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Former Illinois Left Tackle Simon Cvijanović Accuses Tim Beckman of Mistreatment

Illinois' Former 4-year Left Tackle Simon Cvijanović Accuses Tim Beckman of Mistreatment in a Twitter Rant

Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

Apparently former Illinois left tackle Simon Cvijanović is unhappy with the treatment he's received from Illinois head football coach Tim Beckman and the medical staff. Cvijanović, a 4 year offensive line starter, is upset about the treatment of his knee injuries and also not being allowed to go to the team banquet or the bowl game Illinois played in last year. Cvijanović has taken to twitter for an epic rant that is attracting attention far and wide. This is a breaking story and at the moment of publication the Illinois Athletic Department or Coach Beckman has not responded to these allegations.

This is a live feed of tweets from Cvijanović, Tim Beckman, and the Illinois Athletic Dept

This is a live feed of tweets with the phrase "Tim Beckman"

Update: And then of course, there is also this from July 2013 where Simon can be found quoting that they like the environment they are in at Illinois.  That's quite a change of heart.

UPDATE 2: Statement from Tim Beckman via the Illinois Athletic Dept (/hat tip The Champaign Room originally the Chicago Tribune)

Simon Cvijanovic was a valued member of the University of Illinois football team. He chose to leave the team during the 2014 regular season and withdrew from the university before the end of the semester. Upon his return for the spring semester, we have continued to support him with medical care an academic scholarship and academic advising. We cannot make any student accept our support. We wish him success in completing his degree, and we wish him the best of success in whatever he pursues after he graduates.

UPDATE 3 from the Chicago Tribune

Cvijanovic said Beckman routinely overruled doctors' orders to return players to the field and ridiculed injured players who were unable to play. He and his father said Beckman and offensive line coach Tom Brattan told them pain from knee and shoulder injuries was "in my head."

Wow, seriously just read the Chicago Tribune article