Penn State’s Joey Julius might be the most famous kicker in college football. He’s made recent headlines for a variety of reasons this season.
Julius is a bigger guy, first of all, which means when he sliced through Michigan’s blocking to blow up a kick return, it got major play. That play apparently put a target on his back, because last week a Minnesota player was ejected for a cheap hit.
Today, a Maryland player took the same tactic, with even dirtier results:
We have another player ejection after a defender hit @PennStateFball K Joey Julius. Here's what happened.
https://t.co/cxhXSUp1pf— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 8, 2016
That’s certainly uncalled for, and Maryland coach D.J. Durkin said after the game that had Isaiah Davis not been ejected by the officials, Durkin would have benched him anyway:
“If he wasn’t thrown out of the game, he was removed from the game by me,” DJ Durkin said. “He would not have played another snap of the game in any phase. That is not our program. We will not do that. That message had been made and will be made even clearer now.”
That’s a strong stand from Durkin, though saying “that is not our program” means less when your player just did it. By definition, that sort of is your program.
Julius recently described his battle with an eating disorder as well, so he’s certainly gone through a few difficult weeks.
Please stop hitting the kicker.
[SB Nation; Big Ten Network]
