State of the Nation

We would like to send you the the best College Football stories, stats, videos and podcasts from the only nation that is all football all the time

By Kyle O'Connor

Yuri Wright is a heck of a cornerback; at 6'2", 180 pounds and carrying a four star rating according to Rivals, the Don Bosco Prep star would surely be a welcome addition to any major program. As recently as last week, it was rumored that he had narrowed his choices down to Michigan, Notre Dame and Rutgers. Then, a strange thing happened, Michigan message boards exploded with rumors that the scholarship that had been offered to Wright is now off the table, and they were moving on without him. Why? No one really knew. Eventually, more and more whispers came to the forefront... could it have really been over his Twitter account? 

Yes, Wright definitely raised some eyebrows with his recent tweets. I can tell you this, they were racially and sexually explicit, and extremely offensive to most people. His twitter account has since been deleted, and due to the nature of the tweets, I'm not going to link you to a page where you can see them. Everyone knows how to use Google, so it's relatively easy to find the posts. With Michigan seemingly now out of the picture for Wright, you have to assume Notre Dame will follow, and I've heard that is the case. I haven't heard anything on Rutgers, the "hometown" choice if you will, for Wright. I thought it would be appropriate to use Twitter myself to see where the fans stood on this touchy subject.

I tweeted: Do tweets like that play a role in whether you want your team to land [Wright]?

I received a good amount of reponses, mostly from Notre Dame fans. Small sample size? Sure. However, it's an immediate reaction from the fans that fill the stadiums on Saturdays, and there were opinions to both sides of the argument. Let's take a look at some of them.

@adtime07: I like when the Irish recruit young men with a high sense of character and discipline. The team represents their University!
@ilovenotredame: of course they do the higher learning schools all have values if your not gonna live up to them why do fans/school want them
@Cayfry: speaks to ones character, and maturity level
@_FunMike: I wasn't sure until I read them. Ridiculous. I don't care if he runs a 4.0 40 yd and jumps 6 feet. Not Irish material. 
@Irishfootball11: tough he is young and immature sounds like he doesnt have much guidance..Going to be tough to have that guy represent ur school

The first side, fans that would rather the school pass on the recruit, all make valid points. All major programs want to uphold their integrity and image, and with good reason. The tweets were disturbing and the average fan is not going to want content like that on the twitter page of a player their child may be following on Twitter and/or looking up to. 

@pwand03: obviously the content is unacceptable, but its hard to determine context without getting to know the kid.
@tinbud: YW's comments speak to his character - which is as important as athletic ability. We all make mistakes. He can make it right. 
@Star69ND: good question. Big debate on 247 about this. Isn't college suppose to teach and instruct young minds? I think it's ashame.
@JPCurran86: Still take Yuri! We need a CB! Kelly will come down on him and set him straight! Let him know if he screws up at ND he's gone!
@Pat_Brennan7 (1): honestly I would still give yuri wright a chance. Think about it, a good 80% of kids his age do these things.
@Pat_Brennan7 (2): just read his tweets, Idk what he was thinking. I back any decision coach Kelly makes.

 

 

---