Twitter Conversation: Marquess Wilson Still a Coug?

Talking over the past couple days about Marquess Wilson and his NFL chances, a short twitter debate arose with a couple of followers that has me intrigued. I simply won’t take this debate further on twitter because it’s not one that can be viewed as black and white, but clearly we should talk about this.

I start by saying that there’s no right or wrong in the feelings you have about MQW, it’s just a matter of preference. However I have always preferred to use logic within my arguments, so here are my thoughts. Let’s go over how this unfolded while throwing out thoughts in between tweets.

It started innocently enough, as we gave a couple simple Combine stats from MQW, then it began with WazzuGruber and we went back and forth for just a few tweets:

Would really like to point out that many of us as fans have given up on our basketball team this year, not to mention those of us that quit on the football team at certain points over the past few years. Does this make us any less Coug? Maybe you haven’t given up ever, in which case they have every right to feel this way. But if that’s not the case, a small double standard has been set and I’m almost positive wazzugruber is more than critical of our bball team on multiple levels on twitter (as am I, I pass no judgement).

Anyway, I decided to defend Marquess, but Gruber wasn’t having it, and picked up a friend:

Wilson showed remorse and even helped clear his coaching staff in the final investigation from the Pac-12. The reason for holding his pro day at another school is that he most likely isn’t welcome to attend his own school’s pro day via Leach. I have no reservations towards coach Leach for this and I even agree with not allowing it, but don’t hold it against Marquess because he isn’t allowed. I can’t imagine he wouldn’t want to do his drills on a field and with a qb he is used to.

The aftermath that has him defending his coaching staff and backing up his team in the Pac 12 investigation. It would’ve been easier to pile on than to recant, which he did multiple times. Then he helped recruit kids to the school for the football program. He was even part of WSU’s welcome crew for many receiver recruits looking into the program.

That’s totally fine that you feel that way. Nobody liked the way he handled himself and the negativity towards it was warranted. I think he turned the corner in my mind when he admitted he didn’t want to hurt the program, but rather that he was trying to clear his own name in association with certain rumors that would permanently damage his personal reputation beyond the character issues brought up by walking out.

Now, by the same token, he did everything originally the wrong way. There’s just no way around it, he destroyed his rep from a “team player” standpoint and obviously alienated many (if not most) of his fans, not to mention his coaches and teammates. But let’s acknowledge that he made a mistake and move on. It was a personal decision that was handled incorrectly, but he had every right to make it just like you have every right to not like him for it.

Marquess Wilson wasn’t part of many wins, but he was a vital part of Coug Nation for the better part of 3 seasons. It’s not as if he ran away to UW or another Pac-12 school and come back to destroy his former team or rub it in their face that he’s a good player. He put up fabulous numbers for this school and got mutual support from his teammates and friends after the incident, which is a clear sign of a being a good person. Not to mention he stuck around and finished his junior year of school.

He’s not a guy I will consider to have a good work ethic. He’s also not a guy I’m happy with when considering the entirety of the situation. But I will still consider Marquess a Coug, no matter the backlash for that, because he went to bat for his school, even his coaches, after the fact.

Tell us your feelings on the situation and for Marquess in general. I put the question to you: Is he still a Coug?