A string of recent criminal run-ins involving the University of Wisconsin football team has raised questions of whether the overall behavior of student athletes has gone downhill.
Anthony Davis, star tailback for the UW football team, has been charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly punching his ex-girlfriend, Tiffany L. Spears, in the face before she stabbed him in the leg with a knife. Spears was reportedly upset over Davis breaking up with her.
Lee Evans, a football team captain, sped through Iowa County with three other team members and was found to be in possession of two marijuana cigars, according to police. The deputy who stopped Evans was quoted as saying that he only searched the car after “smelling a very strong odor.”
It was then discovered last Thursday that Al Johnson, a senior center and a possible first-round draft pick, was picked up for alleged drunk driving in October. If convicted, this will be Johnson’s third drinking-related offense and second drunk-driving conviction.
In recent years, the arrests of Michael Bennett, charged with aggravated assault in 2000, and Brent Moss, charged with drug possession in 1994, have made headlines.
On the eve of the 2000 season opener against Western Michigan, 26 UW football players were suspended in connection with an NCAA investigation of football players receiving discounted shoes in Black Earth, Wis.
“I think the message is clear,” said Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo when asked about the pattern. “Winning is the most important thing.”
Barry Alvarez, UW head coach, was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as saying the problem really had to do with increased media scrutiny.
“When it happens, within 30 seconds everybody in the country knows about it,” Alvarez explained. “In the ’80s, if an incident happens at college, maybe it hits the wire service, and maybe it hits the local paper. But it isn’t on the Internet. It isn’t on TV. It isn’t covered as it is today.”
UW is not alone in its legal problems. University of Minnesota player Brandon Hall was shot and killed before the season opener.
Players Jeff Smoker and Dawan Moss at Michigan State have been charged with felonies. Iowa, which may be on the path to the Rose Bowl this season, has had 12 players cited for various offenses since the beginning of the 2001 season.
“I don’t think there’s a higher percentage here,” said Det. Bruce Carroll of the UW Police Department. Carroll conducts a seminar with UW athletes in which players are advised on safe and legal behavior at the beginning of the season.
“We show them how to avoid police contacts. We advise them of their rights,” Carroll said. “We let them know that honesty is what we’re looking for. Don’t lie. That losing their temper won’t help.”
When asked if the 2002-03 team is more badly behaved than usual, Carroll said he did not know.
“We don’t keep figures like that,” he said. “To us, they’re the same as any other average citizen. They don’t get any special favors. We don’t hold them to a higher standard then anyone else.”
“It seems like a lot,” Carroll continued, “because there’s been a rash of them all at once. It’s been played up all at once.”
