Michigan Football: Multiple players defend UM on mental health
Former Michigan football player Henry Poggi spoke out on Twitter in defense of Michigan football and the way it handles mental health. He wasn’t alone.
When Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh addressed reporters at Big Ten Media Days last Friday, he likely wasn’t trying to cause a stir. However, his comments on transfers and how depression could be used as an excuse to get a waiver certainly caused some blowback.
Many assume that Harbaugh was talking about former Michigan football player James Hudson when he started talking about depression and players being told to say things to get waivers.
Harbaugh said he believed all players should be given a one-time chance to transfer and play right away regardless of why. Yet, he said this in response to a question about it later in an interview with ESPNU.
Jim Harbaugh was on ESPNU Radio today, asked why he feels every player should be allowed to transfer once with immediate eligibility.
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) July 19, 2019
He went on to question whether or not some players are using mental health as a transfer reason that might not be true.
Full comments pic.twitter.com/cqFeArVFVB
By the end of the conversation, Harbaugh seemed to realize what he said could be taken out of context, as it was, and used to make it seem like he doesn’t care about mental health. After receiving even more backlash, Harbaugh put this statement on Twitter Saturday:
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) July 20, 2019
Yet, despite that, more fuel was added to the fire on Sunday, when long-time sports business reporter Darren Rovell retweeted a link to a post that claims Harbaugh didn’t want to talk about mental health when he met with Hudson and his mother to discuss his transfer.
After taking a shot at Harbaugh for ignoring the issue, Rovell quoted a tweet put out by former Michigan football player Jared Wangler, which defended both Harbaugh and the university.
Jared, having a great mental health program, and given what I saw at Michigan when I came I have my doubts, doesn’t absolve Harbaugh from the comments he made and, according to the family, his actions. It’s like if Ohio State had a great domestic assault response program... https://t.co/ePqBQiveL1
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 21, 2019
Wangler responded by saying that people who don’t know about these topics shouldn’t be talking about them and again said that Harbaugh and company do a good job with mental health issues.
Coach Harbaugh, along with the rest of the staff, hold players to high standards in an ethical manner. As for the general public, stop letting mediocre writers and twitter keyboard warriors create a false narrative on something they know nothing about.
— Jared Wangler (@Jwangles2) July 20, 2019
Wangler also wasn’t the only former Michigan football player to defend Harbaugh and the school. Henry Poggi, who played from 2014-2017, also defended the way the Wolverines handle mental health.
To say that Michigan doesn’t do everything in their efforts to help with those going through mental health issues is completely inaccurate. They helped me and many of my teammates. The reality of the situation is that many players struggle with mental health, but there are a..
— Henry Poggi (@The_Hank_Poggi) July 20, 2019
It seems like a pair of players who played for Michigan and under Harbaugh might have a better idea about how the staff handles mental health than a media figure who visited once.
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But the former doesn’t fit the narrative as well as the latter. There are also two sides to every story. We will see how much it continues to evolve in the coming days, whether it’s fair or not.