Off-field problems give Big Ten big troubles

MADISON, Wis. -- Bar fights. Assaults. Public intoxication. Drug use. Carrying a concealed weapon. A vicious stabbing. And sadly, a fatal shooting.

It's a laundry list of crimes that could occur on any given night in any major city in America.

In the past year, they've occurred at nearly every football program in the Big Ten Conference.

Minnesota redshirt freshman lineman Brandon Hall was shot to death hours after the Gophers' season-opener in August.

Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker recently was suspended from the team and has admitted to having a substance abuse problem. His teammate, tailback Dawan Moss, was kicked off the team after an altercation with police.

Two Michigan players were wounded by gunfire last spring outside an off-campus party. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has seen a dozen of his players cited by police since the beginning of the 2001 season.

Most recently, Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez learned that senior wide receiver Lee Evans had been arrested for marijuana possession and tailback Anthony Davis had been stabbed by his girlfriend and had to be hospitalized.

The natural questions in light of all these crimes is: Are college athletes getting involved in off-field incidents more often today than ever before? Or are incidents that went unreported when today's coaches were players simply being reported with more frequency and tenacity today?

Most coaches, including Alvarez, believe the latter is true.

"With the media access as it is," Alvarez said, "when it happens, within 30 seconds everybody in the country knows about it. I know when I played or even in the '80s, if an incident happens at a 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.

"I certainly don't think there is anything different now than there was 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago."

Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who started his coaching career at Nativity High School in Detroit in 1968 and has been on the Michigan staff since 1980, agreed.

"I honestly don't think there are any more situations off the field today than there was 25, 30 years ago," Carr said. "But certainly we live in a technological age where the scrutiny ... there are no secrets out there."

Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo, who began his coaching career in 1975 as an assistant at Maine, suggests otherwise.

"I would suspect that if someone studied this," he said, "the percentages would be higher."

DiNardo also says that success on the field allows the power-brokers in college football to tolerate and even accept incidents off the field that tarnish the reputation of a university. Coaches whose teams are saddled with mounting losses as well as mounting off-the-field problems are more likely to be fired, as in the case of Michigan State's Bobby Williams.

"I think the only ones who can really control this thing are the presidents, the CEOs and the board members," DiNardo said. "That is who we work for. When they say that enough is enough, then we'll toe the line. Until then, I think the message is clear, that winning is the most important thing.

"I think we've been there for 10 years, maybe longer. There is no evidence out there that leads me to believe that it is going to change. I don't see any drastic revolutionaries out there (who) is going to say, 'Enough is enough. We're not going to win at any costs.'"

Alvarez, in his 13th year at Wisconsin, has gone through entire seasons during which not one of his players found legal trouble. Yet there have been other seasons during which some troublesome cases have surfaced. Those include: Nick Davis in 2000 for theft; Michael Bennett in 2001 for allegedly threatening a female UW student and her roommates; and Jael Speights, a 1999 freshman recruit, who was convicted of raping a female UW student and sentenced to 37 years in prison.

In the past eight months, Brett Bell and Jeff Lang were involved in a bar fight and former running back Erik Bickerstaff attempted to use a fake ID to get into a bar and then resisted arrest.

"Unfortunately, when you have 120 people (players)," Alvarez said, "you're going to have some incidents. I would guess there are a number of altercations downtown every week.

"We saw a riot this weekend. My guys are going to do some things wrong occasionally. Do I think we have a large number? No."

One factor upon which most coaches do agree is that whenever an incident is reported today, judgement generally moves with the speed of light or the click of a mouse.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno was grilled from coast to coast in 2000 when he stood behind quarterback Rashard Casey, who faced felony assault charges. The critics argued Casey had no business on the football field; Paterno felt Casey should play until found guilty of any crime. The case was eventually dropped and Casey never missed a game.

When Anthony Davis' stabbing was first reported, some comments on the Internet were critical of the sophomore tailback, suggesting he had shown poor judgement and should have been home in bed at 5 in the morning.

When police released details of the incident, it turned out that Davis was home in bed and was defending himself from an attack by a former girlfriend who was upset that the relationship was over.

"I think people are quick to judge," Alvarez said. "And I've learned over the years to try to find out all the facts. If the courts are involved, you let the legal process handle it and then make decisions. But don't be quick to judge."

Before each season, Alvarez brings in a police officer to advise the players on smart, safe and legal behavior.

"I don't know if anyone can supervise their players or try to inform their players any better than us," Alvarez said. "I don't know what else you can do. You can't baby-sit them. Things are going to happen and we'll deal with them."

One other factor upon which most coaches agree is that they hate seeing their players or those of a colleague find trouble.

"I hate when it happens to anyone," Alvarez said. "Some of the incidents that went on at Michigan State -- because we were playing them we were aware of them -- I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy." And no coach wants to get a wake-up call from the police.

"Every Sunday morning ... my phone rang this last Sunday at 7:30 or 7:45," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "And my first thought was, 'Oh God. What happened?'

"It is like having kids of your own. When they're out, you worry. You don't know what's going to happen."