What does it take to be a Mississippi State football player? Answer: a police record.
For years, I have heard variations of this joke from our friendly neighborhood rivals in Oxford. Hearing this over and over, I have begun to wonder if we deserve this image. So in the spirit of fairness, I decided to do a little research.
Every so often, the front pages of the local newspapers are splashed with accusations against our football players. Lately, the arrest of a football player accused of burglary has brought MSU under public scrutiny. This arrest comes only weeks after a sophomore player was charged with attempted sexual battery.
Last spring, six players were arrested for assaulting an off-duty police officer at a Starkville nightclub. The list goes on and on, but I thought I would stop after burglary, sexual battery and assault. It was really just getting slightly embarrassing.
Even though I may not be a huge football fanatic, I do love my Bulldogs. And it breaks my heart that our team seems to have rap sheets as long as our losing streak.
But when compared to other schools, is our football team really any worse than other college players around the country?
With the Duke fiasco still clearly imprinted in our minds, let’s take a look at a few mug shots from other universities. Earlier this month, two football players from Ball State were arrested for allegedly stealing three laptops from a dorm. Both players were 19 years old.
Also this month, two football players and three hockey players from Yale were arrested. All were arrested for fighting and were charged with breach of peace, and all but one with criminal mischief.
Two players from Louisville were arrested for allegedly shooting a woman with a paintball gun about a week ago.
And recently at Ole Miss, a suspicious incident involving marijuana allegations resulted in several players being dismissed from the team.
Now are these charges any less serious than those against the players at MSU? Some would say so, calling these simply youthful indiscretions.
But then again, maybe none of these kids are any worse than the rest of us. Maybe they simply get more attention because they are college football players. If this is true, is it fair to them? Shouldn’t they be allowed the same learning curve as the rest of us without being held up to the public for inspection?
I wish that I could believe this, that our football team is not running wild, no better than a bunch of teenage hooligans. Unfortunately, there is a big difference between six guys accused of assaulting a police officer and six guys just slugging it out amongst themselves.
What saddens me the most about this whole situation is that the actions of a few are reflecting on the team as a whole. The team itself does not deserve to have the reputation of a bunch of thugs. And more than that, they deserve to have the rest of the school stand by them.
The only one who is responsible for an action, is the person who committed it. Coach Sylvester Croom is not to be blamed, and neither is the rest of the team. But at the same point in time, something is wrong. How do we seem to have so many players being accused of serious crimes?
The bottom line is that we all know there is a problem. The question is, where do we go from here?