Iowa teammates believe some fans act ‘too harsh’ toward Spencer Petras

IOWA CITY — As offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz sees it, backup quarterback Joey Labas “is the most popular person in our football program.”

“And he will be,” Ferentz said. “Until he plays, right? And then it’ll all change.”

Just ask fellow quarterback Alex Padilla.

“Alex Padilla was pretty popular for a while,” Ferentz said of the second-team quarterback. “And then he messed up.”

Padilla’s mistake, according to Ferentz? “He went in the game.”

“The minute you go out there and you do what you do, you’re going to open the door to that criticism, which is absolutely fair,” the 39-year-old Ferentz said.

For Spencer Petras — the apparent leader early in Iowa’s 2022 quarterback competition — that metaphorical door for criticism is as open as a department store on Black Friday.

Petras started all of Iowa’s games in 2020 and most of Iowa’s games in 2021, making him a popular target of fans’ social media ridicule.

The vitriol from some fans prompted Petras to ask after the Citrus Bowl to “remember that I’m a human being.”

“Sometimes I just want to be like, ‘Well, like why don’t you come do it, you hero?” punter Tory Taylor said of the fans attacking Petras on social media.

Petras’ teammates have taken notice of how well the San Rafael, Calif., native has blocked out the criticism.

“He does a great job — way better than I would, way better,” running back Gavin Williams said. “Sometimes our fans can be a little too harsh because it is a team sport.”

Williams said much of the negative attention directed toward Petras comes after plays that weren’t necessarily Petras’ fault.

“You can’t put all the blame on him,” Williams said. “For whatever reason, if I miss a block and Spence gets hit as he’s throwing and the ball doesn’t go where it’s supposed to go, that’s not his fault. That would be mine. … Sometimes we put a little bit too much on his shoulders.”

Arland Bruce IV had a similar observation from the perspective of a wide receiver.

“There’s a lot of stuff that maybe people on the outside don’t see,” Bruce said. “They might see an overthrow or him throwing the ball away, but that’s kind of what he has to do maybe because the receiver didn’t run the right route. I feel like for all teams, quarterbacks get a lot of hate.”

Yet he “takes it” and “wears it like a champ,” Williams said.

As someone who has “definitely gotten way closer to Spencer” since arriving on campus last year, Bruce also has been impressed with Petras’ handling of the negative attention from fans.

“He doesn’t really listen to criticism,” Bruce said. “I’ve asked him about it, being a freshman. Like, ‘How do you handle it?’ Because I’ve obviously seen a lot. I don’t really think he minds it or cares about it.”

After the Citrus Bowl — his 19th time starting a college football game — Petras said he has “grown my immune system in dealing with that — the things that people say about me.”

Manning Passing Academy invite

Petras earned an invite to be a counselor at the annual Manning Passing Academy, a prestigious summer football camp for middle and high school athletes playing offensive skill positions.

Past quarterbacks to attend the Manning Passing Academy as counselors include Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love and Iowa’s Nate Stanley.

The academy — led by former NFL quarterbacks Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning, among others, and located in Thibodaux, La. — has announced the first 16 quarterbacks to work the camp so far.

Other quarterbacks invited this year include Penn State’s Sean Clifford, South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler and LSU’s Myles Brennan.

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