Incoming Freshmen latest in String of athletes in trouble
Incoming MSU Players Accused of Breaking Into Mayor’s Home
By Jessica Mayrer, 6-27-07
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Two incoming Montana State University football players are the latest Montana athletes to find themselves in trouble with the law after being arrested on allegations that they broke into Bozeman Mayor Jeff Krauss’ house while fleeing from police early Monday morning.
Clay Bignell, 19, of Avon, and Daniel Ogden, 18, of Kalispell were allegedly egging homes when authorities spotted them and a chase ensued, police said. As Ted Sullivan and Camden Easterling reported in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the pair allegedly broke into Krauss’ home to escape, crawling through a basement window before they were arrested.
Three other incoming freshman were arrested as well, said Cathy Conover, MSU’s chief spokesperson.
Bignell and Ogden are on probation for one year and will not be allowed to play football during that time. The university also ordered the players to apologize to the homeowners and clean up after the egging. All of those arrested have been charged with misdemeanors.
“They bring discredit to their team members when they do something like this,” Conover said. “It brings a shadow on the community.”
That is a growing shadow—and isn’t confined to just Bozeman. This is one of many high-profile incidents involving Montana football players over the last year.
College students in general can have a tough time making good decisions, said Peter Fields, MSU’s Athletic Director, but athletes, because of their visibility, face strict scrutiny.
“They do live in a glass house,” he said.
Last weekend, University of Montana cornerback Qwenton J. Freeman, 22, was arrested for allegedly throwing a beer bottle at a man outside Stockman’s Bar in downtown Missoula. Freeman’s arrest came on the heels of murder charges filed in Los Angeles County against his teammate and friend, UM cornerback and honors candidate, 20-year-old James Leon “Jimmy” Wilson. Los Angeles police say Freeman was a witness to that murder, but won’t talk.
Prior to that, six MSU football players faced a range of charges over the last year, from drug sales to murder. In turn, administrators are trying to find a way to curb what’s looking like a trend in the Big Sky state.
In addition to hiring a new football coach, Rob Ash, MSU is now including teaching faculty into the athletic recruiting process to identify students capable of academic success. MSU is also instituting a mentoring program to help incoming students adjust to university life.
“We need to do a better job of getting student athletes that fit here academically,” Fields said.
The players arrested Monday were recruited before MSU’s changes were put in place, Conover said.
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Comments
Banned from playing football for just a year? OOOOoooooo, way to be tough, Athletic Department.
How about kicked off the team entirely? Expelled from school? It's about time we stopped letting these knuckleheads slide through higher education just because they can entertain the masses in the stadium.
wcollege sports, and, again, a kick in the teeth of their aspirations.
The English major who's caught spray painting Shakespearian insults goes on about his educational busness while the criminal process runs its course. These guys don't continue their admittedly different higher education plans as it stands now. It's different, but it isn't, right?
Even if the behavior of both end up with similarities the *impact* of each group upon their contemporaries and fellow students ~ for better OR for worse ~ is far from the same.
We now have a generation of college age students who have spent an entire lifetime being not only encouraged to worship "sports heroes" at every level of every "game" but accepting as fact that these "sports heroes" can get away with all kinds of crime and still rake in the big bucks and walk-the-walk of "heroes" within our society.
So whether or not a university student who is considered to be some kind of a "star" is allowed to go unnoticed or with slight penalty to pay for their dastardly deeds has a far greater *impact* than that of a faceless/nameless student on campus whose name will never, or seldom, ever appear in the headlines.
The next group that filters in from the next high school WILL remember ... maybe not to the degree we might wish but, hopefully, at least to some degree that will help change the arrogance and the patterns of behavior ~ the "expectations" ~ that our society has encouraged and allowed.
Sports are such a GOOD thing ... but it is far past time for our society to adjust our expectations and demands of those heroes we place on pedestals at any age.
... or so it seems to me ...
What has gone on before at MSU football, the drug gang murders, etc, shouldn't enter into the punishment for these young men. They're convicted, I think, of obstructing a police officer and criminal trespass, as the others yet unreported will be. That isn't in the same league.
Ding dong ditch and egging aren't limited to football players, however. It's ubiquitous around Bozeman now, and recent incidents include a woman and her two children huddling in a closet frantically calling 911. It's time to address the juveniles out past midnight ding dong ditching, running from cops, egging houses, painting graffiti, setting off sparkler bombs and destroying property.
Is that through a curfew of, say 11 pm for those under seventeen? I'm not sure, but it's at least debateable.
One former mayor has stated that cops shouldn't even bother with these harmless pranks, but I disagree. We've sent the highschoolers and middle schoolers the former Mayor's message, harmless pranks, no worries, and now we are reaping what we've sown.
The Athletic department and the city have dealt with these both through the courts and through the university. I'm ready to move on to any city policy discussions that such events might inspire.