After initially choosing not to talk about the situation one of his former players finds himself in, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has evidently changed his mind.
Meyer declined to talk about Aaron Hernandez following an appearance at youth camp the Buckeye mentor hosted in northeast Ohio last Monday, but that did not stop a barrage of criticism from a variety of sources in the sports world.
Perhaps inspired by the continuing flow of negative attention on Meyer and his former program at Florida, the coach issued a couple of statements to Columbus Dispatch Buckeyes beat writer Tim May, who published them Saturday morning.
"He was an athlete at Florida 4 -7 yrs ago and there are some comments being made that are not correct," Meyer reportedly wrote to May via text. "Our staff, myself and our families worked very hard to mentor and guide him."
Meyer also denied previously published accusations that failed drug tests by Hernandez were covered up during his time at Florida, and May wrote that more from Meyer is coming in the Sunday edition of The Dispatch.
Meyer's statements to May come on the heels of two members of his family defending him on Twitter.
His wife, Shelley, shared her apparent frustration July 3 and a day later retweeted a follower's quip about two writers who have taken numerous shots at Meyer since his departure from Florida and subsequent hiring at Ohio State. The RT came around the time of the annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest won by defending champion Joey Chestnut.
@spinnershells Just heard Mike Bianchi and Matt Hayes blaming Urban for Joey Chestnut's indigestion this afternoon #BuckeyeNation
— John Drop (@papadrop2) July 4, 2013
Not long after Mrs. Meyer's original tweet, daughter Gigi added her own comment.
Smh ppl lol #liveyourliferight and #stopblamingothers.. There's this thing called #SelfAccountability. It exists, I swear. God Bless
— Gigi Meyer (@GG_40) July 3, 2013
