Gophers' Rashod Bateman Talks One-Handed Touchdown Catch, Coach Talks Mental Health
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- University of Minnesota beat South Dakota State to start their season on a positive note. The football game generally wasn't pretty, but plenty of season openers are not.
The highlight reel tells a different story of a young man, his talent, and playing through adversity with support from the Gophers.
Rashod Bateman led the highlight reel for the Gophers in Thursday night's home opener against South Dakota State with a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch. It was a bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming night for Minnesota.
"A lot of people ask me how I did that and the answer is I don't know," Bateman said. "God was with me on that one, so that's all I can say."
"The catch was beautiful," head coach P.J. Fleck said. "But what I saw was the process leading up to that catch -- and when he caught it, that's Rashod responding to adversity."
Thursday was Bateman's first game since his uncle passed away in Georgia during the team's training camp.
"Probably the closest father figure he has in his life. And [to] watch him go through all that, go back home, come back, go through grief, come back, bounce back, have some tough days at practice, open up and talk about it," Fleck said.
The University of Minnesota stepped up, offering mental health counseling to players in need and not just treating them like another number.
"We don't want our men to hold it all in," Fleck said. "And that is why mental health is so important. Because that young man could come back and catch like that when losing the biggest male-figure in his life two weeks ago and play like that -- that's what it's all about. And we are allowed to have the resources through our administration that give him the help that he needs -- mentally, physically and emotionally. And can send him back so he can be at the funeral, be at the wake, and put closure to that."
"Just going out there to play for him, it was pretty special," Bateman said. "I know he's always there with me so I just gotta continue to ball for him."