This is unacceptable, and the bigger problem I see is the fact that the fans at UT don't seem to find it unacceptable. I don't go to UT, but as a citizen of Texas it is my business. I would have less of a problem if it was some private school having problems, but the state schools of Texas represent the state and it is not acceptable for state funded schools to allow such behavior.
and the university can do more.. these people should be off the team immediately when something like this happens.. was Klotz kicked out of UT? Even the Astros cut someone immediately for abusing a woman.. and that really is PRO sports
rocketfan95.. I am basing it on the constant conversations I have with my friends who go to UT... but to be fair the ones at A&M seem to think the same way.. The ones I talk to don't care what the players do as long as they perform on the field... and they don't care about the fact that over half the people playing in the Rose Bowl game for Texas in a couple weeks won't even get a degree from the school.... I'm sure some do, but not very many of the ones I know.. (oh and thankfully I'm back in Houston for a few weeks )
Brown suspended Hardeman indefinitely pending legal formalities. From all accounts, he probably will never play for the team again. I don't think Brown or the school is "allowing" such behavior.
riet.... what penalties did Benson suffer from the team? If I recall they were not very harsh.... Jason Klotz is still listed on the roster for the basketball team... what is his current status as far as the beating the girl thing... was he found guilty?
I think they are allowing it in the sense they aren't harsh enough.. If it was made clear that if you are arrested you are kicked off the team... this stuff would stop real fast
What happens if you're arrested and found not guilty. That's fair. "Suspended indefinitely" is an euphmism for being kicked off the team but for legal reasons won't be official until later.
I don't think that UT fans necessarily don't care, I just think that out of the 10 mentioned in the original post, only a few are really that harmful. Sure, smoking weed is against the law, but there are millions of productive and otherwise law-abiding citizens in the U.S. that partake. So, I'm guessing the reason there isn't a huge outcry towards #1-4 is because of this. The last two are things that college kids get arrested for everyday. That's not to excuse their actions, just an explanation for a lack of outcry among UT fans. If #1-4, 9-10 happened at almost any other school, the response of the fans would be about the same as those from UT fans. The Benson case is bad, but again, I'm positive that had he been at nearly any other university in the nation, the same punishment would've been dealt. To me, #8 and #6 are inexcusable, if true. I don't know if Jason Klotz was found guilty of the charges or if it's even gone to trial, however, as a UT fan, I do wish that he'd have been sat down until the conclusion of the case. I am happy that it appears that Hardeman is not coming to UT. I'm not sure that 10 incidents equals a "crime epidemic" among the student athletes at UT. There are hundreds of student-athletes at UT, and if 10 is the most one can come up with, then that's not too bad. I'm guessing that's around 2-3% of the student-athlete population. Of course, the dismissiveness of these charges by the UT fans here has everything to do with who started the thread. Somebody needs a new hobby.
riet.. most of these people it is clear if they are guilty or not.. being that they are found with the substances... It may be more difficult in the case of someone like Klotz or Benson... but then again apparently Benson was serving his jail times in ways that he didn't miss football events.. if I recall correctly.. is Klotz playing now or not?
Every single person on my "top 10 list" returned to action for the horns, with the exception of Hardeman, who will soon be fighting to stay out of jail for the next 20 years.
rocketman95.... I should not have made such a blanket statement. There just didn't seem to be much outrage among UT fans in this thread, but I should have taken into account the fact that you were being called out by a non UT fan. I would probably be dismissive as well if someone else was calling out my school. I just hope privately within the fan base and the administration there is something being done about it. My general feeling is that if anything the athletes should be held to higher standards than the rest of the students.. since they are getting education paid for etc.. The problem is when you start recruiting soley on football ability and not anything else, I hope these events cause the staffs to look more closely at who they are recruiting. Out of the state schools, UT is one of my favorites. The things I say against UT stand for any school in the nation. A lot of schools need to look at their programs closely, many of which are in worse situations than UT.
Cedric Benson won the Doak Walker Award, along with the Cingular/ABC Sports College Football Player of the Year Award. He is a 1st Team All-American, and will be a top-5 NFL draft pick.
If you want to talk about arrests, look no further than the Fightin' Texas Aggies. They had 11 football players arrested since August 2003 for incidents ranging from the infamous Tate Pittman "can you help me with this?" and shouting racial slurs at a Whataburger drive thru.
bigtexx.. thats the thing I worry about.. do the suspensions just last until people forget about the crimes and then they all play for the teams again.. I respect Rice for their athletes staying out of trouble it seems, and I trust that you would be upset if these events happened at your school
baqui.. trust me, I find the aggies situation pretty bad... I guess I just have higher expectations for UT because of the fact that any outsider sees Ut as the top public school in the state of Texas, and I want it to be as clean as possible.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Hardeman has ever played as a Longhorn. He redshirted last year and was academically ineligible this season.
Texxx, I take your post to mean that you were not ever arrested in college for public intoxication nor did you possess mar1juana. I accomplished both of those goals during my matriculation and am a better person for having done so; I would in fact encourage you to do both at some point for the sake of life experience.
I myself have never smoked weed or been arrested, and I can attest that this also good life experience.
