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It's been nearly 24 hours since the now-infamous White County Razorback Club meeting when Bret Bielema cited "death certificates" as evidence of the danger of hurry-up-no-huddle offenses, and the furor from around the country has been relentless.
It became more formal when Sandy Barbour, the AD at Cal, issued these tweets regarding Bielema's comments.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Bret Bielema's comments about our Ted Agu are misinformed, ill-advised and beyond insensitive</p>— Sandy Barbour (@gobearsAD) <a href="https://twitter.com/gobearsAD/statuses/437009269854969856">February 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Using the tragic loss of one of our student athletes as a platform to further a personal agenda in a public setting is beyond inappropriate</p>— Sandy Barbour (@gobearsAD) <a href="https://twitter.com/gobearsAD/statuses/437009585417629696">February 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Bielema already did an interview this morning with Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples to provide further context on his comments, but it clearly wasn't enough. Bielema issued the following statement Friday evening:
"It was brought to my attention that remarks I made yesterday evening while discussing a proposed rule change were unintentionally hurtful. I am very passionate, as we all are, about the serious nature of protecting the well-being of student-athletes, and earlier today I was interviewed by SI.com writer Andy Staples to explain my stance on the proposed rule. In my press conference last night, I referenced information about the tragic loss of a life of a student-athlete. My comments were intended to bring awareness to player safety and instead they have caused unintended hurt. As a head coach who works with young individuals every day, the passing of Ted Agu is a reminder to us all how short and precious life is. I would like to extend my deepest condolences and sympathy to the Agu family, Coach Sonny Dykes and to the University of California family."
The statement was also sent out through Bielema's twitter account.
As for whether or not this is an "apology", the university clearly chose against using that language, opting to refer to it as statement. So we will as well. Many around the country are mocking this as an attempt at an apology, and frankly, I got nothing at this point.
