Gators' wide receiver Chris Rainey arrested

[Leakfan12]

Players who play for a big time college team like Florida need to know not to :censored: up otherwise someone else will take their spot. It's a honor to play for the Gators not a right no matter how talented you are. There's two or three that will fill in the spot. I think Rainey will at least miss two games.

 

[O-town Gator]

FWIW here are Mike Bianchi's thoughts: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_bianchi/2010/09/gators-coach-urban-meyer-must-boot-chris-rainey-from-the-team.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sports_bianchi+%28Open+Mike%29

 

[O-town Gator]

According to Urban, there's no timetable as to if and when Rainey will return to the team: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/gatorbytes/2010/09/15/urban-meyer-no-timetable-for-chris-raineys-return/

 

[gatorsare#1]

Urban Meyer needs to do a better job of instilling into these kids just how fortunate they are. They get all the benefits of playing football on the biggest stage, the chance to play in the NFL, a degree from one of the best academic institutions in the country for FREE, and all the kid has to do is stay out of trouble.

Obviously something needs to change with this program because each year we have players getting arrested. This is ridiculous, the problem needs to be addressed, and the football team needs to clean up its behavior.

 

[MahxFahn]

.........................
Obviously something needs to change .....................

Couldn't agree more w/ this.
IMHO though, I think the problem is way more complex than attempting to change the attitudes of a handful of young men. They emulate certain behaviors, that they've been exposed to most of their formative years by media and not to mention by those in the profession that they wish to join.

 

[The Zooker]

There's a good reason why all successful programs have these issues. In order to compete for championships you need certain types of players. You need guys that are aggressive and confident and even a bit arrogant and explosive. There's no way around that. The best we expect from Meyer is to punish the players appropriately. But if you want a team that will never have off field issues then you will get a team that isn't as impressive on the field. You also have to keep age in the picture. Compared to the average college student, football players are actually better behaved according to the stats. Even our SEC boys. But at the end of the day, my point is that these kids have a warrior mentality deeply ingrained into their brains since they were old enough to play football. Sometimes it can be hard to turn it all off once you step off the field. Same principle applies to war veterans. You can't send men into battle and then expect them all to come home and be perfectly calm citizens with no issues. Obviously football isn't real war/battle, saying so would belittle the things our veterans go through, but the point still stands. It's not like flipping a light switch on and off.

 

[O-town Gator]

There's a good reason why all successful programs have these issues. In order to compete for championships you need certain types of players. You need guys that are aggressive and confident and even a bit arrogant and explosive. There's no way around that. The best we expect from Meyer is to punish the players appropriately. But if you want a team that will never have off field issues then you will get a team that isn't as impressive on the field. You also have to keep age in the picture. Compared to the average college student, football players are actually better behaved according to the stats. Even our SEC boys. But at the end of the day, my point is that these kids have a warrior mentality deeply ingrained into their brains since they were old enough to play football. Sometimes it can be hard to turn it all off once you step off the field. Same principle applies to war veterans. You can't send men into battle and then expect them all to come home and be perfectly calm citizens with no issues. Obviously football isn't real war/battle, saying so would belittle the things our veterans go through, but the point still stands. It's not like flipping a light switch on and off.

Good post.

As much as others like to point the finger at Urban Meyer whenever these kids misbehave, they don't stop to realize that these guys are the captains of their own ships and must be held responsible for their conduct off the field. He and his staff can't baby-sit them 24/7. Sure they're college kids who do foolish things at times, but on the other hand they're deemed to be adults under the law and should have some concept of right and wrong at their age - and this, along with other moral values, they should have learned in the home.

What Chris Rainey did was immature and stupid on his part - time and time again Coach Meyer has ingrained the team's core values in these kids (tell the truth, no drugs, treat women with respect, no stealing, no weapons); even though there was no physical act of violence committed on Rainey's part just the insinuation thereof should have rubbed Urban the wrong way.

At the very least, I would expect Urban to ask Rainey to forfeit his scholarship and serve an indefinite suspension pending the outcome of his case; if he were to sit out the entire season that would serve as penance for his sin. I wouldn't be surprised to see him permanently off the team, knowing Urban's zero-tolerance policy for any type of misconduct directed towards a female.

 

[The Zooker]

Definitely agree on pulling his scholarship. On one hand I am embarrassed by what Rainey has done to the program. But on the other hand I have to respect the blood/sweat/tears he has shed for the program. I don't know how I would react if I was Meyer. I would want to set a clear example but at the same time I wouldn't want to make an extreme example out of somebody like Rainey who has never been in any kind of trouble whatsoever. In the end, I'd have to say pull his scholarship forever and suspend him for a few games. He can take student loans on tuition and board so that he doesn't have to bear the burden now. But it would set a tone to these kids that if they want to be on scholarship then they have to act like scholars. Act up once and it is gone forever.

 

[O-town Gator]

Definitely agree on pulling his scholarship. On one hand I am embarrassed by what Rainey has done to the program. But on the other hand I have to respect the blood/sweat/tears he has shed for the program. I don't know how I would react if I was Meyer. I would want to set a clear example but at the same time I wouldn't want to make an extreme example out of somebody like Rainey who has never been in any kind of trouble whatsoever. In the end, I'd have to say pull his scholarship forever and suspend him for a few games. He can take student loans on tuition and board so that he doesn't have to bear the burden now. But it would set a tone to these kids that if they want to be on scholarship then they have to act like scholars. Act up once and it is gone forever.

