammates. I was physically and mentally exhausted. Once during conditioning I told the coaches something was wrong and I didn't feel right. They told me to keep pushing. I did then I fainted which required medical attention caused by high blood pressure and dehydration. The issue behind me fainting was that I was expected to meet my body weight goals to for my teammates and not get bad mouthed by my coaches for points.
Over my four years at Iowa
I attempted to transfer 3 times. But everytime I did Kirk Ferentz would give me hell about it,. He would do things to manipulate the situation by not assisting in directing me to the people needed to facilitate my request. He'd tell me to go sleep on it for 24 hours and then act like I never asked, or call my mom and tell her to tell me to stay. My first request came in my freshman year as I spoke with Iowa and Kirk Ferentz specifically about the position I wanted to play and if that would be the case at Iowa. I was told yes 100%. After I signed my letter of intent and the day I stepped foot on campus.
They told me I was going to be a WR. It was clear on how things would be with the treatment of my culture, hair, and my Black teammates. The amount of lies that were told to my face by Kirk Ferentz before and as soon as I arrived,. I knew this wasn't the place for me. My mom didn't know what was going on with me at Iowa until after I finally got to leave.
On my final and first successful attempt to transfer, upon
Coach Ferentz revealed who he truly is. During our final meeting he expressed that “I need him in life and I’ll never be anything without him, and that I was truly making a huge mistake.” After hearing those words it further confirmed my reasoning for leaving and taking my goals to West Virginia University where I had the opportunity to start and thrive. They gave me the opportunity to continue my football career. It is unfortunate that the color of my skin forced me to assimilate to the Iowa way yet and still it was not good enough for them.
Over the years I’ve developed PTSD from the incidents that took place under Coach Ferentz & Coach Doyle’s leadership.
Sincerely
Maurice Fleming
