Six MSU football players were charged with assaulting a police officer. And Coach Sylvester Croom did something about it instead of waiting for the verdict.
Croom said the players would have an 11 p.m. curfew every night and will attend sensitivity training on campus. Also, the six players are suspended indefinitely.
Even though the players haven’t been declared guilty, they were associated with an irresponsible event. With the recent front-page news story on The Clarion-Ledger, the eyes of Mississippi are on the MSU football team.
But Croom didn’t choke. He applied discipline again to his football team. All of Mississippi will know that he means business with his players. His decision will be positive public relations for our university.
Furthermore, it’s not just about good public relations. Croom is protecting the players from further embarrassment and trouble. Although Croom didn’t apply his decision to all of the team, this action will probably deter any similar incidents from occurring within the team.
More than anything, Croom is a man of his word, not a pushover. The university can save face from this incident, and Croom shows no favortism: three of the players were starters.
Croom’s style is definitely different from the last staff, who may have overlooked this event.
Moreover, Croom has always shown a strong backbone. He kicked the talented starting running back Nick Turner off the team when the player didn’t abide by the rules. More than 20 undisciplined players left the team or were kicked off during Croom’s first year.
So we congratulate Coach Croom for standing up for MSU. We know the football team is in the right hands.
The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Jed Pressgrove, news editor Sara McAdory, assistant news editor Wade Patterson, sports editor Ross Dellenger, entertainment editor Tyler Stewart, managing editor Dustin Barnes and editor in chief Elizabeth Crisp.