More trouble for Florida State football begs the question, where is the problem?
Florida State football has seemingly lived in a fishbowl for decades, but the magnitude of the problems happening in Tallahassee seems to have become greater over the past few seasons.
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Make no mistake, discipline problems happen in even the cleanest of programs. No one, not even the most clairvoyant of coaches, is immune to bringing in kids who make kid mistakes. It’s how those kids are taught to deal with those mistakes and what the culture within a program becomes which set certain schools apart.
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Florida State has been set apart, but not in the way most would want.
The jokes and brickbat that constantly fly around about FSU and their program have been around for years, even before Jameis Winston came on the scene and turned up the heat. “Free shoes university”, and “Criminoles” are commonly used taunts about the residents of Doak Campbell stadium. Even rival coaches get into the act in lobbing some jeers towards Tallahassee.
But the incident reported this week about freshman quarterback De’Andre Johnson is becoming all too common, and has an eerie similarity to another, previously mentioned, Seminole quarterback.
Johnson is accused of punching a female FSU student at a Tallahassee bar, and was suspended indefinitely by head coach Jimbo Fisher for what is being called an undisclosed violation of team rules – that phrase which has masked crime after crime, homogenizing and whitewashing serious offenses in football programs across the nation.
For two years, the press blasted Jameis Winston, labeling him as an immature, egotistical problem child who was getting special treatment by everyone from the FSU athletic department to the Tallahassee police force. The accusations of physical sexual assault and his unfiltered verbal sexual assault in the FSU student union pointed to a man who had issues with women.
But was it just Jameis…or is there a bigger problem brewing in Tallahassee?
While crimes against women are certainly not singular to players who wear Garnet and Gold, it doesn’t take long to see patterns develop and to have a culture of misogyny and entitlement become evident for all to view in plain sight.
It’s this culture, led by Jimbo Fisher, that has become frightening. In every press conference and post-game interview which had questions about Winston tossed at Fisher, he nearly deflected them and even defended his quarterback. The sexual assault investigation was botched by the TPD, the school did little to help…but the Seminoles were winning, and that was what counted at the time.
Apr 11, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback De’Andre Johnson (14) looks to throw the ball during the spring game at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Now the cycle starts again with De’Andre Johnson?
According to an ESPN.com report, the 6-foot-3 Johnson was “involved in an argument with the woman after she cut in front of him while they were waiting to order drinks at a bar near the FSU campus.”
Certainly that’s reason enough to hit a woman, right?
Witnesses reportedly told police the woman raised her arms and then Johnson grabbed them and punched her in the face.
Oh, now I understand. She raised her arms…and here I thought it was a simple line-cutting dispute.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Johnson has not been charged with a crime He was not interviewed on the night of the incident because he had simply left the bar. You know, typical freshman hijinks…go to a bar (underage I might add), squabble with a woman over who was next in line, punch her in the face.
Oh…allegedly.
The police report (described as being “heavily redacted”) made no mention of Johnson or the witness by name, however the victim’s name was there for all to see.
First step in a good cover up? Keep the accused’s name (and anyone who could implicate them) out of official documentation.
Jimbo Fisher has made no official comment, and the only thing we’ve heard from the school is the statement that “Florida State head football coach Jimbo Fisher has announced the indefinite suspension of true freshman De’Andre Johnson for a violation of athletic department policy.”
Keep it general. Don’t let those dots get connected.
Enough is enough, already. When situations involving violent crimes against women arise in other programs, players are shown the door. Heck, even Nick Saban — who took a chance on Jonathan Taylor — ended up dismissing the previously dismissed Georgia player.
Why is it then that Jimbo seems unfazed, unconcerned and unwilling to do what is necessary when his players commit acts like this?
Apr 11, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher talks to quarterback De’Andre Johnson (14) during the spring game at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
When programs as elite and visible as Florida State allow this to happen, it only adds to the bigger problem on a national scale. Sexual assault, domestic violence and other violent crimes against women have become paramount and the point of change in every sports league across the nation…
Except college football.
And why? Because the good-ol-boy network is still alive in well in that world. The excuses of precocious youth and kid’s mistakes have become the battle cry for a sector of sports that wrangles in problems and circles the wagons to protect their own like no other.
Where is the problem at Florida State? It’s in the culture. It’s in the breeding of male-domination and female objectification at every level. It’s in being more concerned about the program and its success than in the safety of fellow students or the teaching of young boys on how to be better men.
It’s not just at Florida State, but they are one of the leaders in the sport, and they’re leading things in the wrong direction.
Jimbo Fisher has an opportunity here. He has a chance to say “no more” and tell De’Andre Johnson that his actions are not conducive to what is expected of a Florida State athletic scholarship recipient, and to wish him will in his future.
But it won’t happen. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not next week.
No, it won’t happen until Johnson rages on some other unsuspecting student, and things end up being uncleansable…even for Fisher.
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