Last week some damning and explosive news came out about Bo Schembechler and a doctor he protected who was abusing players during Bo's time as head coach. This shocked me to my core. I was stunned. I'm still stunned. I did not want to believe it. I think I have sat on this so long because I was hoping, maybe I still am, that this is all wrong. That all these athletes, nearly 900 of them, have just misremembered things. That does not seem to be the case.

This story, as more and more news comes out, keeps getting more and more real to me. I just do not want to accept it, but I know I have to. For those that may not know, Bo Schembechler has been accused of covering up sexual abuse by a former doctor at Michigan. He did not report it, and may have told players to "toughen up" and "get over it". This is so, so, so bad. This is a real problem and it needs to be addressed. I know that Jim Harbaugh and Schembechler's son Schemmy have come out and said they did not see any of this. But, Schembechler's step son, who is estranged from the family, former players and other athletes have come forward and said they were abused by this doctor. Like I said, this is bad, and it seems very true. If it is just one or two people maybe it isn't true. But, when over 850 athletes come forward, that is no coincidence. That usually means the accusations are truthful.

I am having a real hard time grappling with this. This is, outside of family, one of my biggest idols growing up. Bo always talked about doing things the right way, being vigilant about that, not cutting corners, never hiding from adversity. He was the epitome of a "good guy". My earliest memories are watching Michigan games with my dad and being told, and adhering to the fact that he was a great coach and an even better guy. That has all come crashing down with this story. We will never know the true extent, Bo, the doctor and Bo's wife Millie have all passed away. But I say again, when this many people come forward, it is more than likely factual. I am trying to come to terms with how to deal internally with all of this. To this point I have removed all my Bo memorabilia I have in my home, which is plentiful. His books are off my shelves, my bobblehead of him is gone, any t-shirt that has his image has been removed from my wardrobe, the pictures I have kept are not in my possession. I cannot look at his face anymore and not feel hurt and deceived by him. This, in terms of sports, is a travesty to me. This is tragic. This stinks.

I was talking to my dad about this over the weekend, who loved Bo more than I did, who talked about him like a legend, and we both are having trouble dealing. We both said that if this were Urban Meyer or Jim Tressel or Mark Dantonio this would be so easy to swallow. We would be laughing about it. Those guys have their issues, Meyer is a cheater and a liar, Tressel got fired for illegal recruiting and Dantonio retired before he was going to get caught. None of them have this sexual abuse accusation though. The closest is Dantonio, who seemed to let his players get away with everything, but no stories have come out about that yet. The only comparison I can make to the Schembechler news is what happened at Penn State under Joe Paterno, and you better believe I was very vocal about that whole situation. I was on my high horse when that news came out. And while the Michigan news didn't involve another coach, it is still pretty similar. There was abuse, it was sexual and it was covered up by a legendary head coach.

I just do not see a world where Michigan does not try to distance themselves from Schembechler. They need to remove the statue, of which I had a picture next to. They need to remove his name. They need to address this travesty and try to make things better. They need to help and support the victims. They need to do the right thing. Bo was a legend. So was Paterno, but I do not hear much about him when I see Penn State football games. Michigan needs to do the same with Bo. It may be hard, it may feel bad, but it needs to happen. That is the right thing to do, as well as working with the victims, helping them out.

This is an utter disaster. I am still shook. I still do not understand why Bo felt the need to help this monstrous person who was doing terrible things. This is bad. This is a stain on this prestigious university. And it comes from a man that everyone involved with Michigan football has lionized. Something needs to happen and it needs to happen now. I cannot and will not stand up for Bo anymore. He is no longer the legend that I once vouched he was. He did bad things and the school needs to move on from him. That would be the right thing to do.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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