Chris Collins and Oklahoma State: Telling Commentary

From Joel Klein of Tulsa World:

There's no place for felons in college football. And, the way things are starting to play out in the NFL, there's no room in the pros, either.

Yet, here was Collins causing Gundy another headache he doesn't need. What was needed was immediate action, not a wait-and-see attitude. The legal system has run its course. Collins is a felon. Time for him to hit the road.

On Thursday, about 24 hours later than it should have happened, Collins was pushed off the OSU football team.

We believe in second chances in life. Just not in college football. When Collins walked in and plead guilty, he forfeited the privilege to play college football in the Big 12.

There may be a place for him somewhere else, but OSU can't take the hit of having a felon in the lineup.

There are plenty of non-felons who would probably love to play linebacker in the Big 12 and get a good education for free.

The NCAA has tons of rules. Here's one to add. If you are a felon, you forfeit the chance to play NCAA football. . . .

OSU made a mistake by not immediately kicking Collins off the team. Gundy didn't hesitate to boot players three years ago for various legal and academic reasons. He kicked off nine players in his first eight months.

Among those were potential impact players like Prentiss Elliott and Brad Girtman.

Those two were among the first to be pushed out the door during spring practice just two months after Gundy got the job.

Deservedly, Gundy was praised for cleaning up the program as he took over from Les Miles. This latest incident should have been a no-brainer. . . .

It is Barry Tramel of the Oklahoman which really gets to the heart of the matter:

As we demand to know what Gundy was thinking when he brought in Collins on scholarship, trying to be Father Flanagan or Dennis Erickson, and we wonder what kind of research was conducted that made anyone think this was a good idea, maybe this is the detail that slipped from scrutiny. . . .

She was 12 years old. Twelve years old and snuck out and hopped into a car with some older guys, and they drove her to the Comfort Suites and gave her vodka and orange juice, and she wandered in and out of consciousness, and they had sex with her.

As OSU suspends Collins for the rest of this season and tries to determine where to go from here, and the university wonders how its coach went from being the tough sheriff who ran off the bad seeds to the man who signed off on a sex offender, and some try to rationalize what happened that night in Texarkana, remember this.

She was 12 years old. Twelve years old and snuck out and hopped into a car with some older guys, and they drove her to the Comfort Suites and gave her vodka and orange juice, and she wandered in and out of consciousness, and they had sex with her, and her life forever was changed. . . .

The fall championship season kicks off this afternoon with the semifinals of the Division II Field Hockey Championship. Thank god for the opportunity to be Prof-Fan rather than slogging through Profanity!