Crazy story out of Jacksonville...

[hebmskebm]

saw this on the pioneer board. the story has shades of the whole northern colorado fiasco. it seems jacksonvilles backup RB had drugs planted in the starter, Rudell Small's dorm room, then had somone call the police. Small was arrested and suspended for last weeks game, but was exonerated and is now back on the team. the backup was thrown off the team. crazy stuff.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20071003/NEWS/210030343/1356/NEWS01&source=RSS

[DetroitFlyer]

As I mentioned on the PFL board, where is the formal and public apology from JU to Mr. Small? It sure appears as though JU was more than happy to suspend him from the team and reportedly kick him out of school for an ALLEGED violation. For crying out loud, the poor kid spent the night in jail!!!!! The innocent until proven guilty thing exists for a reason.... I sure would like to see those folks at JU that were so quick to punish this kid spend a night in jail for their decisions and actions!!!!!

This is an 18 or 19 year old FRESHMAN that JU hung out to dry.... I have had about all I can stand of these schools abusing their students in this manner. At virtually every school in the USA they have forgotton that the school exists to serve the students, the students do not exist to serve the school!

Franky, if I were Mr. Small, I would be looking for somewhere else to play football next season!

[DetroitFlyer]

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10355743

See how Pitt handles this type of issue:

"Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said he had been told about the incident.

"At this juncture, we will let the judicial process run its course before determining what disciplinary action is necessary," Dixon said in a statement. "We have built a successful program at Pitt, on and off the court, by prioritizing personal accountability and responsibility. We will not compromise when it comes to those values."

Hats off to Pitt for handling this type of situation correctly! Maybe Jamie Dixon needs to have a chat with JU and bring them up to speed!!!!!

[walliver]

Suspending him from the team was appropriate. Kicking him out of school for a nonviolent charge appears to be overkill.xtwocentsx (he was going to school on his own dime, not an athletic scholarship).

[DetroitFlyer]

Why do you think suspending him from the team was OK? I would say exactly the opposite based on the results of the investigation. JU, ( especially coach Bell ), knew this kids reputation. It is not like he was some ex-drug offender on a prison release program.... By jumping to conclusions, this kid endured hardships that no 18 or 19 year old should be subjected to.... This is typical of a school taking the easy way out. God forbid that you stand behind your student, especially when you have every reason to stand behind the kid.... Let's do the PC thing and kick him out of school and kick him off the team. It just makes my blood boil. If I were his parents, I would be absolutely livid with JU!!!!! Maybe there is more to this story than has been published or leaked, but I think JU did the absolute wrong thing here, not 100% wrong, but 1000% percent wrong based on the limited information I have seen published....

[89Hen]

The story won't load for me... who got suspended? The starter who was framed?

[DetroitFlyer]

A clip from the article:

JACKSONVILLE - The past week and a half have been the best and worst days of Rudell Small's life.

Small's wild ride began with a spectacular performance in his college football team's home opener; it hit rock bottom when Small was arrested on drug charges five days later and suspended from the team; then spiked again when Small was cleared of all charges - apparently the victim of a jealous teammate's attempt to frame him - and welcomed back to the team.

[walliver]

Why do you think suspending him from the team was OK? I would say exactly the opposite based on the results of the investigation. JU, ( especially coach Bell ), knew this kids reputation. It is not like he was some ex-drug offender on a prison release program.... By jumping to conclusions, this kid endured hardships that no 18 or 19 year old should be subjected to.... This is typical of a school taking the easy way out. God forbid that you stand behind your student, especially when you have every reason to stand behind the kid.... Let's do the PC thing and kick him out of school and kick him off the team. It just makes my blood boil. If I were his parents, I would be absolutely livid with JU!!!!! Maybe there is more to this story than has been published or leaked, but I think JU did the absolute wrong thing here, not 100% wrong, but 1000% percent wrong based on the limited information I have seen published....

Most teams have traditionally suspended players charged with crimes. Cases like this are rare, any (?most) arrest are quite legitimate. In fact, in this case the police acted appropriately, even though they were, in the end, manipulated. The problem with letting players stay on the team pending the outcome of their cases, is that the criminal justice system can be manipulated so that star players don't come to court until after football season is over.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

This brings up an interesting point. All you can really do is suspend him from the team - there's no athletic scholarship to suspend. The athletic department can't hold it over his head as a reason to behave well.

Of course, if it's serious enough and he's receiving other academic merit aid, that could be in jeopardy. But the athletic department can't do anything to his aid.

[DetroitFlyer]

Most teams have traditionally suspended players charged with crimes. Cases like this are rare, any (?most) arrest are quite legitimate. In fact, in this case the police acted appropriately, even though they were, in the end, manipulated. The problem with letting players stay on the team pending the outcome of their cases, is that the criminal justice system can be manipulated so that star players don't come to court until after football season is over.


As you said, cases like this are very rare.... That is why some judgement must come into play rather than taking the easy way out and suspending the player. Obviously, Kerwin Bell knew this kid well, ( he played for Bell at Trinity High School ). JU, like many other schools, takes the easy, knee jerk reaction rather than waiting to conduct an investigation and then making a decision. As reported, Small was cleared in what, less than a week? I understand the star player issue, but a school has a duty to make a judgement call rather than a knee jerk reaction in every case. At the very least, you conduct an internal investigation and then make a decision! Maybe even more so at a non-scholarship school. Imagine if you were this kids father. You want to know where lawsuits come from? Here you go!!!! I have absolutely no knowledge of any parties in this dispute, but from what I have read, I am livid at how this young man was treated....

[89Hen]

suspended from the team; then spiked again when Small was cleared of all charges - apparently the victim of a jealous teammate's attempt to frame him - and welcomed back to the team.
Then that sounds right to me. Teams don't follow the same rules as a court of law. Suspension for being charged seems like the norm. xpeacex

[Mr. C]

It depends on the school, though I think that these institutions are buckling to PR and bad publicity more these days. At Appalachian State in 1995, there was a starting FB named Aldwin Lance that was arrested for an alleged assault that occured after the Mountaineers had clinched the SoCon championship with a win against Western Carolina. Lance had been one of the stars of the game (played in brutal conditions where the game started in a rain storm and by halftime the temperature had plummeted and the rain had turned to ice and then snow). Interviewing him in the locker room afterwards, the guy almost had hypothermia. He was in bad shape. This girl claimed he assaulted her at a party which he didn't attend. It was a case of mistaken identity. The campus police ACTUALLY took a football program and showed it to the girl to have her identify the suspect. A number of players stood up for Lance and said he had been with them at the time in question and he was found not guilty.

Jerry Moore DID NOT suspend Lance, even though Moore took a lot of flack in the news section of the local newspaper at that time. Lance played the next week against The Citadel and in two playoffs games.

You've got to examine these things in the context of the whole picture instead of jumping to conclusions and worrying about your PR image.