Riley brings gang-rape survivor Brenda Tracy to Nebraska

I'd be all for banning players from collegiate athletic competitions, similar to what was done at this year's combine.

Granted, that wouldn't stop players from potentially being drafted.

Of course, if you are being investigated for domestic violence or sexual assault, just have Tallahassee PD investigate and your career goals will remain intact.

 
I'm all for this type of message, but it needs to be distributed much more broadly than to male athletes.

Using football as an example, there are about 250 athletes that go through a program every 4 years. Even if you had 5 of them in trouble during that time, that's a 2% offender rate. I'd bet that's no higher than (and may be lower than) the offending rate of 18-25 year old men in general.

My only point, which isn't to diminish importance of this issue, is that I don't think we should be painting football players as predators - which, unfortunately, is a view held by many.

 
cm husker said:
I'm all for this type of message, but it needs to be distributed much more broadly than to male athletes.

Using football as an example, there are about 250 athletes that go through a program every 4 years. Even if you had 5 of them in trouble during that time, that's a 2% offender rate. I'd bet that's no higher than (and may be lower than) the offending rate of 18-25 year old men in general.

My only point, which isn't to diminish importance of this issue, is that I don't think we should be painting football players as predators - which, unfortunately, is a view held by many.
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Brenda herself admits that it's only a small portion of collegiate athletes ruining it for the masses, and I think the vast majority... vast majority... of people don't view football players as predators.

The reason people are focusing specifically on college male athletes is because they often receive preferential treatment. A 20-year-old male who is accused of rape in a college town very well may be treated different than a 20-year-old football star in a college town, and that's the specific issue that needs attention. Sports don't matter more than people.

The Tallahassee PD and Jameis Winston case is a crystal clear example of how athletes are treated differently. Hell, boosters in Texas want to bring Art Briles back, who knew about sexual assault allegations and did nothing.

So, I agree with you in context that this message needs to be spread towards all men. But, there is a very specific cultural and dire issue on college campuses that has gone unaddressed for a long time.

 
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I disagree 100% that athletes receive special treatment. In many ways, they receive worse treatment and character assassination than the typical kid involved in this type of accusation.

I recognize your examples, but they aren't actually evidence of "special treatment," but rather that those types of crimes are rarely prosecuted in any circumstance, often because the accuser refuses, for myriad reasons, to pursue charges. The fact that there was a public failure in the system doesn't mean the failure was due to "special treatment."

Even in this OSU example, there's no real evidence that the players were treated differently than another person would have been.

Then I look at cases like the one in Alabama recently, where if you believe recent accounts, athletes were actually singled out where "regular guys" were let go.

 
cm husker said:
I disagree 100% that athletes receive special treatment. In many ways, they receive worse treatment and character assassination than the typical kid involved in this type of accusation.

I recognize your examples, but they aren't actually evidence of "special treatment," but rather that those types of crimes are rarely prosecuted in any circumstance, often because the accuser refuses, for myriad reasons, to pursue charges. The fact that there was a public failure in the system doesn't mean the failure was due to "special treatment."

Even in this OSU example, there's no real evidence that the players were treated differently than another person would have been.

Then I look at cases like the one in Alabama recently, where if you believe recent accounts, athletes were actually singled out where "regular guys" were let go.
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Years ago they go special treatment...now with social media and camera phones they have it kind of hard at times.

 
teachercd said:
cm husker said:
I disagree 100% that athletes receive special treatment. In many ways, they receive worse treatment and character assassination than the typical kid involved in this type of accusation.

I recognize your examples, but they aren't actually evidence of "special treatment," but rather that those types of crimes are rarely prosecuted in any circumstance, often because the accuser refuses, for myriad reasons, to pursue charges. The fact that there was a public failure in the system doesn't mean the failure was due to "special treatment."

Even in this OSU example, there's no real evidence that the players were treated differently than another person would have been.

Then I look at cases like the one in Alabama recently, where if you believe recent accounts, athletes were actually singled out where "regular guys" were let go.
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Years ago they go special treatment...now with social media and camera phones they have it kind of hard at times.
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Being a high profile student-athlete has a lot of pluses and minuses. Yeah, they get free education, cool gear, training table, tutors, special attention from ladies, etc. But, they also work their a$$ off pretty much the entire year now, and have so much scrutiny for a 18-22 year old kid/young man. They get a lot of unfair criticism when they are just trying to play a game, make it through college, and hopefully get a job after school.

 
teachercd said:
cm husker said:
I disagree 100% that athletes receive special treatment. In many ways, they receive worse treatment and character assassination than the typical kid involved in this type of accusation.

