I don’t know if Katie Hnida was a good football player or not. Up until today I’d never heard of the former woman placekicker for the University of Colorado. She made the news this week because of allegations that she was raped and sexually harassed while on the team. Her allegations come after other women have stepped forward and accused Colorado’s football program of fostering an atmosphere where sexual violence is tolerated.
How did coach Gary Barnett respond to these latest allegations? He complained to the media that Hnida was just a bad athlete who didn’t garner the respect of her fellow male team members.
"It's a guy's sport, and [the men players] felt like Katie was forced on them," Barnett said. "It was obvious Katie was not very good. She was awful."
Like I said, I don’t know if Hnida was a good player or not. I don’t know if the allegations of rape are true. What I do know is that Barnett doesn’t deserve much respect for dismissing the allegations. He ought to be fired.
