Dukes' Character Concerns
Three starters arrested, given second chance
By Brian Hansen, sports editor
Posted on April 6, 2006

We live in an era of sports where grades and classes are as likely to be describing the charges filed against athletes as they are to be describing their academics. It’s a time where if I named five NBA players, you wouldn’t be sure if I was talking about the starting lineup of the pro team in the area or the local police lineup.

Players are getting in legal trouble more and more frequently these days. Just recently, the University of Virginia kicked three potential defensive starters off the team for failing a drug test. This includes linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who just two seasons ago was considered one of the top players in the country.

Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick thought stomping on an opposing players arm was the best way to end his college career in Blacksburg.

Three of JMU’s own football players were arrested back in March after getting in a fight with a teammate. Junior linebacker Akeem Jordan, junior offensive tackle Corey Davis and sophomore wide receiver L.C. Baker (all starters for the Dukes) were charged with assault and battery after getting into a fight with freshman linebacker Reggie Wesby.

How then does JMU football handle student athletes with off-field issues?

There are the overall athletic department guidelines, which mandate certain punishments such as counseling the first time an athlete fails a drug test.  After that, JMU football coach Mickey Matthews has no set punishments.

“You have to look at each situation separately,” Matthews said. “I’ve never come across two scenarios that were exactly alike, so you can’t just decide that there is always this punishment for this action.”hews said you need to Matthews said you need to remember these are college students and that mistakes happen.

“Guys know what’s fair and they respond to fairness,” Matthews said. “Guys are more likely to learn their lesson if they think they’ve been treated fairly.”

While some people are likely to take advantage of those second chances, as Marcus Vick has, many guys appreciate a coach who will give them such a chance.

This is the case with Baker, Jordan and Davis. All three players have been out at spring practice working to prepare for next season, surely appreciating a coach who treated them fairly and gave them a second chance.

 “They used poor judgment,” Matthew said. “Twenty-year-old men get in fights. It’s been handled, and it’s over.”

While Matthews is likely to give his own players a chance to redeem themselves, he isn’t likely to take on transfers from other schools that have character issues.

“We may look into them and get their side of the story, but we don’t really want to bring guys in who are going to cause disruption,” Matthews said.

The counter-argument against giving athletes a break  is they are representatives of JMU and must carry themselves in such a manner. They need to know that people know who they are and will be watching–waiting for them to make a mistake. Every mistake they make will have a bigger impact due to their celebrity status in the area.

For example, look at the situation with the assault charges against the JMU players.

“That was mishandled downtown,” Matthews said. “Normally, we’d handle that stuff in-house, but a complaint was filed and warrants were issued.”

Normally a fight in a college town wouldn’t be a major story and the police may or may not be involved. But when it involves football players, it’s going to be made into a bigger deal.

Every program is going to have character issues. The key is to handle them fairly, and to learn from them.