Since its debut during the 2013 college football season, the “targeting” penalty has become pretty frustrating to college football fans across the country with its inconsistency. And apparently, this frustrating penalty isn’t just affecting the casual college football fan, it’s even angering a prominent United States Senator.
On Tuesday, the United States Congress held a congressional hearing regarding the NCAA’s policies on name, image, and likeness. And during that hearing, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz apparently took that opportunity to express his anger and frustration at the targeting rule.
“Sen. Ted Cruz says he, like many of the general public, does not understand targeting and ‘it pisses me off’ when his teams are penalized for this,” Ross Dellenger said in a post on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter.
Sen. Ted Cruz says he, like many of the general public, does not understand targeting and "it pisses me off" when his teams are penalized for this.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 17, 2023
Obviously, this somewhat humorous criticism of college football referees led to quite a lot of reactions on social media as a result.
i'm glad we're spending this time wisely https://t.co/UrRAAUB3gw
— Ryan Nanni (@celebrityhottub) October 17, 2023
Targeting is easy to understand. Skill issue. Disliking it is a whole other topic https://t.co/9Cf7Nyu3yh
— Jason Kirk (buy my novel) (@JasonKirk_fyi) October 17, 2023
starting to think i can for president https://t.co/VFPjbgC5RG
— charles (“you look good” – andy reid) mcdonald (@FourVerts) October 17, 2023
politicians: they're just like us!*
*exceedingly stupid and unable to focus on the task at hand https://t.co/MbVG8LWJdi
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 17, 2023
I guess it's possible to find common ground with anyone. https://t.co/PTqPJiDTA4
— Steve Politi (@StevePoliti) October 17, 2023
america is the paul finebaum show and the paul finebaum show is america https://t.co/qnKY0ekW23
— Joshua Brisco (@jbbrisco) October 17, 2023
Cruz certainly is not alone in this criticism, as evidenced by the many reactions to his comment. Despite the NCAA’s best efforts and attempts to add clarity and accuracy to the penalty over the years, it remains quite frustrating to fans – and apparently, United States Senators.
