On Wednesday, the Notre Dame football radio analyst made controversial comments that quickly drew reaction from ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick, former Irish quarterback Joe Theismann and Pinkett's employers at the IMG Notre Dame Sports Network, among others.
Pinkett, a former All-America running back, later apologized for saying during an interview on a Chicago radio station: "I've always felt like to have a successful team you've got to have a few bad citizens on the team."IMG Sports, in the same statement suggested disciplinary action was coming, and Thursday it became official.
?Allen Pinkett, a commentator on the IMG Notre Dame Radio Network who made unacceptable comments this week about student athletes, will not be part of this weekend?s broadcast in Dublin,? read a statement distributed by IMG. ?Don Criqui and Jeff Jeffers will handle the broadcast duties.
?Notre Dame taking on Navy at the Emerald Isle Classic in Dublin is an historic game showcasing the very best of American college sports. The event deserves to be free of distraction. Further decisions on this matter will be made in the coming days.?
Kickoff for ND?s opener with Navy is 9 a.m. EDT. The broadcast can be heard locally on WSBT (960 AM, 96.1 FM).
Four Notre Dame players ? running back Cierre Wood, defensive end Justin Utupo, linebacker Carlo Calabrese and quarterback Tommy Rees ? are suspended for Saturday?s season opener against Navy at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Wood and Utupo are also suspended for the following week?s game, against Purdue.
On Thursday, after his team went through its first practice in Dublin, Irish coach Brian Kelly was asked about Pinkett?s comments.
?I can?t comment on what he said. There?s no thought process in that for me,? Kelly said.
?I can just tell you what I want, and I want tough gentlemen. I want tough guys on the field that are gritty, play the game the right way, that you can count on, on fourth-and-1 that they?re going to knock you in the nose. And off the field I want gentlemen.?
Pinkett made the trip to Ireland with on the team charter Wednesday afternoon, but Kelly said the two men didn?t have any conversations during the flight.
In the (time) zone
Kelly said that there were no all-nighters pulled on the charter flight to Dublin, although there were variances in the amount of sleep his players got.?They all got some sleep. I don?t think it got to the point where we had to go back there and shake anybody, but we certainly had some guys that didn?t get enough sleep and they?ll get it tonight,? said Kelly, who planned a 9 p.m. bed check for Thursday night.
One player who did seem to get a fair amount of shut-eye was fifth-year senior Kapron Lewis-Moore.
?I actually fell asleep before the meal,? the defensive end said, ?but from what people say it was pretty good.?
Zoned out
Navy linebacker Keegan Wetzel was well aware of the five-hour time difference between the East coast and Dublin, but it hit home as the Mids were traveling across the Atlantic Ocean.?We?d only been on the plane for a couple hours,? Wetzel said, ?and all of a sudden the sun was up.?
O?Squibs
- Among those watching Notre Dame?s practice from the sidelines Thursday were a number of ND players out with injuries.
They included safety Austin Collinsworth (shoulder), tight end Alex Welch (knee), running back Amir Carlisle (ankle) and offensive tackle Tate Nichols (shoulder).
Also watching were two players who were recently removed from the active roster and placed on medical scholarship, running back Cameron Roberson and offensive lineman Brad Carrico.
- Linebacker Danny Spond, who was sidelined recently because of migraine headaches, was in full uniform on Thursday. Kelly expects him to work his way into practice contact as soon as next week.
- Navy?s flight to Dublin was delayed a couple of hours, pushing its practice back to mid-afternoon Thursday.
- Both teams practiced on a FieldTurf surface on Thursday. The practice field is adjacent to Aviva Stadium.
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