Tuesday, November 3, 2009
NCAA suspensions this year have fueled debates about the appropriate degree of punishment that certain offenses warrant.
There have been two major suspensions this year in college football. The first was Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount for punching a mouthing-off Boise State player, well, in the mouth. And the second was Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant for lying to the NCAA about meeting with former NFL star Deion Sanders. Both were actions that deserved a degree of punishment. However, the respective penalties made sports fans and commentators alike scratch their heads.
Blount, in his rampage after losing to Boise State in the first week of the season, punched a player, attacked the fans at the game and had to be thrown off the field like an obnoxious drunk kicked out of night club.
The NCAA suspended Blount for the whole season shortly after, and people started talking. Did he deserve that? Some argued he didn’t because the Boise State player got in his face and sparked the aggression. Yet it was an act of violence, and it deserved severe punishment.
And now, eight weeks later, Blount has the opportunity to play the rest of the season for Oregon. Through profusely apologizing and working his guilty behind off to get back on the field, Blount has turned around the initial suspension and might be eligible to play this Saturday.
Bryant was not so lucky. The NCAA ruled that Dez Bryant would not be able to play at all this year for lying. The suspension of a player for lying to the NCAA is totally acceptable. The system is designed to put every player on the same level of competition, and honoring that system is necessary to the legitimacy of college sports. However, a year-long suspension seems as though the whip is being cracked a little hard on a player who was not trying to cheat the system in any way. Yet the system has seemed to say violence can be forgiven, but lying, heavens no.
The NCAA’s rule book is thick, really thick. And anybody who expects these young players to know everything they are allowed to do would also expect Kansas students to know the student handbook by heart. Not likely. The funny thing about Bryant’s case is that his meeting with Sanders would not have resulted in a suspension if he would have told the truth about it. Bryant panicked, not knowing if he had overstepped any boundaries, and then naively lied thinking it would help his chances of playing. Then he apologized. Panic is no excuse for lying to authorities.
For now, Bryant is meeting with attorneys to try to figure out a way to get his feet back on the grass, but nothing has developed yet. His nonviolent, yet immature mistake will cost him his last year of college football, as scouts expect him to enter the NFL Draft.
— Edited by Lauren Cunningham
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