Interesting statements from Penix, Jr.
- Thread starter iujt2873
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This is EXACTLY what I explained here more than once and was trolled for it.
There are three aspects to recovery to play:
The physical repair
The reuturn to game shape
The mental confidence to return
MP had two, and it appears that even one of those might be suspect.
He was miserable being at IU in 2021. He hated it here. He moved on to a much better situation where he also has better medical care. The kid was made of glass here. Not so much at Washington.
I won’t blame the OL, though. His injuries had nothing to do with blocking. He would tear ACLs just running away from guys out of bounds.
The mishandling of Penix by Allen is the most egregious aspect of his tenure and the resulting drop of IU into the swamp these past two seasons.
Hiring and retaining Hiller is second on the egregious Allen actions for me as Penix has proved last season and this one he was/is Heisman caliber at QB
Yeah,
I understand the desperation to get him back out there but he was not ready mentally.
Big question is if he told the coaches and IU medical staff about this phone call
Although this could partly explain the coaches decision to okay him - he perhaps had been practicing well and confidently leading up to the first game and why the coaches chose to start him, but then this phone call broke his perhaps tenuous confidence.
Is it? That report really said nothing other than Penix not following his doctor’s advice.
Agenda to win by grown men over health of a child. Happens every day. Easy to recruit against us. Good for MP. bad for IU. Go Hoosiers!
This is obviously a huge indictment of Coach Allen, if true, and more than a bit ironic given the unsubstantiated charges leveled at Kevin Wilson. To play a kid without medical clearance would be an enormous breach of player safety protocols and an entirely unacceptable practice. Of course, the staffs has A different version of this, so there’s that to consider. I’m sure a few will get sucked in by this, but that’s to be expected. This wasn’t about his mental condition, as some have suggested. He’s saying he didn’t have medical clearance. That’s obviously a huge difference and a totally different issue. Again, the irony and leadership issues are ironic, to say the least.
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If the doctor said “you can play if you want”. That’s medical clearance and that Dr. Is chickenshit. You either clear him or you don’t. If the IU staff Dr clears him then this isn’t on Allen. Just that statement alone is BS.
That was clearance to play. He said “You can play if you want”. Freaking Doctors.
That is an important if and i would like to hear a response from the staff which I doubt we ever will...do any of the reporters have the stones to ask?
Reading his own words and watching him play, one thing is clear he was not mentally ready...not even close. Which was my point three or four times. I was trolled for it despite the lame attempts to now move the goal posts. lol
“Hey, you’re not cleared yet from me . . .” sounds pretty unambiguous, but the follow up of “you can play if you want” is equally concerning. The fact is doctors aren’t ambiguous in this way, and Penix is likely injecting his own message here. It’s no secret he wasn’t happy with the staff and that his departure was not a surprise to anyone around the program, but this kind of accusation is incendiary and, as I mentioned earlier, more than a tad ironic, given our leadership.
That’s not how doctors do these things. Not even close.
The doctors, training staff and coaches are in regular communication about issues like this. There are tons of holes in this story.
“There were times when I’d wake up the day of the game and I’d wait until my roommate leaves and I’d just lay on the floor and I’d just cry to God, just praying that he’d protect me that day, because I knew where my head was at that time, and it wasn’t truly fresh,” Penix said. “It was a lot of tears man.”
I wish that he would have gone to his coaches and told them how bad he was mentally. Maybe he did, we don't know.
I wish that he would have gone to his coaches and told them how bad he was mentally. Maybe he did, we don't know.
I was in a similar situation in high school coming back from a bad dislocated knee injury. I was ready to play and asked my doctor if I could during our senior night game! He said the “You can if you want.” Even though I wasnt medically cleared on paper. If I was caught playing and not cleared, I guess we would of had to forfeit the win that night. So, I decided to not play being that is was cold, pouring down rain and extremely muddy on the field that night! I regret it now, because my worthless coaches decided not to play me ever again when I was fully cleared!
No. He left the decision up to Penix because he’s chickenshit. Everyone except his personal dr. Pretty sad. His doctor is a prick for doing it. He should’ve said you aren’t ready so I’m not releasing you. It’s a terrible tactic. Instead he left it to interpretation.
People also need to remember that this is Penix's recollection and takeaway from what was undoubtedly a lengthy conversation with the doc. Who knows if it's remotely accurate.
I had major orthopedic surgery earlier this year. There is definitely a mental component to the recovery. I was initially worried about inadvertently doing something to eff up the surgical repair, and then I was concerned about re-injuring myself during rehab and subsequent strength training, particularly since I tend to go full bore.
Orthopedic surgery sucks. Your life is largely on-hold for weeks and months afterward, and you never want to go through it again.
Penix has had multiple serious injuries and surgeries. That had to start messing with his mind. I've said it before and I'll say it again now. He absolutely needed a change of scenery, and it's not because the IU football staff did anything wrong.
I hope that after the previous mess the IU compliance department had procedures of working with the doctors and getting official clearance from them. This should all be documented and the truth lies in this files.
This is incorrect according to Penix. He said the doctor told him he was not cleared to play, but the decision whether to play was up to Penix.
Do you think doctors cleared Robert Marve or Elijah Sindelar to play on allegedly torn acls? Uh, I doubt it.
They do (and did), which is why MP’s telling of this is full of holes. As for his mental state, teams and players are mental and emotional roller coasters throughout a season. It’s a constant grind. Anyone who ever played a sport would understand this. If you know anyone who played for RMK, ask them about their mental state during any given season. You’ll get some insightful responses.
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Stupid. He clearly left it up to Penix if this is true at all.
How did IU’s training staff react to this? What discussions occurred between them and the surgeon?
This sounds very similar to the Peyton Manning situation with the Colts.... It doesn't matter what the Dr. says, if the player wants to play there's really nothing a Dr. can do to stop him... problem is, is when there are conflicting opinions among the Drs., like in Manning's deal with Colts... He wanted to come back but the Colt's doctors said to Irsay and his legal council, "no way, you should take that chance and let him play for you." The Broncos took that chance and won... From what my wife knows of the medical situation with Manning (she has worked with a couple of the Dr. close to the Manning deal) is that the odds weren't with PM if he were to get hurt again... and they weren't odds in Manning's favor. Fact is, he got lucky and did not get hurt again, the Broncos got lucky and the Colts paid for not placing money on a bet the odds said, don't do. IU f'ed up putting Penix on the field because he wasn't ready, both physically and mentally.
i'm as big a michael penix fan as there is and not exactly an allen fan, but don't you think mike has to take a lot of responsibility for this? He was a grown man. if he didn't feel like he was ready to play he should have went to the coaches and told them so, not lay on the floor crying about it.
And yet Allen started him anyway. Surely Allen talked to his doctor before letting him play?
Don't you know?
I know after my lumbar three level 360 fusion surgery; I went to school just to see the students as I wasn't cleared to teach. Despite doing good enough to drive 50 minutes to school, when the bell rang, students hit the hallways I had to find a doorway to get away from the crowded hallway. It was shocking to me the impact the crowd had on me as I thought I was about ready to get back to teaching and coaching. I can just imagine what Penix was going through with his run of injuries.
Good point, we also have remember that this Penix’s paraphrasing of the conversation that happen 2 years ago. The Dr may have said something along the lines of “while you’re technically cleared to play, it would still be my recommendation that you wait, but that decision is up to you”
I doubt he misremembers crying on the floor before games. But I agree with the balance of your comments, he was a mess mentally and needed a change.
I’d be crying on the floor before games too if I had to play behind a Hiller OL, CTA allowing him to remain as long as he did was coaching malpractice.
I don’t think Penix is blaming or trying to put Allen in a bad light. I think he’s telling a story and it’s being misinterpreted. I think with a more in-depth conversation the context changes. I do believe his mental state is the story here.
"I trust that everything is okay. The trainers have been doing a great job of getting me back on the field. As far as all of the injuries, I'm not really worried about that. I just want to go play football."
Michael Penix Jr. on 9/1/2021
iuhoosiers.com
Michael Penix Jr. on 9/1/2021
Quoted: at Iowa - Indiana University Athletics
With Iowa on deck this week, the Indiana football program spoke to the media. Below are quotes from coordinators Nick Sheridan and Charlton Warren , a...
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