Ryan Day vouched for Justin Fields’ work ethic in an awfully problematic way

It shouldn’t be that hard to defend Justin Fields.

It shouldn’t be hard to defend Justin Fields. He’s been considered one the best quarterbacks in his age group for going on half a decade now. At Ohio State, he put up ridiculous numbers and led the Buckeyes to the national championship game.

Fields is a blue-chip prospect who will be picked in the top-5 of the 2021 NFL draft, but a comment by ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, who was passing along the musings of anonymous people working for NFL teams, has created a discussion around his work ethic. So Peter King did what Orlovsky should have done upon hearing the concerns: He talked to Fields’ coach at Ohio State, Ryan Day.

Day called the comments about his former quarterback’s work ethic “reckless,” which we obviously agree with. But the Buckeyes coach didn’t stop there … he probably should have.

Via NBC Sports:

“I mean, to me, that’s crazy. He got done with the Clemson game [the loss in the college football playoffs in the 2019 season] and he came back and all he did was work to get back to that game. And when those other guys are opting out, what’s he do? He petitions to have a season. He put together this petition that the Big Ten athletes all signed saying that they want to play, but they want to play safely and that they don’t accept canceling the season. It was all led by Justin Fields.”

All right. So far, so good, coach. We can end it there. Oh, he kept going…

“Where was everybody else? Where were the guys who were opting out then? You know, you don’t love the game if you’re doing something like that. This kid loves the game.”

Ugh.

It goes without saying that Day’s thinking is not just flawed but it’s the kind of toxic discourse we hear every draft season. The kind of toxic discourse that might lead to somebody questioning a player’s work ethic.

A player opting not to play a dangerous sport (for free!) during a global pandemic does not speak to their passion for football. That’s a brave and sensible decision to make. Is Day saying guys like Penei Sewell, Ja’Marr Chase and Caleb Fairley DON’T have the requisite work ethic or love of the game to make it in the NFL?

It’s not only a ridiculous statement but also a shameful one. Like we said at the top: It should be easy to defend Justin Fields. Day shouldn’t need to tear down others in order to do so.

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