Some viewpoints on players’ behavior are out of line

This weekend, four Pitt football players surrendered to Allegheny County Sheriff’s deputies on… This weekend, four Pitt football players surrendered to Allegheny County Sheriff’s deputies on aggravated assault charges stemming from a fight that broke out at Pi Kappa Alpha on April 16.

Sophomore linebacker Clint Session — along with three red-shirt freshmen Scott McKillop, Lance Asbee and Dan Pickens — remains on the team, and there has been no confirmation as to whether or not the athletes have sought legal council.

Aggravated assault is a very serious charge (a felony carrying a maximum 10-year sentence). Head coach Walt Harris is disappointed that members of the program would have any involvement in this type of situation and has already taken steps to impose internal discipline.

“Now that a formal legal process has been initiated, I will have to reserve final judgment until that process has been completed,” Harris said in a statement. “Discipline has always been a priority for our program, and we do not take these types of incidents lightly.”

Session is expected to start at linebacker, and McKillop is also expected to contribute at the position. But whether or not these players will be able to play this season is not the issue here.

In a fight that allegedly included up to 20 people, details as to which side was the aggressor have yet to be confirmed. What we do know is that three members of the fraternity were sent to the hospital, including one student who had his orbital bone broken and required surgery.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of all is the way people are viewing the charges. I know that everyone is entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, but that nose didn’t break itself. This is something that has been thoroughly investigated for nearly two months, and authorities have decided that there is enough evidence to file charges. So why do people look at this incident as some kind of media conspiracy to try to bring down the football team?

I encourage you to check out what people are saying on local Internet discussion boards. Here’s one example I found particularly disturbing:

“There was a time and place when football players could get away with the occasional run-in with others in and around the campus community and have every little detail swept neatly away without so much as a blurb in the local paper.”

Just when you think this guy is about to say something that makes sense like, “Thankfully, people are now held responsible for their actions,” he goes and shows us just how warped some people’s thoughts can be.

“But it seems that college football players can’t sneeze anymore without having a camera crew catch footage of the snot rag … It can really get hot in a hurry under those microscopes.”

Correction, the kid who got his nose broken is the one who couldn’t sneeze.

Even if you feel that college athletes are put under a microscope, don’t you think that anyone who allegedly commits a crime as serious as aggravated assault deserves to be investigated? And if that investigation reveals enough evidence to warrant charges, shouldn’t those charges be filed?

It’s not like these four players were really under a microscope anyway. I doubt they’ve ever had to deal with paparazzi.

All athletes are given some form of preferential treatment. It starts as early as fourth grade in the peewee leagues. People love sports, but especially love to know the athletes who play them. People are just fascinated with getting to know more about their favorite players.

Athletes are in the public eye. Like it or not, being in the spotlight requires that you conduct yourself in an appropriate manner. The stakes are higher. If a regular person screws up and ends up in some sort of legal trouble, he faces the same legal punishment, but everybody knows about it if it involves a high-profile athlete. You’ll see it on TV, you’ll read it in the papers, and you’ll hear about it on the radio.

By the time athletes get to the college level, they should know that they need to get their acts together. And it’s not like anyone expects them to be saints. Yet, time and time again, we keep hearing about incidents like this.

Ryan Walker is the sports editor of The Pitt News and can be reached at rpw973@pitt.edu.