Muschamp makes the difficult, but proper decision: Morrison will play vs. Miami

[Chas in Boca]

It's not easy being a NCAA football coach at a high profile institution like UF because you are faced with dilemmas such as this. Our star linebacker Antonio Morrison had a few brushes with the law, was suspended for the first two games, only to have the latest charge (barking at the police dog) ultimately dropped. Yet, with everything that has transpired between Hernandez, Cooper, and all the bad press about lack of discipline under the Meyer regime, it would be easy to uphold the 2 game suspicion as a sign of zero tolerance and to appease the critics.

But it also wouldn't be fair to Morrison, who was unjustly arrested in that second incident.

Muschamp knew he could make the easy choice and hold him out to win some brownie points with the media and our rivals, but instead he made the more difficult decision to reduce the suspension and let him play against Miami. Will he catch some flak for it? Yes. But oftentimes the right decision is the most difficult one to make.

A message also had to be sent to the rogue Gainesville Police Department. They can't expect to harass our players and try to make a name for themselves by getting big names suspended. The fact that the charges were dropped and the suspension was reduced should let them know we aren't putting up that nonsense anymore. They need to embrace Gator football players as an integral part of the community instead of targeting and entrapping them.

I applaud Muschamp for his ability to step back, objectively re-examine the facts, and amend his judgment. A 1 game suspension is sufficient for Morrison to learn his lesson, and then he can be ready to go against The U. Hopefully the media and rival fans will appreciate the complexity of this decision.

 

[BigPapaVol]

The Onion?

 

[Chas in Boca]

Papa- No satire here. Just wanted to point out that this isn't a simple case of a coach allowing a star player to come back before a big game. I'm not naive enough to say that doesn't happen at times throughout the country, but there was a lot more going on here with this Morrison case. Muschamp stood to gain a lot more by holding him out, but he demonstrated his commitment to justice. Just want rival fans to be aware that there was more to this decision than meets the eye. It has nothing to do with Miami and everything to do with being fair to our players, who are often victims of an overzealous Gainesville PD.

 

[YankeeVol]

Who cares?

 

[BearCat204]

Papa- No satire here. Just wanted to point out that this isn't a simple case of a coach allowing a star player to come back before a big game. I'm not naive enough to say that doesn't happen at times throughout the country, but there was a lot more going on here with this Morrison case. Muschamp stood to gain a lot more by holding him out, but he demonstrated his commitment to justice. Just want rival fans to be aware that there was more to this decision than meets the eye. It has nothing to do with Miami and everything to do with being fair to our players, who are often victims of an overzealous Gainesville PD.

Give me a ****ing break that he had more to gain by holding him out. That's absolutely ridiculous and so is your babbling on about how Will Muschamp is such a fine human being who is some sort of solider for justice.

 

[tri_vol]

This thread is the lulz. I'm sure Muschamp is making this decision because it's the moral high ground.

 

[BigPapaVol]

Very ballsy of Muschamp.

By the by, is he is big of an idiot as his UGA commentating brethren?

Oh, and did I mention the obvious courage?

 

[Notorious B.E.N]

Who cares?

The Florida fans on the Tennessee forum

 

[Rocky-Top 10EC]

Gainesville PD does not hate us

 

[eVOLution]

players, who are often victims of an overzealous Gainesville PD.

Overzealous PD?? Then what the hell were the keystone cops in Gainsville doing when Hernandez was going around shooting people? They still refuse to look at him as a suspect even though their own leaked report indicates that one of the victims described Hernandez and said he was sure the shooter was a Gator football player. Doesn't sound like an overzealous PD to me....

 

[Outofmyvolcanmind]

The player with Hernandez was Reggie Nelson.

I suppose beating in the face of a bouncer that wouldn't buy into the "do you know who I am" rant only deserves a timeout vs Toledo.

 

[Chas in Boca]

I just think that sometimes Tennessee fans look at our legal issues and don't fully appreciate the challenges of dealing with a smaller community police department.

