Sinners vs. Saints

[Townhallsavoy]

Marcel Dareus, Courtney Upshaw, Mark Ingram, Julio Jones, Jerrell Harris, and Rod Woodson say "Hai guys!" 

Sinners vs. Saints: Unlike Gators, Tide players largely have avoided off-the-field trouble
Published: Friday, October 01, 2010, 6:01 AM
 Don Kausler Jr., Tuscaloosa Bureau
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TUSCALOOSA -- On the football field, the difference between No. 7 Florida and No. 1 Alabama is small. Both teams run fast, hit hard and rarely lose.

Off the field, there is a growing divide.

Arrests of Florida football players have been common in recent years, while Alabama player arrests have been nonexistent for the past 13 months.

Florida receiver Chris Rainey was arrested two weeks ago and hit with a third-degree felony charge of aggravated stalking. "Time to die ..." began a text message that he allegedly sent a woman he had been dating on and off for the past three years.

Rainey was suspended from the team. The charge was reduced Monday to a misdemeanor. Florida coach Urban Meyer said Wednesday there is no change in Rainey's suspended status this week but seemed to leave the door open for reinstatement later.

This was the 31st off-the-field arrest involving 25 players since the summer of 2005, Meyer's first year at Florida.

Last December, four days before Florida lost to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, star defensive end Carlos Dunlap was arrested and charged with DUI. He was suspended for the game. The distraction was cited as one reason why the Gators lost. He was reinstated for the Sugar Bowl.

Meyer was asked Wednesday if he has lost sleep worrying about the arrests.

"I have in the past," he said. "I haven't now, recently. If someone makes a really stupid decision, there's a terrible consequence for it, and that's all we can do. I used to lose a lot of sleep over it. I don't lose any more sleep."

It isn't as if he hasn't tried to take proactive steps to solve the problem.

"We've taken a bunch," he said. "Obviously, punishment. Another thing is where you have people speak to our kids nonstop. I speak to them nonstop. We do the best we can as far as what to avoid and how to avoid typical issues in society right now. We've done a multitude of things."

Nine of Florida's arrests have involved possession of marijuana, possession of alcohol by a person under 21 or driving with a suspended license.

Alabama coach Nick Saban also has been proactive in trying to keep off-the-field problems to a minimum.

"Coach Saban has done a really good job of changing the program around," said right guard Barrett Jones, a redshirt sophomore. "I wasn't here when we had some problems ... but I feel like we just have everybody on the same page as far as wanting guys to do the same thing and just kind of understanding that we're not above the law."

WHO'S RESPONSIBLE?

Coaches deserve blame when there are problems and credit when there aren't many/any, says Jeff Benedict, a Southern Virginia University English professor who is tracking arrests of pro and college athletes.

"As a general rule, coaches are the first line of defense in terms of signing players to scholarships," Benedict said. "Essentially they're the screening device for a college. They're the ones who go into the homes and meet with the players and determine who is worthy to hold a scholarship and wear the uniform of the institution. That's a pretty big deal."

Coaches have almost a parental role in their oversight of players, Benedict said.

"That's why it's somewhat natural to look toward the coach when players have these off-the-field problems and they get asked, 'What are you going to do?'" Benedict said.

"Certainly within the confines of a season, if you see a player get in trouble with the law and there are little or no consequences from the school, I think that potentially sends the wrong message to the players.

"If you see a school come down hard or exhibit a no-tolerance policy, it definitely sends a clear message to players that, you know, there's a high standard here, and if we want to play here, we need to live up to it."

PAST PROBLEMS

Saban had to deal with seven incidents involving nine players early in his Alabama tenure. Only one of those incidents has occurred in the past 27 months.

Senior linebacker Jimmy Johns was arrested and charged with selling cocaine and ecstasy in June 2008. He was dismissed from the team later that same day.

In August 2009, current linebacker Courtney Upshaw and a female student were arrested by a university police officer and hit with misdemeanor domestic violence/harassment charges. The charge on Upshaw was dropped after he completed an anger management class. He was not suspended by Saban but served what the coach termed "behavior probation." That punishment included community service and ride-arounds with police officers.

SABAN'S PROCESS

How does a coach try to keep players out of trouble off the field?

"I think everybody has a responsibility to represent themselves, their family and the institution in a first-class way, and that's what we try to sell to our players," Saban said.

"We try to do some educational programs, whether its peer-group intervention or success-oriented type education that helps players know what's going to help them be successful. I'm sure that every program tries to do that to some degree. I'm sure they've tried to do that at the University of Florida, and I know the people that they have there, the coaches that they have there and what they want and the expectation that they have for the standard for behavior that we're all trying to achieve in college football.

"We'll continue to do the things that we've always done to try to help our players make good choices and decisions so that they have the best opportunity to try to take advantage of their gifts."

