When I asked Urban Meyer today during the Big Ten conference call for his thoughts on the comments made by Ohio State wide receiver Evan Spencer about Alabama and whoever (I’m a little biased, but I think we’d wipe the field with both of them,” Spencer said. “They have their strengths and weaknesses,” the junior said. “Personally, I think we can exploit them, but I’m a little biased.”) Meyer was not happy at all.
“I’m very disappointed. I can’t stand that. He’s certainly not the spokesman for our team.” Meyer further added, “I don’t like disrespecting other teams. That’s not good sportsmanship. I know Evan well enough. I talked to him briefly. He won’t be speaking to the media for a long, long time!”
Meyer would rather his team make its statements on the field and on the scoreboard and not to the media to provide bulletin board material for other teams, or to make Ohio State look bad by making those type of comments. Remember Gordon Gee!
While Spencer won’t be talking to the media any time soon, I don’t expect those comments to affect his playing time with the Buckeyes. I’m sure Meyer made his point to Spencer and if he ever gets a chance to chat with the media again, you’ll hear a different Evan Spencer. In other words, it’s OK to think those things and talk about them in the locker room, but that’s where it stays. I have no doubt in my mind that Urban Meyer is happy that Spencer feels that way about the Buckeyes chances should they get the chance to play Alabama or Florida State, but on a Meyer coached football team, it’s not OK to talk about those beliefs to the media.