Malcontent Malcolm? Not so fast!
Malcolm Kelly set off something of a firestorm with his comments Wednesday after working out for NFL scouts.
No one in the media really and truly knows the athletes that we cover, but still, I’ve had a chance to talk one-on-one with the former Oklahoma wide receiver numerous times during the past three seasons. I’m not ready to vilify him like many have.
Watch my latest video commentary or read below:
Malcolm Kelly is one of the good guys.
I think.
About two weeks ago, I would’ve said that about the former Oklahoma wide receiver without so much as a hint of trepidation, without even a smidge of reservation. Even when injury kept Kelly out of the Fiesta Bowl this year and Sooner fans cried foul, I stood up for Kelly.
Because he’s hurt and doesn’t play makes him a bad guy?
I wasn’t buying it.
Kelly is a quality character guy. Good demeanor. Clean record. Thoughtful. Insightful. Honest. In fact, one of the things that I have long told people is that Kelly has all the skills of an NFL receiver without the attitude of one.
Keyshawn Johnson? Terrell Owens? Chad Johnson? Malcolm Kelly isn’t like that. With him, you get all the catches without any of the crazy.
Then along came Pro Day, Part Deux at OU.
Kelly and a small cadre of fellow NFL hopefuls worked out for scouts Wednesday. And after the festivities, Kelly had some not-so-nice things to say. He spoke ill of the set-up, the medical staff, and the strength and conditioning staff.
Listen, I don’t pretend to know all of what’s gone on behind the scenes. Was Kelly’s leg injury was misdiagnosed during the season? Was his workout moved at the last minute? I really don’t know.
What I do know is this: for starters, Kelly might have thought better about what he said after running so-so time in the 40-yard dash. No need to come off to the NFL types like you’re fishing for excuses. And secondly, Kelly might have given us a little insight into some of the frustrations of college athletes bubbling just under the surface.
Kelly said, “You play somewhere for three years, you give ‘em all you got every summer, every winter, and all you ask for is an hour and a half to have it like you want to have it.”
You know what? I can’t argue with that. College athletes are amongst the most under paid laborers in the country. For the revenue they produce for their coaches, their programs and their schools, they get back a very small percentage of what they’re owed. But they do it because they get a scholarship, a whole lot of coaching and teaching, and a chance to show off their abilities.
What Kelly said Wednesday, though, shows that there is frustration among athletes. They give and give and give and feel like the school doesn’t reciprocate. Hard to argue when you see coaches earning millions and schools building athletic palaces.
Kelly probably said what many athletes think. Does that make him a bad guy? A complainer? An eccentric? I’m not ready to chalk him up into any of those categories just yet, but it’ll be interesting to see what we remember about this episode in a few years. Was it the start of a trend, or was it an out of character moment?
Only time will tell, and even though he might prove me wrong, I still think Kelly is one of the good guys.
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Do you actually know anything about Malcolm Kelly or is that what your ’sources’ told you. Anybody who suffers through one of your articles would know which one is correct.