Air Force player had to ‘earn his jersey back’ after injury

Earlier in fall practice, Air Force running back Devin Rushing rolled his ankle so badly that he “thought it was broken.” Not surprisingly, he missed 10 days of practice trying to get ready for the season and heal from an injury that was completely out of his control.

However, once Rushing was ready to come back, he wasn’t initially welcomed back on the practice field. According to The Gazette, Rushing said that Falcons coach Troy Calhoun made him “earn his jersey back.”

“They took my jersey,” said Rushing, the junior Air Force tailback who had switched from No. 31 to 3 early in August. “I talked to the equipment manager and he said my jersey is still in there with Rushing written on the back, but I’ve got to earn it back.”

That sounds pretty bad, considering the injury wasn’t Rushing’s fault. But Calhoun defended the strategy, saying players need to be tough and using the tactic of keeping players away from the action as motivation.

“I think at every position we’re going to have tough, durable guys,” coach Troy Calhoun said. “If you aren’t, you’re going to get us beat. I think the other thing is you have a built-in alibi if you’re a guy who gets hurt easily. If you’re a guy who gets hurt easily, you need to find another activity where there’s not contact involved.”

Remember, this is a time when athlete welfare is at the center of attention, so punishing a player for his toughness when his injury wasn’t his fault doesn’t exactly come off too well. By all accounts, training at the service academies — including Air Force — is extremely difficult and requires athletes to be fit beyond their football requirements. But punishing a player for an injury out of his control, and claiming that player will “get us beat” because of that injury isn’t a good look.