Player not cooperating with police

[Dirtydawg]

This is very interesting. A Montana player is accused of murder and another football player who might be a witness is not cooperating with police. What do you do as a coach, AD or University president in this situation?


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2912873

[brtransplant]

You suspend them until you determine if the charges are legitimate. If you find that they are, you kick them out of the program no matter WHO THEY ARE. NO recruit or player is worth the integrity of our atheletic program.

[StrayDawg]

From a personal standpoint, his buddy isn't doing him any favors by not cooperating...that only makes him look guilty.

From a professional standpoint, I agree with brtransplant. The coaches and AD look awfully small in this situation and their inaction during a serious time like this makes them look like they do not have the leadership skills to handle the situation. If a player is in jail on $2Million bond, and he is not already suspended from the team, the coach and AD need a boot up their rear-ends. Another kid not talking to police, which could get him in legal trouble as well, should also be suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

Lancaster, CA is a desert town with a decent population, but not huge. I have been there several times on business trips and it is not an "L.A." type town. My friends there have mentioned this over the past few weeks, but I'm not sure how big the story is in that area. Lancaster is on the edge of Edwards AFB and mostly a military town, so people shooting each other with rifles doesn't go unnoticed.

[hookdown]

I have a feeling this may get moved to the pawlitics forum. The players are innocent until proven guilty. Just ask the Duke LAX players what happens when you take the opposite tactic. Sure it puts a lot of pressure on the school, but you have to stand up for constitutional rights. I bet Duke wishes they had. I would, however, have the President, AD, coach, and whomever else I could get to let the player know that cooperation with the police is mandatory and failure to do so would have negative implications for the players.

[Dirtydawg]

I have a feeling this may get moved to the pawlitics forum. The players are innocent until proven guilty. Just ask the Duke LAX players what happens when you take the opposite tactic. Sure it puts a lot of pressure on the school, but you have to stand up for constitutional rights. I bet Duke wishes they had. I would, however, have the President, AD, coach, and whomever else I could get to let the player know that cooperation with the police is mandatory and failure to do so would have negative implications for the players.

I agree in regards to the alleged crime about innocent until proven guilty. The reason I posted the link was because I find it reprehensible that this football player isn't cooperating with the police's investigation of a crime and that the school isn't holding him accountable for it especially when it seems he's a key player in the investigation.