I get the impression that Urban's as sick and tired of all the player arrests as the fans are, and likely he'll also make an example of Chris Rainey as he did with Frankie Hammond following his DUI arrest - Rainey may wind up in the doghouse for awhile, but that's the price he must pay for doing something stupid. That Gator uniform isn't an entitlement, it's a privilege - and one that can disappear at a moment's notice for not abiding by the rules.

 

[DRU2012]

More to be considered

As a combat vet, I appreciate and agree with the last few comments here.
I want to add one more point to the discussion: What about the concussion?
Rainey took a hit to the head not 60 hours earlier, one that drove him out of the game after just a few plays. Now, I don't know for sure how much a part this played in the ensuing behavior, but I can tell you that the possibility at least has to be taken into account. I've been surprised at how little consideration it has been given publicly, officially or among fans (not so much in how the national media has approached this whole thing, with self righteousness and crocodile tears--I just heard Michael Wilbon on ESPN's "PTI" suggest that not only is Urban Meyer "responsible for all his team's many arrests in just the last 4 years", but that "they" should begin to consider such a record in the rankings and eventual decision as to who goes to the BCS Title Game!). As I've said elsewhere, I just think this one may be a a different deal than some of the stupid, selfish and short-sighted bonehead-moves pulled by various players in the past. If it were alcohol-fueled, and/or part of a larger pattern-of-behavior, I'd feel differently...but if it's even partly injury-related (as it possibly MAY be) then he's got to be given help and a way back.

 

[The Zooker]

Very solid point.

 

[O-town Gator]

I just heard Michael Wilbon on ESPN's "PTI" suggest that not only is Urban Meyer "responsible for all his team's many arrests in just the last 4 years", but that "they" should begin to consider such a record in the rankings and eventual decision as to who goes to the BCS Title Game!

Typical sensationalist media crap. Urban can't hold their hands like they're little kindergarten kids; as I said before these guys are adults and are responsible for their own behavior off the field. He can only do so much as far as reiterating and enforcing the team rules - if these kids screw up, they bring it all on themselves.

I still recall a video from 2009 when he was addressing his players and said "You want to be treated like a man, ACT like a man." Perhaps he needs to remind them of that again.

 

[DRU2012]

Just a little background here:
The reason I feel so strongly that the possibility of this being "injury-related" into account is something called PCS--Post-Concussion Syndrome. I had some experience with this before the doctors put a name on it and had it well-documented. Suffice to say, it is by now a recognized effect, arising 24-to-72 hours after a "mild to moderate" concussion. Hyper-emotionalism, even wholesale personality-change is possible...it suddenly "appears", lasts a few days to a couple of weeks, then goes away just as quickly--and the victim may be hardly aware of how different he or she is acting while in the throes.
You see why maybe he might deserve SOME benefit of the doubt?
(Still weird, sick and stupid--but "with an explanation".)

 

[The Zooker]

Typical sensationalist media crap.

Exactly. These guys shouldn't be throwing stones while living in glass houses. It angered me greatly when Mike Golic was crucifying Brandon Spikes for the "eye gouging" incident. In the meantime his son was arrested for drunk driving. Things need to be kept in perspective. Spikes' actions were dumb but he was just doing what the UGA players were doing all game. Golic didn't criticize his own son the way he criticized Spikes. But when you boil the situations down, Spikes' actions never hurt anyone. Golic's sons actions could have very well killed somebody. So I take media opinions with a grain of salt. Keep in mind that UF doesn't even have the worst record in its own conference for arrests and legal troubles. But the media spotlight is on them since they are a prominent figure at the moment.

 

[O-town Gator]

Just a little background here:
The reason I feel so strongly that the possibility of this being "injury-related" into account is something called PCS--Post-Concussion Syndrome. I had some experience with this before the doctors put a name on it and had it well-documented. Suffice to say, it is by now a recognized effect, arising 24-to-72 hours after a "mild to moderate" concussion. Hyper-emotionalism, even wholesale personality-change is possible...it suddenly "appears", lasts a few days to a couple of weeks, then goes away just as quickly--and the victim may be hardly aware of how different he or she is acting while in the throes.
You see why maybe he might deserve SOME benefit of the doubt?
(Still weird, sick and stupid--but "with an explanation".)

I myself had a concussion after an auto accident back in '06, and was disoriented and shaken up for at least 24 hours afterward; mostly I had headaches that lasted for a month or so following and had some short-term memory loss as other effects - but I didn't do something as dumb as Chris Rainey did.

 

[Leakfan12]

TO DRU 2012, maybe you do have a point. I'm sure you can argue the same case with Big Ben but I'm sure most of people with concussion don't committee crimes. Also Meyer was paid to win football games not be the player's babysitter.

 

[O-town Gator]

Rainey may miss the Kentucky game as well: http://gators.flatoday.net/2010/09/florida-gator-rainey-could-miss-uk-game.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter