If anyone saw the Arkansas Razorbacks' game Saturday (10/29) in Nashville, TN against the Vanderbilt Commodores, I'm sure you saw Marquel Wade lay out Vandy punt returner Jonathan Krause before he was ever able to touch the ball. Wade was flagged for a personal foul and ejected from the game. SEC commissioner Mike Slive has since announced that Wade would be suspended from Arkansas's upcoming game against the #9 South Carolina Gamecocks. I have to admit that when I first saw the hit, I felt like the ejection was justified and fully expected a suspension to follow; however, recent events have caused me to change my opinion slightly. Monday (10/31) Wade issued a public apology, stating that "he thought the returner had already fielded the punt and was trying to advance the ball.......but he (Wade) would take full responsibility for his actions." Based on the way that Wade jumped up and celebrated the hit, I do believe that he thought Krause had the ball and thought he had made a legitimate play. He clearly stopped celebrating after seeing that Krause was hurt.
Of course, Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN's College Gameday condemned Wade's hit and implied that a one-game suspension was not enough. On the other hand, ESPN First Take hosts Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith argued that Wade should NOT have been suspended or even ejected from the game. I tend to agree. I don't think you can do that to a kid who is out there giving 100%. He is just a kid afterall and he made a mistake. I think the personal foul penalty was plenty. I just feel like if Wade played for Alabama, LSU, or another of the media's favorites this wouldn't have been blown out of proportion like it has been. Maybe that's just my bias for Arkansas talking but I really feel that way. What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them.
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