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De’Andre Johnson Dismissed by FSU, And it Should Have Happened Sooner

By Michael Collins

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De’Andre Johnson was given his walking papers by Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher on Monday following the public release of a video showing him punching a young woman in the face at a Tallahassee bar.

RELATED: FSU Freshman QB De’Andre Johnson Charged With Battery

As reported in the Orlando Sentinel, Fisher dismissed the freshman quarterback who had been charged with misdemeanor battery in the incident.

Is it just me, or are we reliving the Ray Rice incident in a college format?

Guy hits woman. Guy gets arrested and charged with hitting woman. Guy gets minimal punishment for nondescript reasons. Video is suddenly “leaked” of incident. Guy gets kicked off team.

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    • Yep…the Ray Rice story relived in Tallahassee, Fl., and coach Jimbo Fisher playing the part of the bungling commissioner who obviously doesn’t take violence against women seriously. The question has to be asked, why did this take so long? Why is there any tolerance at all of this type of behavior?

    Is waiting a week too long? You betcha.

    Players are dismissed from teams for much lesser offenses, and all of it goes down before their day in court. Most schools have scholarship riders that prohibit behavior that can be detrimental to the program. To start with, a 19-year old freshman football player standing at a bar ordering whatever it was he was ordering isn’t the beginning of a lot of good decisions.

    But it seemed until this damning video surfaced, Fisher was content on the “suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules” story. Had we not seen this video, would Johnson be preparing to play backup QB in week two?

    Probably.

    And the lack of urgency and contrition in this situation isn’t simply limited to Jimbo Fisher. Even Johnson’s attorney tried to spin it (as attorneys are paid to do) to secure minimal PR damage to his client.

    "“While it is clear from the video that De’Andre Johnson was not the initial aggressor, his family wants to take the lead in helping him learn and grow from this experience. He is currently participating in community service, and faith-based programs focused on battered women, substance abuse, and the empowerment of children. De’Andre is extremely embarrassed by this situation and would like to express his heartfelt apologies to everyone, including those who were directly affected, Coach Fisher and his teammates, the entire Florida State University community, as well as his family and friends.”"

    Did we really need that opening statement? Not the initial aggressor? Come on man. I don’t care if the woman called him every name in the book and slapped him so hard that the WWE took notice….

    Never. Never EVER hit a woman, especially the way Johnson did, clocking her squarely in the face with his fist. (Such as seen below)

    But this is Florida State, and Tallahassee…not exactly the last bastion of chivalrous behavior on college campuses in this country, as has been clearly shown over the past few years.

    No, it’s not limited to Florida State University or even the state of Florida for that matter. This is a universal problem, and while some sports and leagues have taken huge steps to address domestic violence and violent crimes against women, we still see the coddling and over-protection of college athletes happening far too often.

    April 30, 2015; Bessemer, AL, USA; Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher at the draft selection party as Winston is chosen number 1 pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2015 NFL draft. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

    I said a week ago when this incident was first reported that Jimbo Fisher had an opportunity to take lead and put FSU in the foreground of making sure that athletes knew this type of behavior wasn’t going to be tolerated on any level. Instead, he chose to wait until a horrific video was made public, effectively making sure if he did anything besides dismiss Johnson there would be tremendous pressure on the school to dismiss the coach.

    Was this a move by Fisher to make right a wrongdoing, or to ensure that his job was kept safely locked away? If Johnson deserved dismissal now, why did he not deserve it a week ago?

    He did…and it didn’t happen.

    So now we return to the same debate we heard for months surrounding the Ray Rice incident..when does it all become enough? Probably when its too late, and we are talking about a charge far more dire and life-changing than battery or assault.

    More is the pity.

    Next: 15 Bold Predictions for 2015 Season

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