We’ve been on vacation here at UHND so we’ll be catching up on a few news items tonight and tomorrow that we’ve missed over the last week or so starting with the biggest news of the week – the official reinstatement of Michael Floyd by Brian Kelly.
For more than a month now, it was been pretty clear that Michael Floyd was on a one way course towards reinstatement and on Wednesday, it became official when Brian Kelly announced Floyd was back with the team.
Here’s what Kelly said in an official statement.
“From the very beginning of this process, Michael knew what was expected for him to be a member of our football program. I told Michael that football needed to become of less importance to him while he worked on personal growth. Over the last four months, Michael impressed those that had close contact with him including professional advisors. Based on my own observations, I am very pleased with the progress Michael has made since March. That is why I am comfortable reinstating him to our football team. Michael knows that he must continue on this positive track. I look forward to witnessing the development he has made based on lessons learned from this situation and how that will lead to better choices in the future.”
The official release from the University also had the first quotes from Floyd since his March arrest.
“The last four months have been the most humbling stretch of time in my life. I embarrassed myself, my family, the university, my football team and many more people. I know it will take time to earn the trust and confidence from everyone I let down last spring but I am prepared to do so and will strive to become not just a leader on the team again, but one also in the community. I am grateful for the opportunity to earn my degree this year from the University of Notre Dame and I look forward to reuniting with my football family this fall.”
With Floyd officially back in the fold, Notre Dame’s prospects in 2011 certainly look much brighter than they would have without – especially considering the lack of consistency showed by the other wide receivers in the spring.
It will be interesting to see how quickly Floyd readjusts to life back with the team considering the time he missed. Floyd was cleared to participate in voluntary team workouts and training earlier this summer, but he missed all of spring and hasn’t been through any practices since the final preparations for the Sun Bowl. If Floyd stayed active in the weight room during his suspension, he should be able to pick up where he left off.
Floyd will not, however, automatically resume the role of offensive team captain that he was originally given during the annual football banquet in January.
Regardless of how long it takes Floyd to readjust or if he ever regains captain status, from a football perspective, it is great news to have Floyd back with the team. We’ll leave the moral/philosophical debate go for now as it’s been discussed ad nauseum in the comments on every Floyd related post since news broke of his DUI in March.
Amen, welcome back Michael.