Less than a month ago, four players on Vanderbilt’s football team were dismissed amid an investigation into alleged sex crimes. And during a press conference yesterday, reflecting an appropriate air of solemnity, players had great things to say about the team’s chemistry, and that they hoped that in the future everyone could avoid doing “bad stuff.”
To be fair, reporters asking press conference questions like “Hey, guys, what about this rape stuff we keep hearing about?” isn’t exactly the best way to find out about what really happened (it is, however, a great way to write a story with the ready-made headline “VANDY DODGES RAPE QUESTIONS”). But players answering questions shouldn’t use childlike euphemisms that make the team sound like at best a collective guilty celebrity and at worst someone who doesn’t understand that sexual assault is a serious crime. From USAT,
[Senior lineman Wesley] Johnson said that before practices, Franklin holds a team meeting, which includes a powerpoint presentation that begins with slides of news articles of players getting into off-field trouble.
“From underage drinking, to bad stuff like getting caught for smoking or drugs, stuff like that.”
There you have it. Stuff like that. Look to your left. Look to your right. Either you or one of the two women you just looked at will be a victim of “bad stuff” during your lifetimes.
[USAT]