Ohio State Football Players Named in A Rape Charge; Cayleb Jones of Texas Arrested
By Kyle Kensing
Nov 10, 2012; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns wide receiver Cayleb Jones (4) runs after a catch against the Iowa State Cyclones in the fourth quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas defeated Iowa State 33-7. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Off-season crime is an epidemic in college football, and Tuesday two particularly unsavory cases were reported. Texas Longhorns wide receiver Cayleb Jones was arrested on charges of felony assault, stemming from a Feb. 22 altercation with UT tennis player Joey Swaysland.
Orangebloods.com first broke the story via police records alleging Jones broke Swaysland’s jaw. Jones is indefinitely suspended from the Texas football team.
Elsewhere, ABC 6 in Columbus, Ohio reported Tuesday night that three Ohio State football players were named in the search warrant of a rape charge filed on Nov. 10. The report says the alleged incident occurred on Oct. 21, and the three Buckeyes named in the warrant are freshmen.
The Ohio State media relations department told student newspaper The Lantern it is unable to comment “[a]s this is an ongoing investigation.”
The prevalence of off-season legal transgressions spawned EDSBS’ Fulmer Cup, a running tally of football team arrests. While the Fulmer Cup exists for comedic purposes, its scoring in recent years points to a very serious trend. The last two years, the most lawbreaking teams were Auburn (81 points) and Arkansas (68 points). To give readers some context, the previous year’s high was 20 points and the benchmark never rose above 28.
If it feels like there are more arrests around college football, it’s because there is.
This particular off-season is just two months old, but already there has been a disconcerting amount of truly repugnant cases, including the assault and robbery of a fellow student by four Alabama Crimson Tide players.
Last summer after five-star Georgia Bulldogs running back was dismissed for off-field issues, I suggested the NCAA adopt more aggressive educational procedures for student-athletes, akin to the NFL rookie symposium. Individual programs can certainly take greater measures to steer players away from trouble. Are zero tolerance policies the answer?
Such programs certainly won’t prevent all arrests, but curbing some of the off-season problems plaguing the sport is a worthwhile mission.