For one reason or another, athletes have the reputation of being difficult first-year residents for RAs here at U.Va. I have had two swimmers and two baseball players on my hall in my two years with Resident Staff and they have been nothing less than ideal citizens, but I have heard plenty of stories about other athletes frustrating their RAs in first-year dorms.
It really doesn't matter what sport -- the stereotype persists for almost every athletic team. Except for football, that is.
Apparently, Al Groh runs such a tight ship that first-year football players are afraid of feeling even an ounce of Groh's wrath and rarely break the rules.
If there were any lingering doubts as to Groh's capacity to show discipline when he needed to, they were silenced for good Tuesday afternoon when the coach dismissed three of his star defensive players -- linebacker Ahmad Brooks, cornerback Tony Franklin and end Vince Redd -- for undisclosed disciplinary reasons. Franklin was arrested in December for marijuana possession and Brooks was already suspended for the spring after failing a drug test.
Groh has shown in the past how little patience he has for players who run into trouble with the law. In January, walk-on Bryan Lescanec was dismissed from the team after he was arrested for allegedly fondling a woman in a bar on the Corner. Incoming freshman Ahmad Bradshaw was kicked of the team before he even started the fall semester after he was arrested for underage possession of alcohol and fleeing from the police. But those two decisions were relatively easy compared with Tuesday's dismissals. Brooks, Franklin and Redd are significant contributors and their absence will create significant holes in the Virginia defense entering spring practice.
Unfortunately for Groh, not all Division I coaches hold their athletes accountable in the same way. Not even all Division I football programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Frank Beamer? Are you listening to any of this?
In 2004 Marcus Vick was accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl and convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after serving her and her friends alcohol. A few months later, he was pulled over for speeding and then cited for marijuana possession. Vick was suspended, but still allowed to play for the Hokies in 2005. His career ended in disgrace following the infamous stomping incident in the Gator Bowl this January after which Virginia Tech finally kicked him off the team.
Virginia Tech should have dismissed Vick long before the Gator Bowl and if he had played for Groh, I'm certain he would not have been allowed to put on a Virginia uniform following the incidents in 2004.
Even though Groh clearly did the right thing regarding his three defensive stars, the fact remains that the Cavaliers have three less scholarship players on their roster. Part of me wonders whether these three players should have ever come to Virginia in the first place.
There is a fine line between a kid that needs another chance and a lost cause, especially you consider former Virginia guard Elton Brown. The offensive lineman was arrested for assault in high school, but ran into no trouble at Virginia and is now playing for the Arizona Cardinals. There is no reason why some players with troubled pasts can't be given a second chance -- the important thing is that the Virginia coaching staff factors in the characters and the integrity of the individual in the recruiting process.
The harsh punishment these three players received may be enough to send a message to the entire team. I hope it will be, but that is just a start. Groh and his staff should take even further steps to evaluate character and integrity while recruiting players. Such a strategy could only help to keep something like this from happening again.
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