I recognize your examples, but they aren't actually evidence of "special treatment," but rather that those types of crimes are rarely prosecuted in any circumstance, often because the accuser refuses, for myriad reasons, to pursue charges. The fact that there was a public failure in the system doesn't mean the failure was due to "special treatment."

Even in this OSU example, there's no real evidence that the players were treated differently than another person would have been.

Then I look at cases like the one in Alabama recently, where if you believe recent accounts, athletes were actually singled out where "regular guys" were let go.
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Years ago they go special treatment...now with social media and camera phones they have it kind of hard at times.
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I'd agree with this.

Mostly.

But it wasn't many years ago, and it still happens in plenty of locales.

Tends to be an entitlement issue, which isn't exclusive to athletes. But star athletes can definitely grow up in a bubble of entitlement that skews their understanding of consequence, especially when they have adults who readily cover for them.

 
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I wasn't very clear. I meant special treatment in this context.

In others, they definitely have and still do. I know a lot of places still forget to drop the check off or bars that let underage athletes in without question in hassle in college towns.

But sex assault and other major crimes, no, I don't believe they do.

 
cm husker said:
I wasn't very clear. I meant special treatment in this context.

In others, they definitely have and still do. I know a lot of places still forget to drop the check off or bars that let underage athletes in without question in hassle in college towns.

But sex assault and other major crimes, no, I don't believe they do.
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Your "belief" is irrelevant - there are documented examples of athletes, particularly high-profile athletes, receiving preferential treatment by local authorities, prosecutors and even universities in regards to crimes and sexual assaults.

Look no further than Baylor - reports of sexual assault were brought to the administration and they didn't take the necessary steps to vet the claims or go through the proper legal channels. This is a direct contradiction to your "belief." Once again, I'll present you the Tallahassee PD and Jameis Winston case. Read the details of the case and investigation.

There's a very real reason people are taking the fight against sexual assault to the university level and to the young men in the athletic programs. They're not just blowing smoke up their asses.

 
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I've read the details. And as I said, frat guys usually get the same punishments.

You can easily argue that the punishments across the board are too lenient (though I'd prefer we not throw due process out with the bath water).

But I have yet to see any case where someone can say, for example, "student A did the same thing Winston did and received a greater punishment because he wasn't an athlete."

If you have that evidence then you can prove special treatment.

 
Whether or not you want to call Jerry Sandusky an "athlete," the fact was that Penn State football believed itself to be bigger than civilian law, and managed to subvert the process for years, aided by a community that blamed the victims in order to protect the program.

 
cm husker said:
I've read the details. And as I said, frat guys usually get the same punishments.

You can easily argue that the punishments across the board are too lenient (though I'd prefer we not throw due process out with the bath water).

But I have yet to see any case where someone can say, for example, "student A did the same thing Winston did and received a greater punishment because he wasn't an athlete."

If you have that evidence then you can prove special treatment.
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If Joe Frat steals a lobster, hardly anyone on Earth will care.

If Heisman Trophy candidate Jameis Winston steals a lobster, it's news.

That's more a function of the news than the legal system, where the court of public opinion may affect the star athlete more than any criminal charge.

It's still a bit of a stretch to think star athletes don't get special treatment. Any more than believing rich people don't get special treatment.

 
cm husker said:
I've read the details. And as I said, frat guys usually get the same punishments.

You can easily argue that the punishments across the board are too lenient (though I'd prefer we not throw due process out with the bath water).

But I have yet to see any case where someone can say, for example, "student A did the same thing Winston did and received a greater punishment because he wasn't an athlete."

If you have that evidence then you can prove special treatment.
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I think you're getting too hung up on one facet of sexual assaults, cm, and that's the prosecution and any criminal conviction.

I'm talking the whole picture here. Multiple reports of sexual assault were brought to the Baylor athletic department. Those claims were improperly handled (including forcing the accuser to meet with the accused) and not reported to local authorities. That's why I'm also telling you to re-familiarize yourself with the Winston case, because if you did, you'd see the places where law enforcement unquestionably failed.

But, fine, you want hard data. Just read this Outside the Lines report about preferential treatment and college athletes.

But available reports showed that Rainey's alma mater, Florida, had the most athletes named as suspects -- 80 in more than 100 crimes at Florida. Yet the athletes never faced charges, had charges against them dropped or were not prosecuted 56 percent of the time. When Outside the Lines examined a comparison set of cases involving college-age males in Gainesville, 28 percent of the crimes ended either without a record of charges being filed or by charges eventually being dropped.
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