Former Mizzou safety defends Pinkel against state legislator
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Former Tigers safety Ian Simon is coming to his coach’s defense after a state lawmaker accused Gary Pinkel of “holding the university hostage” during his team’s boycott related to the “Concerned Student 1950” protests at MU.
“He (Pinkel) was behind us and he was supportive of us,” Simon told The Kansas City Star. “He understood the severity of it and how much we cared about it, so he supported us.”
It’s not surprising that Simon is speaking out. As Tod Palmer of the Star notes, following Wolfe’s resignation on Nov. 9, Simon read a statement to announce the end of the team’s boycott.
State Sen. Paul Wieland recently said that Pinkel’s actions “discredited the university” and has threatened to file a complaint to the provost regarding the former coach.
“That’s not fair at all to try and lay anything at Coach Pinkel’s feet,” Simon said. “He (Wieland) wasn’t there, so he doesn’t know. That’s something that we (the players) did. We made that decision.”
Simon recognizes the players’ decision to boycott put Pinkel in a difficult position.
“That’s a tough thing to stand up for and stand behind,” Simon said. “It’s not only you on the line, but it’s your whole football program on the line. That’s tough, but hats off to Coach Pinkel. It wasn’t an easy position to be in.”
On the field, Simon finished with 46 tackles and 2 interceptions in his final season. Pinkel announced his resignation in late November, citing health reasons.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