UT is located in Knoxville, which is a decent size city. It has an urban feel and is not a little town like Gainesville or Tuscaloosa. I remember seeing an interview with Chamique Holdsclaw on ESPN about her recruitment to UT from NYC, and she said there were parts of Knoxville that reminded her of Queens. The point is that your city's police department is more professional and has bigger fish to fry than chasing around the local star athletes. Programs like us and Bama have to deal with backwood cops looking to score a headline by bagging the star player. It's just a different dynamic when you're talking about a small college town.

Part of being the coach of these high profile programs located in small college towns is protecting your players and sending a message to the community that they won't tolerate the harassment from these cops with nothing better to do on a Friday night. That's why Muschamp had to make this decision and protect Morrison from overly punished.

The Gator Nation supports player discipline when they make bad decisions, but we want it to be fair. I think Muschamp got it right in this one.

 

[BigPapaVol]

Wow. Hole getting deeper. You know absolutely nothing of Knoxville or KPD.

Nonetheless, congrats on the super duper brave coach. Consider nomination for Medal of Freedom.

 

[Outofmyvolcanmind]

My goodness man. Those poor gator players.

I'm done for fear of being trolled any further.

 

[JOEY'S ALL VOL !!!]

It's not easy being a NCAA football coach at a high profile institution like UF because you are faced with dilemmas such as this. Our star linebacker Antonio Morrison had a few brushes with the law, was suspended for the first two games, only to have the latest charge (barking at the police dog) ultimately dropped. Yet, with everything that has transpired between Hernandez, Cooper, and all the bad press about lack of discipline under the Meyer regime, it would be easy to uphold the 2 game suspicion as a sign of zero tolerance and to appease the critics.

But it also wouldn't be fair to Morrison, who was unjustly arrested in that second incident.

Muschamp knew he could make the easy choice and hold him out to win some brownie points with the media and our rivals, but instead he made the more difficult decision to reduce the suspension and let him play against Miami. Will he catch some flak for it? Yes. But oftentimes the right decision is the most difficult one to make.

A message also had to be sent to the rogue Gainesville Police Department. They can't expect to harass our players and try to make a name for themselves by getting big names suspended. The fact that the charges were dropped and the suspension was reduced should let them know we aren't putting up that nonsense anymore. They need to embrace Gator football players as an integral part of the community instead of targeting and entrapping them.

I applaud Muschamp for his ability to step back, objectively re-examine the facts, and amend his judgment. A 1 game suspension is sufficient for Morrison to learn his lesson, and then he can be ready to go against The U. Hopefully the media and rival fans will appreciate the complexity of this decision.

Not that I give a tinkers damn but.....


Uh, so the first one doesn't count.

 

[volfanCLT]

I'm so glad we still have decent human beings like William Larry Muschamp to stand for justice. What a guy

 

[omghulkhands]

It's not easy being a NCAA football coach at a high profile institution like UF because you are faced with dilemmas such as this. Our star linebacker Antonio Morrison had a few brushes with the law, was suspended for the first two games, only to have the latest charge (barking at the police dog) ultimately dropped. Yet, with everything that has transpired between Hernandez, Cooper, and all the bad press about lack of discipline under the Meyer regime, it would be easy to uphold the 2 game suspicion as a sign of zero tolerance and to appease the critics.

But it also wouldn't be fair to Morrison, who was unjustly arrested in that second incident.

Muschamp knew he could make the easy choice and hold him out to win some brownie points with the media and our rivals, but instead he made the more difficult decision to reduce the suspension and let him play against Miami. Will he catch some flak for it? Yes. But oftentimes the right decision is the most difficult one to make.

A message also had to be sent to the rogue Gainesville Police Department. They can't expect to harass our players and try to make a name for themselves by getting big names suspended. The fact that the charges were dropped and the suspension was reduced should let them know we aren't putting up that nonsense anymore. They need to embrace Gator football players as an integral part of the community instead of targeting and entrapping them.

