Athletes in Trouble - Follow Up
What we all want in life is a shot. What we do with that shot, that’s the story we want to tell or hide, depending on what we do with it.
That’s the way I start off every one of my talks when I speak to high school and college students and athletes around the country. I want to be able to say Happy Birthday to Andre Jones on this day as he turns 18, but I doubt there’s much celebration today. On a day when he should be appreciating his right to vote, the felony with which he is charged may keep him from ever voting. He might have just blown his shot.
Here is the easy part; there is a huge difference in the mindset and character of a young man that drinks one too many beers and decides, “I have not had too much to drink, I think I can drive to the house” and a young man putting a gun in his waistband or accompanying someone that did and walking into someone’s house and demanding cash, drugs and valuables.
One is poor decision making and one is poor character.
This is a slam dunk to me. If Andre Jones was in fact present at the alleged incident, he needs to be kicked off the team. Period! There should not even be any debate about it. It has nothing to do with whether he had a gun or not. To be with Joseph after he had already been arrested once, allowing his feet to run into mischief is enough, even if he didn’t have a gun, as the arrest warrant indicates.
This is not even worth conversation because the Pro V1 is on the tee and ready be hit. It’s a lay-up.
Look, there are many reasons for this breakdown in the moral compass of not only athletes, but people in America. There is the breakdown of the family with not enough fathers in the lives of their kids. There is the ever growing need for money and people’s reckless pursuit of it. There exists a system of enabling through marginalized punishments of young people based on cheering, nurturing and motivation as opposed to rehabilitation and accountability.
There is a crisis in college athletics, especially among blacks in revenue producing sports. The business of sports based on money thrives on allowing athletes in revenue producing sports to enter school when a person with the same testing numbers could not enter school on his or her own academic merit. I actually appreciate the practice because a lot of young people with substandard starts in life end up with a degree from said school and can change their lot in life and many times the lot of a family. This is an increasing important issue and will have to be addressed at some point. As a black man, I’m embarrassed to see the sports page of the Austin American Statesmen today and see the arrest that have taken place within the Texas program since the 2006 Rose Bowl.
But looking at this from the bigger picture of the program at The University of Texas, one must peel back another layer of that onion and you get to the root of the problem.
Maybe lost leadership was underestimated.
In 2005, the National Championship year, there were no questions about who the leader of the Texas Longhorns was. It was the reigning NFL Rookie of the Year, Vince Young. But you have to look deeper than that. There were leaders in age and experience everywhere; David Thomas, Michael Huff, Will Allen, Cedric Griffin, Ahmard Hall, Jonathan Scott, Rod Wright. That is a lot of leadership leaving a team that already feels very good about itself coming off of a victory over the “best team in college football history.”
Couple that known loss of leadership with the team searching for leadership last year as the quarterback situation was being settled, along with the tackle and tight end spots. Throw in the fact that that the leaders on last year’s team were more quiet leaders like Michael Griffin and Aaron Ross. Then the final cherry on top of the banana split that was totally knocked over yesterday is the fact that last week at Big 12 media days, current Longhorns Colt McCoy and Derek Lokey acknowledged that there has been a disconnect between the older guys and the younger guys in part because the older guys move off campus. They said that they were closing the gaps by holding team meetings and spending time together.
So this comes down to leadership, self policing and building accountability.
Mack has to do something. As hard as I have been on Mack and his staff about football stuff over time, you cannot discount his genuine affection and concern for the welfare and success of his kids and the Texas program.
There has to be a union of sorts by this team. Maybe Mack Brown should call Joe Paterno and get some ideas. Paterno had six players arrested and 15 players at an incident this past spring and went old school on his team. The lacrosse and the rugby club teams at Penn State usually clean 107,000 seat Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley for $5,000 to run their program. Now the Nittany Lion football team will clean the stadium the day after they play in it and the money will still go to the Lacrosse and Rugby teams.
I would have to say that leaders on that team that are taking care of business in the classroom and on the field might concern themselves more with what their teammates are doing now. That, by itself is what creates chemistry among teams and people. The relationship brings about care, concern and accountability.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and seeking different results. Mack’s current discipline policy, if not broken, has a few chinks in the armor and maybe it’s time he raises the level or expectation and accountability.
Make it happen, Mack!
August 9th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Sean,
Excellent article!!! I will certainly be using your blog in my class. Good stuff!
Leonard
October 1st, 2007 at 3:56 am
Sean:
I like how you think! Accountability needs to be present on each athletic team and it needs to be evenly applied. I once had a defensive lineman who was far more talented than most of the other guys he lined up with or against. His ego and arrogance caught up to his talent and size and he began to get into trouble at school. The teams “starting” policy was amended by the coaches. First, a new depth chart was started each week for all linemen. Second, if you recieved a detention, you did not start and you missed two series of plays for your unit. If there were two detentions in a week, you sat the whole first half. If you were suspended or cut a class or classes, you did not stand with them team on the sidelines during the next game. If you cut another class, or was suspended again, you were off the team PERIOD!! Distinct developments came as a result of our change in our policys. First, our linemen had to develop and compete with each other throughout each week to keep their starting job or to attain a start. And secondly, the G.P.A.s and attendance both appoved dramatically. Thirdly, the intensity of practices improved. And last of all, the self esteem of our players, down to the last person with the least skill, increased incredibly. The parents were most generous with their appreciation. I know our J.V. program cannot compare with the Longhorns overall with all the financial committments and such, but what if it did? What would the leadership in all your athletes look like for the Longhorns? A student athlete knowing a contract of committment could be broken or ammended for these reasons would either “toe the line” or transfer to a lesser school. It is a shame though that our athletes learn ways to bypass the rules in order to stay and play. It is worse of a shame when our coaches create character issue in players by playing favorites no matter what a problem might be. To bad most of the University and College sports programs are no longer about developing character across the board. Perhaps this is why so many players in pro sports get arrested and are still allowed to play. It is too bad money and winning are the bottom line. I do not know how to fix the situation.
Maybe a little old school J.V. style would be best. Until our coaching staff broke apart due to moves and family committments, our team lost only the first game we coached and in two seasons our offense scored 3 touchdowns to every 1 scored against and our defense did not allow any team 100 yards in total offense in any of those games while we gained at least 300 yards per game in total offense. We did not have a Vince Young (a great athlete but a better man by character) in those two years. We played more like a team he beat in the Rose Bowl in ‘95 except we did not have Lienart as a QB either. Our players developed and got in shape on and off the field. The players I run into these days talk about the success they have in life first before they even talk football. This old coach believes that the measure of a great team is made by how players remain faithful to character after their graduation.