Player safety in college sports has become a huge point of emphasis in recent years as a number of incidents put it in the forefront of everyone's mind.

    Mike Leach was fired from Texas Tech for alleged mistreatment of an athlete with concussion symptoms. Everybody also remembers the Bobby Knight and Woody Hayes choking incidents from years ago.

    When video surfaced of Idaho State head coach Mike Kramer shoving senior wide receiver Derek Graves during practice, an act that increased discussion nationwide of player safety, I was as shocked as the next person.

    My first thoughts included which assistant coach ISU would appoint as interim head coach after Kramer was let go, something that I was sure would happen soon.

    But as more information came out, my mindset shifted.

    Kramer absolutely crossed a line with the push. There is no excuse whatsoever for a coach, no matter how insubordinate a player is being, to get physical with him/her.

    I have seen Kramer be as intense as a man can be, all in a competitive manner. I witnessed him grab Luke Austin's facemask during practice to break up a scuffle and separate the players. He is intense, but he's no bully, as many people are suggesting.

    Without excusing Kramer's momentary lapse in judgement, for which an apology has already been issued, Graves is very much coming off as the bully in this situation.

    He's bullying Kramer, the university, its fans and especially his teammates.

    By copying video of the incident himself and going to police and the national media, Graves has alienated himself from his fellow Bengals.

    Graves told ESPN “Outside the Lines” anchor T.J. Quinn that he decided to make an issue of the shoving incident because he had worked too hard to lose his senior season. He wants justice.

    Graves added that he expects to be back on the team as soon as he is cleared to play medically.

    So he expects to just return like everything is normal, as if he's not sabotaging an already rough year for a struggling team.

    His senior season is lost already. It happened the moment he decided to ignore Kramer's apology and send that video to whomever would take it.

    Speaking of being cleared to play by team doctors, it is very doubtful that his injuries resulted from Kramer's push. It's possible that they could have, but I've seen Graves take much bigger hits during games. It's more likely they came via a hard strike from an opponent, who was also wearing full pads.

    It is, after all, full-contact football.

    The importance of player safety is not lost on Kramer, having voiced his support of ISU freshman Taison Manu's suspension for an illegal hit as well as the new rules in college football this year that help curtail concussions and other head injuries.

    Graves, regardless of the origin of his maladies, is coming off less and less as the victim in this matter.

    Remember what happened with Tavoy Moore last season? He was dismissed from the team when he and Kramer could not see eye to eye. One has to wonder if this situation with Graves is a similar rift between a coach trying to build a team and a player who perhaps doesn't fit.  

    Kudos to Idaho State's administration, especially athletic director Jeff Tingey, for backing Kramer, at least up to this point.

    This incident never should have left Holt Arena, especially considering that Kramer did say he was sorry to Graves and the team. It is an internal issue that escaped and will cause undeserved short and long-term damage to a football program that doesn't need more problems.

    The last thing this team needs as it prepares for today’s game against Northern Colorado and claws its way through another tough season is this sort of distraction. Then again, maybe this will cause Kramer's players to rally around him and bond. I know for a fact that those remaining on the team don't appreciate the negative attention nor the turmoil caused by Graves.

    This issue, even though it has put ISU in the national spotlight, will blow over at some point.

    Kramer and his team will finish their season just like they would have done anyway.