College Insider: UF arrests no minor issue
Andrea Adelson | Sentinel Columnist
11:15 PM EDT, June 5, 2009
There is a serious problem going on with the Florida football team.
Some Gators fans may choose to ignore it — or even justify it — but they should be embarrassed. They should be outraged. They should be demanding action instead of defending the indefensible.
The recent arrest of defensive back Janoris Jenkins brings the number of arrests to hit the football program to 24 in a four-year period. You can argue all you want about the variety and seriousness of charges, about the eventual outcomes, about whether some of these players were recruited by Urban Meyer or his predecessor, Ron Zook. (For the record, 18 of the arrests were to players Meyer signed.)
It is simply unacceptable for any program to have this many arrests, yet the public outcry has been muted. Perhaps it's because the Gators have Tim Tebow as their public face. Yes, we know he is a saint, but that doesn't excuse the sinners.
Let's put these numbers into context. The arrest rate for the football team going back to Meyer's first season in 2005 is roughly 10 percent (24 arrests out of 239 players listed on the official roster).
Compare these numbers to the general population. In 2004, the last year statistics are available, the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Department of Justice reported the arrest rate in the United States to be 4.7 percent (4,752.4 arrests per 100,000 residents).
Yes, in seven of these Gators arrests, the charges eventually were dropped. But that doesn't mean the problems should be ignored. Think about it — how many people do you know who have been arrested? How many of your friends have been arrested? Ten percent?
Since the Gators won the national championship in January, UF has had three players get arrested, four if you count Torrey Davis, who was arrested a few weeks after leaving the team. Two of those cases still are being investigated. Meyer has taken no disciplinary action against Jenkins as that investigation continues. As a comparison, UF rivals such as Miami, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, to name four, have zero arrests in 2009.
"No one works harder in this area than Urban. I see it every day," UF Athletics Director Jeremy Foley said in a statement to the Sentinel. "Anyone who can't see his desire to influence young men positively and make them better citizens has no idea who he is as a coach and a human being. It is really easy to focus on negative issues and negative press.
"This is part of the world we live in, and we understand this. No one here condones our players stepping out of line, and everyone here wants to get better. However, Urban Meyer and his staff are the best that I have seen in modifying behavior, and at the end of the day, the majority of the players who come through this program will make us all proud and not just because they are good football players."
Despite the numbers, the Gators haven't taken a beating in the national media or from their fans. There are those who rationalize the arrests because the team is winning national championships. These fans simply are enabling the bad behavior.
Most college athletes go through four or five years of school, have fun, stay out late with friends and never get arrested. It is a privilege for student-athletes to be playing for the Gators and attending the University of Florida. They should act that way. (And by the way, the No. 1 Gator softball team managed to go through the season without any arrests.)
"All universities have problems from time to time, but when you have this kind of lawlessness and most of it having to do with violence, you begin to ask certain questions, and I think answers have to be forthcoming," said ESPN legal analyst Roger Cossack.
Meyer needs to start providing those answers. In the past, he has said, "Every case is different," when asked about disciplining players, but that isn't going to cut it anymore. If Meyer really takes pride in turning out good citizens, he must act in a more forceful manner.
Things are great now that the Gators are champs. But if the Gators stop winning and the arrests continue, these problems will be the cause for blame. The same people who defend this behavior will blame the coach for a lack of discipline. It has happened before (Barry Switzer, Phil Fulmer to name two).
Meyer's job is to win championships, yes. But his job is also to mold young men, not let the Gators program become the next Thug U.
Originally Posted by OUAlumni1990
