When discussing the program of his Alma Mata (Notre Dame), Paul Hornung said in a telephone interview on Wednesday:
We can't stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we've got to get the black athlete. We must get the black athlete if we're going to compete.
After coming under mass criticism from the media and his friends, he issued the following statement:
I was wrong. What I should have said is: For all athletes, it is really tough to get into Notre Dame.

What are our thoughts on this? Were his comments:

A. Misunderstood
B. Insensitive
C. Insulting

http://www.mlive.com/sportsflash/college/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?s0200_BC_FBC--Hornung-BlackAth&&sports&college_football

Does any one think that there is any truth to his first statement? If there is any truth to it, should his comments really bother us? Or, did Hornung simply ignore the boundaries of political correctness?

His comments were misinformed, especially considering that Notre Dame already has a significant amount of blacks on the team (38 out of 96 I believe). These brothers are obviously academically qualified. In fact I went to High School with a brother who played for Notre Dame, and he was one of the top students in the school. What ND lacks isn't black athletes, it is lacking "top" athletes. That is reflected in recruiting, maybe the culture of the university turns all the top black football players off?

I know nothing about him, but from the statements it seems like he's saying black athletes need special consideration when it comes to education. It sounds like he thinks that black athletes are dumb but are needed just to play ball, so let's lower the bar so they can qualify. Like I said, I don't know anything about him, but that's what I get from the statement. If that is what he's trying to say then it definately insults me, because there are just as many non-African American athletes that can't think their way out of a paper bag as well. I think that there are a lot of athletes that think they can just get by with playing ball and not really putting forth the effort as far as academics, but I don't think they are all African American athletes. It's amazing what comes out of some of these mouths. Can you say "think before you speak"? :driveby: