Thanks to a fine bit of reporting by this newspaper's David Paschall on Sunday afternoon, our readership - both in print and online - learned about ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit apologizing to Tennessee defensive back Rashaan Gaulden via Twitter for some rather harsh comments he made about Gaulden following the Volunteers' 45-7 loss at Alabama on October 21.
It seems that after watching Gaulden's unfortunate twin middle-finger salute to the Crimson Tide student body at one point of the rout, Herbstreit later told ESPN's "College Gameday" audience:
"You're thinking, 'With everything that's been going on at Tennessee, that guy probably will never play again.' Next series the defense is on the field, No. 7 is back in the lineup playing. And you wonder why Tennessee has issues. They don't have any discipline. (Butch Jones) should have taken his uniform off, sent him upstairs and said, 'Go get a popcorn. You're no longer on the football team' and sent a message to the whole team."
If that's really what Herbstreit - a former quarterback at Ohio State - thought, so be it. And while that opinion seemed more than a tad bit harsh given Gaulden's hustle and spirit throughout a wretched UT season, if he wants to hold every college player to so rigid a standard, then at least he's being equally fair or unfair, depending on your perspective, to everyone.
Kirk Herbstreit
Tennessee defensive back Rashaan Gaulden reaches for Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts during a 45-7 loss to the Crimson Tide on Oct. 21.But after Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, and some folks questioned the selection given some of Mayfield's antics during the season - including grabbing his crotch and cursing Kansas students after they began taunting him during a road win at KU - as well as a public intoxication charge in Arkansas last winter, Herbstreit released a tweet defending the Sooners QB.
Wrote Herbstreit: "My man (Baker Mayfield) is VERY misunderstood! His competitive spirit is special and sure, sometimes has gotten the best of him. But he is a good man that is driven to be the best. Congrats Baker!"
This isn't to say Herbstreit was wrong to defend Mayfield. It is to say that he was wrong to defend Mayfield after multiple antics when he quite swiftly attacked Gaulden for one gesture in one game.
And to Gaulden's credit, the UT player called out Herbstreit for his apparent double standard, tweeting his displeasure by writing: "Lol bro but I should be kicked off the team and eat popcorn and I don't have a chip on my shoulder and I'm not competitive! Use to have a lot of respect for you!!!"
So what did the 48-year-old Herbstreit do? The 22-year veteran manfully admitted his error in judgment, tweeting back at Gaulden: "When you make a mistake it's important to own it. (Gaulden) is 100% right and I apologize to him. Was more disappointed that day w/ Tennessee's lack of discipline as a team and this was my breaking point. Unfair to Rashaan. I'm sorry. I'm glad you pointed this out man."
This is where both Gaulden and Herbstreit should be praised for handling an unfortunate situation with maturity, honesty and grace.
Yes, it took Herbstreit 50 days longer to apologize to Gaulden than it took the player to apologize to both Alabama and the Big Orange Nation for his actions, since the player acknowledged his mistake before leaving Bryant-Denny Stadium that afternoon, a truly remarkable display of contrition given the situation.
But all's well that ends well, so they say. And because of that, the spotlight should swiftly fade to dark on this issue regarding the central figures.
Too bad the same can't be said for ESPN. While multiple news outlets beyond the Times Free Press reported this story, more than 30 hours after it first came to light, you could find no mention of it on the cable giant's website.
This isn't to say that ESPN should have necessarily issued a statement about the incident or censored Herbstreit for his original remarks. But it did seem that a brief scan of its headlines on its overall web front or in its college football home page might have at least included some version of the story as it ran in numerous newspapers and websites throughout the country.
At the very least, if Herbstreit was man enough to apologize, ESPN should have been professional enough to swiftly let the rest of the world learn of it through its own site rather than everywhere but that site.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.