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Dane Key would be the first to tell you that he has not been as productive as he wants to be so far this season.
He’s had a couple of drops and probably ran a wrong route or two. However, he did have four catches, including one for a touchdown, in last week’s win at Vanderbilt but what he did after the TD reception caused a bit of an uproar.
He patted the Vanderbilt defender on the helmet after his acrobatic catch and got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that did not please Kentucky coach Mark Stoops.
Was that out of character for Key? Absolutely. Was it maybe brought on by the frustration of not being more productive the first three games? Absolutely.
Stoops said at his Monday press conference that it was “absolutely not” okay for Key to do what he did on the touchdown play. But then Stoops revealed what Key did after the game that shows why he is a special player.
“Dane was the first one after the game to tell me (his penalty was not acceptable) and tell me he wanted to address the team on that. That shows maturity to me because that’s unselfish,” Stoops said.
“What he did was selfish and he knows it. He knows I did not tolerate that. I addressed it last week, I’ll address it again. We’re not going to be a selfish football team in any way, shape or form and he knows that.
“He handled it quickly. He knows that was unacceptable and he took responsibility for it and he apologized to his team immediately after the game for it.”
It’s no surprise Key would have handled that situation the way he did. He’s always been a classy player on and off the field and did what great players do — took responsibility for his mistake.
One Response
Everyone should do that. Not just players on a game.