DownSwinging.com

Chris Forcier, former UCLA quarterback, has parted company with the school. After being a four-star recruit for the Bruins, the entire coaching staff was revamped. After new UCLA Head Coach, Rick Neuheisel, was brought in, he determined that the freshman quarterback didn’t really figure in his plans as the starting playcaller. Neuheisel moved Forcier to the wide-out spot last spring, and this was the final straw. Forcier’s childhood dream was to be a starting quarterback for the UCLA Bruins. When he determined, after his sophomore season, that this was no longer a possibility, he sought a transfer. He ultimately decided on the Furman Paladins in the Div I-AA Southern Conference. While he was a very coveted recruit two years ago Forcier was forcied (I had to) to settle for a Div-AA team because of the rules on player eligibility. With the Paladins, Forcier is eligible to play this fall. Were he to chose a Div I school, he would be ineligible until the 2010 season (Forcier’s senior year). While it is an unfortunate story thus far, it does not end there…

Upon Forcier’s departure from UCLA, he created a very unique press release to “make it clear” on why he left UCLA. As you’ll read, the press release exhibits an angry, petulant tone that can be compared to an uncomfortable scene at an office, after someone gets fired. In the latter part of the release he starts every statement with ‘Fact:’ and then proceeds to list his vast, if not arbitrary, credentials. You’ll also notice that Forcier even misspelled Furman on the last point, a possible sign that the document was created out of haste and primal bitterness. Don’t get me wrong, I think Forcier was definitely snubbed in his brief UCLA career. However, he clearly bypassed the high road to make a very immature exit.

Curiously, Forcier was interviewed on the Dan Patrick Show, where Dan Patrick, a former ESPN reporter, questioned Forcier about the document. In this segment, Forcier seemed very calm and passive about the way things transpired at UCLA. It was clear that it wasn’t even passive-agressiveness. Forcier was legitimately happy with how Neuheisel helped him seek greener pastures. So why then, Chris, did you release such a clearly bitter statement to the press? I find it hard to believe that you actually feel no contempt for those at UCLA, including Rick Neuhisel, who never gave you a chance to win the job. I feel the press release was created and released out of initial frustration at the school, and once it was written and published, you realized how immature of an action it was. You then chose to disguise your petulance as merely being informative. Unfortunately we are smarter than that.

The Forcier family’s website was also posted on the release. It is bizzare. This shows why Chris exhibited such a sense of entitlement in the release. Just something to check out.