In the past year, off-duty police officers in uniform have been a common sight at Alabama practices. They are invited as spectators. What's the purpose?

"What we try to do with our players is have meetings with the law enforcement officials in this community," Saban said. "We want our players to understand that police provide a great service in our community and it's something that they should respect, understand and know about and develop relationships with. The police are there to help you."

PLAYERS' PERSPECTIVE

So do Alabama players drink milk and hang out at the library?

"We have fun off the field," said Jones, who says he doesn't go out much himself. "We're allowed to go out and have a good time. Just make sure you're responsible and don't do anything stupid that would hurt the team."

"Coach Saban has just really emphasized being a good Samaritan on and off the field," senior quarterback Greg McElroy said. "We understand the importance of what you do off the field is every bit as important as what you do on the field. We understand that if you don't go out there and handle yourself both in the classroom and outside the locker room and outside the playing field, then you don't really deserve to have the opportunity to go out there and compete on Saturdays."

POLICE PROACTIVITY

Have there been incidents that the news media and the public just don't know about or is there really as much peace and quiet as it appears?

"It's peace and quiet, just as it appears," said Steven Anderson, who has served on the City of Tuscaloosa police force for 16 years. He has been the police chief for the past two years.

"It has not always been this way," Anderson said. "There have been a number of incidents during my 16 years here involving football players, but in the past couple years -- I became the chief of police on Oct. 1 of 2008 -- we just have not had any incidents where the football players have been getting in trouble."

He's grateful and said the reason is no secret.

"A lot of that goes to the relationship that coach Saban has worked on with the law enforcement here in Tuscaloosa, not just the Tuscaloosa police department but the sheriff's department and the University of Alabama police department," Anderson said.

"He's a disciplinarian. His players know that if they get in trouble with us, they'll not only have to deal with the law enforcement side of it, but they'll also have to deal with the coach."

Each year, during preseason camp, Saban brokers a meeting between players and law enforcement officials.

"We tell them if you're out and someone approaches you and they're trying to start something, the easiest thing to do is just walk away from it," Anderson said. "You don't have anything to prove and you have so much more to lose than that individual."

If an issue ever arises, Anderson says the football staff has a liaison the police department can contact, and the police department has a liaison the football staff can approach.

What about the police presence at practices?

"Coach Saban extended that invitation," Anderson said. "Officers off duty can put their uniform on and go out there and watch and be a part of the atmosphere. Those guys are seen by the players, and the players get to build a relationship with them and they get to build a relationship with the players."

Players in the past, but not the present, had a sense of entitlement that many athletes get, Anderson said.

"They thought they could do things and get away with it," he said. "I think coach Saban has set the bar high and let them know there is no entitlement just because you're a football player."

PEACE ON THE STRIP

When there have been incidents in the past, many have happened on The Strip, the entertainment district on the western edge of Alabama's campus. Managers of two establishments there marvel at the good behavior of Alabama's football players.

"We get a good number of players in here," said Craig Williams, general manager of Buffalo Phil's. "Ever since Saban's been here -- I've been here seven years -- just the way they present themselves, I've seen a huge change. The players are respectful. They treat the servers well. They're not out of line. In the past, sometimes you'd have people who were cocky or would do things just because they knew they were a big name and could get away with anything."

Williams looks down on programs such as Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, where off-the-field problems have been widespread.

"When you leave players on your team who have been involved in assaults or domestic violence issues or the issues at these other schools and you let them remain on your team, you're showing the other players that it's acceptable," he said. "It's not."

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/10/sinners_vs_saints_unlike_gator.html

[Townhallsavoy]

And maybe Alabama players haven't been arrested as much as the Gators lately, but let's not act like this is a game of sinners vs. saints.  Four players involved in taking illegal benefits - no matter the story or excuse - is by no means a representation of sainthood. 

I mean, to be a homer, Eric Smith is our only off the field issue in two years.  Will ole Don be writing up a story about how Auburn's team has had less off the field trouble than Alabama come Iron Bowl time?  Doubtful.

[Pell City Tiger]

That meeting Nicky had with the tuscaloosa mayor & police chief has really paid dividends.

[Token]

That meeting Nicky had with the tuscaloosa mayor & police chief has really paid dividends.

Forbes didn't call him the most powerful man for no reason. 

[The Prowler]

That meeting Nicky had with the tuscaloosa mayor & police chief has really paid dividends.

That and having the players develop a "relationship/become friends" with the police officers.

[RWS]

That was just a stupid article.

[JR4AU]

That was just a stupid article.

When Kausler came on board, shills like Finebaum touted him as a guy that would "tell it like it is, and not sugar coat things just to get along"....then they carried him over to DCH to have his mouth surgically attached to Saban's cock.