'18 TN ATH Joseph Norwood

[drvenner]

That’s not entirely true, he was charged. He was one of the three names in the news, that isn’t ‘rumor’, that is fact. Whether he pleaded out, found innocent, or the terms are what is under wraps due to being a minor. He didn’t play his jr year, suspension, was he in juvenile? That part is speculation or hearsay. The crime did happen, not a rumor, how much did this guy partake? I don’t know and frankly don’t want to know bc what happened to the child is sick. Only he knows what he did or didn’t do but HIS name is on the court documents. Doesn’t make him innocent or guilty and he could have been found innocent but he did go to court.

I agree with you in that if he was involved at all, he should not be on the team and what happened to the victim was absolutely reprehensible. I am curious how his name got known. I thought that since they were never tried as adults, how their names got known for the news to report.

 

[MocVol]

That’s not entirely true, he was charged. He was one of the three names in the news, that isn’t ‘rumor’, that is fact. Whether he pleaded out, found innocent, or the terms are what is under wraps due to being a minor. He didn’t play his jr year, suspension, was he in juvenile? That part is speculation or hearsay. The crime did happen, not a rumor, how much did this guy partake? I don’t know and frankly don’t want to know bc what happened to the child is sick. Only he knows what he did or didn’t do but HIS name is on the court documents. Doesn’t make him innocent or guilty and he could have been found innocent but he did go to court.

If you're saying that his name was one of the names that was broadcast or printed by news organizations, then that is incorrect. No names were made public because they were minors.

I'm not saying that he wasn't one of the three. I don't know, but certainly a lot seems to be adding up now. Him transferring to Brainerd, him not getting offers, his reaction to the offer from CJP, etc. I really hate this. I was so excited about him signing yesterday after I watched his recruiting tape. Now I'm feeling a little uneasy about it. This blindsides me, like it may have done to our coaching staff, and a lot of other people.

Should he be given a second chance? I assume he wasn't the one (of the three students charged) that was charged with the most heinous part of this crime, but he MAY have been involved. I live in Chattanooga, so I've heard about this from the start. It was terrible. Luckily, I'm not the one that holds the future of this young man in his hands.

I do believe though that there is somewhat a difference in this and the Schiano crap. Schiano was an adult, Norwood was still a juvenile, and yes, kids make mistakes, even though this one was pretty horrendous, IF he was involved.

 

[MyBloodRunnethOrange]

Big stretch comparing paying a public figure $4 million and entrusting him with the fate of your football program to honoring the football scholarship of a kid who may or may not have participated in a crime when he was a freshman in high school. Different leaps of faith.

Honestly the biggest difference I see is that in the former situation we all felt that we can do much better than that. In the latter the kid is the best player we brought in at a position of need after we struck out on all of our top targets. It'd be interesting to see what the narrative would be today on this topic if we had landed ITS or Griffin.

 

[LouderVol]

UT needs to figure this ish out for certain though before they do let him on the team. No idea what it takes to have a record unsealed, but it seems there should be a way to ask if Norwood was involved in the case without opening the whole record up. Simple yes or no.

 

[JacketVol]

I'll just leave this right here...

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

No one is saying the kid should be sent to hell. The question is should he play football not if he going to go to hell or not for what he may or may not have done.

 

[wrangler]

UT needs to figure this ish out for certain though before they do let him on the team. No idea what it takes to have a record unsealed, but it seems there should be a way to ask if Norwood was involved in the case without opening the whole record up. Simple yes or no.

So maybe the coaches have already asked him about it.

 

[SLICKYINC]

UT needs to figure this ish out for certain though before they do let him on the team. No idea what it takes to have a record unsealed, but it seems there should be a way to ask if Norwood was involved in the case without opening the whole record up. Simple yes or no.

So yea, you have no idea if the coaches did everything in their power to get every bit of info they could. You just want it all out in public for self driven purposes.

 

[butchna]

He went to court to hang out? The burden of proof is on the court system, did they prove HE was one of the three as the victim alleges? I do not know. Up to the court to decide. But, if he was, do you want him on this team?


As far as Schiano, they didn’t even interview him but did hundreds of others. Absolute zero proof he knew anything. Did he? Same deal as Norwood. I wasn’t there so I do not know. Up to courts to charge and convict but he wasn’t charged with knowing or doing anything. I don’t chose to use my moral compass on one and not the other.

You’ve posted a blog page and redacted court documents. WHERE does it say that NORWOOD attended the proceedings? I never judged Schiano yay or nay on what he did or didn’t know or see. My point is why HIRE questions that WILL be asked by rival recruiters and ESPN? Yes the same ESPN that got on their high horse about us not wanting Schiano.

 

[butchna]

UT needs to figure this ish out for certain though before they do let him on the team. No idea what it takes to have a record unsealed, but it seems there should be a way to ask if Norwood was involved in the case without opening the whole record up. Simple yes or no.

Sealed documents are done so for a reason. “Cuz football” isn’t going to be a valid legal cause to undo it.

 

[LA Vol]

IDK the facts of the case and none of us need to know. But UT can ask about convictions and adjudications, and Norwood and his parents can choose to disclose or not disclose juvenile court records. Even if the juvenile record was expunged, UT can inquire. If the juvenile record is sealed, he wasn't tried as an adult so he can say "no" when asked if he was convicted of a crime. A delinquent act is a red flag to most schools and employers, but it doesn't need to be a public matter. UT can and should deal with it internally without releasing anything at all.

 

[Sleegro]

IDK the facts of the case and none of us need to know. But UT can ask about convictions and adjudications, and Norwood and his parents can choose to disclose or not disclose juvenile court records. Even if the juvenile record was expunged, UT can inquire. If the juvenile record is sealed, he wasn't tried as an adult so he can say "no" when asked if he was convicted of a crime. A delinquent act is a red flag to most schools and employers, but it doesn't need to be a public matter. UT can and should deal with it internally without releasing anything at all.

This is exactly right. And I believe they will do their due diligence, and if they feel like he doesn't deserve this opportunity then he won't be in the class.

 

[Strateegery]

No one is saying the kid should be sent to hell. The question is should he play football not if he going to go to hell or not for what he may or may not have done.

I think you're missing the point. This isn't to say one way or another where he'll end up...it's to say that true judgment isn't up to us ungodly beings; anyone who's ready to take away this kid's chance without knowing for sure what he did/didn't do is jumping the gun.

From the outside looking in, at least what we've seen of him since he got the offer from CJP would point toward him being a decent human being with a heart that probably deeply regrets whatever involvement he had in that situation a couple years ago...not evil or wicked.

 

[LouderVol]

So yea, you have no idea if the coaches did everything in their power to get every bit of info they could. You just want it all out in public for self driven purposes.

nothing needs to go public. like I said get someone who can look at it (the judge who sealed it) and ask them 1 question. just asking if he was involved. If the judge says no (most likely) we don't learn anything about the case and we can put this ish to bed. and when it comes up down the road we can defend our player. Don't need the names of those actually involved.

not sure why you guys are so defensive about it. nothing gets publicized, but people actually know. remember all the grief about the Baylor transfer who was raped a woman and had a history at the previous school, and no one could get a real answer? seems like a pretty important thing to know.

 

[butchna]

nothing needs to go public. like I said get someone who can look at it (the judge who sealed it) and ask them 1 question. just asking if he was involved. If the judge says no (most likely) we don't learn anything about the case and we can put this ish to bed. and when it comes up down the road we can defend our player. Don't need the names of those actually involved.

not sure why you guys are so defensive about it. nothing gets publicized, but people actually know. remember all the grief about the Baylor transfer who was raped a woman and had a history at the previous school, and no one could get a real answer? seems like a pretty important thing to know.

Judges won’t play that game. They like their jobs.

 

[SportsVol]

nothing needs to go public. like I said get someone who can look at it (the judge who sealed it) and ask them 1 question. just asking if he was involved. If the judge says no (most likely) we don't learn anything about the case and we can put this ish to bed. and when it comes up down the road we can defend our player. Don't need the names of those actually involved.

not sure why you guys are so defensive about it. nothing gets publicized, but people actually know. remember all the grief about the Baylor transfer who was raped a woman and had a history at the previous school, and no one could get a real answer? seems like a pretty important thing to know.

What Butchna said. 👍

 

[SLICKYINC]

nothing needs to go public. like I said get someone who can look at it (the judge who sealed it) and ask them 1 question. just asking if he was involved. If the judge says no (most likely) we don't learn anything about the case and we can put this ish to bed. and when it comes up down the road we can defend our player. Don't need the names of those actually involved.

not sure why you guys are so defensive about it. nothing gets publicized, but people actually know. remember all the grief about the Baylor transfer who was raped a woman and had a history at the previous school, and no one could get a real answer? seems like a pretty important thing to know.

The word "involved" isn't as simple as what you're looking for when it comes to law and the court system. Your interpretation of the word might differ from someone else's. Again, and has been stated several times.

You just can't sashay up into the court house and ask about a juvenile case or record and get answers when it pertains to NAMES of minors. Do you think you can just say hey Judge was this kid [insert name] involved in this case? Wink once for yes, twice for no. Those NAMES are redacted and sealed because they are minors. The judge didn't just "seal" it because they wanted to. It's a law to seal minors records with the exception of certain major crimes in the state of Tennessee. If this guy wasn't charged or convicted of those crimes then you just won't get the answers you're looking for.

I don't think anyone is being defensive. It has more to with people using a freaking "blog" thread as their facts to come down on this kid. I personally read a lot of those threads created by the person who posted it and I think she is on the same playing field as D4H.

 

[85SugarVol]

nothing needs to go public. like I said get someone who can look at it (the judge who sealed it) and ask them 1 question. just asking if he was involved. If the judge says no (most likely) we don't learn anything about the case and we can put this ish to bed. and when it comes up down the road we can defend our player. Don't need the names of those actually involved.

not sure why you guys are so defensive about it. nothing gets publicized, but people actually know. remember all the grief about the Baylor transfer who was raped a woman and had a history at the previous school, and no one could get a real answer? seems like a pretty important thing to know.

That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.

 

[MyBloodRunnethOrange]

Judges won’t play that game. They like their jobs.

Exactly

 

[BondJamesBond]

UT needs to figure this ish out for certain though before they do let him on the team.

Maybe they have.

 

[Grudenator]

How did this dude not have for offers!? His highlights are unreal!

 

[BruinVol]

How did this dude not have for offers!? His highlights are unreal!

I think this thread tells us why

 

[VEKZY]

A message board user accuses a kid of doing something, must be true!

Do you people use your brain before you burst into outrage? Do you not think the coaches and AD check into the backgrounds of players? For Pete's sake, they evaluate the attitude and grades of the players...

 

[BruinVol]

A message board user accuses a kid of doing something, must be true!

Do you people use your brain before you burst into outrage? Do you not think the coaches and AD check into the backgrounds of players? For Pete's sake, they evaluate the attitude and grades of the players...

I think it's more likely they evaluated him on and off he field and realized he deserves a second chance more than he wasn't involved in the incident at all.

 

[MyBloodRunnethOrange]

UT needs to figure this ish out for certain though before they do let him on the team. No idea what it takes to have a record unsealed, but it seems there should be a way to ask if Norwood was involved in the case without opening the whole record up. Simple yes or no.

I'd imagine CJP has looked in to it already and he's comfortable with letting him on the team.

 

[drvenner]

IDK the facts of the case and none of us need to know. But UT can ask about convictions and adjudications, and Norwood and his parents can choose to disclose or not disclose juvenile court records. Even if the juvenile record was expunged, UT can inquire. If the juvenile record is sealed, he wasn't tried as an adult so he can say "no" when asked if he was convicted of a crime. A delinquent act is a red flag to most schools and employers, but it doesn't need to be a public matter. UT can and should deal with it internally without releasing anything at all.

Thank you for clarification.