I applaud Muschamp for his ability to step back, objectively re-examine the facts, and amend his judgment. A 1 game suspension is sufficient for Morrison to learn his lesson, and then he can be ready to go against The U. Hopefully the media and rival fans will appreciate the complexity of this decision.

What the heck did I just read?

 

[BigPapaVol]

I'm so glad we still have decent human brings like William Larry Muschamp to stand for justice. What a guy

Plus the intensity. Man is sublime.

 

[volfanCLT]

Plus the intensity. Man is sublime.

Modern day Wyatt Earp

 

[Chas in Boca]

Not that I give a tinkers damn but.....


Uh, so the first one doesn't count.

The first one counts and Antonio deeply regrets the entire incident, but it didn't warrant a 2 game suspension.

He was already suspended from team activities for part of fall camp and had to run stadium steps in The Swamp. He's still going to sit out this Saturday against Toledo and be forced to think about how stupid it was to fight with a bouncer while his teammates are out there making plays.

But to force him to miss out on the Miami trip would be overkill. He's learned his lesson and hopefully we can all move on from this after the Toledo game.

 

[90 Vol]

I'm thinking Nobel Peace Prize for his courageous stance for player justice...seriously.:crazy:

 

[rjd970]

What a dumb effing OP. I would write this off as a troll job, but I really believe there are fans this obtuse, especially of the gator variety.

 

[thehardknoxlife]

What the heck did I just read?

Lol. It's pretty clear he's never been to Knoxville.

Knoxville is a small city. There's nothing that resembles anything in Queens. Maybe a project housing, and the ones in Queens are much much larger so I don't see it. I doubt there is much difference in population between Knoxville and Gainsville. The only part that would feel urban would be in the heart of the old city and that's a small area.

 

[Chas in Boca]

What a dumb effing OP. I would write this off as a troll job, but I really believe there are fans this obtuse, especially of the gator variety.

No trolling here. I just wanted to offer a Gator fan's perspective on the issue because Muschamp announced this in his press conference today and I figured our rivals would be jumping on it as a sign of continued weakness in terms of "Gator discipline" as the news trickled out. The point of the post was to let you guys know there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye, not to troll.

In a nutshell: don't chalk Muschamp's decision up to more of the Urban Meyer lack of discipline. We're a different program now with less tolerance of that stuff, but this was a unique situation.

 

[TNnative]

I just think that sometimes Tennessee fans look at our legal issues and don't fully appreciate the challenges of dealing with a smaller community police department.

UT is located in Knoxville, which is a decent size city. It has an urban feel and is not a little town like Gainesville or Tuscaloosa. I remember seeing an interview with Chamique Holdsclaw on ESPN about her recruitment to UT from NYC, and she said there were parts of Knoxville that reminded her of Queens. The point is that your city's police department is more professional and has bigger fish to fry than chasing around the local star athletes. Programs like us and Bama have to deal with backwood cops looking to score a headline by bagging the star player. It's just a different dynamic when you're talking about a small college town.

Part of being the coach of these high profile programs located in small college towns is protecting your players and sending a message to the community that they won't tolerate the harassment from these cops with nothing better to do on a Friday night. That's why Muschamp had to make this decision and protect Morrison from overly punished.

The Gator Nation supports player discipline when they make bad decisions, but we want it to be fair. I think Muschamp got it right in this one.

As a Vols fan who usually doesn't give a rat's azz about the goings on in Gainesville, even I was going, "What the heck is lodged in that cop's rectum?' Arresting Morrison for barking at his dog was just plain stupid. Personally, I think Muschamp's reduction of the suspension was A) To give a falsely accused player a break for what he has been through and B) An indirect slap in that cop's face. I have a feeling Morrison's reduction in punishment is going to irritate him. He has the classic symptoms of what I call, "The Barney Fife syndrome."

Here is hoping the Gator's players can manage to stay out of trouble for awhile. Thanks to Hernandez, you all are under the microscope right now, and that makes your all's ability to hold up your end of the SEC emblem a little heavier. So I will be man enough to extend to Gator nation a little sympathy, because the Vols have had their brushes with the law, and it ain't no fun.