Smyrna football Player arrested

[bigredbird]

The young man may be innocent, we just don't know. But if he has been arrested, he should not be allowed to play. Let me put it another way, if he were arrested of doing something on school grounds he would not be allowed to participate in any sporting events. I think these charges are very serious and until we know something he should not be allowed to play. I would hate to be a principal or coach in Smyrna this week. This is a tough decision to make and like someone said, it has legal and ethical questions. I know my old coach would have put us on the bench for cursing.

 

I think times have changed I know coaches must weigh in on lots of issues. I'm sure they have a better understanding of what is going on than we do and thats the way it should be. I just don't think this young man should be allowed to play if he is under arrest for a crime.

[innocent bystander]

What did this kid do to merit the police getting involved in the first place? Maybe thats all we need to look at. I think we will find out what is more important over at Smyrna this week. Setting examples or winning at all costs. I hope they make the right decision.

 

Pac-Man Jones has never been convicted of a crime BTW. I'm not comparing the 2 by no means just throwing that out there.

 

 

You kind of make my points for me.

My first thought is why wasn't a parent arrested?

My second thought has to do with the whole innocent until proven guilty thing. You brought up Pac-Man. It is true he was never convicted of anything. However, it appears that all people had to do was ask a few questions, and it was clear what happened (most of the time). The other thing was there were like 2,000 instances.

 

Back to this situation...I take from the fact that it hasn't been put out there that he won't play, that there might not be as much to this situation as it seems. It would seem like if the coach asked a few questions and the police or the investigator told him that this kid was knee deep in it, that the coach would have a relatively easy decision. The fact that there has been no decision, tells me that there could be more (or less) to this story than has been reported regarding this young man.

 

All I have read implies that the kid is guilty and the coach is more interested in winning. If that is the case, that is one thing, but I have a hard time believing that.

[newbie16]

What did this kid do to merit the police getting involved in the first place? Maybe thats all we need to look at. I think we will find out what is more important over at Smyrna this week. Setting examples or winning at all costs. I hope they make the right decision.

 

Pac-Man Jones has never been convicted of a crime BTW. I'm not comparing the 2 by no means just throwing that out there.

 

 

You people only read the media version which is used to sell papers and could care less about destroying this kids life. There is a true version of this story that you do not know about. We will let it go through the courts and in a few months you will know what really happened. Do not be so quick to convict! You would not want this to happen to you.

[riverdaleman]

You people only read the media version which is used to sell papers and could care less about destroying this kids life. There is a true version of this story that you do not know about. We will let it go through the courts and in a few months you will know what really happened. Do not be so quick to convict! You would not want this to happen to you.

 

and that is my point he should play unless he is found guilty...we cannot keep punishing kids for being accuse of something

[SCtribe]

The young man may be innocent, we just don't know. But if he has been arrested, he should not be allowed to play. Let me put it another way, if he were arrested of doing something on school grounds he would not be allowed to participate in any sporting events. I think these charges are very serious and until we know something he should not be allowed to play. I would hate to be a principal or coach in Smyrna this week. This is a tough decision to make and like someone said, it has legal and ethical questions. I know my old coach would have put us on the bench for cursing.

 

I think times have changed I know coaches must weigh in on lots of issues. I'm sure they have a better understanding of what is going on than we do and thats the way it should be. I just don't think this young man should be allowed to play if he is under arrest for a crime.

 

 

 

I agree. The 18 year old was arrested and should not be allowed to play. Playing sports and representing your school are a privelage not a right. I for one would not want a person with these thug like accusations representing my team or school. The facts right now say he was arrested thats all that should be considered right now. Cops dont arrest people for nothing. It is not gonna ruin this kids life to sit out a game while the real adults find out the truth. If he were arrested on school grounds do you think they would wait and see what the courts say? No his butt would be suspended and maybe expelled. Schools in Tennessee have a No Tolerance law against weapons on school grounds. Maybe in the long run the real facts may come out until then why give an 18 year old that was arrested days ago the privelage of playing scholastic sports and representing a school? Sit his butt out and save your reputation.

[MidTennFootball]

I agree. The 18 year old was arrested and should not be allowed to play. Playing sports and representing your school are a privelage not a right. I for one would not want a person with these thug like accusations representing my team or school. The facts right now say he was arrested thats all that should be considered right now. Cops dont arrest people for nothing. It is not gonna ruin this kids life to sit out a game while the real adults find out the truth. If he were arrested on school grounds do you think they would wait and see what the courts say? No his butt would be suspended and maybe expelled. Schools in Tennessee have a No Tolerance law against weapons on school grounds. Maybe in the long run the real facts may come out until then why give an 18 year old that was arrested days ago the privelage of playing scholastic sports and representing a school? Sit his butt out and save your reputation.

 

 

Do you really think that they are going to find out all they need to in a week? I doubt it

[Bulldog86]

Let me start by saying that I understand that the young man has not been convicted of anything. But the fact is, the young man was arrested for some very serious things here. It's not like he was accused of peeing behind some car after a party or steeling a candy bar from the corner store. This is serious stuff.

