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ESPN’s Laura Rutledge on Urban Meyer: I’ve seen him be a good husband, great father
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On Monday morning, ESPN aired the second part of the exclusive interview with Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer. And while there were several people who criticized how Meyer handled himself, one ESPN reporter was a little more thoughtful in her response.
Laura Rutledge, who’s become a staple of several shows throughout the ESPN network, was asked to give her perspective on Meyer’s interview and how he handled the domestic violence situation involving Zach Smith on Get Up.
She may have had the most level-headed response of anyone.
“I believe that Urban Meyer doesn’t condone domestic violence. I believe him on that,” Rutledge said. “I’ve seen him be a good husband, I’ve seen him be a great father.
“I think this has been a misunderstanding that a lot of people could relate to in ways, but is not acceptable going forward.”
Many people have critiqued and criticized Meyer for coming off insincere and unapologetic, especially towards Courtney Smith, whom he says he still has not spoken with directly.
Rutledge also spoke about the seriousness of domestic violence and how there’s a misconception of what the term actually means.
“When you think about Courtney Smith and what the large misconception of domestic violence is, it’s not a troubled marriage, it’s not a troubled employee, it’s a crime,” Rutledge said. “It can’t just be explained away by ‘we’ve got athletics and they’re more important.’
“I think what this whole thing has done is, at least in some way, opened peoples eyes to what we are required to do as human beings. We can’t let these things happen.”
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB