Greg McElroy critical of Missouri fans for booing Brady Cook

Plenty of people took issue with the fan behavior aimed at Mizzou QB Brady Cook last Saturday against Kansas State. Now, this week, Greg McElroy has joined that group that’s standing behind the Tigers’ QB1.

McElroy spoke about the fans in Columbia booing Cook at times last weekend during ‘Always College Football’ on Wednesday. Simply put, he has a hatred for actions like that, especially since his play to that point hadn’t justified that kind of reaction.

“I hate the thought of booing a player during a pre-game introduction,” McElroy said. “I absolutely hate it and I’m not the only one.

“The thing is it’s not like Brady Cook played poorly in the first couple games of the year. I mean he’d had three touchdown passes, he’d thrown for nearly 400 yards against both South Dakota and Middle Tennessee.”

McElroy understands that having a highly-ranked young backup can sometimes make a fanbase act a certain way. Still, it doesn’t excuse the booing to him and he’s glad that, in the end, Cook showed them up in a sense by going out and having a career game against K-State.

“For whatever reason, the fans are always smitten with the young, highly-touted recruit. In this case, it’s Sam Horn. I’m not trying to sit there and say they shouldn’t be excited about what Sam Horn will ultimately do. I want you to love all your players,” explained McElroy. “But I think, sometimes, we have a tendency toward leaning our opinion towards a player that has yet to disappoint you. Sam Horn has never had the chance to disappoint you. Brady Cook has.

“What made it even sweeter, though, is the fact that he maybe had the best game of his career,” McElroy continued. “A career-high 356 yards passing, 60 more yards than he’d ever thrown for. A couple touchdowns, used his legs, obviously, to score another one. He was near perfect in a lot of ways.”

This is obviously a matter that’s unfortunate for an individual like Cook who is trying to give, and has given, his all for Missouri. That’s why, moving forward, McElroy hopes all fans, including the ones in CoMo, take note of the impact that actions like that can have on the perspective of their program.

“Here’s what I’ll say about booing players. You buy a ticket? You earn the right to do what you want to do,” McElroy said. “But understand how that can affect you down the road. I’m not talking about you as a fan. I’m talking about you as a program. Now, if I’m recruiting against Missouri? I’m going to say, ‘Hey, man, you want to go there? Their fans just booed the starting quarterback. How do you feel about that?’

“As a recruit, what you want is unequivocal support. You want to be cheered, you want to be adored, you want to be loved. As a player, you want to play well. Of course you do,” said McElroy. “So, you buy a ticket? You earn the right to do what you want but understand there could be a trickle-down that could hurt you down the road when you’re making a pitch to a recruit.”