The media is starting to pick up on the not-so-fun fact that Florida football has kept Sunshine State police sires on alert with 24 arrests in the four years since Urban Meyer became head coach.
The latest embarrassing incident involved starting corner back Janoris Jenkins being tasered when police were trying to break up a fight in downtown Gainesville.
Now CBS Sportsline’s Gregg Doyel, a Florida alum, is not too happy with the law-breaking at his alma mater.
An excerpt:
Because this isn’t funny. This is infuriating, bordering on insanity. This is a football program that has had 24 players arrested — that’s an entire recruiting class — in Urban Meyer’s four years as coach. This week cornerback Janoris Jenkins became No. 24 with a flourish, getting Tasered and then showing enormous heart and toughness and criminality by rising from the Taser’s electric current and running away from cops.
This has to stop. And it has to stop now. Florida has won two national championships in four years under Meyer, but that’s not enough to justify 24 arrests in those same four years. Four titles in four years wouldn’t justify 24 arrests. Five titles in four years wouldn’t do it. It can’t be done. There is no justifying something like this.
Franklin Crittenden at Bleacher Report wants to know if Florida is the new Thug U?
Deadspin says not even tasers can stop the Gators.
Meanwhile, Clay Travis at AOL Fanhouse claims fans don’t really care about players being arrested.
And he’s right, to a point. Take former UK football coach Fran Curci. When Curci recruited questionable characters and Kentucky went 10-1 in 1977, no one cared. When the Cats started losing, people started caring about the questionable characters, especially when so many of them ended up on the police blotter. Curci was finally fired.
My favorite story from that time: I had just started working at the Herald-Leader when a Kentucky player was arrested for shooting a gun at bottles in a public park. I was given the job of tracking down some school comment. This was on a Sunday. I finally reached then defensive coordinator Charlie Bailey. I explained what the police report said. Bailey replied, “You have got to be kidding me!”
Love that story John. I’ve had that response in my job before, too.
I just have one question, why are these player’s still playing, and why was there a player playing in the bowl game, when he had trouble with the law???
Why was there a player playing in the bowl game, that had trouble with the Police????
and now urban will reinstate a stalker for Ga. game because he needs to win a game.Pretty low i think,he is still on probation with th law.