Berry Tramel: Justin Chaisson a big gamble for SoonersOU football Hotshot recruit could challenge theory that all boys can be straightened out
BY BERRY TRAMEL
Published: May 12, 2009
”There are no bad boys. There is only bad environment, bad training, bad example, bad thinking.” — Father Edward Flanagan
There’s a little Father Flanagan in every coach.
Featured VideoOU recruit finalizes plea agreement
May 6 Justin Chaisson has finalized a plea agreement that led to the dismissal of all felonies he faced in connection with an attack on an ex-girlfriend.
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The belief that with the right direction, the most misguided of boys can be straightened out. The belief that sometimes a shaky environment is to blame for youthful transgressions, like drugs or guns.
Justin Chaisson could challenge the Boys Town theory.
Chaisson is the OU football recruit from Las Vegas who ran afoul of the law, charged with kidnapping and placing a screwdriver to the neck of an ex-girlfriend.
Chaisson eventually pled guilty to four gross misdemeanors, including two counts of false imprisonment.
So for the second straight summer, Bob Stoops has a tough choice to make involving a hotshot recruit. Bring the guy to Norman and know your heart will pound every time the phone rings, or cut him loose now and hope you never have to play against him.
In 2008, Stoops gave the go-ahead on a scholarship for Josh Jarboe, who had been charged with carrying a gun onto school grounds and eventually pled guilty to a reduced misdemeanor.
In July, Stoops rescinded the offer after Jarboe made a video in which he rapped about killing people.
But Jarboe was less a risk than is Chaisson, because of the Boys Town mantra.
There are many reasons to give a scholarship to a ballplayer with a shaky past.
Foremost is victory; never forget that Stoops’ prime directive is autumn glory. Beat Texas, beat OSU, win the Big 12 and start winning bowl games.
For the humanitarian in most of us, redemption is no small part of the process. We’ve all needed a second chance from time to time; I wouldn’t want to live in a world without second chances.
But don’t write off the Boys Town factor. Coaches believe they can transform a troublemaker. Coaches believe that instilling discipline and screaming loving care and expectations for proper behavior can will a wayward soul to change.
And coaches aren’t wrong; they often do detour a player from an errant path. So long as we’re talking about environmental issues. Jarboe not knowing enough to keep a gun away from campus. Adarius Bowman, who couldn’t seem to stay away from the weed when he was anywhere near home in Tennessee.
Put those guys in different circumstances, under better guidance, and maybe they have a fighting chance to straighten up.
But Chaisson’s problems can’t be fixed with a change in address. Anger management is not a product of environment.
Whatever causes a guy to kidnap an ex-girlfriend, drive to the desert and put a screwdriver to her neck isn’t rectified by Jerry Schmidt’s early-morning runs.
That’s not delinquent behavior. That’s sociopath behavior, and that moves out of even Father Flanagan’s domain, much less a football coach’s. Take Chaisson to sack quarterbacks, fine. But don’t take him thinking you’re going to fix him.
Stoops had a chance to make a difference in Jarboe’s life, had Jarboe managed to keep his nose clean for 15 minutes. But someone with a little more expertise will be needed to remove the anger from Justin Chaisson.
