Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott Showed Immaturity With Postgame Comments

After a team loses, it’s understandable to lash out. It’s understandable to try to find someone to blame. However, Ezekiel Elliott’s hissy fit after Ohio State’s Saturday loss to Michigan State was ludicrous. He acted like an irritable toddler. He also implied that the team lost because he didn’t get enough carries. Considering the issues that the Buckeyes were having with the passing game, it’s miraculous that Elliott got any playing time at all.

You have to have a certain amount of confidence to make it to this level of college football, but that type of statement reeks of narcissism. Football is a team game, and Ohio State is loaded with talented players. Elliott has aptitude, yes, but so does the entire Buckeye team. The Buckeyes haven’t lived up to expectations all season, and Saturday’s matchup against the Spartans was the culmination of the lackluster play the team has displayed.

There are thousands of factors that can cause a team to lose. The weather certainly didn’t help matters — it was wet, frigid and windy. Urban Myer and his coaching staff were uncharacteristically conservative in their play calling. There were definitely mistakes made, but it isn’t Elliott’s job to censure his coaching staff and his team. Were his comments incorrect? No. Were his comments honest? Yes. Yet disparaging the coaching staff seems immature and disloyal.

Let’s hope they take him out of contention for the Heisman. The Heisman Trophy is awarded “to the most outstanding player in college football in the United States whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity”. Threatening to quit after one loss, and a close one at that, doesn’t display any integrity in the least. Losses happen to even the best teams and are a litmus test for how a team handles adversity — or in this case, how they mishandle adversity.

Elliott has declared his intention to go pro after this season. That’s great and I wish him luck. His reaction after Saturday’s matchup doesn’t bode well for his future career, though. He was put out because he didn’t get enough playing time and was angry about the loss. Again, his reaction is understandable. The problem is, professional football is laden with uber-talented players. Elliott might not get much playing time on a pro team either, and he is certainly going to have to deal with losses. Let’s hope he handles himself with more dignity than he did this weekend. Regardless, he should be taken out of the running for the Heisman until he learns to comport himself.