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Posted by Russ on 1/11/2008, 12:44 pm, in reply to "Re: Slur"
68.110.148.226
Not necessarily as ESPN broke the news after Stewart was hired. Pat and Owen endorsed Stewart immediately after the game and not after he was hired.
Of course, I'm assuming that they did not know about the slur prior to the media publishing the story.
From what I can tell no player has defended Stewart since the story broke.
--Previous Message--
: The fact that he was endorsed by Pat
: White and the rest of the team should
: answer that question.
:
: --Previous Message--
: As much as I wish this never would have
: happened, it appears that it will
: continue to be brought up in the media.
: Hopefully, this will not have a
: negative affect on recruiting and the
: university.
: I'm interested to see if any of the
: current players have issued comments
: regarding this. Anyone?
:
: --Previous Message--
: ROANOKE, Va. -- Kelly Cook forgives,
: but
: he doesn't forget.
:
: Cook, a former Virginia Military
: Institute linebacker who now lives in
: Buena Vista, was being scolded by
: then-Keydets Coach Bill Stewart at a
: 1996 practice when Stewart used the
: N-word. That word cost Stewart his job.
:
: The incident returned to the national
: spotlight last week when Stewart was
: named the football coach at West
: Virginia University in Morgantown.
:
: Cook, 31, said he forgives Stewart and
: doesn't believe the slur should have
: kept WVU from giving him a second
: chance to be a head coach.
:
: "People deserve redemption,'' Cook
: said. "Maybe making mistakes
: sometimes makes people better people.
: That's my hope. ... Hopefully, when he
: steps into his new job, he won't be the
: same person I knew.
:
: "You can't hold something against
: a person for things they did so long
: ago. ... The consequences at the time
: that he suffered for his actions fit
: the crime. I don't think the guy should
: get the death penalty because he used
: the word.''
:
: But Stewart's use of the slur still
: bothers Cook.
:
: "What could I have been doing in
: this whole world for anybody to call me
: a n-----?'' Cook said Sunday night in
: the first interview he has granted
: since the incident. "I don't think
: it's right to say it to anybody in any
: circumstance.
:
: "It's just a little disappointing
: that from that situation, what I see is
: the manifestation of success. You did
: something wrong, I don't know what
: price you pay for it, but today ...
: you're better off.''
:
: According to Stewart's unsuccessful
: 1998 lawsuit against VMI, the incident
: occurred during an Oct. 30, 1996,
: practice.
:
: Cook, a native of the small town of
: Ettrick on the outskirts of Petersburg,
: recalled Sunday that he had
: high-stepped to the end zone after
: intercepting a pass in practice.
:
: He remembered Stewart immediately
: running about 50 yards up to him in the
: end zone and yelling at him for
: high-stepping.
:
: According to Cook, Stewart said,
: "You're acting like a n----- from
: Petersburg. You don't go to Virginia
: Union. You don't go to Virginia
: State.''
:
: The words stung.
:
: "As a kid, I was angry,'' he said.
: "I was hurt. ... After he said
: that, the level of respect I had for
: him, I lost it. ... In the heat of the
: moment, he was upset, his mouth said
: what his heart felt.''
:
: Cook said there weren't any other
: coaches or players near them in the end
: zone, so he doesn't believe anyone else
: heard the slur. It was the only time he
: ever heard Stewart use the word.
:
: Cook said that after practice, he told
: then-assistant coach Carey Bailey, as
: well as his parents and several
: friends. He said he also told Davis
: Babb, VMI's athletic director at the
: time.
:
: Cook's mother, Jeanie Cook, wrote a
: letter of complaint to the VMI
: administration.
:
: Cook said he doesn't believe Stewart
: ever apologized to him, although he
: isn't certain.
:
: "When he was talking, my ears were
: on mute,'' he said.
:
: Stewart coached the final four games of
: the season, in which Cook took
: All-Southern Conference honors.
:
: According to Stewart's lawsuit, he was
: told in December 1996, in the wake of a
: VMI investigation, that he could resign
: or be fired. Stewart didn't sign the
: letter of resignation he was presented,
: the lawsuit said, but VMI still
: announced his resignation.
:
: "The situation came to a head when
: all the players got together and ...
: decided they didn't want to play for
: Coach Stewart, the majority,'' Cook
: said.
:
: Cook didn't discuss the slur with the
: media after the incident or after
: Stewart's resignation.
:
: Cook said if Stewart hadn't lost his
: job, he would not have returned to the
: team in 1997 for his senior season
: because he would not have wanted to
: play for Stewart any longer.
:
: Stewart sued VMI in 1998 for more than
: $1.35 million, claiming breach of
: contract and lack of due process. The
: lawsuit stated that VMI rendered him
: unemployable as a college coach by
: labeling him a racist. A Rockbridge
: County Circuit Court judge dismissed
: the lawsuit in 1999.
:
: According to the lawsuit, "Mr.
: Stewart approached the player after
: practice and privately told him told
: him that high-stepping ... was not in
: keeping with what is expected at the
: Virginia Military Institute. Mr.
: Stewart prefaced his next comment by
: saying to the player that Mr. Stewart
: was not calling him any derogatory term
: and then Mr. Stewart asked the player
: not to give others 'a reason to call
: him a n-----.'"
:
: Cook, though, said Stewart did not
: preface his slur by telling him he
: wasn't calling him a derogatory term.
:
: Stewart discussed the incident last
: week in an espn.com article and in an
: ESPN Radio interview after WVU promoted
: him from interim coach to head coach.
:
: In the espn.com article, Stewart said
: he called a "showboating'' player
: over and said in a low voice,
: "Don't let your actions give
: people a reason to call you a n-----.''
:
: Stewart also said in the article,
: "It was an isolated incident that
: never happened before and never
: happened after. I would certainly
: change the wording but never the
: intent. I was coaching him and trying
: to help the kid.''
:
: Cook read the espn.com article.
:
: "It doesn't really seem like to me
: that he ever really accepted that he
: did something wrong,'' Cook said.
:
: Cook also was irked by the notion that
: Stewart felt he was coaching him.
:
: "What in that statement would
: motivate a kid?'' Cook said.
: "Would me high-stepping or
: showboating be a reason for some people
: to say that (slur)?
:
: "He wouldn't change the intent, he
: would change the word? That was
: disturbing to me.''
:
: Cook said Stewart was yelling at him,
: not communicating in a low voice.
:
: "Coach Stewart wasn't a
: go-talk-to-you-real-quiet kind of
: guy,'' Cook said. "We called him
: 'Wild Bill.'"
:
: Stewart, through a spokesman, declined
: to comment.
:
: Cook and Stewart have not spoken to
: each other since 1996.
:
: Cook, who has lived in Buena Vista
: since graduating from VMI in 1998, is
: married with two children. He is a
: traffic manager for a Stuarts Draft
: company that makes aerospace parts, and
: attends VMI football games.
:
: Stewart, who was 8-25 in three years at
: VMI, did not coach in 1997. He was an
: assistant in the Canadian Football
: League in 1998 and 1999. Stewart joined
: the WVU staff for the 2000 season.
:
: Stewart was named WVU's head coach
: Thursday, the day after he steered the
: Mountaineers to an upset win over
: Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
:
: WVU officials have said they were aware
: of the slur before giving him a $4
: million contract.
:
: "I guess him using the N-word was
: the best thing that ever happened to
: him because he's in the best situation
: he's ever been in,'' Cook said.
:
: "As far as society looks at it,
: the best thing he could have (done) is
: call me a n----- because right now he's
: making $4 million.''
:
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