Purdue Football Player Sounding Really Stupid

[DanGenck]

Whether you like it or not Dan, major college athletes have a higher degree of responsibility then normal college students. They know from Day One when they step on campus that they will be under the "public eye."

Hold on now, do not misunderstand what I am trying to say. Sure, they can be in the public eye, but at the end of the day, fans have no social right or place to say anything about the conduct of any student, athlete or not.

I fully support student athletes being roll models and at the highest levels of visibility for a college or university, but at the end of the day, don't get on some kid about getting a DUI because it's really not your legal or social responsibility to say anything about it. Those mistakes should stay in the dean's office or at the police department until they are resolved, just like with normal students.

[DanGenck]

I would have to agree with Sonny on this one. Not necessarily saying it's fair, but especially with football players from big schools, you're under scrutiny from the moment you put on the uniform. Football teams from major schools get national attention, and for that reason stand as a representative for their schools. I'm pretty sure that people could name quarterbacks and running backs from a good number of schools across the country, yet how many student body presidents can anyone name?

It's one of the decisions a person makes when they choose to play football- the perks can be amazing and to excel almost certainly assures some degree of fame, but the benefits also come with increased responsibility.

Certainly the mistakes of an individual are their own business, however when a college pays for an athlete to compete at their school (either through scholarship or not), they are choosing that individual to represent their school, and when that individual makes decisions displaying either bad character or integrity, it reflects poorly on the individual as well as the school.

Again, I have no doubt that poor actions hurt the integrity of people and institutions, but just do not forget that we as a society have little legal right to demand information about a student simply because they are on scholarship and a visible member of the community.

The only reason I push back so hard on this issue is that I see parallels to other issues that could come up. What if we have a gay athlete who is outed by a media outlet? It's not their business to talk about it, yet because this kid is a major athlete we have a right to pick through his personal business? What if a kid fails three classes? Do we pick through that? What if a kid is cheating on his girlfriend? Do we pick through that?

For college kids at the very least, I'd like to see their personal business left where it belongs with the Dean's Office.

[WaterBoy]

Just being the devils advocate, but following that argument, should students at a university have the right to determine whether a person on one of their athletic teams should be able to represent their university? That is to say, should the student body have any say over which athletes are chosen to represent them?

As a representative for the rest of the school, shouldn't the student body know how their chosen icons behave? I would agree that there is some question about how the information of his OWI was passed onto the public, but once it's out, don't the rest of the students have the right to publish in a student newspaper that one of the schools theoretical leaders is tarnishing the school's reputation?

Using your argument that the issue should stay in the students personal life but also in the dean's office seems to be a double standard. If the issue is truly to be personal, why have the school involved at all (unless of course this happened on campus property, which I have no idea whether it was or wasn't)? If there is to be a sanction for misconduct from the university, why is it inappropriate to have one from the student body itself? I know if I were a student at Purdue, I would not be proud of OWI (I also wouldn't think it was a huge deal, I feel like we're discussing the "idea" and not the specific case), but I would like to be informed of what was going on with my campus' public liasons.

Seems sorta like if I found out an ambassador from the United States was molesting a child- they're not directly accountable to me through voting, but they certainly do represent me to the outside world.

Wow that was long.

[Danny Hogan]

being gay or cheating on your girlfriend does not break any laws. DUI does.

what if he killed someone (murder style, not dui result), would that be his private business as well?

[purduelacrosse2]

Just thought you guys would be interested in the feedback from the students on campus at Purdue even though this situation isn't only from this campus. Here's a link with some of the editorials from other students, mostly non-athletes.

http://www.purdueexponent.org/index.php/issue_id/137

The editorials are at the bottom. Some make good points. Some are funny. Some make good points and are funny. As a club sport athlete at Purdue I would have to agree with others arguments that as an athlete you need to represent your school well. Even though we are not on scholarship, our lacrosse team understands the importance of representing the school well. It is sad that incidents like the ones described in the editorials are ever increasing. Lets just hope that this incident helps to restore the balance on our campus and other campuses nationwide. (Step down from soapbox at this point)

Chris Weed
Purdue Men's Lacrosse