Three days ago, Chicago Bears left guard James Daniels took to Twitter and voiced something he’d been holding onto for some time. Experiences from his time at Iowa that were racial in nature. Things he couldn’t stay silent on any longer in the wake of the George Floyd killing. His actions sparked other former players to do the same, unveiling a serious issue at the program that goes back several years.
Many of the concerns centered on strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle who apparently was involved in multiple such incidents. Longtime Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz was surprised and disturbed when these reports started to surface. So he began speaking to players personally as well as Doyle. After consideration, he decided to put the coach on administrative leave while an independent review is made.
On top of that, he’s planning to install an advisory committee made up of current and former players who can help better the program’s culture moving forward. A significant step in the right direction.
It’s easy to forget that Daniels is still a kid. He’s 22-years old. People that age usually aren’t the ones sparking such significant cultural changes. Especially at a major college program. Such are the times. One can imagine current and former teammates couldn’t be prouder. It took a lot of guts to speak up like that. He undoubtedly opened himself up to a ton of backlash from fans, Iowa supporters, and of course white supremacist groups.
He didn’t care. He needed to say something. Now things are happening. This is the sort of character the Bears fell in love with when they drafted him. Somebody who will stick his neck out for his guys, on and off the field. Here’s hoping he carries this success into the future.