 

I spoke to my former HS head coach last night as we still speak once or twice a week with him being my father. He said a coach has the right to sit a kid for getting into trouble even if it??™s not on school grounds. It has been done for years and for things a lot less serious then what this kid has been charged with. You don??™t need to be convicted of a crime before a coach can sit you.

 

Also as a principal, it is within their duties to suspend a kid if he or she feels the kid could be a danger to the safety of other children, even if the act was done off school ground during non school hours. This is a bit more sensitive and you need to have good reason to do it, like um.........a police report.

 

It is a tough decision and you must get the facts before making it. Let??™s remember, they have only been back in school 1 day since this incident (do to the Veterans Day remembrance). I??™m sure they made a decision yesterday on how to handle this. I think this is much bigger then a football game. They don??™t need to think about how it will affect a game. They need to think how it will affect a community and a school.

 

It is an important judgment call. I hope they made the right decision.

[innocent bystander]

Let me start by saying that I understand that the young man has not been convicted of anything. But the fact is, the young man was arrested for some very serious things here. It's not like he was accused of peeing behind some car after a party or steeling a candy bar from the corner store. This is serious stuff.

 

I spoke to my former HS head coach last night as we still speak once or twice a week with him being my father. He said a coach has the right to sit a kid for getting into trouble even if it??™s not on school grounds. It has been done for years and for things a lot less serious then what this kid has been charged with. You don??™t need to be convicted of a crime before a coach can sit you.

 

Also as a principal, it is within their duties to suspend a kid if he or she feels the kid could be a danger to the safety of other children, even if the act was done off school ground during non school hours. This is a bit more sensitive and you need to have good reason to do it, like um.........a police report.

 

It is a tough decision and you must get the facts before making it. Let??™s remember, they have only been back in school 1 day since this incident (do to the Veterans Day remembrance). I??™m sure they made a decision yesterday on how to handle this. I think this is much bigger then a football game. They don??™t need to think about how it will affect a game. They need to think how it will affect a community and a school.

 

It is an important judgment call. I hope they made the right decision.

 

 

I agree that a coach has the right to suspend a kid for something done outside of school. I also agree that a principal has the right to suspend a student for something done off school grounds. What I am saying is that the fact that nothing has been done leads me to think that this is either not as serious as it was made to sound, or this kid just happened to get rolled up in it unnecessarily. I wonder what happened to the other minors that were arrested. Are they still in the pokey, or are they back at school? If somebody could answer that, then we would probably know which way it will turn out. The fact that the kid is back in school tells me the school doesn't think it, or he, is much of an issue.

 

BTW, schools WERE in session yesterday. Banks etc were closed, but business as usual for schools

[SCtribe]

Do you really think that they are going to find out all they need to in a week? I doubt it

 

 

 

Thats exactly why they need to sit him out until they do find out all they need to know. It could be worse.

[Bulldog86]

I agree that a coach has the right to suspend a kid for something done outside of school. I also agree that a principal has the right to suspend a student for something done off school grounds. What I am saying is that the fact that nothing has been done leads me to think that this is either not as serious as it was made to sound, or this kid just happened to get rolled up in it unnecessarily. I wonder what happened to the other minors that were arrested. Are they still in the pokey, or are they back at school? If somebody could answer that, then we would probably know which way it will turn out. The fact that the kid is back in school tells me the school doesn't think it, or he, is much of an issue.

 

BTW, schools WERE in session yesterday. Banks etc were closed, but business as usual for schools

 

 

 

Sorry, I did not know school was in yesterday. I do not have kids.

 

A decision was, most likely, already made like I said. I hope they made the right one.

[seantn_4]

no coach i no wood pla dude. at my school he wood be gone. u rite no school rul was broke. but thalaw sho was. bad message for kids pimpin.. dey need to do the rite thang and cut dude. my boy say he playin 100% 4 sho..... that sad dude

 

dude wat ya trin ta b gangsta, cuz it aint coo....quit talking like that its annoying as heck

[therealgame]

I agree. The 18 year old was arrested and should not be allowed to play. Playing sports and representing your school are a privelage not a right. I for one would not want a person with these thug like accusations representing my team or school. The facts right now say he was arrested thats all that should be considered right now. Cops dont arrest people for nothing. It is not gonna ruin this kids life to sit out a game while the real adults find out the truth. If he were arrested on school grounds do you think they would wait and see what the courts say? No his butt would be suspended and maybe expelled. Schools in Tennessee have a No Tolerance law against weapons on school grounds. Maybe in the long run the real facts may come out until then why give an 18 year old that was arrested days ago the privelage of playing scholastic sports and representing a school? Sit his butt out and save your reputation.

 

 

I dont have a horse in this race but I have to say that you are a little naive if you believe that people who are arrested are automatically guilty. When you say that "Cops dont arrest people for nothing" I would have to disagree. Those who are arrested who are innocent are "arrested for nothing" by defintion. What if you sit this kid down and he is found not guilty or the charges are later dropped? Im not saying that this an easy situation to deal with but dont assume the young man to be guilty because "Cops dont arrest people for nothing".