Emails show that a Nebraska regent was ’embarrassed’ by the Cornhusker football players’ protest.
SB Nation obtained private messages from Hal Daub, a leader at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, prior to publicly criticizing a protest in September. That rage mirrored that of many Cornhusker fans after three players knelt and protested in September, prior to the team’s game against Northwestern.
According to emails obtained by SB Nation last week, Regent Hal Daub communicated with President Hank Bounds and expressed his displeasure with Michael Rose-Ivey, Mohamed Barry, and DaiShon Neal’s protest tactics. He explicitly stated that the football field was not a “forum for personal, ethnic, or racial grievances.”
These emails provide a timeline, from the moment Daub is informed of a protest, to his initial criticisms of it in private, to hours before he publicly denounced the players and their protest. Daub received an email two days before publicly criticizing three Nebraska football players for their peaceful protest.
Sorry for bothering you, but the only reason I’m emailing you is because you’re kind enough to respond. Is there a public email address for the University of Nebraska athletic department so that I can express my concerns about Husker players kneeling during the national anthem? If the players want to kneel during the national anthem, I will do the same over Husker football!!! My family will boycott all Husker athletics, not just
On September 25, a Cornhuskers fan named Daniel was looking for a public email address to express his disappointment with the protests and contacted Daub. He said he knew Daub usually responded to emails and that he will “kneel over Husker football” and boycott Nebraska’s athletic programs. Daub responded by saying, “I object to this behavior and appreciate your loyalty.”
One minute later, Daub forwarded Daniel’s email to Bounds with the following message: “What is the story here?” Bounds replied, “Three players kneeled during the anthem last night.” At this point early Sunday afternoon, the Northwestern game hadn’t even ended for 24 hours, and the protest hadn’t made national news.
Daub promptly responded, “Names, please, and are they on scholarship?”
Minutes later, he received another letter from Daniel, in which the Huskers fan stated that message board chatter from military and police officers was calling for a boycott of the next Saturday’s homecoming game against Illinois, which would end Nebraska’s five-decade-long sellout streak. Daniel also stated that he “sees a divided [locker] room coming soon.” Daub forwarded it to Bounds, adding, “This could have legs in this conservative state I’ve been musing about, Hank.”
Daub sent another email to Bounds the following night, a Monday, after Rose-Ivey and coach Mike Riley made public statements and Rose-Ivey revealed he had received death threats and letters about being lynched.
Private universities can manage or ignore this behavior, but we are a tax-supported land-grant institution, so we must have standards of expectations, particularly for athletes who represent our state more visibly. Any scholarship athlete who is aware of the TV camera is abusing their privilege, and they are unconcerned if it reflects negatively on them. They can protest in a variety of ways, but not in ways that harm our University’s reputation or undermine our credibility in the eyes of our resident taxpayers.
The Coach today was inappropriate, and I am very perplexed. Are we condoning disrespect for our flag and military personnel by tolerating extreme behavior on television? We are not a forum for personal ethical or racial complaints. Do they believe they can get a Pro contract with this type of citizenship? Is this behavior going to continue to the detriment of our university? The next game will tell; I sincerely hope this is over. It is also extremely disrespectful to their teammates, on whom it rubs off. I’ll have more to say about this in the future if this fringe behavior is tolerated. Hank, small events can spiral out of control. I’m deeply concerned. And
