By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A fan or member of the media would be justified in criticizing Cade McNamara’s on-the-field performance because it has left much to be desired, and because he’s a sixth-year graduate student who was paid a decent amount of NIL money to play quarterback for Iowa.

Cade McNamara isn’t a kid anymore.

He’s a 24 year old adult.

He also had the black and gold carpet rolled out for him when he joined the Iowa program.

Fans were ecstatic, as were members of the media.

Iowa had just landed the quarterback that led Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title, and there was hope and optimism that McNamara could help jumpstart Iowa’s sputtering offense.

But it just hasn’t worked out on the field, partly due to injuries and partly due to sub-par play.

So again, Cade McNamara’s performance is open for criticism until that criticism turns into false, or as McNamara described it in a statement on Friday, ridiculous accusations.

The fact that McNamara felt that he needed to release a statement in response to false rumors that he had recently quit the team is unfortunate.

I was told Friday morning by a very reliable source that McNamara had suffered a setback in a recent practice, making his status for the Maryland game on Saturday uncertain at the time.

But this same source said rumors that McNamara had quit the team were baseless and hot garbage.

The source felt awful for McNamara, saying he was being treated unfairly.

This was all said off the record and several hours before McNamara released his statement.

There is some confusion with McNamara’s status in that Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said McNamara had been cleared to play, but McNamara said Friday in his statement that he had only been cleared to practice.

McNamara also said in his statement that he is a proud member of the Iowa team, and that he has every intention of playing against Nebraska next Friday on Senior Day.

McNamara isn’t the only Iowa player to make news on Friday as 247Sports reported that graduate cornerback Jermari Harris has opted out of playing in the final two regular-season games to start preparing for the 2025 NFL daft.

However, Iowa reported later on Friday that Harris will miss the Maryland game due to a medical issue.

Harris has three interceptions this season and eight in his career.

The Chicago native has started 28 games and played in 42 games overall.

There have been rumors that some defensive players were considering not playing in the final two regular season games.

But Harris also attended Tuesday’s weekly press conference, as he often does. So, it seems unlikely that he would have attended the press conference if he already knew that he was opting out of the last two games.

It also seems unlikely that Iowa would have asked Harris to attend the press conference if the coaches knew he was leaving.

So, perhaps his decision came after Tuesday’s press gathering.

Whatever the case, Harris has to do what he feels is in his best interest.

He is part of a growing trend in college football in which established veteran players are choosing to opt out of playing late in the season to avoid injuries as they start preparing for the upcoming NFL draft.