All of the Rhabdo 13 have be been released

Great news. Yesterday evening a statement was released that all 13 of the Iowa football players suffering from rhabdomyolysis had been discharged from the hospital. Just two days before only 5 had been released.

Gary Barta (finally) and Kirk Ferentz also had statements as part of the University's release. Probably the biggest thing to come out from the statements is that Ferentz absolved the players of any responsibility in the events that led to the hospitalization. "They trained extremely hard and ended up in the hospital, and there is no indication they did anything wrong."

Barta goes on to say though, that we shouldn't be too quick to judge the strength and conditioning staff. "The staff and coaches who work with these young men are highly respected professionals who are dedicated and care deeply about our student-athletes. I hope those who follow our program will respect this process moving forward and refrain from any further unproductive rush to judgment."

Kirk Ferentz has released a statement regarding the Rhabdo 13. The best news is that 5 of the 13 have or will be released from the hospital today. Hopefully we will hear similar news about the other 8 soon.

There has been so much going on with this situation...people calling for Ferentz's head, others giving Ferentz and Doyle their full support, someone likely accessing of some of the players' medical records illegally, and tons of people throwing around baseless speculation. For now I'm just going to post the Ferentz statement and come back to some of the other things when I have a little more time.

The press conference yesterday was a swing-and-a-miss by the Athletic Department. No Kirk Ferentz, no Gary Barta, not even Chris Doyle, and ultimately no (or very little) answers.

On Ferentz

The big thing that a lot of people were focusing on was Ferentz's absence. It looks bad and like he doesn't care about the kids. I guarantee that is absolutely not the case. Biff Poggi let us know that Ferentz has been calling and talking with the parents (Poggi had talked to him 4 times in the past couple of days). So he does care. Still, this would have been a perfect time to use some of those 35 private jet hours.

Instead Ferentz was on the recruiting trail in Ohio. Which, to me, is okay, I guess. There is a very limited amount of time when Ferentz actually gets a chance to get away from Iowa City and meeting with recruits in person. That's his job too. But that begs the question, why didn't Iowa wait until Ferentz's return to hold the press conference? That would have quelled the Ferentz doesn't care mumblings. Yesterday, they could have sent out a more detailed press release than the mostly information-less one on Tuesday and then held the press conference this morning.

I learned a new word yesterday: rhabdomyolysis. Twelve unidentified Iowa football players were admitted to U of I Hospitals on Monday with condition (few of the player have been identified though neither the University or the hospital are releasing names). It is "likely" related to a particularly grueling winter workout that players went through sometime in the last week (probably January 20 based on some players' Facebook posts).

First, thankfully all the players are reported responding well to treatment. When treated early, rhabdomyolysis is usually something you can fully recover from. I imagine the 12 will miss some time and be eased back into work outs, but don't think it's career threatening.

It was actually a really big Iowa Football news weekend for the off-season. With signing day just over a week away and the NFL draft around the corner, most of the news has to do with players that haven't yet started their Hawkeye career or just had it end.

Klug and Donahue in the Shrine Bowl

Ryan Donahue had the play of the night. Donahue punted 5 times, averaging 38 yards a kick and had 2 downed inside the 20. His big play however, was just a 22-yard punt. The snap sailed over Donahue's head and he was able to run down the ball, avoid the oncoming rush, and punt the ball away rugby style down the field. Though the punt went just 22 yards, his effort probably change the field position by 40-50 yards.

I couldn't find much mention of Klug. He was playing DE though, which makes sense based on his size.

The Senior Bowl is next

First off, Adrian Clayborn has decided to withdraw from the Senior Bowl. It's not really an uncommon thing to do for players worried about injuries (which I still think he has been nursing some sort of leg injury since the Wisconsin game) and are expected to be drafted high. It would have provided him with a good opportunity to showcase his skill to some scouts, especially after a somewhat lackluster season. However, he should have no issues landing a spot in the 1st round with a good combine.