By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Prior to Friday night, Cade McNamara had only been disappointing on the field as an Iowa quarterback.

But when he declined to participate in the Senior Day ceremony that was held just minutes before the start of Iowa’s 13-10 come-from-behind victory over Nebraska at Kinnick Stadium, it sent a horrible message and was a slap in the face to a program, and to a head coach, that have gone out of their way to appease McNamara from an opportunity standpoint, and from a financial standpoint.

“Opt-out is a big term right now, right? Opt-outs… he declined the chance to come out,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said in his post-game press conference on Saturday. “That’s strictly up to him. It was his desire, so we’re going to honor that. We’ll see where it all goes here. Hopefully he is feeling better.

“As I said last week, he’s had a rotten three years, so I hope everybody can be empathetic toward that.”

It was classy for Kirk Ferentz to sympathize with McNamara because it has been a rotten three years for McNamara on the football field.

McNamara has gone from leading Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title, and to the college playoff that season, to now playing behind a walk-on quarterback who hardly had any game experience at this level just a few weeks ago.

Or has McNamara been playing behind Jackson Stratton?

It’s hard to know for sure.

The fact that McNamara hasn’t been in uniform for a game, or been listed as available for a game, since he suffered a concussion against Northwestern on Oct. 26 at Kinnick Stadium might give the impression that Stratton is starting only because McNamara is unavailable due to health issues.

The same thing could be said for why Brendan Sullivan started at quarterback against Wisconsin and UCLA, which were the next two games after the Northwestern game.

The hard part in trying to understand McNamara’s situation is that there is so much uncertainty and hearsay.

He was accused of quitting the team two weeks ago, but then he released a statement on social media calling it a baseless accusation.

There was also a rumor that he walked out of practice last Tuesday, but then returned on Wednesday.

The truth is out there somewhere, but it could forever stay hidden because that might be the best option for all the parties involved with the truth in this case.

McNamara was listed as the starter on the depth chart for the Maryland game, and was cleared to play according to Kirk Ferentz.

But as it turns out, Kirk Ferentz misspoke and meant to say that McNamara had been cleared to practice.

McNamara’s situation is a delicate topic since he did suffer a concussion against Northwestern more than a month ago and hasn’t played since then.

So, you certainly don’t want to dismiss or minimize the medical concerns because concussions effect people differently.

McNamara also claims to have suffered an adverse reaction to his concussion, so there are certainly extenuating circumstances.

But even with everything that McNamara has experienced from a physical standpoint, he still could have, and should have, participated in the Senior Day ceremony with his teammates because he owed them that much.

Iowa gave McNamara a new home, and a new opportunity to keep playing as a Big Ten quarterback after Michigan had so quickly moved on from him early in the 2022 season.

McNamara lost the starting position at Michigan to J.J. McCarthy early in the 2022 season, and ever since then, McNamara’s football career has spiraled in the wrong direction.

McNamara has certainly been unlucky, and he has dealt with more than his share of hardship and adversity that comes from having suffered through two straight season-ending knee injuries in 2022 and 2023.

But he also has been lucky to have a program, and a head coach, that welcomed him and then stuck with him for nearly two years despite what have  mostly been sub-par performances on the field.

Kirk Ferentz wanted McNamara so much that he committed a recruiting violation by contacting McNamara before McNamara had entered the transfer portal in 2022.

Iowa basically rolled out the black and gold carpet for McNamara, set him up with a nice NIL deal, and said you’re our guy.

McNamara has started 13 games over two seasons for Iowa, but other than a few quarters and few halves, his performance has been disappointing.

And yet, Kirk Ferentz for weeks would tell the media that McNamara gave Iowa its best chance of winning.

But then McNamara suffered the concussion and nothing seems to have been the same since then.

In fairness to McNamara, he apparently has been a good a teammate since he was repeatedly named a team captain as a Hawkeye, and that doesn’t happen without earning respect and admiration.

But that is even more reason why McNamara should have participated in the Senior Day ceremony.

Some will say that McNamara didn’t want to get booed, and if that truly is part of why he declined, then it’s just a sad ending to a story that started with so much hope and optimism.

You would also like to think that most Iowa fans would have resisted the urge to boo, just for the sake of decency.

Graduate cornerback Jermari Harris didn’t play in the final two regular season games for what was called a medical issue, but he did participate in the Senior Day ceremony, and he seemed to enjoy doing it as he walked on to the field.

There is speculation that McNamara, a native of Reno, Nevada, will enter the transfer portal and appeal for a seventh year of eligibility.

Okay. Fine. Good luck to him.

But even if he has another year of eligibility, he still could have participated in the Senior Day ceremony.

To not do so, fair or not, gives the impression that he is self-entitled.

McNamara should have put his ego aside and paid his respects to a program, to a head coach, to a group of players and coaches, and to a fan base that gave him a soft landing space after his crash at Michigan.

If McNamara has a good reason for why he didn’t participate in the Senior Day Ceremony, then he should share it publicly and perhaps the narrative would shift more in his favor if it truly is a legitimate reason and not just hurt feelings.

For now, though, his decision to skip the Senior Day ceremony just doesn’t look good.