Sam Ukwuachu got a lucky break when he was put first and got dismissed from the Boise State team last week. Chris Petersen did the kid a favor. Gave him a wakeup call and a chance at playing in the NFL. Now he can work on becoming a better person and not settling for his less than best effort. And, the sacrifices were on both sides. Boise State lost a dominating player who MAY have grown into a NFL player at a position that is a difference maker for any team: a pass rushing machine coming off the edge with long arms. Ukwuachu lost a spot on a guaranteed winning program with a stellar reputation for producing players and men. He also now has a reputation as a reclamation project.
How many other coaches, teachers or relatives in Ukwuachu’s life held him accountable to his mistakes?
If they had, I wonder if he would have been in this position in the first place. If he had been thrown out of a class, kicked off the pee wee football team or had his video games taken away, MAYBE he would have learned this lesson by now. That is why these are the hardest decisions for Chris Petersen. In his own way, he loves them but must set them free.
And what did Ukwuachu do anyway?
I don’t have the exact reason but based on what I do know, I think he just didn’t want to follow the TEAMS’ rules. Petersen tells them that the standard they have to live up to is to excel not just “stay out of trouble”. The only legal blemish he has had in Idaho is a minor in possession of alcohol charge that didn’t stick. The prosecutor dismissed the charges. The fact the event happened on his recruiting trip probably raised some eyebrows but he was signed to a scholarship anyway. He was held out of the spring game April 13th for personal issues. He was dismissed from the team May 7. Did he go to study hall? Did he show up for practice/meetings/work outs? Did he go to class? Were his grades on target? Those seem the most likely rules he broke to me.
We haven’t heard the last of Sam Ukwuachu and, in time, he will thank Chris Petersen for holding him accountable to a higher standard.
