MSU Publicly Disputes Story by SB Nation Regarding Football Player Arrests
Nov 29, 2014; Oxford, MS, USA; A Mississippi State Bulldogs helmet rest on the sidelines against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The Rebels won 31-17. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
Mississippi State football has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the last week. SB Nation is trying to throw more salt on the wound, and MSU is firing back.
Earlier today SB Nation released a story suggesting that more than one MSU football player assaulted (with a snowball) a Mississippi State student a couple of weeks ago. This is in reference to the news that redshirt freshman offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins was arrested last week for simple assault. It’s a weird story that claims the defendant was not even pressing charges against Jenkins, but two other players….Jenkins was just present.
Mississippi State released a statement regarding the matter, here is an excerpt:
"The post, which contains factual errors that call into question the credibility of the overall post, in great measure represents only the claims and assertions of the personal injury attorney and fails on a number of levels to accurately portray the actions of the university, the MSU Police Department, the MSU Athletics Department and our students."
It should be noted that the author of the SB Nation story is Steven Godfrey, an alumnus of Ole Miss. I wouldn’t mention it, but it’s really unusual for a university to go out of their way to refute a story. (I tried to look him up on twitter but he’d blocked me. Shocker.)
I’ve never been too big on chasing down a college athlete’s legal trouble. Why has M&WN not posted any articles about D’Runnya Wilson or Elgton Jenkins’ arrests?
- they are unpaid college athletes who do not need their names littered across the internet for something they are alleged to have done.
- what is gained from digging into athletes’ personal lives? They aren’t running for office – they are playing football.
- as Mississippi State fans who are in no way obligated to post such material, we might as well go set off stink bombs in Scott Stricklin’s office to get as much accomplished for our alma mater.
As a Mississippi State family, I’m proud to welcome any and all players who choose to wear maroon and white. I’ll defend them until the point in time where they do not deserve to be defended. And even then, I’ll allow them to go in peace, because at one time they were apart of our family….and they are but young adults who have a long life ahead of them, so it would help to not have their name smeared.
The next story you see – take with a grain of salt. Wait until all the facts come out before passing your judgement.