Ole Miss quarterbacks coach Joe Judge released a statement Saturday after a quote from a court appearance went viral, insisting that his comments about fathers of newborns prioritizing their sleep were “taken out of context.”
The comments were given Thursday during the hearing for Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’ request for an injunction to play a sixth season of college football. That injunction was granted Friday.
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One clip of Judge’s testimony took off in particular, in which Judge recounts telling the partners of players with young children that they need to prevent those children from waking them up in the middle of the night.
Notably, that clip identifies Judge as an Ole Miss coach and refers to unspecified players, but what it does not mention is the conversation at the time was about Judge’s experience dealing with sleep disorders while in NFL player development with the New England Patriots.
In his statement, Judge clarified that the conversations about playing football while raising a child were only in the NFL, never the collegiate level:
“Some of my comments from Thursday have been taken out of context, so l’d like to provide some clarity. In a discussion about Trinidad’s sleep apnea, I was trying to point out the importance that the NFL places on sleep for recovery and performance in addition to the education of balancing family dynamics during the football season.
“These are discussions I was a part of at the professional level from veteran players based on their own experience managing similar situations. These are not discussions we’ve had at the collegiate level. As a husband and father of four children, I understand those challenges first hand and would never diminish the commitment to family. We share that same dedication to family with our players and always support them through any challenges they face in their personal.”
Judge worked under Bill Belichick from 2012 to 2019, became head coach of the New York Giants in 2020, then moved back to the Patriots after his firing in 2022. He joined Ole Miss in 2024 and currently holds the titles of quarterbacks coach and “head coach of offense” (John David Baker is the offensive coordinator under head coach Pete Golding).
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In the interest of clarity and not taking Judge out of context, here is the larger exchange about dealing with NFL players with sleep disorders:
Q: “Can a sleep disorder affect a player’s ability?”
Q: “Has that occurred in your past where you have encountered players with sleep disorders?”
Q: “And what did you do for those players?”
A: “Well, we got them the CPAP machines. We tracked their sleep. We made sure they were evening out their sleep cycles, that they’re properly rested. That was several players over the course of years.
“And then there was also the players that we would have to educate — this is always a tough conversation to have. It’s not a popular opinion, this is the truth, we would have to educate significant others who may have been pregnant during the season, or were going to have a baby during the season, and you’d have to educate them on — you have this baby in the middle of the season, that father has to play good football. It’s a day-by-day production business. He has to be ready to perform and go out there and play, and when I say that is, you need to let him sleep. He needs to be in another room, detached.
“You have to explain to the mother, ‘Listen, he ain’t waking up for the midnight feedings. After the season, he’s full metal jacket. You can do whatever you want with him, he’ll change every diaper. In season, he’s got to have a different priority.
“Now, there were examples to use from that. We had some older veteran players — I can or can’t share names if you want me too — who had multiple children who would sleep in other rooms. Their wives would bring in family or a nursing aid to help throughout the night, and those players continue to play high-level football. We had other players who are young who quite simply did what every other father in the world does, waking up, changing diapers, doing feedings, and led to injuries, led to soft-tissue injuries, not being rested, not being recovered, not being ready to roll.”
Q: “That never occurred to me, that newborns can affect injuries on the football field. But who had to deliver that message?”
Q: “And to whom did you deliver the message?”
A: “To the pregnant women.”
A: “About as good as you’d expect (laughs).”
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