Nine Michigan State University football players were charged with assault today after a fight at Rather Hall on November 22nd.
From Rittenberg:
Charged Wednesday with misdemeanor conspiracy to commit an assault and battery as well as assault and battery were safety Roderick Jenrette, running back Glenn Winston, wide receiver Fred Smith, wide receiver B.J. Cunningham, defensive end Jamiihr Williams, wide receiver Mark Dell, running back Ashton Leggett, offensive tackle J’Micheal Deane and cornerback Chris L. Rucker.
About a week ago, there’s an article in the Free Press where Mark Dell’s dad comes out and basically says that a bunch of guys were there, but they didn’t participate in the fracas. Umm, okay, maybe at the time I was kinda buying it. I mean, why not? Kid doesn’t seem like an idiot (although I really don’t have anything to base that off of), he’s a starter so you think he’d have some awareness that, you know, he’s kinda got a lot to lose. And so he kinda gets dragged into this thing, but realizes that going around punching people probably isn’t the best idea.
Okay, I don’t know who threw punches. So I should stop insinuating that somehow, I know, because I don’t. But this certainly goes against that whole “I didn’t throw punches” angle.
There was some ambiguity when the 8 players were suspended (after Jenrette and Winston were kicked off the team), that maybe they were suspended not because they fought, but because they a) lied about being there, or b) didn’t say something to stop it. In fact, MSU Board of Trustees Chairman (yep, Chairman, as in “the guy that’s supposed to be the leader”) Joel Ferguson even came out to say:
“They were suspended for not being candid with (coach Mark) Dantonio and not telling him that they heard something could be up, but they were not suspended for fighting,”Ferguson said. “They told the coach they weren’t there. That’s what they’re suspended for. It’s nothing. The coach said they violated team rules because he wants the kids to be candid with him.
“That’s all. It’s nothing. No one’s going to go to jail over that.”
Nope, you’re right, they’re not going to jail for lying to Coach D. But they could be going to jail for fighting. It’s tough to read out exactly what Ferguson was trying to say in his comment, although it strikes me as trying to downplay the matter and, although perhaps more of a stretch, tries to say that what those guys did wasn’t going to land them in jail. Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t it seem just a bit irresponsible for Ferguson to make such a comment. He could have just been trying to set the record straight, and stop the media from jumping to too many conclusions, but here’s the thing: if they fought, and charges were likely to come, why come out so strong saying they’re not going to jail, even if it was limited to the context of lying to the coach?
So we’ll have to see what comes of this, but I get the feeling that a number of players here are going to get found guilty. It seems to me that there were numerous witnesses, and I just can’t see the county prosecutor charging these young men with at least some solid evidence and/or testimony.
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